A BOURNEMOUTH Conservative councillor has announced his resignation over the planned Navitus Bay wind farm.

Cllr Barry Goldbart, a former cabinet member and ex-Mayor of Bournemouth, has sent an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron saying he is leaving the party he has supported all his adult life.

Instead, he intends to stand as an Independent councillor in May, campaigning on an anti-wind farm ticket.

And he has urged other wind farm opponents, including Bournemouth MPs Tobias Ellwood and Conor Burns and other Conservative councillors, to do the same.

His letter to the Prime Minister states: “The... proposed huge industrial site of hundreds of giant sized wind turbines off our beautiful Bournemouth coast, in full view of the millions of tourists that flock to this premier British holiday resort, is totally unacceptable to me and the vast majority of the town’s residents.

“The defence of the Green Belt has always been a Conservative priority but down here in Dorset we also have to defend our Blue Belt, the sea, with equal vigour.”

“It is now time to act decisively before any disastrous decisions are taken by your Ministers that could lead to the construction of this industrial-sized wind farm complex across our beautiful seascape.”

Cllr Goldbart, who represents Westbourne and West Cliff, told the Echo: “I felt that a grand gesture was needed to bring home to the PM the lack of respect being shown to our residents in not giving them the same support as he has given to the rest of the UK when he stopped wind farms being sited on land.”

Cllr Goldbart has been a Bournemouth councillor for the past 12 years, but was not selected to stand as a Conservative candidate for Westbourne and West Cliff in May.