A PUBLIC meeting has been called in response to plans for a wind farm which have finally been submitted.

After months of planning and consultation renewable energy company Infinergy, of Wimborne, has put in a planning application to Purbeck council for six 125m-high turbines at Masters Pit quarry, East Stoke.

The farm would be capable of generating up to 13.8 megawatts of electricity - less than the 18 megawatts initially suggested. The size and number of turbines is the same, although their locations have altered slightly.

East Stoke Parish Council has called a public meeting where Infinergy and Dorset Against Rural Turbines (Dart) will be making presentations.

Dart, working with the Campaign to Protect Rural England, branded the scheme an "environmental disaster."

Geoff Edwardes, Dart chairman, said: "These monstrosities will desecrate the World Heritage Coast and be seen all over Dorset. They will be next to the Purbeck Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and taller than Salisbury Cathedral.

"The wind in Dorset only blows 24 per cent of the time and because it is variable, you need a fossil fuel power station as a back-up - so you're not saving much carbon dioxide."

Infinergy insists the site is "ideal" as it has a "viable wind resource, is a brownfield site and able to supply much of the material needed during construction."

The maximum output would meet 16 to 20 per cent of the renewable energy target set for the county - 68-84 megawatts of electricity from renewable sources by 2010. The turbines would have a 25-year life-span.

The scheme has sparked the formation support group Say Yes to Wind Power, launched in Wareham on Saturday.

The public meeting is on March 31 from 7pm at the D'Urberville Hall, Wool.