A number of surveys are to commence later this month for the proposed onshore windfarms in the south of the island.

Last month the southern site, Earystane and Scard, was chosen as the preferred site for Manx Utilities (MUA) windfarm, which is now in its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) stage.

To support the EIA, MUA consultants Wardell Armstrong has now commissioned a range of surveys to take place in the latter half of November and early December.

MUA has said some surveys are weather dependent and therefore it is not possible to be date specific.

Castletown Bay is set to undertake a bathymetric survey, which involved scanning the seabed which aims to aid the design and specification of a landing craft should one be needed to bring turbines ashore.

An intertidal survey will also take place, which involves surveyors walking on the intertideal areas to collect samples of sand which informs the marine preliminary ecological appraisal, should a beach landing be required at Castletown.

Surveyors will also walk the transport routes in the preliminary ecological appraisal to record and map broad habitat types and dominant plant species along the two potential routes to the Southern site, from Douglas Port and Castletown Beach.

Preliminary site investigation will test ground conditions, with contractors using a small sample drilling rig.

An acoustic survey using noise emission data has already been in place, and is set to be removed November 10 as work has been fully completed.