Onshore Wind in England: an easy digest briefing on the latest proposed policy changes and reaction

The Government yesterday announced that it had made amendments to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to ease, if not repeal, an effective ban on new onshore wind farms in England.[1]

The decision, made in response to a threatened rebellion of around 25 Conservative backbench MPs, will give local authorities increased flexibility in their ability to allocate land for onshore wind developments, but is unlikely to significantly alter the developmental landscape for onshore wind in England.

Former COP26 president Sir Alok Sharma, who orchestrated the rebellion, welcomed the move towards ‘a more permissive planning system’ and concluded that the ‘de facto ban is lifted’.[2]

The proposals

The Government has cast its decision as a streamlining of planning laws, which, in giving local communities the ability to identify and allocate land for the development of wind turbines, would result in ‘electricity bill savings and increased national energy security.’

In practice, the measures will allow sites for windfarms to be identified and secured without first being assessed and included in the local authority’s local development plan. Instead, wind turbines can now be built through Local Development Orders and Community Right to Build Orders. Local councillors in planning committee will continue to decide whether the proposals receive consent and approval will rest on whether local support can be evidenced. This puts the onus on groups of citizens, councillors, or a mixture of both, to proactively bring forward land for wind developers. As an incentive, the Government has hinted that local communities which hosted windfarms ‘could also benefit from cheaper energy’, with an announcement due this Autumn.

In her first written comments since becoming Energy Secretary and Net Zero Secretary, Claire Coutinho described the Energy Bill (now in its final stage in the House of Commons), as ‘the most significant piece of energy legislation in a generation’ which would provide ‘a cleaner, cheaper and more secure energy system’.

Commenting on the decision to support communities which bring forward proposals for onshore wind, Coutinho noted: ‘Onshore wind also has a key role to play and these changes will help speed up the delivery of projects where local communities want them.’

A wider response on the proposed changes to the NPPF would, the Government confirmed, be outlined later this year.

Significance

The Government’s changes do, therefore, mark a shift from the previous rules introduced by David Cameron in 2015, which meant that, in effect, one objection from one individual in a surrounding community could block the development entirely.

Nevertheless, as developers, industry leaders, and some politicians have pointed out, the change does not fundamentally resolve the asymmetry at the core of the government’s planning policy – that onshore wind is treated differently to other comparable forms of energy generation. Large-scale solar farms can apply for a Development Consent order; onshore windfarms cannot.

RenewableUK’s Head of Onshore Wind, James Robottom, noted that the changes were a ‘missed opportunity’, casting doubt on whether the move would significantly increase onshore wind deployment in England.[3]

‘A lot will be open to interpretation and there are still hurdles to navigate which remain in place. There has been a slight softening at the edges but nothing more.’

Robottom concluded that, between rebellious Conservative backbenchers and opposition parties in favour of onshore wind, there exists an ‘emerging cross-party consensus’ in favour of liberalised planning laws for renewable energy generation.

Nevertheless, with the Energy Bill due to receive Royal Assent in the coming weeks, thereby reducing parliamentary time for deliberations around energy policy, and with both parties gearing up for months of pre-election campaigning, the scope for bipartisan consensus might be limited.

For his part, Shadow Climate Change and Net Zero Secretary, Ed Miliband, dismissed the move as lacklustre and pledged that a Labour government would ‘end the ban’[4] and ‘reindustrialise Britain with good jobs in the green industries of the future’.[5]

Consequently, whilst the Government’s changes to the NPPF might be welcomed as a first step towards planning equity, there are unlikely to be significant changes to the onshore wind consenting process until after the next general election.

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Appendix

The updated National Planning Policy Framework statement now reads: ‘Except for applications for the repowering and life extension of existing wind turbines, a planning application for wind energy development involving one or more turbines should not be considered acceptable unless it is in an area identified as suitable for wind energy development in the development plan or a supplementary planning document; and, after consultation, it can be demonstrated that the planning impacts identified by the affected local community have been appropriately addressed and the proposal has community support.’[6]

[1] Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Local areas supported to progress onshore windfarms, 5 September 2023, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/local-areas-supported-to-progress-onshore-windfarms

[2] BBC News, Rishi Sunak eases onshore wind farm rules as Tory MPs threaten revolt, 5 September 2023, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66715141

[3] RenewableUK, Government’s policy changes do not go far enough to bring back onshore wind in England, 5 September 2023, https://www.renewableuk.com/news/news.asp?id=650694

[4] Twitter, Ed Miliband, https://twitter.com/Ed_Miliband/status/1699160568983421055

[5] Twitter, Ed Miliband, https://twitter.com/Ed_Miliband/status/1699123348087722204

[6] The Guardian, Helena Horton, Gove may be lifting England onshore ban, but wind still faces hurdles, 5 September 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/05/michael-gove-lifting-england-onshore-ban-wind-energy-faces-hurdles