Planning Policy supports Local's say on windfarms

On the back of the Government’s manifesto promises to curtail onshore wind development and the recent announcement to end the renewables obligation subsidies early, the Government has now amended the National Planning Guidance. The amendments, in our opinion, will significantly limit any new planning permissions being granted for onshore wind. The Government promised a local veto, and although not precisely that, in effect, it amounts to such.

What the new guidance says is that unless a wind farm is allocated in a Local or Neighbourhood Plan it should not be granted planning permission. In assessing areas for new wind farms the views of the local community should be listened to and the proposals should have their backing. As predicted, it is not an absolute veto, and how could it have been. We predicted that it would be impossible to identify precisely which locals would have the final say but the Guidance says that the assessment of local views is a matter of judgement for the local authority. So in effect, if the proposal has been consulted upon and there is a reasonable level of objection, one would expect that the planning authority would refuse consent.

This is uncertain news for the wind industry and the guidance also treats large scale solar in a similar vein. A few difficult years may be ahead for the industry but once the Government have settled public opinion may turn back in favour of renewables and the industry will recover.