Onshore wind: Government could make planning rule changes to encourage more onshore wind farms

The Government announced earlier this month it had relaxed restrictions – described by many as a “de facto ban” – to make it easier for developers to gain planning permission when they can “demonstrate local support and address planning impacts identified by the community”.

According to the Government, the move will “ensure the whole community has a say, not just a small number of objectors”.

However, renewable energy firms said they will still be hesitant about investing in onshore wind farms, as they are concerned applications could be easily blocked by local objectors.

During a visit to the University of Leeds yesterday, Mr Stuart told the Yorkshire Post the new planning rules are designed to “make it easier” for energy firms to build onshore wind farms but “the proof will be in the pudding”.

“We want to see more onshore wind where communities want it,” he said. “If further change is necessary in order to facilitate onshore wind – going with the grain of local communities – then we will be open to it because onshore wind has a big part to play in delivering net zero at the lowest possible cost,” the Beverley and Holderness MP said.

It comes as the Government is aiming to completely decarbonise the UK’s electricity system within 12 years. It is looking to phase out gas-fired power stations in favour of wind, solar and nuclear power.

Wind generated more than a quarter (26.8 per cent) of the UK’s electricity last year – but most of that came from turbines built offshore – and gas was the largest source of power (38.6 per cent).

After the new planning rules were announced, Renewable UK, a trade association that represents green energy firms, warned “the investment risk is still very high” as there is “a lot of ambiguity”.

Banks Renewables, which operates four wind farms in Yorkshire, said they should be “treated no differently to any other infrastructure” by the planning process.

Under the old rules, introduced in 2015, companies could only apply to build wind farms in England on land specifically identified for these developments in a council’s local plan.

More than 430 turbines were permitted to be built on 108 sites in England over a four-year period before they were introduced. Just 16 were built on seven sites over the following four years.

Labour proposed an amendment to the Energy Bill earlier this month, which would have ensured that onshore wind farms could proceed on the same basis as other local infrastructure projects, but MPs voted to reject it by 310 to 188.