The Government has announced changes to planning guidance in England which will make sure that local communities will be given more powers in order to block onshore wind farms - an announcement that comes in the same week that hosted World Environment Day.
Although the policy change could see local communities block wind farm development, measures to be introduced at the same time mean that accepting the wind farms could see a five-fold rise in benefits paid by developers to those communities. The increase will be from £1,000 per MW of installed capacity per year to £5,000 per MW per year, for the lifetime of the wind farm. If accepted, it will then be up to local communities and developers to decide how the money is spent.
Energy Secretary Edward Davey said, "It is important that onshore wind is developed in a way that is truly sustainable - economically, environmentally and socially - and today's announcement will ensure that communities see the windfall from hosting developments near to them, not just the wind farm".
However, Maria McCaffery, chief executive of trade association Renewable UK said, "Developing wind farms requires a significant amount of investment to be made upfront. Adding to this cost, by following the Government's advice that we should pay substantially more into community funds for future projects, will unfortunately make some planned wind energy developments uneconomic in England. That said, we recognise the need to ensure good practice across the industry and will continue to work with Government and local authorities to benefit communities right across the country which are hosting our clean energy future."
Although this announcement will be a relief for local communities, if more onshore wind farms are blocked then more questions may be raised as to how it could impact on the UK's legally binding targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
