The Secretary of State refused an application for a development consent order for the construction of a wind farm near a special protection area which supported breeding pairs of red kites.
She considered the importance of renewable energy from the wind farm against the protection of species under, at the time, the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations SI 2010/490. After deliberation on the lack of information provided by the developer the appeal was dismissed.
The developer appealed that decision, in the case of R (ota Mynnyd Y Gwynt Ltd) v Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, arguing the Secretary of State had erred in requiring certainty in relation to the information requested, instead of making a reasoned judgment on the available information. They also stated that she had reached an inconsistent conclusion about the level of risk to the red kite population compared to other wind farm proposals in the area.
Lord Justice Lewison stated the Secretary of State was not asking for absolute certainty about the red kite population but she did require clarity, a view that she was entitled to take.
He also pointed out that other wind farms in the area that had been granted development consent orders were so different from this case that they were not compatible to compare. This included the fact that two of those wind farms had no "connectivity" to the special protection area, unlike the current case.
The appeal was dismissed.
