Rishi Sunak U-turns on onshore wind farms after backbench rebellion led by Boris Johnson and Liz Truss
6 December 2022, 19:08
The UK may build more wind farms on land after the government bowed to a rebellion led by former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
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Under the new government plans, planning permission for onshore wind farms would depend on demonstrating local support and "appropriately" addressing any impacts identified by the community, the department for levelling up, housing and communities (DLUHC) said.
The move goes against a pledge in Mr Sunak's failed first campaign for the Conservative leadership this summer.
His predecessor and opponent in the initial race Liz Truss and her predecessor Mr Johnson both opposed the ban, which has been in place since 2015.
Both ex-premiers signed an amendment to the Government's Levelling Up Bill tabled by Simon Clarke, who served as a minister in each of their administrations, to allow the development of onshore wind.
Ms Truss moved to relax planning rules during her short tenure at No 10, but Mr Johnson did not seek to overturn the ban, which has been in place since 2015, when he was in office.
His energy security strategy did, however, raise the prospect of lowering energy bills or providing other benefits for a "limited number of supportive communities who wish to host new onshore wind infrastructure".
Mr Clarke said on Tuesday: "I am delighted that the government has come forward with what is a really sensible package designed to return decisions about new onshore wind to local communities.
"Poll after poll shows this is what people want to happen. What I and fellow Conservative MPs have said is simply that communities ought to be able to make this decision for themselves, rather than have Whitehall rule it out.
"Onshore wind is the cheapest form of energy bar none and it has an important role to play as part of our future energy mix, alongside oil and gas, offshore wind, solar and nuclear.
"Unlocking its potential will strengthen our domestic energy security and help us to deliver our climate commitments in the fight against climate change."
Calls to end the ban on new onshore wind farms have grown amid efforts to secure the UK's energy independence as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has squeezed supplies.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has vowed that a Labour government would scrap the planning ban
In a statement, the DLUHC said: "The Government commits to launching a technical consultation to explore how local authorities demonstrate local support and respond to views of their communities when considering onshore wind development in England.
This caller gets passionate in lambasting the 'muppets' who are against wind turbines.
"Decisions on onshore wind sites will continue to be made at a local level as these are best made by local representatives who know their areas best and are democratically accountable to the local community.
"To deliver a more localist approach, and its commitments in the British Energy Security Strategy, the Government will consult on proposed changes to national planning policy. This follows positive engagement with MPs.
"Under the proposals, planning permission would be dependent on a project being able to demonstrate local support and appropriately address any impacts identified by the local community.
This caller makes his plea for the government to 'never invest in wind turbines'.
"Local authorities would also have to demonstrate their support for certain areas as being suitable for onshore wind, moving away from rigid requirements for sites to be designated in local plans."
The latest policy change comes just a day after Mr Sunak's government scrapped plans for mandatory housebuilding targets after another backbench rebellion.
