Planning rules have been streamlined, meaning local areas in England will have a greater say in how onshore wind projects should be considered, ultimately resulting in electricity bill savings and increased national energy security, according to the UK government.

The new measures, which came into immediate effect, include broadening the ways that suitable locations can be identified, including by communities, and speeding up the process of allocating sites by giving alternatives to the local plan process. ‘This will ensure the whole community has a say, not just a small number of objectors – paving the way for more onshore wind projects to come online where they have community support,’ it said.

Communities backing local wind farms could also benefit from cheaper energy under proposals to incentivise more projects that were also announced. The government has consulted on proposals for improved benefits and rewards for communities backing onshore wind farms and will set out next steps this Autumn.

However, responding to the announced changes, RenewableUK’s Head of Onshore Wind James Robottom said: ‘The proposed changes don’t go far enough. We will still face a planning system stacked against onshore wind that treats it differently to every other energy source or infrastructure project. A lot will be open to interpretation and there are still hurdles to navigate which remain in place. There has been a slight softening at the edges but nothing more. As a result, we’re not going to see investment into new onshore wind at the scale needed to rapidly cut bills and boost energy security.’

Meanwhile, Energy UK’s Deputy Chief Executive Dhara Vyas agreed that the changes had not put onshore wind in the position where it is treated the same in the same way as other infrastructure planning applications, stating that: ‘Without that, this will represent a missed opportunity as developers will remain reluctant about committing the time and expense of putting forward new onshore projects knowing they still face a higher risk of being blocked.’

She added: ‘Onshore wind is amongst the cheapest forms of energy as well as one of the quickest to build. It should already be playing an important role as we look to rapidly expand sources of domestic, clean energy to bolster our energy security, cut bills and reduce our expensive dependence on fossil fuels.’

New UK Energy Secretary 
In other news, Claire Coutinho has replaced Grant Shapps as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s latest Cabinet reshuffle.

The move is seen as a major promotion for Coutinho, who has only been an MP since 2019 and, at 38, will be the youngest minister to sit at the Cabinet table. Her previous roles were Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Claire Courtinho, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Photo: No 10 Flickr