Climate charity Possible, alongside more than a dozen other organizations, has expressed concerns regarding the recently amended provisions on onshore wind in the National Planning Policy Framework, suggesting that they still inhibit new projects from moving forward in England.
In a joint letter addressed to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), the coalition outlines apprehensions about the continued imposition of restrictive and unnecessary constraints on onshore wind projects under the new planning regime.
Although the government revised the national planning policy in September 2023 following public and political pressure to lift the ban on onshore wind, it has not resulted in a single new application for such projects in England.
Highlighting the failure of the ongoing ban to support the UK in meeting its crucial climate targets and addressing the persistently high cost of energy, the letter emphasizes the urgent need for a shift in policy to facilitate the development of onshore wind projects.
An informal survey conducted by Possible and Community Energy England in November among community energy organizations in England revealed skepticism about the effectiveness of the policy changes. Of the 16 organizations that responded, only one expressed confidence that the changes would enable the development of new wind projects.
Signatories of the letter include prominent organizations and coalitions such as Community Energy England, Uplift, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, Friends of the Earth, Sharenergy, Greenpeace UK, Regen, Fuel Poverty Action, Warm This Winter, and the RSPB.
Alethea Warrington, senior campaigner at Possible, remarked, “The government claims to have lifted the ban on new onshore wind in England, but six months later it’s clear that they’ve done no such thing. Not a single new project has come forward as a result of the minor tweaks made to a planning system which remains rigged against this clean, cheap and popular source of energy. It’s past time to truly lift the ban so that communities across the UK which want wind can get it, cutting energy bills and carbon emissions and helping to end reliance on expensive, volatile and dirty gas.”