A de facto ban on new offshore wind farms has been dropped by the Labor government, to the delight of environmentalists and energy experts.
The ban was caused by two footnotes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the rules that govern house building and infrastructure.
These footnotes applied only to onshore wind power and no other type of infrastructure, and required such strong evidence that there was no opposition on site that they made it impossible to build turbines, as there is almost always some local opposition to any proposed construction.
In the new draft NPPF, these footnotes have been dropped entirely, meaning that onshore wind projects are now on a par with all other forms of infrastructure. The change, which will take effect immediately, will be confirmed by parliament on July 18 after the Chamber of Deputies reconvenes.
Labor also announced on Monday that it would go a step further and consult on whether to designate large wind farms as nationally significant infrastructure projects, meaning they would be signed off by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and local councils would have no say.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in a speech on Monday that she would end “absurd” restrictions on new wind farms, saying decisions should be made at national level, not local level.
In a policy statement, officials wrote: “Delivering on our clean energy mission will help boost Britain’s energy independence, save money on energy bills, support high-skilled jobs and tackle the climate crisis.
“We are therefore committed to doubling onshore wind by 2030. This means immediately removing the de facto ban on offshore wind in England that has been in place since 2015. We are revising planning policy to put onshore wind on a par with other energy developments in England. National Planning Policy Framework.”
Last September, Michael Gove, then the Communities Secretary, said the ban would be lifted. Rules introduced by David Cameron in 2015 stated that a single planning objection could kill an offshore wind farm project. However, the offending paragraphs in the NPPF memo remained, making construction of new projects almost impossible. An analysis of the government’s renewable energy planning database found that no applications for new onshore wind projects were submitted following Gove’s announcement.
An end to the ban was promised in Labour’s election manifesto and championed by Miliband when he was shadow energy secretary, but campaigners were surprised by the speed with which it was introduced.
Mike Childs, head of science, policy and research at Friends of the Earth, said: “By ending the ban on onshore wind in England, Labor is taking an important step towards meeting our climate targets while paving the way for lower bills. because renewables produce some of the cheapest and cleanest energy available.
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“In April, research by Friends of the Earth found that using less than 3% of England’s land for onshore wind and solar could produce 13 times more clean energy than is produced now – enough to power all homes in England twice as much. By harnessing the country’s huge renewable energy potential, the new government is positioning itself as a global leader in the green energy transition.
Sam Richards, chief executive of growth campaign group Britain Remade and former No 10 environment adviser, said: “The only way we will see the growth Britain desperately needs is if we make it much easier to build homes and the new sources of clean energy needed to achieve pure zeros.
“Labor promised during the election to fix our outdated and sclerotic planning system to do just that, and with this speech the new Chancellor is hitting the ground running.” The lifting of the ban on new offshore wind farms in England is something Remade Britain has campaigned for since we started, so I’m delighted that Rachel Reeves has dropped the ban so soon after the election.
Dr Doug Parr, Chief Scientist at Greenpeace, said: “As the recent gas price crisis shows, this ban has been self-defeating in terms of energy security, costly and a lost opportunity to reduce emissions. An end to the ban is long overdue.”