Winds of change force mills on countryside
Planning chiefs have been stripped of crucial powers to stop wind farms from being built.
Critics say that the developments have ruined beautiful landscapes but new planning guidance removes the right of councils to question whether wind farms should be built and where they should go.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change edict has infuriated campaigners and the Tories.
Shadow Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles accused Labour of “fiddling” the rules to prevent residents from having their say on “ugly on-shore wind farms”.
He said: “We need to generate more renewable energy, especially from microgeneration like solar panels on PLANS to ensure that all newly built houses are “zero carbon” within a decade are in tatters after it emerged that only 15 such properties have been built in the past year.
Labour has pledged that two million eco-friendly homes will be built in the next decade.
But at that rate, critics claim, it would take 130,000 years to reach their zero carbon targets. roofs, but local councils are best placed to decide what fits in their community.”
Paul Miner, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “Wind turbines make a significant impact on the appearance of landscapes and we think it’s important that where applications are proposed for major new wind farms developers should be expected to demonstrate that it is the least harmful of locations.”
The new guidance is included in Labour’s Planning Policy Statement on climate change.
In a written parliamentary answer, climate change minister Iain Wright said: “The PPS advises planning authorities that they should not require applicants to demonstrate the overall need for renewable energy because new renewable energy projects provide crucial national benefits.”
He also admitted that planning rules had been changed to smooth the way for a major expansion in wind farms, even though new Department of Energy figures reveal that wind-powered electricity is the most expensive to generate.
In the next five years energy companies want to put up at least 3,000 turbines that are more than 400ft tall.
By Kirsty Buchanan
Whitehall Editor
Daily Express Weekend
16 November 2008
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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