Sunak forced to ditch onshore wind ban

In a last-minute bid to stave off a backbench rebellion this evening, Rishi Sunak has declared an end to the de facto ban on onshore wind in England.

Since 2015, there’s been an effective moratorium on the construction of new onshore wind farms thanks to a rule that allows a single local objector to block an entire project from going ahead.

Tory green rebels – MPs who are particularly pro-net zero – had threatened to team up with the opposition parties demanding that onshore wind be treated just like any other renewables project. This would have made local opposition far more difficult.

Sunak has been forced to find a compromise. He sought to water down planning restrictions with some careful re-phrasing. Now, councils will no longer have to demonstrate that they have “fully addressed” local residents’ concerns, rather that they have addressed them as “fully as possible”. In other words, onshore wind constructions will require local support as opposed to unanimous agreement. 

These new planning rules are expected to come into immediate effect and reports suggest developers are poised to revive up to 50 rejected bids to build wind farms as a result. 

Sunak has been forced to act ahead of the vote in the Commons tonight on his Energy Bill. Sir Alok Sharma, the former COP26 president, had tabled an amendment to the bill to rip up the old planning rules, which gained public backing from 24 pro-onshore wind MPs, including Liz Truss. 

Chris Skidmore, another Tory MP in favour of relaxing planning rules, insists there’s been “a sea change in public opinion” in England with over 60 per cent of the population now in favour of onshore wind. And, unlike a policy such as Ulez, this is a clear instance in which there is no conflict between cost of living and environmental issues, he argues, since failure to introduce more wind energy has actually pushed household bills up. 

Yet doubt remains over how much today’s policy change will really shift the UK’s energy mix.

While lone objectors may be overruled, the exact mechanism for measuring local support is yet to be determined. And some say the proposed changes won’t go far enough to instil confidence in onshore wind farm investors, since the planning system is still stacked against their construction. 

“If, as we’re told, applications for windmills will be decided at local level, not much is going to change,” warns Reaction columnist Neil Collins. “As with new houses, we’re all in favour on them, just not near us.”

Reaction’s energy specialist, Giga Watt, supports onshore wind in theory: “If local wind turbines can help communities reduce their energy bills and reduce their energy consumption, then I’m all for it!”.

Yet he wonders if the focus on onshore wind is a distraction. 

Britain is a world leader in offshore wind, with turbines in the sea generating enough power to meet the electricity needs of 41 per cent of the nation’s homes last year. And this, he argues, is what we should continue to focus on. 

“The point about wind power is that you have to place turbines is places where – guess what – it’s windy and that doesn’t apply to that many places in the UK. The most consistently windy places are, surprise surprise, next to the sea.”

There is also much more space in the sea, he points out.  

“If people want to build onshore wind turbines in their local area, they should be able to do so,” says Giga Watt. “My only advice to them would be to make sure it’s windy where they are.”

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