Recommendation 43

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted

We acknowledge the Committee’s concerns and recognise that views on mitigating wake effects vary across the offshore wind sector. The perspective shared with the Committee reflects some developers’ views but not an industry consensus. Our discussions with a broad range of developers suggest general agreement that mitigating wake effects is challenging without reducing overall energy output. The Committee noted a lack of clarity in the wording requiring developers to take “all reasonable steps to minimise” wake effects “as far as possible”. In response, we have revised the paragraph to state: “Applicants should demonstrate they have made reasonable endeavours to mitigate the impact of wake effects on other offshore wind generating stations.” 45. We are concerned that a lack of clear guidance is leading to unnecessary arguments about food security taking up disproportionate time and resources during examinations. We are concerned that the current guidance on agricultural land classification and land type for solar farms, in paragraphs 2.10.20 to 2.10.26 of EN-3, is ambiguous, equivocal and seemingly contradictory, particularly in relation to development on BMV agricultural land. There is a compelling need for the National Policy Statements to contain an unequivocal and evidence-based statement of policy in relation to this issue, including the circumstances where BMV agricultural land should or should not be available for development. The NPS already reflects the existing approach in planning policy, which discourages the use of BMV land unless there is an overriding need. It ensures that developers must demonstrate consideration of alternative sites and explain why BMV land is being used, if applicable. The NPS supports planning decisions that consider impacts on food production—while acknowledging that meeting energy security and climate change goals is urgent and of critical importance to the country, and that these goals can be achieved together with maintaining food security for the UK. Government analysis confirms that even in the most ambitious deployment scenarios, the area required for solar projects is very small. The Solar Roadmap sets out how much land we expect to be taken up by solar farms as part of our Clean Power 2030 commitment. Even in ambitious scenarios, we only expect up to 0.4% of total UK land to be occupied. Well-managed solar farms can also coexist with agricultural activity (e.g. grazing and agrivoltaics). Therefore, additional restrictions are not required. Retaining flexibility allows for the balanced delivery of food and energy security. 46. The government should review and amend this guidance to: