Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Deferred
Reclassify onshore wind projects as National Significant Infrastructure Projects if planning reforms fail.
Recommendation
We welcome the Government’s decision to review the National Planning Policy Framework but are concerned that the proposed changes do not go far enough to encourage the new onshore wind capacity the country needs. The planning system needs to give more weight to critical infrastructure, such as onshore wind, that is in the national interest. If the Government’s proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework do not result in a substantial increase in the amount of onshore wind development in England, we recommend that the Government brings onshore wind projects back under the regime for National Significant Infrastructure Projects, as we suggested in our report on the Revised (Draft) National Policy Statement for Energy. (Paragraph 78) 102 Decarbonisation of the power sector
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response details its £20bn investment in Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS), including selected projects and cluster sequencing, but does not address the recommendation regarding onshore wind planning or its classification as critical infrastructure.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
29. The Government believes that decisions on onshore wind sites are best made by local representatives who know their areas best and are democratically accountable to the local community. That is why government removed onshore wind from the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Planning process in 2016. 30. In order to give local authorities in England greater flexibility to respond to views of their communities when considering proposals for onshore wind, the Government announced on 6 December 2022 that we will consult on making changes to the National Planning Policy Framework. The consultation closed in March and the Government will respond in due course.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗