Infrastructure Planning Commission dissolved – What’s a wind farm developer to do?

News released last week confirmed the Coalition Government will dissolve the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) as part of new reforms.

The IPC was established to speed up planning decisions on major infrastructure projects. This included renewable forms of energy generation, including onshore and offshore wind farms, due to take over from aging nuclear and coal power stations in 2020 and avoid the ‘energy gap’.

A total of 34 projects were due to be considered by the IPC, with wind farms at Galloper and Atlantic Array included alongside extensions to existing facilities Burbo Bank and Walney wind farm.

It is still unclear what system will replace the IPC, or if a new organisation will improve the speed of planning applications for wind farms in the UK. The average application currently takes 26 months to be approved. We believe a more reasonable time frame would be four months (16 weeks).  Around 75% of major planning applications, such as those for supermarkets, housing estates and roads, are approved within a 16 week time frame.

Whatever new body or process is put in place, it is vital that the emphasis be on swift and timely decision making on proposed wind farm developments. A large proportion of planning applications for wind farms are rejected at the local level, largely due to the misconception local residents are opposed to wind farms in their area.

The WIMBY campaign allows those in support of wind farms to lobby local MPs and encourage support of proposed wind farms in their area. To register, visit our homepage www.embracemyplanet.com and click on the green and pink buttons.

You can also keep up to date with the latest onshore wind developments on this blog, by becoming a fan on Facebook (facebook.com/embracemyplanet) or following us on Twitter (twitter.com/embracemyplanet).

Source: http://newenergyfocus.com/do/ecco/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=32&listitemid=3960&section=Policy