The Government is to take charge of reviewing residents’ appeals against wind farms, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has revealed
Mr Pickles is thought to be worried local councils are not enforcing new guidelines issued in July to ensure residents’ concerns about unsightly wind farms are taken in to account.
He has told local authorities his Whitehall department will now decide whether appeals by residents angry at new wind farms should be upheld rather than council planning inspectors.
In a written ministerial statement to MPs, he said: “I want to give particular scrutiny to planning appeals involving renewable energy developments so that I can consider the extent to which the new practice guidance is meeting the Government’s intentions.”
A source close to the department added: “Because it was guidance, it was perhaps not being followed as closely as it should have been.
“We are not going to be recovering all cases, but we are going to be keeping a really, really close eye on these (appeals) to make sure that the guidance is being properly followed and that the concerns of communities are being taken in to account.”
The Government issued new guidelines in July as there were concerns local councils were over-riding opposition from residents simply because new wind farms were environmentally friendly.
The new guidelines state that in fact this is not a reason to give the controversial sites planning permission. Mr Pickles’s department will now review all appeals for the next six months to see whether councils are simply ignoring Whitehall’s advice.
Ministers will also determine appeals against solar farms. But sources insist each case will be considered on its individual merits and there will not necessarily be more appeals upheld.
Wind farms are known to be a contentious issue between the Liberal Democrats and the Tories in coalition.
Many Conservative backbenchers, as well as some cabinet ministers, are opposed to onshore wind farms, which they say ruin the countryside, while the Liberal Democrats are in favour of environmentally friendly sources of energy.
In August, there were reports the Lib Dem Energy Secretary Ed Davey had blocked a report from the department of Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, which apparently exposed short-comings in his energy strategy.
