Ban on Onshore Wind in England is Lifted

Onshore wind update

On 8 July 2024, the new Labour Government published a policy statement lifting the "ban" on onshore wind that had been in place in England since 2015.  The policy statement accompanied the Chancellor Rachel Reeves' inaugural speech which placed planning reform at the heart of her plans for economic growth.

Today's policy statement is a clear, no-nonsense statement and is exactly what the industry has been calling for. Its publication makes a mockery of the previous government's claims to have lifted the ban in September 2023 (see our previous post here).

Since 2015, the national planning policy framework (NPPF) had include two additional policy tests contained in footnotes 57 and 58 applying to onshore wind only. Together, they said that onshore wind proposals could only be considered acceptable if (1) proposals were allocated in local policy or through development orders, and (2) proposals had community support.  These set a higher bar for onshore wind proposals than other renewables projects and acted as an effective moratorium.

The policy statement published today:

• explains that Labour is committed to doubling onshore wind energy by 2030 to support energy independence, reducing energy bills, providing jobs and tackling climate change;
• disapplies the policy tests in footnotes 57 and 58 of the NPPF to put onshore wind on the same footing as other forms of renewable energy development in terms of planning policy;
• confirms that the position will be confirmed to Parliament on 18 July following the state opening and will be reflected in a forthcoming NPPF update (which will set out wider changes to support renewables development);
• notifies of an intention to consult in future on proposals to being onshore wind back into the nationally significant infrastructure planning (NSIP) regime which will necessitate an updated National Policy Statements and Community Benefits Protocol for Onshore Wind.

This is a strong signal from Government. The policy statement today won't result in an uncontrolled rush of onshore windfarms because planning applications still need to get through the system in the usual way but the Chancellor's objective is to prevent the planning system acting as a de factobarrier to development that supports energy security and addresses climate change.

The consultation on the NPPF update is promised before the end of the month. This is likely to include a range of wider reforms in addition to the onshore wind proposals.  Other initiatives mentioned by the Chancellor to support energy projects included giving priority to energy projects (presumably via some form of fast-tracked process), building a spatial plan for Energy and having an interventionist approach to call-in powers.  All of this indicates a desire to make the existing system work coherently and strategically which will come as a relief to many. 

For now, all onshore wind projects in England remain in the ordinary planning system, where applications are determined by local planning authorities. Going forwards, larger onshore wind projects may be brought back into the NSIP regime, but this will take longer as it will require an update to the relevant National Policy Statements (which are less flexible than the NPPF) and accompanying legislation. This would likely proceed in tandem with wider NSIP reforms.

Authors: Charlie Reid, Partner