The Labour Party has dropped the effective ban on onshore windfarms.
Previously two footnotes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the rules which govern the building of homes and infrastructure, required strong proof that there was no local opposition to building turbines, which meant getting them up and running was near-impossible.
Rachel Reeves, Chancellor, said: “We are ending the absurd ban on new onshore wind in England.
“We must acknowledge that trade-offs always exist. Any development may have environmental consequences, place pressure on services and rouse voices of local opposition, but we will not succumb to a status quo which responds to the existence of trade-offs by always saying no.”
Labour added that it would explore whether to class onshore wind as a nationally significant infrastructure. If that move goes through large farms could get planning approval more quickly.
The party has committed to doubling onshore wind energy by 2030.
The rules which encouraged this Nimbyism were introduced by former Prime Minister David Cameron’s government in 2015.
Owing to these restrictions, Ukraine has been able to install 12 times more onshore wind energy capacity than England since the war broke out with Russia.
Ed Miliband, the newly appointed energy security and net zero secretary, said: “This government was elected with a mandate to take immediate action to boost Britain’s energy independence. The onshore wind ban is a symbol of how bad decisions in the last 14 years have put up energy bills for families. Today, it ends.”
