Government moves to formalise community consultation by onshore wind developers

The announcement on changes to the current regime includes a proposal to increase the value of benefits paid by developers to communities for those projects that go ahead.

The changes announced are part of the Government's plan to create a more locally-led planning system. The Government has also pledged to help local people gain the skills they need to engage more confidently with developers, while the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will publish developer guidance outlining the higher standards expected in relation to their engagement with communities.

Energy Minister Michael Fallon said that the Government was "putting local people at the heart of decision making" about onshore wind projects.

"We are changing the balance to ensure that they are consulted earlier and have more say against poorly-sited or inadequately justified turbines," he said. "When new turbines are agreed, we will ensure that they are developed in a way that benefits the local community, such as through cheaper energy bills."

The new regime will be developed over the next 12 months in collaboration with communities and the onshore wind industry, the Government said.

The announcements come as part of the Government's response to its consultation on community engagement with the onshore wind planning process, which ran last year. The Government will also provide £15 million in loans and grants to rural community-owned renewable energy projects through a Rural Community Energy Fund, and has  issued a call for evidence to inform the publication of a new Community Energy Strategy. The strategy, which is intended to encourage greater community ownership of renewable energy projects, is due to be published this autumn.

The Government has indicated that under the new regime, pre-application consultation with local communities will be made compulsory for  "more significant" onshore wind applications, bringing these into line with the national infrastructure planning regime under the Planning Act 2008. The Government has not yet defined what counts as a "more significant" project, but will provide guidance to the Planning Inspectorate and local councils shortly. Alongside this, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) will produce new planning guidance which will make it clear that "the need for renewable energy does not automatically override environmental protections and the planning concerns of local communities".

The renewable energy industry has also agreed in principle to revise its voluntary Community Benefit Protocol by the end of the year. It will increase the recommended community benefit package for projects in England from £1,000/MW of installed capacity per year over the lifetime of the windfarm, to £5,000/MW per year. According to industry body RenewableUK, this would provide a benefit of £100,000 per year, or up to £400 a year off each household's energy bill, for communities which agree to a medium-sized 20MW wind farm.

Energy and planning expert Jennifer Holgate of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that it is standard practice for developers of medium to large onshore wind farms to undertake pre-application consultion with communities in relation to new projects through public exhibitions, online survey work and local meetings. Consultation is compulsory for projects over 50MW in capacity, and for projects over 20MW in Scotland, she said.

"We will not necessarily see a 'step change' in the pre-consultation practice already undertaken by many developers, but it will be important to see how prescriptive the consultation requirements will be in the secondary legislation needed to make the changes being proposed and any supporting guidance," she said.

"The new requirements for consultation are coupled with DCLG's announcement that new planning practice guidance will also be issued to assist local councils and planning inspectors in their consideration of Local Plan policies for onshore wind and individual planning applications for onshore wind developments. The points to be covered seem to be a re-statement and re-emphasis of existing policy but, again, it will be important to see the detail contained in the new guidance which is expected to be issued in July," she said.

The changes to the planning regime would complement the proposals for changes to the community benefit regime, she said. Although these payments are not material to the planning decision-making process itself, they are an important means of engagement with local communities by developers, she said.

"Although the current protocol specifies a recommended payment of £1,000 per megawatt, larger sums are often agreed," she said. "The £5,000 per megawatt sum has been promoted by a number of local authorities and public bodies in Scotland and is described as a benchmark in the current consultation draft Scottish Planning Policy, but it is necessary to ensure that any payments being considered are proportionate and reasonable to the size of the development and any benefits agreed are delivered in a way which meets the needs of local communities."

The Government has also confirmed that it will not be introducing further cuts to the support available to developers of onshore wind projects under the Renewables Obligation (RO), following consideration of the latest cost evidence. Support for onshore wind was cut by 10% from April as part of last year's banding review. However, at the time the Government said that it would only guarantee that level of support until 2014. Onshore wind projects will now be guaranteed support at 0.9 ROCs/MW until the RO is replaced by the planned new incentive system established by the Energy Bill.

Renewable energy expert Nicholas Shenken of Pinsent Masons said that the announcement would provide some "welcome clarity" to developers.

"We have continued to see transactions where price negotiations have been affected by debates around whether projects would be accredited ahead of or after any additional banding review and so some certainty that those projects will now qualify for support at 0.9 ROCs ought to assist," he said.

"While there has been no formal confirmation from the Scottish Government, their position has always been that they would only look at a further review if there was compelling evidence to make that necessary and the statement from DECC indicates that there isn't any. Scottish projects should therefore also continue to benefit from support at the existing rate," he said.