Village councils forced to approve more wind and solar farms under new planning rules

Rural councils across England will have to approve a major increase in the number of wind and solar farms under a new set of planning rules introduced by Housing Secretary Angela Rayner.

The changes, set out in draft planning documents from the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, aim to accelerate the UK’s transition to green energy and achieve net zero emissions targets.

Under the revised National Planning Policy Framework, local authorities must actively support projects that contribute to renewable and low-carbon energy production. This change means that councils that reject such proposals will be at risk of costly legal challenges, which developers are likely to win, making it increasingly difficult for local authorities to block these investments.

The changes follow Scotland’s recent approval of the UK’s tallest wind turbines, standing at over 823ft tall, and Labour’s decision to lift a ban on onshore wind farms in England. The new rules will require councils to identify suitable areas for renewable energy projects as part of their local plans and extend their responsibility to approve projects generating up to 100 megawatts – double the current limit.

While the guidelines still allow councillors on planning committees to reject projects, any rejections are expected to be challenged and possibly overturned on appeal. The initiative is part of a broader effort to remove bottlenecks in the approval process, which previously required national oversight of projects larger than 50 megawatts.

The changes to Angela Rayner’s plans are expected to lay the groundwork for the construction of large-scale wind farms across England, similar to those already built in Scotland and Wales, but with the potential to use much larger machines than before.

Rayner’s spokesman stressed the importance of community engagement in renewable projects, saying local areas would benefit from hosting such infrastructure. However, legal experts such as Mustafa Latif-Aramesh of BDB Pitmans have said the changes will make it much harder for councils to reject wind and solar proposals, strengthening the UK’s energy resilience.

Advocacy groups such as Britain Remade have argued that the government should go further in easing planning restrictions, suggesting that vast swaths of the English countryside should be automatically deemed suitable for renewable energy projects in order to streamline the approval process. They suggest prioritising sites close to grid connections, population centres and lower-grade agricultural land, with Lincolnshire being cited as a prime example.

Despite the push for renewable energy, some areas, including national parks and sites of special scientific interest, will retain protection from large-scale development. Organisations such as Natural England are working to expand these protected areas to protect sensitive landscapes from the predicted increase in renewable energy projects.

Environmental groups, while supportive of the green energy transition, have called for careful consideration of the impact on landscapes and wildlife. Kathryn Brown of The Wildlife Trusts highlighted the need to build renewable infrastructure in a way that avoids unnecessary harm to nature, reflecting the wider belief that the pursuit of net zero emissions must be balanced against protecting the environment.