Prescott proposes stupidity awards for wind farm 'nimbys'

Local planning committees who oppose the construction of windfarms on aesthetic grounds should be given "stupid awards", according to former deputy prime minister John Prescott.

Prescott was speaking as rapportuer of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's (PACE) Committee at today's launch of New Earth Deal, a campaign by PACE to put pressure on negotiators at the up-coming Copenhagen meeting in December to deliver a "just" agreement.

He singled out planning committees in Bedford and the Isle of Wight as potential winners of the Age of Stupid awards, named after the hard-hitting environmental film which depicts an Earth devastated by climate change in the year 2055.

"They are stupid nimbys," said Prescott. "I hope they get upset about it."

His comments are bound to be welcomed by energy developers who have long argued that Britain's arcane planning procedures and the local committees that administer planning applications are one of the main barriers to the roll out of renewable and nuclear energy plants.

The film, which features the protestors against a proposed wind farm near Bedford, is being shown in schools and universities as part of the New Earth Deal campaign.

The campaign will also see PACE lobby negotiators from rich nations to end the deadlock that has so far characterised the Copenhagen talks by agreeing to take on a greater share of the burden of tackling climate change.

"The climate change we're experiencing across the world has been caused by the developed countries," said Prescott. "They must now recognise the central principle that the polluter pays."

He proposed a deal based on the so-called contraction and convergence model where countries move to equalise carbon emissions per capita across developed and developing nations, allowing developing countries to grow their emissions while severely reducing that of developed nations.

"This is the only way we will get everyone to agree," he said. "We believe that any deal negotiated must consider the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Social justice and the reduction poverty must be at the very heart of any agreement."

This principle translates down to local level where planning committees should not be allowed to veto critical alternative energy developments on purely aesthetic grounds, argued Prescott.