Government moves to slash planning red tape for onsite renewables

Businesses, public sector bodies and home owners could soon find it significantly easier to install renewable energy devices on their buildings, under proposed government reforms that would see large numbers of low carbon technologies exempted from having to apply for planning permission.

The proposals, which were released today for consultation, would provide a major boost for the UK's emerging micro-renewables industry, effectively lowering or removing planning barriers for solar panels, small scale wind turbines, air source heat pumps, biomass technologies and anaerobic digestors.

"The people who want to greenproof their homes should get a helping hand, not a stop sign," said Housing Minister, John Healey. "Our planning rules need to catch up with changing technologies and allow people to take the small measures that make big differences. Not only could this save up to hundreds of pounds in fuel bills, they will also help the environment."

Under the proposals, businesses, homeowners and public buildings will receive clear guidance on which renewable energy technologies will be permitted in which locations without the need for planning permission.

Healy said that strong safeguards would be retained in relation to noise levels, size, location and the potential visual impact of a development on an area, in order to ensure new renewable energy devices do not become a "nuisance ".

For example, the limitations for the size of wind turbine that can be installed without planning permission will be lower for domestic properties than it will be for industrial estates or agricultural areas where turbines that are up to 15 metres tall will be allowed.

Energy Minister, Lord Hunt, said that with the government poised to launch its clean energy cashback feed in tariff scheme next year it was vital to reform the planning system to ensure that those businesses and households that are keen to generate revenue by selling energy back to the grid can do so.

"We can't allow the planning system to get in the way of tackling climate change," he observed. "We've already had an overhaul of the planning system for big energy projects and now we're working on the smaller scale. Small scale renewable generation will contribute to us meeting our renewable energy target for 2020 and making sure we cut our carbon emissions."

The move was broadly welcomed by the renewable energy, but experts warned that take up of small scale renewable energy systems will struggle to take off unless the government increases the tariffs that it is currently proposing to make available through its cashback scheme.

"Amending planning controls to make it easier for small-scale renewable energy systems to be installed should encourage more people to play their part in developing a greener future," said Friends of the Earth's Executive Director Andy Atkins. "But these schemes would be given an even bigger boost if the Government improved on its plans to introduce a feed-in tariff next year - homes, businesses and communities must be paid more generously than currently intended for the green energy they generate."

According to industry experts, the tariffs currently proposed by the government are significantly lower than those which helped to stimulate Germany's renewable energy sector and as a result it is expected that many businesses in particular will continue to postpone investments in renewable energy systems.

The solar energy industry is currently staging a campaign, We Support Solar, calling for an increase in the proposed tariffs, which it argues would significantly increase the take up of microgeneration technologies.