Lotus wind turbines blocked in "worst example" of planning barriers

Plans for three wind turbines at car manufacturer Lotus' facility in Norfolk have been put on hold after the proposals were rejected by a local planning committee in a move that the company behind the turbines described as the " worst example yet of a planning system that is not fit for purpose".

The planning application for three 2MW turbines, capable of providing power for the Lotus facility as well as approximately 1,000 local homes, had previously been rejected by the committee on the basis of "visual intrusiveness" and objections from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

However, Lotus had been confident that the second application would be granted approval after the MoD dropped its objections and the official planning officer's report recommended the proposals be given the go ahead. The report claimed that "while I fully appreciate Members' concerns as expressed in the refusal of the previous application I don't consider that a refusal on visual intrusion could be sustained at appeal".

South Norfolk Council's own 2005 study into potential wind turbine sites had also specifically referenced the site as an area suitable for supporting a small group of two to six turbines.

Yet the North West Area Planning Committee again voted by five to three to block the proposal, citing "visual intrusiveness".

A spokesman for South Norfolk Council said that the vote was not by a big enough margin for the rejection to stand and as a result the plans would now go forward to the council's full planning committee for a final decision.

However, Dale Vince, OBE and managing director of Ecotricity, the company that plans to install the turbines, expressed frustration at the decision. "What hope do we have of keeping the lights on in the future if we can't even build wind turbines on an industrial site surrounded by farmland - like the Lotus factory," he said. "This is already in the appeal process and we're confident of winning it - following a needless waste of time and public money of course."

He added that the rejection of the planning application in the face of official endorsement from the planning officer highlighted the extent to which the current planning system is "not fit for purpose".

"Onshore wind energy is our New North Sea oil, with enough untapped energy to power the whole country three or four times over," he said. "The one thing holding it back is this archaic planning system."

The delay to the proposed Lotus turbines comes just weeks after the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) warned that planning bottlenecks are beginning to impact investor confidence in the sector. According to new figures from the trade group, the last eighteen months has seen a significant drop off in the scale of planning applications, with last year seeing only 1,500MW of new projects entering the planning system.

Speaking at a recent industry round table, BWEA chairman Adam Bruce said that the drop off in activity may be in part down to the fact that many of the best locations had already been taken, but he also feared that concerns over planning objections were also discouraging operators from putting forward new project proposals.