Katherine Evans looks at proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework and Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime which will seek to unlock the UK’s renewable energy potential.
In July, as a taste of things to come, the chancellor announced that footnotes 57 and 58 of the National Planning Policy Framework would no longer apply to decisions relating to onshore wind schemes. These footnotes had effectively placed a moratorium on most onshore wind schemes in England.
Proposed changes to the NPPF introduced by the government, alongside amendments to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime, promise to have implications for the UK’s renewable energy industry. The consultation on amendments to the NPPF, launched by Labour at the end of July, has placed the UK’s planning system at the heart of its ambitions to turbocharge the economy and strengthen the country’s position as a leader in renewable energy.
In August the government published a consultation paper, “Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system”. At Chapter 9, the government sets out its ambitions for supporting green energy and emphasises its commitment to reach zero-carbon electricity generation by 2030 (all references here to the NPPF are based on the tracked changes made by the government in its draft text for consultation).
The proposals seek to accelerate and boost the delivery of renewable energy schemes, such as solar farms, battery storage developments and onshore wind projects, strengthen policy around land use and improve the local authority-level planning system.
Changes to the NSIP regime
Alongside the proposed reforms to the NPPF, the government has announced plans to shake up the NSIP regime, which consents infrastructure projects that are by size and type considered to be nationally significant.
Under the current NSIP regime, solar projects with more than 50MW capacity are classed as NSIPs and require consent from the secretary of state. Conversely, all onshore wind projects must be granted planning permission by the relevant local planning authority, albeit due to the original footnotes in the NPPF consent was virtually impossible to obtain. The threshold for solar projects has been widely debated in recent years, with critics suggesting the threshold no longer reflects significant improvements in technology and size of projects.
Advancements mean that relatively small projects are now able to reach the 50MW threshold and be subject to the NSIP regime. This has resulted in some developers capping projects below 50MW to avoid what is perceived to be a disproportionate cost to obtain a development consent order as compared to a planning permission.
The proposals from the government suggest increasing the threshold to 100MW for onshore wind projects and 150MW for solar projects, so those projects would be consented under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 regime and therefore be subject to the revised NPPF. The move could help deliver more onshore wind and solar projects more quickly if introduced alongside initiatives to inform local communities on the importance of clean energy developments.
Improving local authority decision-making
Paragraph 161 of the NPPF contains a seemingly small but important tweak. Rather than having to “consider identifying” suitable areas for renewable and low-carbon energy sources and supporting infrastructure, the proposed changes would see local planning authorities obliged to identify such areas in plans. While certainty is always welcomed, plan preparation is often undertaken at a glacial pace, with difficult decisions often put off until another time.
Furthermore, with the deletion of the original paragraph 161, the focus has moved from support for community-led initiatives only to having to “support planning applications for all forms of renewable and low-carbon development in paragraph 164. In addition, significant weight must be given to proposals for renewable and low-carbon development and their contribution to a net-zero future.”
Agricultural land
There has been a substantial level of debate about the amount of agricultural land that is required for the development of utility-scale solar development. While footnote 63 remains, it only places a requirement that areas of poorer-quality land be preferred where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary. The reference to food production introduced in December 2023 by the previous government has been deleted.
Timing
The consultation on the proposed changes closes on 24 September 2024. It is important to note that the consultation not only encompasses the specific wording changes to the NPPF but also the proposed changes to the NSIP regime. It seems likely that it will generate a lot of responses, especially as it does not only affect renewable energy proposals. It is possible that the government may decide to implement the less controversial proposals while considering other proposals further.
Conclusion
The proposed changes must be a big step in the right direction to give developers of renewable energy projects some encouragement that the NPPF now reflects a more positive framework for local authority decision-making. Alongside these changes, local authority planning departments need better resourcing to ensure that an increase in planning applications is met with quality decision-making and timely decisions.
The changes to the thresholds to bring more schemes within the 1990 Act regime will only be judged to be a success if it is clear that these projects are being consented more quickly and without the additional cost that the NSIP regime generates.
Click here to read and respond to the NPPF consultation by 24 September 2024.
Katherine Evans is a partner and head of planning at TLT
