The increasing number of applications for consent to the development of wind farms has become a significant political issue in North and Mid Wales. Last May, almost 2,000 people travelled from Montgomeryshire to the Welsh Assembly building in Cardiff to show their concern over proposals to erect hundreds of turbines, with associated pylons, transmission lines and other infrastructure, across Mid Wales. It was one of the biggest political demonstrations ever seen in Cardiff Bay.
The reason why the Welsh uplands have been targeted for so much wind farm development is straightforward. It is the policy of the Welsh Government (“WG”) to encourage onshore wind farm development in the so-called “strategic search areas” identified by its planning document, Technical Advice Note 8 (“TAN 8”).
Those strategic search areas, in many parts of Wales, coincide with Forestry Commission land, which is owned by the WG itself. Thus, an application for consent to the construction a large wind farm to be sited in the Clocaenog forest, near Ruthin, is expected to be made in the near future, and a large area of forestry land in Mid Wales is also the subject of similar applications.
Large-scale wind farm development applications are considered by the Infrastructure Planning Commission (“IPC”), an independent body set up under the last Labour Government. The IPC considers all applications in the light of National Policy Statements and other Government policy at all levels.
In Wales, TAN 8 is an important element of Government policy that must be considered by the IPC. Given that TAN 8 sets out a presumption in favour of wind farm development in the strategic search areas, it is hardly surprising that developers have sought to site new wind farms in rural Wales.
Indeed, for so long as TAN 8 remains in its present form, it is very likely that further applications will be made, until such time as the WG’s target of 1.7GW achieved through renewable generation in the strategic search areas is hit. That is more than four times the present installed capacity.
A few weeks after the protests in Cardiff, the First Minister, Carwyn Jones, said he believed the level of wind farm development in Montgomeryshire was “unacceptable in view of its wider impacts on the local area”. However, since he made that statement, the WG has not changed the presumptions set out in TAN 8.
The fact is that until such time as the WG addresses the issue of TAN 8, further applications for wind farm consents will inevitably be made. The statement made by the First Minister will be of no force.
British Government policy is to renew and restore the electricity generating capacity that this country needs, which was neglected under the last Labour Government. All consent applications will be dealt with efficiently and impartially by the IPC, and by reference to existing Government policy, whether made at Westminster or Cardiff Bay.
The position, therefore, is clear. If the Welsh Government really is concerned about wind farm proliferation, it should amend TAN 8. If it does not do so, it must expect further applications to be made
