§ Lord Hardy of Wathasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether windmills and windfarms will not be approved against the wishes of the relevant local communities and local planning authorities. [HL3211]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonNational planning policy with regard to windfarms is set out in PPG 22 (renewable energy), which provides planning authorities with guidance on a range of issues that affect the siting of wind turbines and other renewable energy developments. We are currently reviewing the guidance and will consult widely on the revised draft.
The Secretary of State's general approach is not to interfere with the jurisdiction of local planning authorities unless it is necessary to do so. Parliament has entrusted them with responsibility for day-to-day planning control in their areas. Local planning authorities are normally best placed to make decisions relating to their areas and it is right that, in general, they should be free to carry out their duties responsibly, with the minimum of interference. There will be occasions, however, when the Secretary of State may consider it necessary to call in a planning application to determine himself instead of leaving it to the local planning authority. His policy is to be very selective about calling in planning applications. He will in general take this step only if planning issues of more than local importance are involved and if those issues need to be decided by the Secretary of State rather than at a local level. Each case is, however, considered on its own facts.