HC Deb 25 May 2004 vol 421 c1617W
Mr. Kidney

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to reduce the proportion of applications for planning permission for offshore wind farms to which his Department lodges objections. [174589]

Mr. Caplin

Departmental policy must be to maintain the integrity of operations, safety and the nation's defence systems. Objections are only raised when any proposed development would affect these key criteria. It is the Department's stated aim, wherever possible, to assist developers of wind farms, both on-shore and off-shore, to find solutions that will enable a development to proceed to the satisfaction of all parties.