§ Lord RookerMy right honourable friend the Minister for Housing and Planning has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has today published a companion guide to PPS22 on renewable energy. The companion guide offers good practice advice on a range of issues, including how to frame policies for renewable energy in development plans.
Planning Policy Statement 22, published in August 2004, was an important step towards facilitating the delivery of more renewable energy developments and thereby meeting this Government's commitments in respect of global warming and climate changes. It sets out the Government's national planning policies for all types of renewable energy development. The companion guide offers practical advice as to how these polices can be implemented on the ground. It is intended to assist planners, regional and local decision-makers and other stakeholders in understanding the often complex issues associated with the different technologies and their application in different environments and is relevant to all local planning authorities in England.
The guide addresses the actions required at the local and regional level, with regard to both strategic/forward planning and development control and includes a chapter of each of these planning policy issues. It also sets out the factors that make a "good" renewable energy application, how best to assess cumulative landscape and visual effect and how to deal with community involvement. Case studies are used to illustrate key points and to demonstrate how specific issues can be addressed. A technical annex to the guide includes specific advice on the range of renewable energy technologies covered by PPS22.
Copies of the companion guide will be made available in the Libraries of the House and it will also be available on the website of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.