Thank you to everyone who has continued to contact me about lifting the ban on onshore wind farms. Considering the influx of responses since my previous post on this topic, I felt it worthwhile to address this important issue again.

As many of you will know, during the passage of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill through the House of Commons last year, several amendments that would have removed the block on onshore wind in the NPPF were considered. Unfortunately, none of these amendments were passed. Instead, the Government committed to consulting on ensuring local support for onshore wind, including changes to national planning policy.

I was concerned at the time that the Government’s announcement of a consultation represented a failure to properly lift the ban or provide clarity. I believed it meant simply further delay and the continued denial to Britain, in the middle of an energy crisis, of lower energy bills and improved energy security. And indeed, when the Government published its consultation, the proposals it put forward were met with bitter disappointment by the renewable energy industry, which said they would do “almost nothing” to remove the ban.

I will continue to press the Government on this important issue and Labour remains committed to launching an urgent mission for a fossil fuel free electricity system by 2030 by more than doubling our onshore wind capacity to 35GW, quadrupling offshore wind with an ambition of 55GW by 2030, and accelerating the pioneering floating offshore wind technology by fast-tracking at least 5GW of capacity.

Thank you once again to all those who have contacted me about this issue.

Please see my previous post on Onshore Wind Farms here.