The UK government is considering curbing communities’ rights to protest against wind and solar power projects, which extends to preventing these projects from being built.
Currently, communities can oppose projects through judicial reviews and they can do it repeatedly. The Starmer government’s proposal is to limit potential opponents of wind and solar installations to just one judicial review per project, a new document published today has suggested.
The document features plans to speed up planning and permitting processes for large wind and solar projects and “streamlining” those processes to make sure that there is nothing to “unduly slow down vital infrastructure development,” the FT quoted from what was probably an earlier version of the document. The final version published on the UK government’s website does not contain references to community opposition to wind and solar.
In the FT report, however, a quote says “For example, this could include changing the rules so that claimants in each case only have one attempt to seek permission for judicial review,” while another says “Any changes that we decide to make will strike the right balance between reducing delays to infrastructure projects and maintaining access to justice in line with our domestic and international legal obligations.”
The Keir Starmer government wants to build a net-zero grid in the UK by 2030, which it plans to do by building a huge amount of wind and solar generation capacity, including in areas previously protected by conservation legislation. Local communities have protested several such projects due to their impact on the environment, which the government appears to see as an obstacle on the road to net zero.
“A new era of clean electricity for our country offers a positive vision of Britain’s future with energy security, lower bills, good jobs and climate action. This can only happen with big, bold change and that is why the government is embarking on the most ambitious reforms to our energy system in generations,” energy minister Ed Miliband said in the document.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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