Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates has welcomed the announcement by Environment Minister Jane Davidson that planning policy for renewable energy will be revised by the end of the year but warns that as Wales looks set to fail its 2010 renewable energy target, lengthy delays within the planning process must be resolved if the Welsh Government is to reach more ambitious targets in the future.
The Ministerial statement ‘Planning for Renewable Energy’ states that a new draft planning policy on renewable energy will be issued for public consultation over the summer, with a final version of the updated policy in place by the end of the year and a subsequent amendment to Tan 8 as appropriate.
Commenting, Assembly Member Mr Bates states:
“I welcome the new ambitious targets that have been set out by the Welsh Government to increase our renewable energy in Wales using a wide variety of sources and the commitment to revise planning policy. Sadly, given the Labour-Plaid Assembly Government’s current record on renewable energy, I have little hope that these ambitious targets and policies will be reached without also resolving the lengthy delays and problems in the planning system that have held up so many projects to date.
“Currently Wales is only 17% on its way to reaching the 2010 target for onshore wind energy, with only months left to go. One of the main reasons for this is the lengthy and problematic planning process, which has seen developers wait an average of 21 months for decisions on planning applications. This is simply not acceptable and has caused so much financial difficulty for companies seeking to invest in Wales at a time when the Labour-Plaid Assembly Government claims to be heralding a surge in green jobs and investment.
“According to a recent survey* the wind energy sector in Wales currently contributes more than £158 million to the Welsh economy every year and this could grow to £1billion by 2020. There is also vast potential waiting to be unlocked from a wide portfolio of other renewable technologies, such as marine, hydro, bioenergy and more.
“I look forward to the review of our renewable energy planning policy, but more crucially the serious problems within the planning system itself must be ironed for these policies to be translated into action.”
