Planning vs Nature

This is the follow up to our previous post on the Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Bill.

Here we examine Welsh planning policy and potential conflicts:

Future Wales: The National Plan 2040 (Future Wales) and Planning Policy Wales (PPW) Edition 12 are the cornerstones of the planning system in Wales. While both documents strongly support renewable energy development to address the climate emergency, they can create potential conflicts with regard to wind farm planning, particularly when considering the harms inflicted by industrial wind turbines.

Here are some potential conflicts and areas of tension:

1. Overriding Emphasis on Decarbonisation vs. Local Impact/Well-being:

Future Wales and PPW 12's Primary Goal: Both documents place significant weight on decarbonisation and achieving ambitious renewable energy targets (e.g., 70% of consumed electricity from renewables by 2030, and the Welsh Government's formal adoption of a target to meet 100% of electricity consumption from renewables by 2035). This often creates a strong presumption in favour of renewable energy development, including large-scale wind farms.

Potential Conflict: This strong drive for renewable energy can, in practice, lead to less weight being given to the adverse local impacts on communities, landscapes, ecology, and well-being.

Focus on "harms inflicted by industrial wind turbines" directly challenges this potential imbalance. The "Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015" is embedded within these planning documents, but how its goals (e.g., a healthier Wales, a more equal Wales, a Wales of cohesive communities) are balanced against energy targets can be a source of conflict.

2. Strategic Pre-Assessed Areas vs. Local Sensitivities:

Future Wales' Approach: Future Wales identifies "Pre-Assessed Areas" for wind and solar energy development. This aims to streamline the planning process by directing large-scale developments to areas deemed generally suitable.

Potential Conflict: While these areas are "pre-assessed," they may still contain local sensitivities that were not fully captured or adequately weighted during the strategic assessment. These could include:

Cumulative Impact: The cumulative visual, noise, and ecological impacts of multiple wind farms within or adjacent to these pre-assessed areas, or in conjunction with other infrastructure. PPW 12 does address cumulative impact, but its application in practice can be contentious.

Landscape and Visual Amenity: Even within designated areas, the specific design, scale, and siting of individual turbines can have significant adverse effects on landscape character and visual amenity that might not have been fully anticipated at the strategic level. PPW 12 does now emphasize creative landscape design, but this can still be challenging to achieve with very large turbines.

Ecological Impacts: While high-level assessments are made, site-specific ecological impacts on protected species, habitats, and biodiversity may still be significant and require rigorous scrutiny, even within pre-assessed areas.

Community Well-being: Proximity to homes, noise levels, shadow flicker, and impact on local tourism or recreation can be significant concerns for communities, even if the area is strategically identified for development.

3. "Developments of National Significance (DNS)" Process:

PPW 12 and DNS: Large-scale wind farms (over 10MW) fall under the Developments of National Significance (DNS) process, meaning decisions are made by Welsh Ministers. This centralisation aims for efficiency in delivering national objectives.

Potential Conflict: This can limit the influence of local authorities and communities in the decision-making process. While local input is sought, the ultimate decision rests with the Welsh Government, which has a strong mandate to deliver renewable energy targets. This can lead to a feeling of disempowerment for local communities bearing the brunt of the impacts.

4. Balancing Technical Viability with Environmental and Social Harm:

Industry Standards & Technology: PPW 12 acknowledges the increasing scale of wind turbines and the need to accommodate technological advancements to meet targets. Developers will naturally seek to maximise output.

Potential Conflict: The larger the turbines, the greater their potential visual and environmental impact. There can be a tension between what is technically viable for maximum energy generation and what is acceptable in terms of environmental and social harm.

5. Lack of Explicit Prioritisation of Offshore Wind (historically):

Historical Gap: Previously, Future Wales 2040 primarily focused on terrestrial policy, with offshore wind not fully integrated. This could lead to a perceived over-reliance on onshore wind, even when significant offshore potential exists.

Recent Developments: While the Welsh Government is increasingly recognising the huge potential of offshore wind (especially floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea), a historical lack of explicit integration in policy could have led to a greater push for onshore development than might be necessary if offshore potential were fully realised and prioritised.

6. Decommissioning and Cumulative Legacy:

Policy Requirements: Both documents mention decommissioning plans, but the long-term cumulative legacy of multiple wind farms (including their foundations, access roads, and infrastructure) across the landscape, especially after their operational life, can be a significant concern that might not be fully addressed or funded adequately in initial planning.

I

n essence, while Future Wales 2040 and PPW 12 provide a strategic framework for renewable energy development, the potential for conflict arises from the inherent tension between the urgent national imperative to decarbonise and the equally important need to protect local environments, landscapes, and community well-being from the adverse impacts of large-scale industrial infrastructure.

Specific conflicts between the new Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Bill and the established planning frameworks of Future Wales 2040 and PPW 12, particularly concerning wind farm planning. While the Bill aims to strengthen environmental protection, its interaction with the strong pro-renewable energy stance of the planning documents presents nuanced areas of potential conflict,

Here are the specific potential conflicts:

1. The "Balancing Act" of Environmental Principles vs. Decarbonisation Imperative:

The Bill's Emphasis: The Environment Bill explicitly embeds key environmental principles into Welsh law:1

Prevention Principle: Preventing environmental damage.2

Precautionary Principle: Taking protective action without waiting for scientific certainty of harm.

Rectification at Source: Addressing pollution at its origin.3

Polluter Pays Principle: Those who cause pollution bear the costs.4

It also places a duty on Welsh Ministers and NRW to apply these principles when making policy affecting the environment, and to integrate environmental protection into policy-making.5

Future Wales/PPW 12's Emphasis: These planning documents have a paramount objective of addressing the climate emergency through rapid decarbonisation, with a strong presumption in favour of renewable energy development. This often translates into a drive for efficiency in the planning process to deliver these targets.

The Conflict: The core tension lies in how these principles will be applied in practice when they appear to conflict with the rapid deployment of wind energy.

Precautionary Principle vs. Scale: Will the precautionary principle genuinely be applied to large-scale wind farm developments where the long-term, cumulative impacts on biodiversity (e.g., bird and bat migration routes, specific species habitat loss), landscape, and human well-being are not yet fully understood or quantified? Or will the urgency of climate change targets override this caution?

Prevention Principle vs. "Acceptable Harm": While the aim is prevention, large-scale industrial wind farms inherently cause some level of environmental impact (e.g., habitat fragmentation, construction disturbance, bird/bat mortality). The conflict arises in defining what constitutes "acceptable" harm in the context of climate change mitigation. Will the new Bill genuinely reduce this "acceptable harm" threshold for wind farms?

Polluter Pays Principle in Practice: While theoretically applicable, how will this principle translate to the ongoing impacts of operational wind farms, or the costs of managing and restoring sites after decommissioning, especially if unpredicted harms emerge? Will developers genuinely be held to account for all externalities, or will the "national benefit" argument dilute this?

2. Biodiversity Targets vs. Wind Farm Footprint:

The Bill's Emphasis: The Bill mandates the setting of legally binding biodiversity targets aimed at halting and reversing the decline in biodiversity. This includes targets for increasing native species abundance, enhancing ecosystem resilience, and strengthening genetic diversity.6

Future Wales/PPW 12 & Wind Farms: Wind farm development, by its nature, requires large land footprints, construction of access roads, grid connections, and can lead to habitat loss or disturbance.7 Even "green" energy has a physical footprint.

The Conflict:

Direct Conflict with Biodiversity Targets: If a proposed wind farm is within or near areas critical for species at risk of extinction, or if its cumulative impact could hinder the achievement of biodiversity targets (e.g., for specific bird populations), the Bill theoretically provides a stronger legal basis to challenge such proposals.

Ecosystem Resilience: The Bill emphasizes enhancing ecosystem resilience.8 Wind farms can impact the resilience of ecosystems through fragmentation, noise, visual disturbance, and potential changes to hydrology or soil.9 This offers a new lens through which to challenge wind farm proposals that might undermine local ecosystem health, even if they contribute to climate change mitigation nationally.

Data and Evidence: The Bill requires improving the quality and accessibility of evidence for biodiversity decisions.10 This could lead to more stringent requirements for pre-application surveys and long-term monitoring for wind farms, potentially revealing more extensive harms than previously acknowledged, which could then conflict with planning approvals.

3. The Role of the Office of Environmental Governance Wales (OEGW):

The Bill's Emphasis: The OEGW will provide independent oversight, monitoring, and enforcement of environmental law.11 It will be able to address non-compliance by public authorities, including Welsh Ministers and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), who are key players in wind farm planning and consent.12

Future Wales/PPW 12 & DNS: The DNS process (for large wind farms) means Welsh Ministers are the ultimate decision-makers.13 NRW advises on environmental matters.14

The Conflict:

Holding Ministers/NRW Accountable: If a wind farm consent is granted by Welsh Ministers under DNS, and your believe that the environmental principles were not adequately applied, or that the decision will undermine biodiversity targets, the OEGW could theoretically investigate this. This provides a new avenue for challenging decisions that appear to prioritize energy targets over environmental protection.

Scrutiny of Strategic Assessments: The Bill states that public authorities undertaking Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) will also be subject to the duty to apply the environmental principles. Future Wales 2040 and its pre-assessed areas are based on strategic assessments.15 This means the OEGW could potentially scrutinize whether those initial strategic assessments adequately applied the environmental principles, potentially leading to questions about the suitability of certain "pre-assessed" areas for large wind farms.

"Escalatory" Enforcement: While the OEGW's enforcement is described as "escalatory" and aims for collaboration, the possibility of High Court referrals as a last resort could introduce a new level of legal risk for the Welsh Government if their decisions on wind farms are seen to egregiously breach the new environmental principles or biodiversity targets.16

In summary, the Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Bill introduces a stronger legal framework for environmental protection.17 For wind farm planning, this could lead to conflicts by:

Elevating Environmental Principles: Giving more weight to principles like precautionary and prevention, which might necessitate more rigorous assessment and potentially constrain development in sensitive areas.18

Providing Concrete Biodiversity Targets: Creating legally binding targets that could directly conflict with the environmental footprint of large wind farms in certain locations.19

Introducing an Independent Watchdog (OEGW): Offering a mechanism to hold decision-makers (Welsh Ministers, NRW) accountable if their decisions on wind farms are perceived to disregard these new environmental duties.

The practical impact will depend on the ambition of the biodiversity targets set, the robustness of the OEGW's enforcement, and how willing the Welsh Government is to balance its climate change targets with the new, strengthened environmental protection duties.