Planning and Renewable Energy Technology
Posted: Thursday 25 February 2010
The law is set to change to allow certain microgeneration equipment - domestic wind turbines and air source heat pumps – to be built without planning permission. Depending on your point of view, this could be good or bad news.
The Scottish Government has set ambitious targets in respect of the use of renewable energy resources. It has passed the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. The First Minister has said that this legislation is groundbreaking, and that it sets an international example that his Government hopes other countries will follow.
The Climate Change Act requires permitted development rights for domestic wind turbines and air source heat pumps to be introduced by 5 February 2010. With permitted development rights, planning permission will be deemed to have been granted provided that certain criteria are met.
The Scottish Government has just published a report which it commissioned into how these permitted development rights should work. The Government has consulted extensively on what has been quite a contentious issue.
Scottish Ministers recognise that in framing these permitted development rights, consideration will have to be given to likely impacts in respect of noise, visual impact and environmental factors. This is reflected in the report.
To benefit from permitted development rights, the microgeneration equipment will need to be within grounds which are enjoyed as part of a house of block of flats. However, there will be further restrictions to prevent any adverse impacts.
Suggested restrictions include allowing development to take place only if the noise emitted by the equipment and heard at a neighbouring property does not exceed a specific threshold.
Visual impact is often a contentious issue. To address this, size restrictions are suggested in relation to domestic wind turbines which are attached to buildings, with different size restrictions suggested for pole mounted turbines, depending on how far they are away from neighbouring properties. Only one turbine would be granted permitted development rights at each property.
We shall need to wait and see how the Scottish Ministers frame their Order. The report suggests a review after three years to see how these new permitted development rights have been working. The Scottish Government is also committed to the expansion of permitted development rights in general as part of their drive to simplify the planning system. We will see more change in the future.
