Offshore Wind Energy: Off-limits for Planning? Stephen Jay Urban & Regional Studies Sheffield Hallam University This is a brief summary of the presentation given at the ESRC seminar on 4 th November 2008 at Queens University, Belfast. For more information on this topic, please contact the speaker at

THE ADVENT OF OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY Wind energy stepping offshore History and current state of play of offshore wind energy (Offshore Center Danmark online) European offshore wind resources Growing awareness of potential (Troen & Petersen 1989) UK offshore wind energy programme Rounds 1, 2 and 3 (Crown Estate online) The UK consents regime Complex, centralised consents typical of marine controls Marginal role for nearby coastal planning authorities (Jay 2008)

BEYOND THE REACH OF PLANNING? Potential planning interest in proposed offshore wind farms Empirical study of planning authority involvement in Round 1 (Jay 2008) Strong interest and support in principle Welcoming and rejecting cases echoing perceived public feelings Detailed responses expressing concerns for environmental and socio- economic consequences Majority demonstrated interest beyond on-shore effects and assumed responsibility for marine hinterland Evidence of well-founded arguments being overridden by central government bodies Arguments in favour of greater coastal planning authority involvement for nearshore schemes

EXAMPLES OF INTEGRATING SPATIAL PLANNING 1.Extending planning controls offshore Sweden: territorial waters under coastal municipalities, single strategy for land-based and offshore wind energy 2.Sector-specific strategies Denmark: strategic mapping exercise UK: Crown Estate GIS exercise 3.Marine spatial planning Germany: draft spatial plan for exclusive economic zone Netherlands: integrated management plan for Dutch North Sea UK: pilot projects, draft Marine Bill

Crown Estate (online) Offshore Wind Energy, Jay, S. (2008) At the Margins of Planning: Offshore Wind Farms in the UK, Ashgate, Aldershot Offshore Center Danmark (online) Offshore Wind Farms, Troen, I. & Petersen, E.L. (1989) European Wind Atlas, Risø National Laboratory, Roskilde, Denmark References