SPATIAL PLANNING AND OFFSHORE WIND FARMS IN THE UK Dr Stephen Jay Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Case study wind farm UK OFFSHORE WIND FARM PROGRAMME

 Avoids the ‘problems’ encountered on land –Widespread public resistance to local schemes –Associated planning difficulties, eg. lengthy public inquiries  Favourable consents regime –Beyond the jurisdiction of the UK planning system –The Crown Estate acts as a commercially-motivated ‘landlord’ of the seabed –National policy drive in favour of large-scale renewables –Authorisations (though complex and overlapping!) are granted by policy-oriented central Government bodies –Nearby planning authorities act only as consultees THE REGULATORY ATTRACTION OF OFFSHORE

Scroby Sands offshore wind farm, Great Yarmouth, eastern England BEYOND THE REACH OF PLANNING!

Current research reveals:  Widespread planning interest in offshore wind farms and support for their contribution to renewable energy  Dominant public feeling, either for or against proposed wind farms, echoed by planning authority attitudes  Planning authorities make detailed consultation responses, expressing concerns for environmental and socio-economic consequences LOCAL PLANNING INTEREST –landscape / seascape –designated landscape areas –tourism and leisure activities –bathing water quality –wildlife –archaeology –fisheries –navigation –construction noise –television reception –cumulative effects of wind farms

Coastal planning authorities  Have an intricate understanding of their coastlines and the interplay of land and sea in their localities, by virtue of their close historical, geographical, socio-economic, cultural etc links with the sea  Have an innate sense of responsibility and stewardship for their marine hinterlands, again due to their inevitable ties to the sea  Are locally situated, democratically representative bodies that are well- placed to express the concerns of coastal communities  Have a broad-based, spatial planning remit that incorporates a wide range of objectives and equips them to negotiate competing marine and coastal interests  Have increasing experience of, and commitment to, the appropriate development of renewable forms of energy ARGUMENTS FOR PLANNING AUTHORITY INVOLVEMENT

The Solway Firth, northwest England / southwest Scotland A COMPLEX CASE

Means of addressing the fragmented nature of marine controls and the growing pressures upon the seas A plan-based, integrated approach to managing the full range of marine activities and development MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING An endorsement of planning and its potential contribution to marine management Current European initiatives, eg Belgium, Germany, UK, Netherlands Significant implications for marine renewables! Source: Douvere et al (2007)