1. Local Energy Planning: Landscape and Community
Graham McGrath
Centre for Sustainable Energy

2. Who are we?
Free planning advice for neighbourhood planning groups to incorporate “low carbon” neighbourhood plan policies:
renewable energy & energy efficiency
sustainable transport
flooding and extreme weather
Green infrastructure & biodiversity
Published guidebook, collating exemplar low carbon policies

3. Recent developments in the political landscape of renewable energy
Recent developments in the political landscape of renewable energy? How do these influence us, as community energy groups and neighbourhood planners?

4. In 2015 New onshore windfarms became the cheapest way for a power company to produce electricity in Britain, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
They became 26% cheaper per megawatt hour (MWh) than coal or gas-fired plants.
Also in 2015………………..
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government effectively placed a moratorium on onshore wind.

5. How did we arrive at an effective moratorium on the cheapest form of electricity generation?

6. The Social Gap

7. Understanding the ‘social gap’
Disjoint between high levels of support for renewables nationally, but strong resistance locally.
Planning policy-making ignores values-based considerations.
Place attachment
Distributive fairness
Procedural justice

8. How did we arrive at an effective ban on onshore wind?
Communities hosting wind farms felt they were having it done to them, with little influence on what happened / where.
Technocratic top-down approach planning policy ignores:
Place attachment - an individual’s personal, emotional bond to a place
Distributive fairness - that the benefits of a development accrue in way that appears transparent and reasonable
Procedural justice - that the process by which a development has happened is fair, as well as the outcome itself

9. How do we move beyond this deadlock?

10. Future Energy Landscapes – joint project with CPRE
Series of pilot energy workshops
Discussion of local landscape – how it was viewed and valued, used and how it had changed.
Explanation of various renewable energy options
Main feature - Energy Game – could their neighbourhood contribute to Renewable Energy generation / what might be acceptable / considering trade-offs between different options.
Public discussion with wider community

11. Allows time for community learning
A new approach?
‘Grounding in place’
Appropriate geographical scale: considers energy infrastructure in real, not abstract terms
Allows time for community learning
Creates space for community reflection

12. Key principles for policy-makers
Ten key principles for policy-makers are highlighted in our FEL report. Four really stand out for me..
Devolve more power to the very local level
Properly resource local energy planning
Resist the temptation to over-rule local decisions
Focus on ownership and control

13. Landscape considerations when planning for energy through the neighbourhood plan process

14. Energy planning considerations in urban areas
Limited space?
High density of historic buildings?
Industrial areas?
Congested roads?

15. Appropriate renewable technologies?
What is appropriate ? What isn’t?
what do you think?

16. Energy planning considerations in rural areas
Visual impacts on landscape?
Able to connect to the grid?
Are there nearby users?
Landscape impacts ?
Connection to the grid?
Able to use pre-existing conditions?
Making the most of existing landuse?

17. Appropriate renewable technologies?
What is appropriate ? What isn’t?
what do you think?

18. Landscape impact versus Land take impact?

19. A solar array covering sq. meter will have a capacity of around 1.2MW – enough to power 362 homes.
One 85m wind turbine only takes approximately 5 sq. meter worth of land but generates 2MW enough to power 1,000 homes
However! The landscape impact is far greater

20. Energy Planning in Suffolk

21. Break out session
Developing our own ground up energy strategy for Suffolk?
Who are the key influencers?
Who is most engaged in the process?

22. Break out session