Alok Sharma has tabled an amendment to the Energy Bill that would lift key restrictions to onshore wind development in England.
His proposal includes removing wording in National Planning Policy Framework that has effectively blocked any new projects from being approved since introduced in 2015.
Footnote 54 of NPPF has enabled planning applications for onshore wind projects to be refused by local authorities where there is even minimal public opposition.
A further amendment would require the government to publish guidance to wind developers on how to engage with communities, demonstrate they have local support, and provide financial benefits to residents.
There is also a provision to prevent appeals against local authority decisions taken in respect to onshore wind.
The amendment, tabled overnight and supported by 20 MPs including former Prime Minister Liz Truss, states the intention “to remove the current planning restriction that a single objection to an onshore wind development is sufficient to block the development”.
The Energy Bill is currently progressing through the final stages of parliamentary approval and is due to be returned to the House of Commons after the summer recess, which runs from next week through to September.
It remains to be seen whether the amendment will be adopted into the final legislation.
Writing on Twitter, former Cop26 president Sharma said: “The government committed to change the planning rules by the end of April 2023 to overturn the de facto ban on onshore wind – this has not happened.
“So I have tabled an amendment to the Energy Bill, with other colleagues, to deliver on the government’s own promise.
“This onshore wind amendment will help to unlock investment in one of the cheapest forms of energy and ultimately bring down household bills and improve the UK’s energy security.”