Policy News

Monday 22 February 2010

Energy minister Lord Hunt has welcomed the public interest in the NPS consultation

Energy Minister Lord Hunt has welcomed the level of public interest in the National Policy Statements on Energy (NPSs), after more than 1,000 responses were received to the proposals in a consultation which closed today (February 22).

The draft statements aim to remove unnecessary planning delays facing large energy proposals including renewable energy developments and will be the basis on which individual planning decisions are made from March by the new Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC).

The NPS consultation was launched by energy secretary Ed Miliband in November 2009 (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story) and has been subjected to extensive criticism from industry leaders during the Energy and Climate Change Committee's (ECCC) 10 session inquiry into the framework.

One of the arguments put forward at several of the ECCC's evidence sessions was that the government has not done enough to engage with the public during the consultation period.

Speaking at the first oral evidence session, Hugh Ellis, chief planner at the Town and Country Planning Association - which campaigns for the reform of the UK's planning system to make it more responsive to people's needs and to promote sustainable development - proclaimed to the committee: "I can find no-one who is aware that we are about to launch the most important programme in the last 40 years" (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story).

Responses

However, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has today announced that more than 3,300 people attended 23 events in England and Wales to learn more about the draft statements and how they could respond to the consultation.

Statistics also show that almost 20,000 people visited the consultation website to find out more about the proposals and more than 1,000 organisations and individuals have so far responded to the consultation in some form.

Commenting on the level of response, Lord Hunt said: "We are undertaking fundamental reform of the planning system which will result in a more efficient, transparent and accessible process. National Policy Statements are a vital part of these reforms, setting out the national need for new energy infrastructure.

"Listening to people's views and helping them find out more is vital to getting this process right. I'm pleased that so many people and organisations have taken part and given their views on how future decisions on where we locate power plants will be made."

While DECC has not released details of the nature of the consultation responses, evidence provided to the ECCC from representatives of renewables trade bodies, planners and environmental groups has included:

• Criticism of a lack of spatial guidance in the non-nuclear NPSs, which some believe makes it difficult for the public to get involved in the process (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story)
• Need for existing renewable energy policy to be made clear in the planning documents (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story)
• Debate over whether the NPSs should include an energy hierarchy to prevent a carbon intensive energy mix, something the IPC and DECC believe should be left to the market (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story).

Following the end of the consultation on the NPSs, proposals will continue to undergo parliamentary scrutiny. DECC has claimed that the government intends to respond to issues raised both in the consultation and through parliamentary scrutiny later this year.