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 ATTRACTIONOF 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 FORPLANNING 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)