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Scottish Renewables submission of 4 October 2021

PE1864/ZZZZ - Increase the ability of communities to influence planning decisions for onshore windfarms

In response to your letter dated 8 September requesting Scottish Renewables to provide its views on the action called for in the petition – ‘PE1864: Increase the ability of communities to influence planning decisions for onshore windfarms’, I am outlining below our response to each proposed action.

Adopting English planning legislation for the determination of onshore wind farm developments

Onshore wind is one of the cheapest forms of energy and the most cost-effective way to achieve our climate change ambitions at the lowest cost to consumers. The Climate Change Committee’s official advice to government shows that we will need to grow Scotland’s onshore wind fleet from its current 8.4GW to 20.4GW by 2030 if we are to achieve net-zero.

Onshore wind already supports 8,800 jobs and contributes £2.2 billion to the economy each year in Scotland. The 12GW of onshore wind we need to build by 2030 is expected to raise this figure to over 25,000 jobs and around £30 billion.

How the Scottish planning system should operate was extensively debated by the Scottish Parliament during the passage of The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 through the parliamentary process. The upcoming National Planning Framework 4 will also be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

Scottish Planning Policy is a devolved matter for which The Scottish Government is responsible. It is Scottish Renewables position that legislation and policy that shapes the planning system in Scotland, comparative to other devolved responsibilities, should be scrutinised and voted upon by the elected members of the Scottish Parliament.

Scottish Renewables would therefore not support the adoption of planning legislation from another jurisdiction of the UK that had not been subject to the scrutiny and consent of the Scottish Parliament.

Empowering local authorities to ensure local communities are given sufficient professional help to engage in the planning process

In November 2020, Scottish Renewables highlighted our concerns to The Scottish Government about the existing capacity constraints within Local Authority planning departments and the implications of this for the increased volume of renewables consents that net-zero will require. Research conducted by Scottish Renewables showed that the number of planners employed by councils in Scotland has fallen by 20% since 2011 - but the number of applications they will have to grant must increase if Scotland is to stay on track to net-zero emissions by 2045.

We have encouraged The Scottish Government to consider how additional capacity could be created within the planning system. It is important to recognise that how the capacity of Local Authority planning teams is deployed and the activities it covers outside of statutory duties is decided by each Local Authority. As such we are not able to comment on how Local Authorities should deploy their resources.

Appointing an independent advocate to ensure that local participants are not bullied and intimidated during public inquiries.

Scottish Renewables expects all participants in the planning process to carry out their duties with professionalism and to display respect to other participants in this process. Should any member of a planning team fall below the high standards of professional behaviour expected, this would be a matter for the reporter conducting the enquiry.

It important to recognise that polling shows that 70% of the Scottish public support the building of onshore wind and welcome the benefits it will bring.

With regards to the appointment of an independent advocate to represent local participants. There is often a spectrum of views within a community regarding renewable energy projects. We would wish to see more detailed proposals of how such a spectrum of views would be represented, the criteria for deciding which bodies are representative of the community as a whole and how opposing views within a community would be represented before being able to comment on this proposal.