Michael Fallon, the recently appointed Coalition minister for energy and business, will shortly publish planning protections and proposals for a scheme of what he calls “community payments” for residents who agree to allow wind turbines near their homes. The flip side of this is that wind farms will need to obtain community consent and is likely to result in schemes being vetoed by those who consider wind farms a nuisance and visually unappealing.
The timing of this statement is no co-incidence. It is intended to give the anti-wind farm lobby a thumbs up just ahead of local council elections in England. The Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, has been advised that the party is in danger of losing hundreds of Council seats and so Falon’s message is clearly aimed at pleasing voters in the rural Tory heartland.
Fallon also warned that he would not tolerate some areas being “swamped” by applications for wind farms. Several councils have been frustrated in their attempts to block such developments and have faced multi-million-pound legal bills. However the benefits of renewable energy for local homes are not highlighted. Unfortunately, the Coalition Government appears to give mixed messages on the issue of on-shore wind farms.
Michael Fallon is the Member of Parliament for Sevenoaks and is the Deputy Chairman of the Conservative party. He was appointed the Minister for Business and Enterprise last year and on 28 March 2013 he replaced John Hayes as Minister of State for Energy at the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
John Hayes is one of the Coalition’s most outspoken right-wing ministers and is now a senior Number 10 troubleshooter. He will be remembered for publicly declaring his opposition to onshore wind farms.
