Onshore wind sector deal

Planning

We will reduce the time it takes to determine Section 36 applications for onshore wind projects by increasing skills and resources and by streamlining approaches to scoping Environmental Impact Assessment Reports (EIARs) by using template formats and associated guidance.

The ambition of 20GW of installed onshore wind capacity by 2030 will require a significant number of new sites, the repowering and extension of existing sites and the realisation of unbuilt consented sites. Meeting this ambition will require the determination of applications to be made much more quickly than in recent years. Success in expediting the decision-making process will only be possible if a number of key commitments are made and acted upon collectively. This acceleration of both the determination of applications for development and the discharge of conditions can be achieved, but only if all stakeholders act in concert.

Whilst the actions below relate only to Section 36 determinations, the Sector, Government and planning authorities will collaborate to continue to introduce efficiencies into the process for determining applications under the Town and Country Planning Act.

Collaborative action to support onshore wind

• In Q4 2023, the Sector and Government will establish a collaborative working group to develop a recommended standard scope and format for EIARs for onshore wind farms, designed to reduce the burden on consultees and other stakeholders. This action will be complete by Q2 2024. The standard scope and format will focus on proportionality in deciding what is required for consultees and decision makers to identify potentially significant environmental effects and how the information may be best presented. The intention will also be to encourage a statutory scoping of EIARs at a time when sufficient information is known to allow for an informed focus on potentially significant effects. The design envelope approach to EIA (known as the Rochdale Envelope and advised for use in Section 36 applications by the ECU in June 2022) has the potential to minimise the need to make post-consent applications to adjust the dimensions of turbines or to relocate turbines and other wind farm infrastructure.
• In Q2 2024, the Sector and Government will agree and publish template formats for Section 36 consents and deemed planning permission, including conditions imposed on consents, which will facilitate both the more efficient issue of consents and an efficient and speedy variation process.
• The Sector, Government and statutory consultees will meet at least annually to examine data on consenting timelines and agree on any actions needed to achieve the desired targets.
• The Sector and Government will work with the statutory consultees, the ECU and the DPEA to determine resourcing and training requirements to process the expected project pipeline. By July 2024, they will set out proposals for how additional resources and/or training can be accessed by statutory consultees when they are responding to onshore wind applications, and by decision makers when discharging pre-commencement planning conditions. The additional resource and training proposal is expected to be in place by the end of 2024 and will be funded through an agreement between Government and the onshore wind sector. Where it is identified and agreed by all parties that actions can be taken sooner, without the need for additional funding, these will be taken at the time they are identified.
• From Q4 2023, the Sector, Government and other relevant stakeholders will review how baseline information requirements for the EIA of projects to re-power operational wind farms, or for life extension applications under Section 36C, can be appropriately optimised, having regard to the relevance of data already available from earlier EIARs and published reports of surveys of the environmental impacts of construction and operation, whether generic or site specific. The work to develop a standard scope and format for EIARs will reflect this review.

Sector action to support onshore wind

• By the end of 2023, we will provide an analysis of the expected pipeline of new onshore wind projects, extensions to existing projects, life extensions and re-powering projects expected between 2023 and 2030. This analysis will include when these developments are likely to be submitted for Section 36 consent or planning permission, the likely geographic distribution of development between planning authorities, and the potential MW scale of development. We will update this pipeline at least bi-annually to enable Government and statutory consultees to plan ahead for the resources that will be required to process applications.
• From 2024, we will submit plans for consent that are buildable without delay, to the extent that such delays are not caused by external factors beyond a developer’s control. Developers need to react to rapidly changing market conditions and as such it may continue to be necessary to seek consent for amended schemes, but we will seek to take such action only on the basis of turbine availability or project viability.
• From the end of 2023, we will proactively engage with consultees to improve approaches to the scoping of the environmental information required in EIARs. We will seek to ensure that the information produced on each topic is both sufficient and as brief as possible, focusing on potentially significant environmental effects while explaining why other topics do not require assessment within the EIAR. We will provide notice of upcoming consultations as early as is practical, helping ensure that the appropriate resource will be available when needed.
• From the end of 2023, we will ensure that in planning for developments close to other projects, regardless of the owners/developers involved, due attention is given to cooperation on interconnected planning and environmental considerations for the area. This will be done through joint working on topics such as operational noise, construction access, the delivery of biodiversity enhancement, habitat management plans, layout and design, and benefits for the community, where this can be achieved without undue delay to any individual project.
• From Q3 2024, we will ensure the submission of Section 36 applications for consent, and the accompanying EIARs, are based as far as is possible on the agreed templates, scopes and formats, to enable effective and efficient determinations without any need for additional information.

Government action to support onshore wind

• From 2025, we will aim to determine Section 36 applications for new sites, and for the re-powering of existing operational sites, within 12 months where there is no public inquiry, or 24 months if there is a public inquiry. Further, we will aim to determine applications for the life extension of operational wind farms within five months, and other Section 36C applications within nine months where there is no public inquiry. We will track when these timelines are not achieved and the reason for this, publishing this data annually.
• From mid-2024, we will promote the timely discharge of pre-commencement planning conditions, aspiring to discharge the majority of construction-ready projects within six weeks.
• By Q2 2024, Government will work with Heads of Planning Scotland (HOPS) and the DPEA to develop guidance on consistent formats for public inquiry reports for Section 36 applications and consultation responses from PAs.
• The Scottish Government will publish planning and climate change guidance providing advice on the application of NPF4 policy in supporting development that helps meet greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
• By the end of 2023, we will write to relevant statutory consultees to highlight the ambitions of the new determination timescales for Section 36 applications and set out the need for those statutory consultees to support this ambition when responding to consent applications.