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Wind farms could be curbed by government Wind farms: Row after minister says UK has 'enough'
(about 4 hours later)
The government looks set to stop new wind farms after Energy Minister John Hayes was quoted by two newspapers stating that the UK had enough of them. Tory energy minister John Hayes has been slapped down by his Lib Dem boss Ed Davey after saying the UK now had "enough" wind farms.
The href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225531/Minister-signals-end-wind-farm-We-pepper-turbines-country--declares-energy-minister.html" >Daily Mail and href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/9644558/Death-knell-for-wind-farms-Enough-is-Enough-says-minister.html#" >Daily Telegraph both carry interviews in which he says "enough is enough" and that the country is "peppered" by the farms. A source close to Mr Davey said Mr Hayes had "totally over-egged things" and did not make the final decisions.
They say he has now ordered a new analysis of the case for wind farms and their effect on local communities. Mr Hayes told the href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225531/Minister-signals-end-wind-farm-We-pepper-turbines-country--declares-energy-minister.html" >Daily Mail and href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/9644558/Death-knell-for-wind-farms-Enough-is-Enough-says-minister.html#" >Daily Telegraph the UK was "peppered" with wind farms and "enough is enough".
The government said it was committed to renewables as one part of its strategy. He suggested reviews would be launched into the noise and impact on the landscape created by turbines.
Mr Hayes said he did not like onshore wind turbines before he was appointed to the role last month, describing turbines as a "terrible intrusion". The comments put him on a collision course with Mr Davey, who took personal charge of wind farm policy after Mr Hayes was appointed in September's reshuffle, and who has said having a wind farm on the doorstep can be good for communities.
He is now reported as saying there are sufficient wind turbines already in the planning system to meet the government's aims and declares he cannot "build a new Jerusalem" but can "protect our green and pleasant land". Mr Davey is in charge of the government's renewable energy strategy, while Mr Hayes is in charge of "deployment".
The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is already running a consultation on wind farms, but Mr Hayes suggested there will be reviews commissioned into the noise that turbines create and their relationship with the landscape. Some 4,000 turbines are due to be built across the UK by 2020 - which Mr Hayes told the two newspapers was sufficient to meet the government's environmental targets.
The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has launched a consultation on future developments - but Mr Hayes appeared to pre-empt that by saying any future wind farm applications would put the views of local communities first.
Community 'desires'Community 'desires'
He said: "We can no longer have wind turbines imposed on communities. I can't single-handedly build a new Jerusalem but I can protect our green and pleasant land.He said: "We can no longer have wind turbines imposed on communities. I can't single-handedly build a new Jerusalem but I can protect our green and pleasant land.
"We have issued a call for evidence on wind. That is about cost but also about community buy-in. We need to understand communities' genuine desires. We will form our policy in the future on the basis of that, not on a bourgeois Left article of faith based on some academic perspective."We have issued a call for evidence on wind. That is about cost but also about community buy-in. We need to understand communities' genuine desires. We will form our policy in the future on the basis of that, not on a bourgeois Left article of faith based on some academic perspective.
"If you look at what has been built, what has consent and what is in the planning system, much of it will not get through and will be rejected. Even if a minority of what's in the system is built we are going to reach our 2020 target.""If you look at what has been built, what has consent and what is in the planning system, much of it will not get through and will be rejected. Even if a minority of what's in the system is built we are going to reach our 2020 target."
Some 4,000 turbines are due to be built across the country in future. But a DECC source told the BBC's Chris Mason that Mr Hayes "does not make final decisions on this" and that he had "totally over-egged" things when he suggested reviews will be commissioned into the noise that turbines create and their relationship with the landscape.
There had been "absolutely no change in government policy", added the source, and "we will be reassuring the renewable energy industry we haven't shifted our view at all".
Mr Hayes, Conservative MP for South Holland and The Deepings, gave a speech to the Renewables UK event on renewable energy on Tuesday night, which a DECC spokeswoman said was "well received by the renewables industry".Mr Hayes, Conservative MP for South Holland and The Deepings, gave a speech to the Renewables UK event on renewable energy on Tuesday night, which a DECC spokeswoman said was "well received by the renewables industry".
She said that the views quoted by the Mail and Telegraph were not expressed in that speech.She said that the views quoted by the Mail and Telegraph were not expressed in that speech.
She added: "Government policy for renewables, as stated in the Renewables Roadmap, sets out scenarios for renewable deployment, but does not set targets or caps for the deployment of individual technologies, including on onshore wind.She added: "Government policy for renewables, as stated in the Renewables Roadmap, sets out scenarios for renewable deployment, but does not set targets or caps for the deployment of individual technologies, including on onshore wind.
"Government is committed to supporting a balanced energy mix of renewables, new nuclear and gas in order to meet the UK's energy needs"."Government is committed to supporting a balanced energy mix of renewables, new nuclear and gas in order to meet the UK's energy needs".
Earlier this year, more than 100 Conservative MPs wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to get rid of the subsidies paid to wind farm operators funded from household energy bills.