Welsh Government confirms review of energy policy

Martin Shipton

The Welsh Government has confirmed to a leading environmental campaigner that it intends to undertake a comprehensive review of energy policy.

Earlier this week we told how Lorna Brazell, secretary of the Cambrian Mountains Society, was awaiting a response to a letter she had written to Adam Price, the Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy, and Sian Gwenllian, the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, urging them to keep their promise to change energy policy so that the beauty of Wales’ spectacular landscape is protected.

In her letter the retired solicitor stated: “We welcome the government’s manifesto commitment to back the development of energy communities. These, in our view, represent the best way for Wales to decarbonise whilst also generating rural businesses, jobs and skills which can be exported throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. We also note the further manifesto commitment to favour ‘well-designed, appropriately dispersed projects that balance local impact with efficient delivery, while protecting productive agricultural land’.

“This contrasts dramatically with the policies of the previous administration which, as Mr Price effectively pointed out in proposing the Community Energy Bill in 2024, very much favoured the desires of investors – largely foreign-owned or backed – and the ‘hard path’ (as Mr Price has put it elsewhere) over the actual interests of the people and communities of Wales.

“To deliver on this manifesto promise, however, it is essential to ensure that the assessment by PEDW [the Welsh Government’s planning arm] of the many applications for large-scale commercial power stations, both pending and those in the pipeline, are assessed for their full implications and impact for Wales.

“From recent decisions, it appears that PEDW and the former administration were treating Policy 17 of Future Wales as mandating a dash to build renewable power overriding all other policy considerations. The approval of Hendy wind farm in Powys which, nearly a decade after construction, blights the Radnorshire landscape generating profits but no power since it remains unconnected to anything, demonstrates the problem graphically.

“In particular, the concept of Pre-Assessed Areas appears to have been set aside entirely, not to mention the need to conserve plummeting and irreplaceable biodiversity. Such an approach was irrational: neither Future Wales nor Planning Policy Wales supports this interpretation. The new precautionary principle – to prevent, rather than mitigate, harm – under the Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Act now precludes pursuing it.”

Ms Brazell added: “Mid Wales’ uplands include huge areas of peat bog whose carbon sequestration function is an essential element in the fight against climate change. Development work for wind farms (and their necessary infrastructure) damages these fragile environments and releases stored carbon. Developers repeatedly argue that peat damage can be mitigated but, as the Welsh Government’s own Environmental Sustainability Directorate has confirmed, the scientific evidence does not support this. Rather than release further carbon which (if honestly accounted for) then needs offsetting, it would be more effective to avoid further peat damage and restore additional areas to actively capture and sequester carbon for all time.”

Financial imbalance

Ms Brazell concluded: “We are very concerned that the vast financial imbalance between local communities and other users of the landscape will, as several Plaid speakers referenced in the debate on the 2024 Community Energy Bill, result in mid Wales bearing much of the human cost of the extractive energy economy but not deriving commensurate economic benefits. The developers have ample opportunity and channels to present their case; while the voices of local people are frequently left unheard.”

A senior Welsh Government planning official has now responded to Ms Brazell, stating: “The Welsh Government will be undertaking a review of Future Wales: The National Plan 2040 to ensure it remains fit for purpose and reflects both Wales’s evolving needs and the priorities of this Government. The review process is being initiated within the Government’s first 100 days; however, its completion will extend beyond this period to allow for the necessary statutory processes to take place, including stakeholder engagement, consultation and Senedd scrutiny. The extent and composition of any potential changes to policy will develop as work progresses.

“The Welsh Government will be further considering the ways in which development impacts or contributes to local areas and the mechanisms for communities to engage and participate in the planning process.

“Policies in Future Wales and Planning Policy Wales, including those relating to renewable energy development, were developed through extensive public consultation and engagement exercises. Any future changes to these policies would be subject to a similar level of consultation and scrutiny. In the meantime, Future Wales and Planning Policy Wales will remain in force unless and until they are formally revised or replaced.

“Guidance on the importance of protecting peatland is set out in Planning Policy Wales section 6.4.34. This explains that peatland is an irreplaceable habitat with a strong presumption against development. Impacts on peat are to be avoided wherever possible due to their critical role in biodiversity, flood management and carbon storage, with loss only permitted in wholly exceptional circumstances.

“You are encouraged to participate in any policy review by submitting your views at the appropriate stage of any future public consultation process.”