Rishi Sunak Relaxes Rules Banning Onshore Windfarms Despite Pledging Not To

Rishi Sunak has relaxed the ban on new onshore wind farms – despite previously ruling it out.

The prime minister agreed to make it easier for the developments to go ahead following a rebellion by Tory MPs.

But during last summer’s Conservative leadership contest – which Sunak lost to Liz Truss – he pledged to “scrap plans to relax the ban on onshore wind”.

His tweet setting out his stance, posted on July 20 last year, is still on his feed on X, formerly Twitter. 

Truss herself was one of 25 Tory MPs who called on the government to relax the planning rules on new onshore wind developments.

Other rebels included former cabinet minister Simon Clarke and COP26 president Alok Sharma.

Levelling up secretary Michael Gove confirmed the government climbdown in a written ministerial answer today.

He said the planning rules would be amended to speed up the process and to make it more difficult for new wind farms to be blocked by local communities.

At the moment, new developments can be blocked if they are opposed by just one person.

Areas which welcome new onshore wind farms could also see their energy bills cut, Gove said.

One of the Tory rebels, Kevin Foster MP, said it was “a great result that sees the effective ban on onshore wind lifted, allowing more clean energy to be generated where local communities support it”.

But environmental campaigners said the government had not gone far enough.

Friends of the Earth planning specialist Magnus Gallie said: “These rule changes fall far short of what’s needed to fully unleash the UK’s enormous potential for cheap, clean and popular onshore wind power.

“It’s ridiculous that onshore wind developments still face more planning barriers – both before and after applications are submitted – than fossil fuel energy projects.

“With the country in the midst of both a climate and cost-of-living crisis, ministers should be championing homegrown onshore wind, enabling us all to reap the benefits of lower energy bills and cuts to emissions.”