Labour backs Tory amendment to end ban on new onshore wind farms

Posted on : November 26, 2022
Labour backs Tory amendment to end ban on new onshore wind farms

Labour, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss join forces to end a ban on new onshore wind farms

  • Tory minister Simon Clarke has tabled an amendment to allow more farms
  • The Opposition are poised to support it, alongside Boris Johnson and Liz Truss 
  • Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill changes would allow onshore applications 

Labour has joined forces with Boris Johnson and Liz Truss in a bid to end a ban on new onshore wind farms.

The Opposition is poised to support an amendment tabled by former Tory minister Simon Clarke to allow the farms where there is community consent.

The bid is gaining momentum, with former prime ministers Mr Johnson and Miss Truss among at least 18 Tory MPs publicly supporting it.

A Labour source last night confirmed the party would back it, but voiced concern that it did not go far enough in ‘levelling the playing field between onshore wind and other infrastructure’.

Mr Clarke’s bid to change the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, currently going through Parliament, would force the Government to allow onshore wind farm applications by revising government planning guidance. 

The Opposition is poised to support an amendment tabled by former Tory minister Simon Clarke (pictured on October 11) to allow the farms where there is community consent

The Bill is expected to be debated again next month.

During her brief tenure in No 10, Miss Truss vowed to relax the planning laws that have led to a virtual moratorium on wind farms since 2015 – and bring them in line with other developments.

But Rishi Sunak scrapped the policy when he became Prime Minister.

Yesterday No 10 opened the door to reconsidering onshore wind by promising to look at Mr Clarke’s amendment, but sources insisted the PM was focused on offshore wind.

A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘We will consider all amendments and set out our position in the usual way.

‘The PM has been clear, though, that we want to support more renewables, for them to come online and the focus remains on building more wind turbines offshore in order to boost our energy security.’

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