Moved by
That the Bill do now pass.
(CB)
My Lords, I declare my interest as co-chair of Peers for the
Planet and thank colleagues both there and throughout the House
who have supported the Bill, as well as many outside
organisations.
This Third Reading comes at a time when the country is deep in an
energy security crisis. We urgently need to shift away from
reliance on fossil fuels and the volatility of the international
gas markets. The Prime Minister wrote this week that
“green energy of all kinds”
will be at the heart of the imminent energy security
strategy.
Onshore wind offers cheap, clean, domestically produced energy,
but at the moment planning restrictions impose an effective
moratorium on its development and the repowering of existing
installations. My Bill would end that moratorium and put planning
applications on the same basis as others. I hope the Minister
will indicate in his response that the Government recognise the
need to change current planning policies to enable onshore wind
to play a full part in our energy mix and our response to the
current crisis. I beg to move.
(Lab)
My Lords, the issues raised in the Bill—energy and planning—were
always important. With recent events they have become even more
so and I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, on
bringing the Bill to your Lordships’ House. She is absolutely
right: onshore wind delivers cheap, clean, domestically produced
electricity. I am sure that in the coming months and years we
will come back to the issues raised in this Bill, whether in the
Subsidy Control Bill or in many of the other Bills we will
discuss. On these Benches we have always been happy to support
this.
(Con)
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness on her Bill, which I
fully support. I have long opposed subsidies for wind, but I am
not opposed to wind. As far as onshore wind is concerned, beauty
lies in the eye of the beholder and I find windmills quite
attractive—although this was not a view universally shared by my
constituents.
In the current circumstances we must support the cheapest, most
reliable mix of energy we can produce. With high gas prices,
clearly wind is more economical. We should support it and not
have artificial barriers to its development. But however much
wind power we develop, we will need gas to back it up when the
wind is not blowing. As well as liberalising the rules on
building wind farms on land, I hope we shall liberalise the rules
on exploiting gas to go with it.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy () (Con)
My Lords, I join in the thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady
Hayman, for this Bill to revise national planning guidance on
onshore wind. While the Government were not convinced that the
Bill is the right course of action, we agree with the importance
of increasing onshore wind deployment in order to reach our
net-zero targets. As my noble friend implied, recent events have
demonstrated how crucial it is that we build a strong, homegrown
renewable energy sector to further reduce our reliance on fossil
fuels.
However, that does not alter the Government’s position here. We
welcome the Bill and the opportunity to debate this important
subject, although we cannot support it. I congratulate the noble
Baroness, Lady Hayman, on bringing the Bill to the House and
enabling what has been an excellent debate. I thank all noble
Lords for their contributions at Second Reading, which allowed
for an insightful and important debate on the subject. I also
thank my officials for their support during Second Reading, which
enabled noble Lords to receive prompt and, I hope, comprehensive
answers on matters of interest.
The Government are not convinced that this Bill is the right
solution to bring forward more onshore wind deployment in
England. We continue to keep English planning policy under
careful review to ensure that decisions on onshore wind can be
taken that are in keeping with our carbon budgets.
(CB)
My Lords, I am grateful; I shall read the Minister’s comments
very carefully. I think he said the Government were not convinced
that this was the right way to bring forward more onshore wind.
Of course, the moratorium was effectively imposed by a
ministerial Statement. If the Government can find other ways, I
will gladly cede my Bill in the cause. Beyond that, I was
delighted to have a moment of unanimity with the noble Lord,
, almost to the end of what he
said—but we must take what we can.
Bill passed and sent to the Commons.
