‘Planning is key obstacle to farm renewables’
A lack of consistency from planners was cited as one of the major obstacles to investment in renewables by farmers taking part in a recent online discussion.
Farmers taking part in a twitter debate on renewable energy last Thursday (24 Jan), organised by the Agrichat team (@agrichatuk), also raised government policy as another barrier.
Problems in getting planning permission were caused by Nimbyism, which was not helped by the short-termism of reporting in the media, said contributors.
Keeping a good dialogue open with councils about plans was recommended. Attention to detail in the design was also crucial as it could sometimes make the difference in obtaining permission or not.
Uncertainty about the government’s commitment to the sector was an underlying feature of the discussion.
However, advisers who took part in the discussion commented that they were seeing more enquiries about self-investment, and that banks were still willing to fund the right projects.