Now onshore wind ban stays put

BUILDING new onshore wind farms will remain banned in England after Rishi Sunak scrapped another Liz Truss policy.

The former PM and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng had promised to change planning rules so that the giant turbines could be ‘deployed more easily’ in the countryside. But like much of their doomed ‘Growth Plan’ – which also included lifting the ban on fracking – the move has been dumped by successors. Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said that the effective ban on onshore wind, which was introduced in 2015, would remain through rules that mean wind farms must have the backing of local people. He told Sky News that it was important to strike the ‘right balance’ between ‘recognising local feeling’ and investing in renewable energy offshore.

Whitehall sources also told the Daily Mail the rules will not be changed ‘for now’. But Labour’s climate change spokesman Ed Miliband said keeping the ban was ‘terrible’ and would drive up energy bills.