Planning permission to be waived for micro-generation

The Government is planning to streamline planning guidelines so that householders no longer need planning permission to install renewable energy technologies on their homes. The announcement of the planned change should, according to the Observer, be announced within ten days.

Many local authorities insist householders apply for planning consent. 'It is patently absurd that you should be able to put a satellite dish on your house but have to wrestle with the planning process for small-scale micro-generation, which is no more obtrusive and can have a real impact on tackling climate change,' Yvette Cooper, the planning minister, told The Observer

'We want much more micro-generation to be treated as permitted development. We are reviewing the impact of a wide range of technologies so we can take account of things such as the impact on neighbours or listed buildings before consulting on details later this year.'

It sounds like a good idea. Obviously the NIMBYs are all over it, unable to see the beauty in a windmill and fearing that unobtrusive flat solar panels will somehow blight their landscapes. Neighbours of David Cameron have deployed the old nonsense that his plans to erect a windmill will reduce the values of their homes. Maybe if they mocked his attempts to greenwash his way to credibility I'd have more sympathy for them.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Planning Permission, Microgeneration