Prescott wins support for attacking ‘NIMBY’ councils
Thursday 27 August 2009
Friends of the Earth has expressed its support for comments made by John Prescott yesterday (August 26) in which he attacked NIMBY ("not in my back yard") councils that turn down wind farm applications.
We have to counteract the nimbys who say they want change, but not in their backyard
The former deputy Prime Minister said that planning committees should not be allowed to veto critical alternative energy developments on purely aesthetic grounds, and criticised a number of recent decisions to refuse permission for new projects to generate renewable energy.
He was speaking at launch of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's New Deal campaign, which is pushing for a global deal on climate change at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen later this year.
He said: "Two thirds of applications for wind turbines are being turned down by councils. The opposition forces are beginning to develop. We have to counteract the nimbys who say they want change, but not in their backyard".
He added that planning committees in Bedford and the Isle of Wight could be winners of the 'Age of Stupid' awards, named after the environmental film which depicts the Earth devastated by climate change fifty years in the future.
Planning
Friends of the Earth's executive director Andy Atkins said that Mr. Prescott was right to be concerned as Britain would struggle to meet its targets for lowering emissions and generating energy from renewable sources without a change in planning attitudes towards projects such as wind farms.
Gaynor Hartnall, director of policy at trade representatives the Renewable Energy Association (REA), added that the planning system had been on the REA's agenda for a while, especially for smaller, local schemes.
She said: "It is a notoriously drawn out process and that is a terrible concern. We should be striving for efficiency in decisions on the huge number of smaller renewables projects coming forward."
Mr.Atkins agreed that more should be done on a local scale, saying that local authorities should have obligatory renewable energy targets and a requirement to allocate potential local sites to build appropriate green energy developments in order to meet these targets.
He said: "A major emphasis on community-led renewable energy developments is also required so that local people can share in the huge financial benefits of developing green power."
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