The new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) for England is due to be published by DCLG today and embodies a presumption in favour of ‘sustainable development’. What can we expect?
Well minister Greg Clark has said ”sustainable means ensuring that better lives for ourselves don’t mean worse lives for future generations” and that ”development means growth”.
So ‘not much’ would be my expectation.
A new Part 43 has been added to the permitted development regulations that finally allows microgeneration on non-domestic properties. This comes into force from 6th April but applies in England only.
There are a few major differences from the equivalent domestic permitted development, such as:
solar panels cannot be installed within one metre of the edge of a roof, solar panels cannot be installed on the roof of a building within a conservation area, wind turbines and air source heat pumps are not included.
Also included is a minor change to the existing wording of Part 40 for domestic installations that has minimal effect.
The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (England) Order 2012
As part of the change to the Permitted Development regulations, that allowed small wind turbines and Air Source Heat Pumps to be installed without planning permission in England, MCS have published the associated Planning Standards.
The document details the procedure for calculating the noise levels that apply for a particular planned installation.
After a couple of years of delay the government have finally brought in amended legislation to allow permitted development for the installation of small wind turbines and air source heat pumps (ASHPs) on domestic premises in England. (Wales still has to wait a little longer.)
The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (England) Order 2011 also rolls in the revised wording for solar roof-top installations that allows systems on roofs in conservation areas, that had previously been the subject of an amendment.
Permitted development for both wind turbines and ASHPs is subject to an array of conditions, which in the main are in line with conditions imposed on all previous renewable technologies. The most notable are that products and installs must comply with MCS Planning Standards. More on this later once Gemserv have made those documents available.
For roof mounted turbines (never something I advise) the tallest part of the blades must not go 3m above the roofline (excluding any chimney) and cannot exceed a total of 15m in height.
Ground mounted turbines cannot exceed 11.1m in height. And in both cases the swept area of the blades cannot exceed 3.8 square metres. This will limit the blade diameter to 2.25m and effectively means that the capacity of the turbine can be little more than 1kW at 11m/s wind speed.
There appears to be much disquiet at the moment over exactly how PV installation works are covered by Building Regulations.
Many Local Authority Building Control (LABC) departments are advising concerned callers that a Building Notice application is required at a cost, in some instances, of over £350 – even where the installer will be both MCS accredited and a member of a Part P electrical competent person scheme – in order to cover the non-Part P elements of the work, which would normally be Part A, covering any structural work on strengthening the roof. And it seems that this situation has not been helped by some rather unguarded comments issuing from the NICEIC.
As far as I can see any Building Notice required under Part A would be for notifying that strengthening works are to be or have been carried out on a roof – as a result of a structural survey.
There is no need to notify LABC that a roof is simply being assessed as to its suitability to carry a higher load or that a higher load is being imposed – with no need to strengthen it.
And any building work that is associated with Part P work (which is what a PV install is as far as the Building Regs are concerned) is automatically covered by the Part P CPS self-certification. This is written into the Building Regs legislation and has been since day 1 of Part P. In fact the wording to cover associated building work under CPS self-certification was first introduced way back in 2002.
So, as far as the legislation is concerned, if an installer is competent to self-certify for the Part P electrical work then they are also considered competent for all the other work carried out at the same time and, as far as the LABC should be concerned, is covered by the same self-certification.
This all comes hot on the heels of the recent news that some Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) were advising homeowners that their planned PV installation required planning approval even though it would usually be covered by the revised Permitted Development legislation that has been introduced by central government over the past few years – specifically to remove this particular barrier to the wider roll-out of microgeneration.
I suppose that this sort of reaction by LABCs and LPAs is a result, in these days of financial restraint, of scrambling to get as much revenue in from their customers as possible. But this is not the right (or legal) way of doing it.
Reference.
The relevant parts are included in paras 17 and 20 of Schedule 3 of the Building Regulations 2010.
EXCLUSIVE by Caroline McMorran reporter@northern-times.co.uk
THE LOCAL authority has forced Scottish and Southern Electricity to shut down a Sutherland wind farm after the company breached planning controls by failing to deal with excessive noise from the development.
People living close to the Achany wind farm near Rosehall are claiming their lives are being made a misery by the constant noise, and are angry that their complaints are being ignored.
In an unprecedented move, Highland Council issued a temporary stop notice on the 23-turbine wind farm at 3pm on Monday.
The turbine blades at the £55 million, 40MW windfarm, which came on stream in July last year, stopped turning that night.
The stop notice will remain in place for a month, until July 4, with the shut down representing a huge financial loss to the power company.
Highland Council’s principal planner Gordon Moonie confirmed yesterday (Thursday) that it was the first time the authority had issued a notice of this type.
He said he was unaware of any other council taking similar action.
“This temporary stop notice was introduced under a 2006 Act and it hasn’t been used very often, but it is quite an effective way of dealing with a breach of planning control. In a sense it affects the company where it hurts – in their pocket,” he said.
Mr Moonie revealed that the problems with Achany had been ongoing for about a year, with constant complaints to planners about noise.
“We were getting complaints from the local people and the community and we weren’t getting any action from SSE, so we decided that the best way forward was to serve this temporary stop notice,” he said.
“It means that the windfarm has to cease operating and we can then get round the table and agree a way forward that is in everyone’s interest.”
According to the stop notice, SSE breached planning controls by failing to provide a scheme for mitigating noise levels prior to the development coming on stream.
They also failed to comply with a request to measure noise levels at two local properties – Rosehall Cottage and a home at Durcha – when specifically asked to do so following complaints from the householders.
The Durcha property is just 2km away from some of the turbines.
The company has further breached planning controls by failing to notify the local authority of the date the development first supplied electricity to the National Grid.
Local resident Andy Simpson is the chairman of Kyle of Sutherland Against Braemore (KoSAB), the group protesting against a proposed wind farm at Braemore, near Lairg.
He told the Northern Times:”The householder at Durcha has been complaining bitterly about the noise in certain weather conditions and said it has made life unbearable at times.
“Therefore, I’m really pleased that Highland Council have done the right thing.
“However, it gives me grave concern that a developer appears to have dismissed a genuine noise complaint once a wind farm has been constructed.
“This surely shows scant care or empathy for local communities from these large corporates.”
He added: “An even greater cause for concern is the proposal for Braemore windfarm which KoSAB estimate is within 2km of 83 houses.”
Rosehall resident Colin Gilmour, who chaired the Achany Windfarm Liaison Group said: “When Achany became operational in July 2010, we closed the liaison group down because in effect we did not really have any more to do with the development and we were not aware at the time that SSE had not met these conditions.
“However, the issue of noise from Achany has come up at the liaison group set up for the Rosehall Hill wind farm which is being constructed by E.ON.
“There is now a worry that houses at Durcha could be affected by noise from both wind farms and that one operator will blame the other.
“They need to sort out the Achany issue before Rosehall Hill wind farm becomes operational.”
Mr Gilmour continued: “The householder at Durcha is particularly affected when the wind is coming from the north-east or in certain weather conditions. But he will be even closer to some of the Rosehall Hill turbines.
“Highland Council became a bit exasperated in the end with SSE over Achany because they just didn’t meet the conditions..”
When asked for a comment, a spokesman for SSE yesterday (Thursday) responded: “Following a request from the Higland Council, we have temporarily suspended generation at our Achany wind farm, near Lairg. We are working closely with council officials and will be meeting representatives later today. We are confident that we can reach an agreement with the council very quickly.”
Northern Ireland will introduce permitted development legislation for some microgeneration systems from 6th April 2011 – finally bringing it in line with the rest of the UK.
A few details are different and are worth highlighting:
- planning permission will still be required for solar panels on roof slopes in conservation areas where they face roads
- conditions that require minimising effects on appearance or amenity have not been included
- Air Source Heat Pumps and wind turbines have not been included