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Regional wind farm visit and conferences for Planners and Councillors

In June, July, August and September 2009, BWEA and partners will be holding a series of FREE Regional Planning Conferences exclusively for Councillors and local authority Planners.

The UK's allocation for the EU 20% renewable energy target is still being negotiated but the initial figure of 15% will lead to the UK requiring around 40% of our electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020, almost ten times the current contribution. Given that the greater part of this will need to be sourced from on- and offshore wind farms, the wind industry is in a unique position to help Government achieve this challenging target, with between 33 gigawatts (GW) and 46 GW of installed wind energy capacity required, an almost 20 fold increase on the present day. To achieve this target commitment is required from national, regional and, most importantly, from Local Authorities. With this in mind, we have created this opportunity to inform planners and Councillors of the considerations to be made in plan making policy, case assessment and decision-making.

We are inviting all local authorities to a conference in their region, to enhance knowledge and awareness of the issues and processes that affect them, and provide a chance to share experiences with others in the development process. Accurate and up to date information will be provided within presentations and Q&A sessions.

The programme will include the potential of wind energy in the UK, UK planning and energy policy, regional policy and environmental and technical issues relating to wind farms. The day will include a visit to a modern working wind farm and will involve presentations on all the principal issues from policy makers, Civil Servants and developers.

Planners and Councillors will leave the events with increased knowledge of planning for wind energy and the implications of EU and national targets with more confidence of the considerations to make in policy formation, case assessment and decision making. They will also be given an awareness of the true nature of wind energy technology, and the facts associated with its development.

Click here for information on previous planning conferences.

BWEA Replan
RePLAN is BWEA's quarterly newsletter for councillors and planning officers in England and Wales. Providing up-to-date information about the development of wind energy for local authorities.

Click here to read the latest issue