Navigating the planning system for renewable energy

Wouldn’t it be better if the Planning Departments of various local authorities didn’t put unnecessary hurdles in the path of folk who want to adopt renewable energy technology in the own homes.


This thread on www.renew-reuse-recycle.com indicates exactly what a confusing mess this process currently is. The poor soul involved is only trying to do his bit to save the planet.

Planners seem to forget that individual homeowners don’t necessarily have the skill (or the patience) to understand the sometimes arcane procedures involved, and rather than try to help them they seem more than likely to act in a begrudging fashion, dispensing information in tiny droplets with little explanation.

I’m presently trying to put solar hot water panels onto my house, which will help reduce my carbon footprint (there’s no gas in the village, and I’m entirely dependent on electricity for everything right now). In order to do this I first completed a ‘Do you need planning permission?’ form and sent it in to my local authority - by post, mark you, no such thing as submitting it online - and chased it up a couple of weeks later (10 days was the stated time for a formal response on the acknowledgement card I received back).

The chap I spoke to (a junior planning officer) dug my form out of the pile where it hadn’t been looked at yet, hummed and ha’d a bit and then said it’d be at least another week before I got a formal reply. When pressed, he agreed to put it at the top of the pile and deal with it quicker than that, which was nice of him (squeaky wheels, and all that).

The letter I got back was bizarrely phrased:

Ref: Roof-mounted solar collector apparatus on XXXXX

Further to your recent letter of enquiry.

I can confirm that planning permission will not be required for the installation of solar panels at the above dwelling.

Hooray! I thought, and it goes on to say:

This is assuming that the solar panels will lie flat against the roofslope, and will not project above 100mm above the rooftiles

OK, that’s the case - fantastic grin But then…

and will not be installed on roofslopes which face the road

My initial ‘Do I need permission’ enquiry specifically stated that they would face that way. Fair enough if I need permission, I need it, but why give all that good news only to dash my hopes at the very end? Very strange, and exhibits almost a perverse delight. I suppose it’s a standard letter but even so…

Anyway, the required planning permission application was prepared and submitted by the company doing the installation on our behalf, and sometime in the next few weeks we might get a positive reply. Hopefully before the weather gets too bad to go ahead with the work for this year!

Just a small example of how interaction with government bureaucracy can give you the feeling that you’re very definitely the ‘little man’. confused

Published by Simon Banton on 08/09/06 at 3:58pm

Comments

  1. Other countries, especially Mediterranian ones, seem more pragmatic about solar collectors: Many houses sport simple cheap systems on their flat roofs.

    In UK, I could understand concerns about spoiling “listed” buildings, or possibly buildings in “conservation areas.”

    Otherwise it should just be a matter of safety and the prevention of nuisance, eg. Noise from wind turbines or bright reflections from shiny panels.

    Remember that some areas and some landlords still even ban simple TV aerials.

    There is an alternative method: Some systems use the whole ordinary roof as a their collector, heating the air in the loft cavity: A heat pump collects this heat and produces the higher temperatures needed to heat water. The whole installation in hidden in the loft. The equipment may be more expensive, and needs maintenance, but is claimed to work for more of the year.

    Heat pumps are (or at least were) common in retail and industrial buildings - and in London’s Festival Hall. They are just fridges in reverse.

    Reply by Richard S  on  09/08/06  at  8:38 pm

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