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Scots make renewable energy easier
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 23rd February 2009 at 11:06 am
The Scottish Government has made it easier for people to get renewable energy for their home following a consultation on planning reform. The aim of the consultation was to increase renewable energy generation and cut carbon emissions. The result is that anyone living in Scotland will be able to ins…
Posted in: General, Biomass, Heat pumps, Solar electricity, Solar heat & hot water
Planning for solar panels
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 6th March 2009 at 11:59 am
Living in a listed building or conservation area doesn't mean that you can't have solar panels, as Anne Robbins' experience shows. You may, however, need determination and energy, and money for an appeal, if you want to leap over all the planning hurdles. Anne lives in a conservation area in Gre…
Posted in: General, Solar heat & hot water
Overcoming obstacles to microgeneration part 3: planning
Posted by on 11th June 2010 at 9:32 am
Planning permission for renewable energy and microgeneration brings up such a wide range of issues that we're worried you might fall asleep at your computer if we covered them all. So, in this blog, we focus on: The process of planning application and approval Planning directives The pr…
Posted in: General
Are council planning departments making it difficult to install solar panels?
Posted by Robert Palgrave on 18th August 2010 at 9:27 am
Installing solar PV panels should be easier for home-owners since a planning appeal confirmed what is allowed under permitted development. Planning departments at some councils in England seem to want to make it difficult for householders to install photovoltaic solar panels. But as a result …
Posted in: Solar electricity, Solar heat & hot water
Is your council blocking your solar PV installation?
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 12th May 2011 at 11:05 am
A new campaign is calling for local councils to stop making it difficult for householders to install renewable energy. Government policy says that in most cases domestic renewable energy installations are permitted development. Yet this isn't stopping councils like Eden Valley in Cumbria from ma…
Posted in: General, Solar electricity
Council's planning policy stands in the way of solar progress
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 24th May 2011 at 9:06 am
West Lancashire Borough Council is the latest to be caught demanding that homeowners formally apply for permission to have solar panels installed – something the Government has said is not required. The council is writing to residents telling them "it is in your own interest to submit a formal …
Posted in: Solar electricity
Planning permission and building regulations: the rules for solar installations explained
Posted by David Hunt on 14th June 2011 at 9:50 am
Councils asking for planning permission, or building regulations applications for solar panel installations has been much in the press of late. Indeed much of that press has been linked to the campaign by YouGen and ourselves. The campaign has been picked up and supported by shadow climate change…
Posted in: General, Solar electricity
How to choose the best wind turbine for your site.
Posted by Graham Eastwick on 28th June 2011 at 2:40 pm
There are a wide variety of wind turbines on the market today. These split in to two main categories: horizontal axis akin to the old fashion wind mills and vertical axis turbines. Most installations use a horizontal axis, vertical axis turbines are most often found in urban environments. Below a…
Posted in: Wind turbines
Solar PV, conservation area and planning permission: a case study
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 26th September 2011 at 8:28 am
Steve Plater's, story has a happy ending, but it perfectly illustrates that despite being a "permitted development" the path of a solar pv panel installation doesn't always run smoothly: Our house is metres inside a conservation area (CA) boundary, only because it is built on land which used to …
Posted in: Solar electricity
Government bottles permitted development rights for small wind
Posted by David Hunt on 7th October 2011 at 3:38 am
Once again the government has shown its weakness when it comes to decisions on planning permission and the green agenda and particularly when it comes to small wind turbines. To give credit where it is due, the recent addition of permitted development (PD) rights for the installation of d…
Posted in: Wind turbines
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