Planning Performance Agreements for Renewable and Low Carbon Projects
The Government has published its Low Carbon Transition Plan and the Renewable Energy Strategy setting out a route map of how it intends to meet its targets to increase the amount of renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions. The Government is keen to speed up the deployment of renewable energy in the UK. With that in mind, the Department of Communities and Local Government is looking to help with a limited number of projects involving renewable or low carbon energy which would benefit from the use of a Planning Performance Agreement in the pre-application stage. CLG are offering funding to pay for expert consultancy support to both developers and local planning authorities dealing with such projects and are looking to find up to 12 development projects as pilot schemes to see if they benefit from using a Planning Performance Agreement.
A Planning Performance Agreement is a framework agreed between the local planning authority and the developer for the management of a planning application for complex development proposals. It allows both parties to agree a project plan and programme which includes allocating the appropriate resources necessary to determine the application in accordance with a firm timetable.
CLG are interested in a range of renewable heat and electricity technologies and low carbon approaches with energy capacity below 50 MW such as air source heat pumps, hydro, ground source heat pumps, onshore wind, biogas heat, bioenergy, wave and tidal, biomass district heating, combined heat and power solutions or small scale renewable energy.
The closing date to register an expression of interest for funding is 30 September 2009.
