The following response was submitted by SOOLE to a consultation by the UK government's DLUHC on the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: Reforms to National Planning Policy, which proposed specific changes to planning regulations.
SOOLE does not take a stance on wind power: as academics, we survey from a perspective that is neutral to the issues we survey opinion on. SOOLE aims to support democracy by informing decision-makers about the opinions we measure, and the implications of them. The SOOLE consultation response was critical of the government's proposed planning reforms because they appear obviously out of step with public opinion on wind turbines as we have measured it.
See also our second government consultation response.
Response to the UK government’s 2023 Open Consultation “Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy” Question 43
Title: The proposed wind turbine planning reform (represented by the new footnotes 62 and 63) does not reflect public opinion on local wind turbines
Date: 01/03/23
Author 1: Dr Ben Kenward, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Oxford Brookes University, bkenward@brookes.ac.uk
Author 2: Dr Alison Chisholm, Researcher, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, alison.chisholm@phc.ox.ac.uk
The authors do not represent their Universities in this consultation response.
Introduction
This consultation response platforms opinions about onshore wind turbines measured in English rural communities as part of the Oxford Brookes University SOOLE study (Surveying Opinion On Local Energy). SOOLE Preliminary Report 2.0 (“Majority support for local wind turbines in beautiful rural areas in the South of England”) is available at https://soole.brookes.ac.uk/prelimreport20 (Kenward, 2023).
An aim of SOOLE is to support democracy by informing decision makers about public opinions on onshore wind energy. This is important because there is a general and strong tendency to underestimate the extent of public support for environmental measures (Geiger & Swim, 2016; Sparkman et al., 2022). This applies particularly to wind turbines in the UK, where a ComRes poll indicated public support was estimated by the public to be barely half of what it actually was (Carrington, 2016). Such misapprehensions also apply to a majority of Conservative MPs, according to a YouGov poll indicating they believe their voters oppose onshore wind (Mavrokefalidis, 2022), although government figures show only 4% opposition to onshore wind in principle (BEIS, 2022).
SOOLE results summaries (Kenward, 2023) and implications
Result 1. Nine of ten rural communities in the south of England (mainly in or near Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) showed majority support for local wind turbines. Overall support stood at 71% to 80% (depending on survey method) and opposition at 11% to 24%.
Implication 1. The majority will in rural communities is not served by the current planning regulations, which include special requirements for onshore wind and are effectively a near-moratorium (Windemer, 2022). Below we explain why the new proposals do not address this.
Result 2. In five of the surveyed communities, a detailed and realistic local wind turbine plan was used (e.g., a previously rejected planning application). Support was not lower when such details were included, nor did opposition increase.
Implication 2. National opinion polls on wind turbines, and BEIS opinion tracker data (BEIS, 2022), can be criticised for not including local detail and thus potentially measuring opinion that would be different in the presence of a concrete project. Our findings suggest these methods are in fact most likely valid.
Result 3. Opposition to local wind turbines was roughly the same as opposition to any form of local renewable energy development.
Implication 3. Opposition to local wind turbines is in large part the same phenomenon as opposition to any local renewable energy development.
Result 4. Questionnaire response rates were low, but increasing the response rate to 69% by carrying out door-step interviews resulted in a similar level of measured support as in questionnaire responses, whereas opposition dropped, and neutrality increased.
Implication 4. Strongly self-selected samples, such as local consultation responses as well as academic questionnaires, tend to disproportionately reflect minority voices in this context.
Result 5. Most SOOLE participants (56%) would rather have wind turbines than a solar farm at a specified local site. A minority (20%) would rather see a solar farm. This contrasts with the BEIS finding of a weak preference for solar (BEIS, 2022).
Implication 5. Assumptions based on national data may not accurately reflect how rural people feel about specific local areas. The difference between SOOLE and BEIS data could be explained by (1) the SOOLE poll making more explicit the issue of easier co-location with agriculture of wind than solar (Hall et al., 2022), and (2) the very rural SOOLE respondents, many of whom will already be more aware of this issue than the national population.
Result 6. Respondents over-estimate opposition in their area more than four-fold.
Implication 6. Ignorance of others’ opinion is strong even within local communities.
Patterns of discourse about wind turbines (others’ work)
The SOOLE findings add to previous literature examining how wind turbine opponents’ voices can have disproportionate prominence in discourse and influence over decision making (Bell et al., 2013). Opponents incorrectly perceive themselves as in the majority, encouraging them to speak more loudly (Bray, 2018), whereas the incorrect perception of being in the minority creates a self-silencing effect for supporters of environmental measures (Geiger & Swim, 2016). These effects are amplified by local media discourse which can act to disproportionately legitimise opposing voices (Bray, 2018).
Why the proposed new planning framework does not reflect popular opinion
Point 1. The proposed revised National Planning Policy Framework, in footnotes 62 and 63, still places additional requirements on onshore wind turbine plans that do not apply to other developments. However, wind turbines are not regarded by rural communities in the south of England as less desirable than other comparable types of development, and are supported by the majority. Removing these footnotes entirely would better reflect the views of these potential host communities.
Point 2. The proposed revised footnote 63 (previously footnote 54) changes the requirement for wind turbine approval from community “backing” to “community support.” This is not clearer, and may result in planning practice that continues to discount the real balance of community opinion. If these footnotes are not removed, this issue might be partly addressed by more clearly specifying how “community support” is to be measured. Disproportionate influence of minorities might be avoided by replacing “community support” with a phrase such as “majority support from a representative sample of the community”. Guidance could be given for more representative consultation processes that are less susceptible to disproportionate influence of minority voices, for example using randomly selected samples contacted in a manner that ensures a high response rate.
The political context
Polling specifically targeting the issue of how voters respond to energy policy indicated that wind-farm opposition was a vote loser, especially in marginal seats (Morales, 2014). It is unsurprising that the opposition recently selected greater support for renewable energy as one of five key policies as the next election approaches (Mason & Whannel, 2023). If the government also more closely follows public opinion on the issue of wind turbines, that election may be fought on more genuinely and productively contested issues.
References
BEIS. (2022). BEIS Public Attitudes Tracker: Energy Infrastructure and Energy Sources, Autumn 2022, UK. Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/beis-public-attitudes-tracker-autumn-2022
Bell, D., Gray, T., Haggett, C., & Swaffield, J. (2013). Re-visiting the ‘social gap’: public opinion and relations of power in the local politics of wind energy. Environmental Politics, 22(1), 115-135. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2013.755793
Bray, A. (2018). The Democratic Deficit in Wind Farm Siting: An interdisciplinary model of community mobilisation around onshore wind farm siting in England. PhD Thesis. [PhD Thesis, University of Sheffield]. https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/22768/
Carrington, D. (2016). Onshore windfarms more popular than thought, UK poll finds. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/20/onshore-windfarms-more-popular-than-thought-uk-poll-finds
Geiger, N., & Swim, J. K. (2016). Climate of silence: Pluralistic ignorance as a barrier to climate change discussion. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 47, 79-90. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.05.002
Hall, P. K., Morgan, W., & Richardson, J. (2022). Land Use Conflicts Between Wind and Solar Renewable Energy and Agriculture Uses. The National Agricultural Law Center. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1104&context=law_faculty
Kenward, B. (2023). SOOLE Preliminary Report 2.0: Majority support for local wind turbines in beautiful rural areas in the South of England. https://soole.brookes.ac.uk/prelimreport20
Mason, C., & Whannel, K. (2023). Keir Starmer unveils Labour's five missions for the country. BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64739371
Mavrokefalidis, D. (2022). ‘Large disparity’ in MPs’ views and public support on onshore wind. Energy Live News. https://www.energylivenews.com/2022/11/17/large-disparity-in-mps-views-and-public-support-on-onshore-wind/
Morales, A. (2014). Wind Power Opposition May Cost U.K. Conservatives Votes. Bloomberg UK. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-11/wind-power-opposition-may-cost-u-k-conservatives-votes
Sparkman, G., Geiger, N., & Weber, E. U. (2022). Americans experience a false social reality by underestimating popular climate policy support by nearly half. Nature Communications, 13(1), 4779. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32412-y
Windemer, R. (2022). The impact of the 2015 onshore wind policy change for local planning authorities in England: Preliminary survey results. ESRC. https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9206381