Renewables
This part of website is currently under construction.
We have included some useful resources below in the meantime.
At CPRE, we know that the climate emergency is the biggest threat to the countryside. Whether through the flooding of prime agricultural land, or the disappearance of cherished wildlife and landscapes, we need to urgently reduce our carbon emissions to avoid the devastation of rural life.
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CPRE, the countryside charity is committed to supporting renewable energy but will always oppose harmful developments.
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The climate and nature emergencies pose an existential threat to the countryside in terms of landscapes, livelihoods and the natural systems which support us all. CPRE advocates for climate action, and we support renewable energy. If we are to eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels then no form of zero carbon energy can be off the table. The Government’s Energy White Paper (2020) committed the UK to generating 40 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity by 2030; and the Climate Change Committee (2019) recommended that 54GW of solar capacity is needed by 2035.​​
Solar Farms
CPRE's reservations about solar farm applications are essentially three-fold:
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Solar panels should be put on roofs in preference to being put onto prime agricultural land.
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Claims of carbon savings and electricity generation are frequently misleadingly presented, with a tendency to be uncritically accepted and conflictingly presented by officers. Since the whole rationale of the applications is to save carbon emissions it behoves officers to take great care with the relevant figures.
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There is no national land-use policy to establish a hierarchy between food production, energy production or landscape value.
Wind Energy
The re-emerging saga of the mid-Wales windfarms and their possible pylon line across north Shropshire shows the tenacity required, over years, to fight some campaigns. The campaign started in March 2011 and went through a year-long public inquiry, with the pylon plans going into "hibernation" in September 2016. Since then the Welsh Government has brought out "Future Wales 2040" which replaced the TAN8 wind farm Strategic Search Areas with "Pre-assessed areas for wind development".
In autumn 2023 Bute Energy and Green Gen Cymru announced plans for mid-Wales wind farms and a pylon line along much the same route as before, from near Cefn Coch to Lower Frankton near Oswestry, albeit on smaller pylons. Our response to this consultation is here.
CPRE Resources
In 2021, CPRE developed an alternative approach to planning renewable energy in the countryside. This approach recognises the importance of the local landscape context, gives a voice to the priorities of rural residents, and empowers communities to pro-actively prepare for a future with more renewable energy: Community Energy Visioning. More information about this approach here.