Integrated planning and assessment for sustainable energy development in the regions? Prof John Glasson Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford

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Integrated planning and assessment for
sustainable energy development in the regions?
Prof John GlassonOxford Institute for
Sustainable Development, Oxford Brookes
University, Oxford
Royal Geographical Society Conference REGIONS,
ENERGY AND CLIMATE October 25th 2006
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• Planners have been turning down on-shore wind
  turbine applications at a disturbing rate (TCPA
  2004).
• The last Public Inquiry for a UK nuclear power
  station was (until Heathrow Terminal 5) the
  longest in UK planning history, lasting over
  three years.
• There is a danger of the new SEA/SA procedures
  turning into an irrelevant tick box procedure.
• The broad objective of the UK land-use planning
  system has been for many years to regulate the
  development and use of land in the public
  interest. Under the new Planning and
  Compensation Act (2004), and in PPS1 a much
  wider purpose has been added to contribute to
  the achievement of sustainable development.

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Structure of the presentation

• Introduction planning barrier or enabler
  fragmented or integrated?
• Context
• Challenges to energy developments in the regions
• A planning system in flux
• Cases
• Some promising local and strategic planning
  initiatives.
• SEA and SA use and misuse (wind power example)
• EIA and the missing socio-economic dimension
  (nuclear power example)
• Ways forward

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INTRODUCTION

• An Inconvenient Truth that our use and
  generation of energy is having a serious impact
  on climate change.
• Current plans propose up to 20 of energy supply
  from renewables by 2020, but there may also be a
  role for nuclear to fill the generation gap
  allied to better management of demand.
• Role of planning system to facilitate
  sustainable development (including energy
  development).
• In an integrated fashion integration of goal
  (SD) elements (environ/social/econ) process
  (planning and assessment) and levels of
  planning.
• Presentation approach from Context to Cases
  (with focus on energy supply).

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1. CONTEXT CHALLENGES TO ENERGY GENERATION
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGIONS

• Public opposition, and from other interested
  parties.
• Concerns about technology old and new (nuclear,
  wind, barrages).
• Concern about scale, and cumulative impacts.
• Particular concern about sensitive locations (eg.
  designated protected areas).
• Worry about a mix of varying and contested
  impacts
• at different levels (local?international)
• on physical environments
• on socio-economic environments.

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1. Context Challenges (contd)
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2. CONTEXT A PLANNING (AND ASSESSMENT) SYSTEM
IN FLUX

• National interventions
• Planning and Compensation Act (2004) also new
  Planning Bill in Scotland (2006).
• Welcome review and streamlining of national
  planning guidance PPS1 emphasis on sustainable
  development PPS22 renewable energy (2004)
  RSSs and LDDs should contain policies designed
  to promote and encourage, rather than restrict,
  the development of renewable energy resources.
• Sustainable Communities Plan Barker Review(s).
• But still no National Spatial Strategy (in
  England) major regional imbalances adventures
  inter-regional PSA target.
• Fragmented Central Government responsibilities
  (eg. DCLG, DEFRA, DfT, DTI) fragmented
  infrastructure planning, and implementation
  deficit.

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• Regional rescaling
• RDAs and RESs with budgets
• RAs and RSSs with statutory role
• End of County Structure Plans
• Spatial and democratic deficits a sub-regional
  future?
• Local planning ambiguities
• LDFs/LDDs
• Community Strategies
• Local Transport Plans
• Rise of urban design and master planning
• Community involvement

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EU/EC driver of change especially for impact
assessment regime

• A larger EU, with wider disparities dominant
  regional economic policy emergence of ESDP.
• But focus here on array of environmental
  policies/Directives, and especially impact
  assessment Directives.
• 1985/1997 EIA Directive (requiring EIA for
  growing array of major projects including most
  energy projects).
• 1992 Habitats Directive (including requirements
  for Appropriate Assessment for developments
  threatening Natura 2000 sites) 2006 DEFRA/DCLG
  regulations and guidance.
• 2004 SEA Directive (requiring SEA for range of
  plans and programmes including TCP, transport,
  water management, waste management, and energy).
• 2005 complemented by introduction of
  Sustainability Appraisal (SA) in the UK.

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Deep SEA, shallow SEA, all at SEA?
AA narrow ecological focus on few sites,
detailed
SEA focus on environment rebalancing in
favour of the environment
Depth, rigour, focus of analysis
SA broad coverage of social, economic and
environmental issues, balancing
Breadth of analysis
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Some implications of changes in the planning
system

• Some opportunities
• sustainable development focus (PPS1) SEA/SA
  regime
• statutory regional planning
• recognition of the importance of planning (Egan?
  Barker?)
• some additional resources (eg. PDG)
• Some threats
• systematic conflicts 1 initiative overload, and
  overlapping planning
• systematic conflicts 2 spatial gaps and
  democratic deficits
• systematic conflicts 3 efficient/faster planning
  versus more community involvement
• inadequate resources, and lack of capacity to
  deliver the requirements of the new systems not
  enough planners and relevant expertise to go
  around!

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3. CASE I SOME PROMISING STRATEGIC (AND LOCAL)
PLANNING INITIATIVES FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY
DEVELOPMENTS

• Impetus/Guidance from PPS22 (2004) in England
• renewable energy developments should be capable
  of being accommodated throughout England in
  locations where the technology is viable and
  environmental, economic and social impacts can be
  satisfactorily addressed.
• the RSS should include the target for renewable
  energy capacity in the region, derived from
  assessment of the regions renewable energy
  resource potential, and taking into account the
  regional environmental, economic and social
  impacts (either positive or negative) that may
  result from the exploitation of that resource
  potential.
• where appropriate, targets in RSSs may be
  disaggregated into sub-regional targets.
• and forthcoming SPP6 (2006) in Scotland

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Sub-regional targets for SE England (2010-2016)
use of sub-regional targets may help to engender
local commitment and assist the local planning
and development control process.
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Spatial strategy for renewables in draft NE RSS
(2003)

• particular focus on on-shore and off-shore wind
  power
• use of criteria-based policies, eg
• within designated National Parks, AONBs etc. wind
  development should be limited to individual
  turbines of no greater than 100KW.
• preference should be given to concentrated rather
  than dispersed or scattered patterns of wind
  development.

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Highlighting renewable energy potential in
National Planning Framework for Scotland (2004)

• the NPF highlights the great potential for marine
  energy development on the West and North Coasts.
• the new Planning Bill in Scotland provides
  statutory status for the NPF, which should help
  an implementation.

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Local implementation of PPS 22 renewable energy
policies in emerging development plans

• LPAs may include policies in LDDs that require a
  of the energy to be used in new residential,
  commercial or industrial developments to come
  from on-site renewable energy developments.
• A 2006 Government review of the implementation of
  the above policy revealed
• 56 of plans that could reasonably be expected to
  contain such a PPS 22 policy did so
• 90 of new style plans (26 out of 29) did include
  the PPS 22 policy.

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4. CASE II POTENTIAL ROLE FOR SEA/SA IN
DEVELOPMENT OF (OFF-SHORE) WIND POWER

• On-shore wind power increasingly contentious?
• Wind farms topped Country Life poll in 2003 as
  Britains worst eyesores
• Key issues relate to visual impact, noise
  impact, impact on birds, electromagnetic impacts
  (eg. on radar), only limited community benefits,
  and scale issue (which is problem for many
  renewables).

Off-shore wind power the more acceptable face
of wind energy in the UK?
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Off-shore wind power increasing scale

• Typical modern wind turbine is up to 160m tall
  with blades up to 100m of 2-5 MW capacity and
  with monopole of 4m diameter.

• Early development (eg. in 2000 Blyth 2 x 2
  turbines) (power for 3000 homes).
• Round 1 2001 18 planned developments of up to
  30 turbines total capacity of approx. 1200 MW,
  on stream 2004 on.
• Round 2 2003 15 planned projects, some of over
  200 turbines total capacity of approx. 7000 MW
  over next 15 years.

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Context Future Offshore (DTI 2002) identified
3 Strategic Areas for Offshore Wind Energy
development
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Off-shore wind power use and misuse of an SEA
approach

• Approach
• study in 2003, in advance of SEA Directive
• developer applications before end of SEA
• interesting SEA methods of spatial analysis and
  risk-based analysis of impacts
• identified issues for parts of each strategic
  area (eg. in Liverpool Bay marine conservation
  in S Seascape in N of area).
• Concerns
• involved too late in process three strategic
  areas pre-selected
• tight timescale
• weak baseline data
• limited consultation with some stakeholders
• insufficient attention paid to cumulative effects

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Towards a more integrated approach to Strategic
Assessment
In terms of content (Sustainability Appraisal)
In terms of process
Incremental

• towards a balanced consideration of environmental
  social and economic impacts (ie. from SEA ? SA)
• Off-shore wind farm SEA partly covered
  socio-economic impacts

Stapled
Concurrent
Holistic
models of SEA and planning
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5. CASE III EIA AND THE MISSING SOCIO-ECONOMIC
DIMENSION THE CASE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY

• Limited scope of EIA
• About 600-700 EISs pa in UK (especially for
  roads, waste, extraction, urban and energy
  sectors).
• Focus on bio-physical impacts socio-economic
  impacts tend to be the poor relation BUT THEY
  ARE IMPORTANT.
• A more integrated approach for the future
• Hopefully any future major energy projects will
  take a wider, more integrated approach to
  impacts, identifying and managing potential
  conflicts and trade-offs.
• Planning for nuclear power a very contested
  area
• Last nuclear power station, Sizewell B, was
  completed in the 1990s.
• Any future programme faces a challenging
  assessment/planning/inquiry regime separating
  strategic and local issues?

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The example of Sizewell B monitoring the
important local socio-economic impacts

• following 3-year Public Inquiry
• construction began in 1987
• became fully operational in 1995, generating 1200
  MW

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• Aims and methodology
• Local communities are sometimes persuaded that
  major projects will bring considerable local
  socio-economic benefits, but do the latter
  materialise in practice?
• The socio-economic dimension of impact assessment
  seeks to maximise the benefits and minimise the
  costs of major developments, especially those
  borne by the community.
• The Oxford IAU monitoring study sought to assess
  the local socio-economic impacts of building
  Sizewell B, over an 8 year longitudinal study.
• Aim better management of the project assessing
  impacts predictions improving future planning.
• Methodology data analysis developer inputs,
  workforce surveys local population surveys
  other agencies.
• Focus employment, local services, actual and
  perceived impacts.

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Maximizing local economic benefits in practice
Extent of local labour by contractor type (1992)
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Minimising/internalising negative social impacts

• 900 bed Site Hostel to reduce impacts on local
  housing market.
• Site Medical Centre, operated on 24-hour basis,
  to take pressure off local health services (had
  over 20,000 attendances pa. at peak).
• Impact on schools generally positive, helping
  to offset falling school rolls.
• But also problem of increased levels of crime and
  other behavioural problems associated with
  construction workforce.
• However, monitoring of these impacts facilitated
  quick, and effective, mitigation responses.

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• Mitigation through monitoring controlling
  worker related crime

Changes in involvement of Sizewell B employees in
all types of arrests in Leiston police division
Drink driving offences
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• Perceived impacts via barometers of local
  public opinion.
• importance of perceived impacts
• various approaches to measurement
• changes in perceptions over time

(a) positive impacts
(b) negative impacts
changes in nature of impacts identified by local
respondents during construction of Sizewell B
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WAYS FORWARD THE IMPORTANCE OF A POSITIVE AND
INTEGRATED APPROACH

• Towards a more supportive planning regime
• national planning policy support for sustainable
  development renewable energy (PPSs etc.)
• statutory and wide ranging regional planning
• Moves towards a more integrated approach
• around the goal of sustainable development
• seeking to integrate planning and assessment
  regimes
• across environmental, social and economic
  dimensions

But some systematic conflicts (eg. efficient
planning versus more community involvement)
initiative/assessment overload pressure on
capacity/expertise of the planning system.
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Thank you for your attention