Policy CC/RE: Renewable energy projects and infrastructure

National planning policy recognises that to help increase the use and supply of renewable and low carbon energy, local planning authorities should recognise the responsibility on all communities to contribute to energy generation from renewable or low carbon sources.  At the same time, national policy places limits on onshore wind generation.  For onshore wind turbines to achieve planning permission, they need to be located in areas deemed suitable for wind turbines in Local Plans or neighbourhood plans, and need to receive community support. 

In order to support the transition to net zero carbon and keep

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

within its carbon budget, the

Short form for the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, which sets out policies to guide the future development of Greater Cambridge. It also sets out where future development will take place, and identifies land for new housing, community facilities, shops and employment. It is the key document use to determine planning applications for new development in the Greater Cambridge area.

will need to facilitate both community and commercial scale renewable energy generation, with a blend of both wind and solar based energy.  As part of the work on the Net Zero Carbon Study (2021), our consultants have considered how much renewable energy should be generated within the boundaries of

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

by 2050 in order for the area to fairly contribute to the national generation mix. This work recommends that onshore wind capacity in

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

, which is currently lower than the national average, needs to increase in capacity around 7-fold.   The report recommends that sufficient areas should be identified to accommodate additional renewable energy projects. 

Work is currently underway to assess the sensitivity of the landscapes that make up

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

.  This work will help to identify whether there are any broad areas of suitability for wind turbines and solar farms and what size or scale of proposal may be suitable subject to other policy requirements, which would then be identified via the policies map. 

This policy is also linked to policy CC/NZ, in that for any schemes that require the use of the offset facility, it will be important to ensure that sites are identified and ready to proceed in order to ensure that offsetting is not delayed. 

We asked about how should the

Short form for the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, which sets out policies to guide the future development of Greater Cambridge. It also sets out where future development will take place, and identifies land for new housing, community facilities, shops and employment. It is the key document use to determine planning applications for new development in the Greater Cambridge area.

help us achieve net zero carbon by 2050. Feedback included that we should support renewable energy production, use and investment. We should support community renewable energy schemes, and district heating.

Not identifying areas suitable for wind turbines, leaving it to other types of renewable energy to contribute towards

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

’s share of renewable energy - This is not the preferred approach, as there is a risk with this approach that this could place a risk on delivering sufficient renewable energy to meet carbon budgets, which would not be compatible with net zero carbon given the need for an increase in renewable energy generation to support this. 

• The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

  Short form for the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, which sets out policies to guide the future development of Greater Cambridge. It also sets out where future development will take place, and identifies land for new housing, community facilities, shops and employment. It is the key document use to determine planning applications for new development in the Greater Cambridge area.

  : Topic paper 2: Climate Change 

• The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

   Net Zero Carbon Study (2021) 

• Cambridgeshire Renewables Infrastructure Framework   

South Cambridgeshire

Short form for the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, which sets out policies to guide the future development of Greater Cambridge. It also sets out where future development will take place, and identifies land for new housing, community facilities, shops and employment. It is the key document use to determine planning applications for new development in the Greater Cambridge area.

2018 

• Policy CC/2: Renewable and Low Carbon Energy Generation 

Cambridge

Short form for the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, which sets out policies to guide the future development of Greater Cambridge. It also sets out where future development will take place, and identifies land for new housing, community facilities, shops and employment. It is the key document use to determine planning applications for new development in the Greater Cambridge area.

2018 

• Policy 29:

  Includes energy for heating and cooling as well as generating electricity. Renewable energy covers those energy flows that occur naturally and repeatedly in the environment – from the wind, the fall of water, the movement of the oceans, from the sun and also from biomass and deep geothermal heat. Low carbon technologies are those that can help reduce emissions (compared to conventional use of fossil fuels).

  generation

Our consultation for this phase is now closed.