Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has delivered the spring budget statement. With the UK far behind the curve on renewable energy, and rural communities once again sidelined, we’re concerned about what it means for the countryside.
Commenting on the Chancellor’s Budget statement, Tom Fyans, interim CEO of CPRE, said:
On solar energy
‘If the government really wants to fix the roof while the sun is shining then massively boosting rooftop solar is the obvious thing to do. The Chancellor is being insincere in claiming we are ‘world leaders’ in renewable energy when only 5% of our UK warehouses have rooftop solar. All new housing and commercial developments should be required to install solar panels as a condition of planning permission, unless there are strong reasons not to. There are around 250,000 hectares of commercial, south-facing roof space in the UK. Using at least half of that roof space for solar panels could generate enough electricity to power every other home in the UK and then some. ‘Bearing in mind Germany has 80% of its solar capacity on roofs, it’s extraordinary the UK is so far behind the curve. Ministers need to agree immediate incentives to help businesses and households install rooftop renewables at speed.’
On investment zones
‘We’re glad the government seems to have heeded warnings that investment zones would be disastrous for nature, climate and local democracy if they were huge areas where the planning system was deregulated to simply deliver a short term economic sugar rush. New innovation clusters could genuinely help level up areas outside London so long as infrastructure goes in via community consent. Green growth should be possible without needless loss of our Green Belt, through strategic regeneration of brownfield sites and better planning. Nature is in freefall around many of our most built-up areas and the Green Belt is key to giving space for it to recover. The Chancellor needs to ensure economic growth is designed to work with climate and nature, not at the expense of it.’
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Posted On: 15/03/2023