The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is calling on the Government to stop wind farm developers offering ‘goodwill payments’ to local communities.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is calling on the UK Government to stop wind farm developers offering ‘goodwill payments’ to local communities when applying for planning permission.

With considerable growth in the development of wind power generation as the Government seeks to meet EU renewable energy targets, campaigners suggest that voluntary ‘goodwill payments’, sometimes also known as ‘community funds’, are routinely offered by at least three leading generators of wind power in connection with every new proposed development.

In its report, Goodwill Payments – Do they benefit communities or bring planning into disrepute?, CPRE found 35 cases, including at least one in every English region, of ‘goodwill payments’ being either offered to, or accepted by, local communities from three major wind farm developers – E.ON, npower renewables, and RES Limited.

It found that “in some cases ‘goodwill payments’ are being used for things that, however worthy in themselves, bear no relationship to renewable energy, such as children’s play areas and senior citizens’ lunch clubs.”

The planning system has well-established methods of allowing developers to agree their contributions to local communities, through the use of ‘Section 106 agreements’. Goodwill payments are not Section 106 agreements, and there are a number of crucial differences between them. For example, goodwill payments have to be offered outside the planning system, because to do otherwise would lead to accusations that planning permission is being bought and sold.

Paul Miner, CPRE’s Senior Planning Campaigner, said: “These offers of community benefit do not go through the proper procedures of the planning system, unlike similar offers from most other developers.

“By accepting them, communities may also be getting a worse deal than they would if wind farm developers were made to offer them through the planning system.”

CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity which promotes the beauty, tranquility and diversity of rural England. For more information, visit: www.cpre.org.uk.