Legal challenge to onshore wind issue settled following government policy change

In January, non-profit organisation Good Law Project, represented by law firm Leigh Day, and barristers David Wolfe KC, Peter Lockley and Ruth Keating, applied for a judicial review of the government’s decision to exclude onshore wind development from its National Policy Statement for renewable energy.

In late June, permission was granted for the claim, which sought to declare that the government’s decision was unlawful and have it quashed. However, the policy change announced by new Chancellor Rachel Reeves has allowed an agreement on the claim to be reached.  

The government has pledged to double onshore wind energy by 2030 and consequently remove the de facto ban on onshore wind in England. It also committed to revising planning policy to place onshore wind on the same footing as other energy developments in the National Planning Policy Framework.  

Following these developments, it was agreed between Good Law Project and the Secretary of State for Energy, Security and Net Zero that the claim would be withdrawn.  

In the wake of a previous challenge from Good Law Project in 2020, the government conceded that its energy plans should be reviewed in light of Net Zero commitments. However, the exclusion of onshore wind was maintained. 

The now withdrawn judicial review filed in January sought to force the government to “unleash the potential of onshore wind”. It focused on the government’s failure to give "reasons" under section 5 of the Planning Act 2008 for how its exclusion of onshore wind is consistent with a policy of meeting the Net Zero Target. 

But since the introduction of the new government’s revised onshore wind policy, the claim was considered to have been overtaken by events and “rendered academic”.  

 Bekah Sparrow, legal manager at Good Law Project, said:  

“Our legal challenge and continued pressure have helped push onshore wind back to the forefront of the UK’s energy policy. “However, promises alone aren’t enough – we’ll be closely monitoring the new government to make sure they follow through with meaningful action.”  

Leigh Day environment team solicitor Rowan Smith, who represents Good Law Project and was assisted by fellow solicitor Julia Eriksen, said:  

"Our client is delighted that the new Labour Secretary of State has overturned the previous government's decision to strip onshore wind of the title of nationally significant infrastructure. There is now going to be a consultation on bringing onshore wind back into the very planning regime that we argued it had been unlawfully excluded from. This is welcome news, and our client was content to settle the judicial review on this basis. However, there must still be a watching brief on whether this announcement is backed up by concrete policy changes."