Responding, Morag Watson, Director of Policy at Scottish Renewables, said:
“Scottish Renewables welcomes the publication of The Scottish Government’s National Planning Framework 4 Position Statement, and in particular its commitment that ‘the long-term strategy will be driven by the overarching goal of addressing climate change’.
“The acknowledgment that ‘supporting renewable energy developments, including the re-powering and extension of existing wind farms’ will be crucial to this goal is a welcome recognition of the importance of an industry which is already delivering economic and environmental benefits across Scotland.
“Our submission to the Scottish Government’s Call for Ideas reflected our members’ view that addressing climate change should be central to future planning decisions, so we are pleased to see that position recognised, with the statement saying ‘we expect that NPF4 will confirm our view that the Global Climate Emergency should be a material consideration in considering applications for appropriately-located renewable energy developments’.
“Overall it is important to recognise the role planning will play in the deployment of the energy generation technologies which will achieve our net-zero target, and we are pleased that this interim statement does so.”
