From NIMBY to Net Zero: The Planning Challenge

When people think of the planning process, their minds often go straight to housing – perhaps shops or office buildings. But an increasingly important part of planning today involves the development of large-scale, sustainable energy infrastructure such as wind and solar farms.

At Cratus Group, we believe that planning is about more than policies and land values – it’s about people. Our work sits at the intersection of politics, planning and community, helping our clients secure permission for projects that will shape the future. Over the past few years, we’ve partnered with some of the UK’s leading energy companies to support the delivery of onshore wind and solar farms across the country.

Our approach combines strategic political insight with meaningful, early-stage community engagement. We understand the sensitivities that can surround large-scale developments and know how to navigate them through listening, explaining, and building local trust. We help shape proposals that reflect community values while meeting national sustainability goals – and that’s what ultimately gets projects over the line.

This week, we attended the Solar & Storage Live conference to hear first-hand about the innovations shaping the sector and to connect with industry leaders driving the future of energy in the UK.

Environmental sustainability and energy security are high on the public agenda, especially in light of ongoing global challenges – from climate change to political instability. According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Public Attitudes Tracker, 82% of people support the use of renewable energy. Encouragingly, 53% say they would be happy for a solar farm to be built in their local area, and 43% feel the same about wind farms.

However, theory and practice don’t always align. A key challenge we often encounter is a form of NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard). While there’s broad agreement on the need for renewable energy and improved energy security, this support can falter when developments are proposed nearby. Communities frequently argue that wind turbines should be offshore and that solar panels should be restricted to rooftops.

Yet these options alone won’t deliver the energy capacity the UK needs. Onshore wind farms are among the most cost-effective and low-carbon sources of electricity. While offshore turbines play a crucial role, they are significantly more expensive and complex to construct and maintain.

Similarly, rooftop solar panels – while valuable – typically serve the needs of individual buildings. To create a resilient and far-reaching electricity network, we must think bigger. Large-scale solar farms offer greater surface area to capture daylight (not just direct sunlight) and generate significantly more power. Crucially, these farms can also incorporate Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), which store excess energy for later use and ensure a steady power supply.

Even the Campaign to Protect Rural England, which has voiced concerns about visual impacts on the countryside, acknowledges that rooftop panels alone can only meet about half of the government’s solar energy targets.

Just as housing has national and local planning goals, so too does renewable energy. To meet the government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, the UK will need to embrace both wind and solar developments on a much larger scale.

At Cratus, we believe that early, honest conversations with communities are essential. By involving local people in the design and planning of wind and solar farms from the outset, we can foster greater understanding and support. Together, we can bring forward the projects needed to secure the UK’s energy future – and create homes and businesses that are warmer, greener, and more affordable to run.