The areas in Rutland which could be used for large wind farms have been mapped out. 

On the final day of a Rutland local plan hearing in Oakham on Thursday 18 September, the issue of onshore wind energy capture was on the agenda. 

New Government rules have lifted what was effectively an onshore wind farm ban and new national planning policy prescribes more wind farms as part of a national move to more climate-friendly renewable energy. 

The local plan, if adopted, will map out the development for Rutland up until 2041. Rutland County Council has had to, for the first time, consider planning in sites for renewable energy. 

A renewable energy study was commissioned in 2023 which used data to model which areas could be suitable for large wind farms.  

Map of proposed site - click the link at the end of the article to see more detailled version (Photo: RCC)

The council's suggested policy proposes small wind farms (those 50m in height and under) can be located anywhere, but medium and large wind farms should only be in certain areas.  

Medium to large wind turbines are classed as between 50m to 120m in height and very large are over 120m in height. 

A map produced by the authority and submitted to the Government with its local plan has indicated locations for the wind farms, with more opportunity in the south and almost no areas in the Exton and Greetham areas.  

At yesterday's meeting former planning inspector and Lyddington resident David Vickery argued that the authority had not considered the impact on landscape that windfarms could create when indicating the opportunity sites. 

He told the hearing, which is being conducted by Government-appointed planning inspector Katie Child: "What we can't see in the [renewable energy] study is any use of the council's landscape assessments to help determine the opportunity areas. Yes we can see the study acknowledges the landscapes assessments but there are a number of problems with that." 

A consultant for the council said the study had not assessed landscape implications and  instead it would be assessed on a case-by-case basis. 

Ms Child suggested that it needed to be made clear in the council's proposed policy that landscape impact had not been taken into account when producing the map and that there needed to be written guidelines within the policy to say it should be taken into account on application. 

Mr Vickery said he was happy with the suggested modifications. 

The local plan examination finished yesterday, with a final date to be arranged in November, due to late submitted evidence about employment rates from the council. 

The role of the inspector is to test and then decide whether the local plan is capable of being used by the authority to manage development over the next two decades. 

The authority has agreed to changes which will include a new consultation over 500 homes at St George's Barracks, between North Luffenham and Edith Weston. 

The inspector will write a report and the plan could become adopted in the spring. However, due to national planning changes the plan will go under review straight away and new housing and employment sites will have to be mapped out once again. 

Click here to view the map of proposed sites in more detail.