Last month, workshops ran across Stowey Sutton, East Harptree, West Harptree, Bishop Sutton, Peasedown, Wellow, Hinton Blewett and Temple Cloud to gather views on renewable energy generation in these local communities.

The workshops were hosted by the Centre for Sustainable Energy on behalf of Bath and North East Somerset Council, to help the council set planning policy that the local community is comfortable with and has meaningfully influenced.

Local people at the workshops expressed support for:

  • Two small wind turbines and solar farms in the Stowey Sutton and East & West Harptree area
  • Eight small wind turbines, solar farm development and a micro hydro development in the Peasedown and Wellow area
  • One large wind turbine, three small wind turbines and a solar farm development in the Hinton Blewett and Temple Cloud area

Everyone in the local community is invited to give their views on these suggestions. An online survey for each area is now live.

Have your say via a survey here, or call 0117 363 4248 for a paper survey.

The surveys close on Sunday 18th December at 17:00.

“

One of the key solutions to reducing carbon emissions and tackling the climate crisis is to increase the amount of energy generated from renewable sources like wind or sun. It will also bring down energy bills by reducing our exposure to soaring fossil fuel prices.

Dan Stone, Centre for Sustainable Energy

These potential projects are hypothetical. This is not a planning consultation for these specific projects. The purpose is to gather local views on renewable energy to inform future planning proposals.

The Bath and North-East Somerset Climate Emergency declaration in 2019 sets the ambition for the area to become carbon neutral by 2030 and more locally generated renewable energy is a key part of reaching this target.

Dan added, “Local councils across Bath and North East Somerset recently commissioned a study looking at the types and scale of renewable energy suitable within the local area in technical terms. But the right local renewable energy project is not just a technical issue. Local communities need to understand and be involved with decisions in their local area and that’s what these workshops and online consultations will start to do.”

This project is not in connection with a particular planning proposal, and there is no direct link to the council’s planning policies. It is a hypothetical and exploratory approach. Find out more about the whole project here.