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In a speech last night at the Fabian Society, John Hutton Secretary of State for Business said it is unacceptable it can take ten years from an application for a wind farm being made to energy being delivered to the grid. He also said that, in order to make significant reductions in the UK's carbon emissions, the planning system must undergo radical reform.

The Secretary of State claimed:
"2.4 million tonnes of carbon have been produced while plans for enough renewable energy sources to power 2.1 million homes have been stuck in the planning system.

"We are frustratingly close to a dramatic escalation of renewable energy in the UK but it's being held back by a snail's pace planning system.

"It's no good saying renewable energy is good in principle but not in practice. Yes, it means difficult, hard choices.

"The successful delivery of the proposed reforms to our planning system, which the Government set out in its Planning White Paper earlier this year, will, I believe, be the key determinant in whether we have a realistic chance of meeting our 2020 renewable goals."

The Planning White Paper published in June was met with concern from environmental groups because, if the proposals were taken forward, they fear it would make it easier for Nuclear Power stations to be built.  As the planning laws stand today, a great many applications wind up before a minister of state to decide whether consent should be given or not.  Depending on the kind of construction being proposed three or four government departments may be involved in the decision process, greatly complicating and delaying the application's progress.

The new proposals would see these processes being made more locally than by central government.  Environmental groups fear that environmental considerations will not be properly considered because they will have a less of an influence in the process than now.