8th June 2006

The Micropower Council today welcomed the announcement by Housing and Planning Minister Yvette Cooper that the Government wants to reduce planning restrictions on small scale microgeneration equipment for people’s homes.

Dave Sowden, Chief Executive of the Micropower Council said: “We welcome the Government’s intention to make it easier for householders to install microgeneration technologies. It is vital that if we are to have low cost microgeration for all, that barriers such as planning restrictions, which are costly, time consuming and unnecessarily bureaucratic are removed. It would also remove the huge hurdle that manufacturers face by needing to negotiate with all 400 local authorities individually in order to get the necessary permissions needed to sell their products”.

For further information please contact: Jane Vaus, Head of Media and External Affairs, 020 7924 0795/077480 10447 jane.vaus@micropower.co.uk

NOTES

Yvette Cooper was speaking at the TCPA/Renewable Energy Association conference and set out the Government’s ambition to support the move towards zero carbon development. Speaking of their desire to make microgeneration easier for people to install she said: “"It is patently absurd that you should be able to put a satellite dish up on your house but should have to wrestle with the planning process for small scale microgeneration which is no more obtrusive. We want far more microgeneration to be treated as permitted development."

See the Government press release

The Micropower Council is supporting a Private Members Bill – the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill - which is currently in the Lords, which is designed to support the uptake of microgeneration by putting the right policies in place and removing any unnecessary barriers.