As recently mentioned by Lyn Jenkins, in his very measured and balanced letter, the new Secretary of State for Wales, Stephen Kinnock, seems to be no fan of onshore wind farms.
However, if he and his colleagues in the Westminster government continue to oppose devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales, then they are virtually guaranteeing that rural Wales will need to be filled with unpopular renewable energy projects
Over 80% of the total renewable energy potential of Wales is at sea, in the form of offshore wind, the one place where the Welsh Government has no planning powers.
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As long as Westminster continues to ration the amount of offshore wind Wales is allowed to have, onshore becomes the only route to achieving current targets - unlike both England and Scotland which can site the majority of generating capacity out at sea
The issues of planning control and finances could be considered separately, as it is only control over the decisions, not the flow of revenue, that are needed for Wales to hugely increase the amount of offshore wind power generated and regenerate the economies of coastal communities
Organisational issues are a red herring, as it would be perfectly possible for the current Crown Estate organisation to operate a “shared service centre” model for two governments rather than one, so there would be no loss of organisational efficiency and effectiveness
For the sake of the Welsh countryside, greater powers need devolving
Dr Jonathan F Dean, Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales
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