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Off-grid community vows to change planning law

Fran Abrams Richard Sanders, who has short grey hair and a beard, standing at the Othona camp. He is wearing a purple, checked shirt with brown trousers. He is surrounded by slightly overgrown grass and weary looking sheds. It is a grey day.Fran Abrams
Richard Sanders, a warden at Othona Community, said upgrading to a 25kw turbine would make a big difference

A remote Christian community is pushing for a change in the law after having plans for a wind turbine refused.

The Othona Community said it did not have mains power at its camp in Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex, and had to use an oil generator, racking up an annual £5,000 cost.

Government rules state only turbines below 11.1m (36.4ft) high can be constructed without planning permission - but Othona wants this restriction to be relaxed.

A government spokesperson said the law was kept "under review" while ensuring local areas were protected.

It followed the former prime minister, Rishi Sunak, pledging to consult ministers on changing planning law before he called a general election.

Othona has since called on the Labour government to undertake similar work so it could install a wind turbine without reapplying for permission.

Maldon District Council rejected its first proposal in 2022, raising concerns about the turbine's visual impact, a nearby footpath and how it might affect a nature reserve.

The group, founded on the remote Dengie Peninsula off the Essex coast in the 1940s, said it could not afford to pay £100,000 to get connected to the nearest electricity grid.

A rotating wind turbine above the clouds with a blue sky in the background.
A government taskforce is undertaking a wider study into the onshore wind industry, with the results due to be published after Christmas

Richard Sanders, joint warden of Othona, said upgrading to a 25kw turbine would make a big difference.

"We've always been a place where the environment is really important," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"The Church of England has plans to be carbon-neutral by 2030, but we can't be carbon neutral until we get this turbine."

The call echoes lobbying by the National Farmers' Union (NFU) to loosen the law over turbines.

The NFU hoped the government's Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce would recommend a change in the rules in a report post-Christmas.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said:  "A range of national permitted development rights allow for renewable energy to be generated from sources such as small wind turbines on domestic properties.

"These rights are kept under review to ensure local areas are protected."

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