Plans to speed up decisions on wind and solar farms

In a speech to renewable energy developers at a conference in Newport, Ms Evans said improvements to the planning system were needed if Wales was to deliver green jobs and meet climate targets.

The big change announced was a proposal for Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) – the government’s arm’s length planning inspectorate – to take final decisions on renewable energy projects up to 50MW in future.

Currently the inspectors assess an application and provide a recommendation for ministers, who then mull it over themselves.

Ms Evans said “delegating decision-making powers to PEDW” for schemes of this size would “significantly reduce the end-to-end decision time, sometimes by several months”.

“Accelerating infrastructure planning decisions is one of the Welsh Government’s top priorities – we need to make it as efficient as possible for all concerned,” she said.

Plans were set out too to “address the shortage of planners at both local and national levels”.

A “wide-ranging consultation” was to be launched on “ensuring that Wales has enough planner and related professionals, with the right skills in the right areas,” she confirmed.

Ms Evans said that five major renewable energy schemes had been approved since her appointment in September, capable of producing enough clean power for more than 180,000 homes.

Five more applications were under “active consideration” after PEDW inspector reports had been received, with a further 15 at “various stages of acceptance and examination”.

“We all want to see a well-resourced, progressive planning system and that’s exactly what these proposals will help deliver,” she said.