Solar Power: Cultural Heritage
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the interaction between heritage protections and planning policy in delivering solar energy.
Answered by Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
DESNZ and MHCLG work regularly together on planning policy. For Nationally Significant (NSIP) solar projects, the National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure, updated in January 2026, sets out the importance of solar and how heritage considerations should be accounted for. For solar projects under 100MW, the updated National Planning Policy Framework published in August 2026 gives greater prominence to, and strengthens the framework for, renewable generation infrastructure such as solar. The Government will continue to work together to update the Planning Practice Guidance including how specific considerations for solar farms such as heritage impacts, should be applied in practice.
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