Community Energy Visioning

Low carbon countryside

We want to ensure that the transition to a low carbon future is fair for those living in the countryside. Renewables still accounts for just around half of UK electricity, so we know that a low carbon energy future will mean that we need to have a lot more wind turbines, solar panels, and hydro schemes across the country. What’s more, many of these schemes will be sited in rural areas – after all it’s where the space is.

Unfortunately, the main approach we currently have for establishing rural renewable energy schemes in this country is badly wrong. Too often developers come to rural communities with a plan that suits their priorities in terms of location, design and profitability. This leaves people living in the local area suddenly faced with a proposal they have little chance of genuinely influencing. Inevitably this leads to conflict, local opposition to renewable energy schemes, and in the long run, fewer renewable energy schemes actually going ahead.

CPRE’s vision

For the past year, CPRE has been developing an alternative approach to planning renewable energy in the countryside. This approach recognises the importance of the local landscape context, gives a voice to the priorities of rural residents, and empowers communities to pro-actively prepare for a future with more renewable energy. We call it Community Energy Visioning.

CPRE Hampshire is part of an exciting project currently working on a collaborative project involving 7 CPRE groups across the Country. We are working together on a bid to the National Lottery’s Climate Action Fund.

If successful, in the Autumn we will be looking to work with a number of local Hampshire communities to work on Community Energy Visioning projects , giving local communities the opportunity to have their say in a low carbon future for their town or village.

Find out more about Community Energy Visioning