Carter Jonas' Energy Index

The Energy Index 2013 has just been published by Carter Jonas’ research team and I think this will make interesting reading to farmers, landowners and anyone with a general interest in the subject of onshore renewable energy technology.

The report gives a brief over view of the five principal technologies which are anaerobic digestion, biomass heating, solar photovoltaics, hydroelectric power and wind and then analyses how they perform against a variety of measures. These include efficiency, cost of installation, annual operating costs, development timeframe, planning risk and the financial support mechanism of each technology type.

The key objective of the index is to rank the various technologies against the various measures to help landowners and farmers through the difficult decision making process as to which technology may be the most suitable for them to pursue. Clearly the physical characteristics of every site are different and these will often be the most significant factors guiding a landowner as to what opportunities may be available but I would suggest this index will be of interest to anyone who is at the start of this thought process.

The energy sector is clearly high on the political agenda and at the time of writing we await an anticipated announcement in Chancellor’s autumn statement on potential changes to the manner in which green levies are to be raised in order to fund renewable energy developments. Clearly if these changes result in significant cuts in the subsidies which are paid to encourage certain types of renewable developments this could have a significant impact on the viability of certain technologies.

Having said that, the renewable energy sector and its costs of development and pricing structure are already changing; there are a number changes to the financial support mechanism which are in the pipeline and forthcoming government announcements may result in further changes. It is uncertainties such as this which last week saw the shock announcement that RWE Innogy has decided to cancel the proposed development of the so called “Atlantic Array” which was planned to be a 240 turbine wind farm located off the North Devon Coast.

In light of this volatility it is Carter Jonas’ intention to update their Index on an annual basis although will be worth keeping in close contact with their energy team to ensure you keep abreast of changes as they happen because waiting a year for an update in this fast moving industry will be too late.

Anyone interested in receiving a copy of the index should contact James Stephen on james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk or they can download a copy from the Carter Jonas website: www.carterjonas.co.uk

James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk

Hot topic: Housing in rural areas

The provision of housing in rural areas in particular is always a controversial topic; landowners are often eager to see development on the edge of a village so they can profit from the development value of the land while neighbouring householders very often don’t want development “in their back yard”.

This can lead to prolonged and expensive planning applications and one of the tactics used by those protesting against development is to try to get the land which is the subject of the planning application allocated as a “Village Green”. Very many such applications appear to be spurious, but the cost of defending such a claim can be enormous and the claim may ultimately frustrate a development altogether.

However, this tactic has been recognised by government as not being in the wider public interest and they have amended the law accordingly. Thus under the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 landowners can now proactively protect their land prior to making a planning application so as to avoid a subsequent “Village Green” application.

The process involves the landowner depositing a statement and map with the commons registration authority (the County Council), effectively bringing to an end any period of use “as of right” for lawful sports and past times on the land to which the statement relates. The deposit of the statement will not prevent the start of a new period of recreational use as of right, but the landowner may deposit further statements to interrupt future periods of use.

This extends the protection which is already afforded to landowners in relation to linear public rights of way where a similar deposit can be made under the S31(6) of the Highways Act 1980 whereby the landowner can register those rights which exist so as to prevent new rights of way being inadvertently created.

So, if you are a landowner and wish to protect your land against a “Village Green” application or claim for a new public right of way it is suggested you should look in to depositing the appropriate statements and plans now because the relatively modest upfront cost of doing so could save you or your family a huge sum of money in the future.

James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk