Wind farm developers accused of 'bribing' communities

Developers are "bribing" communities with playgrounds and lunch clubs to get them to back wind farms, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) has claimed.

The group said at least 35 communities had been offered goodwill or community fund payments by developers wanting to build wind farms in England.

But developers claim the payments are corporate social responsibility, set up to ensure the community benefits from a development.

The CPRE said the payments were tantamount to “bribes” that do not offer as much money as communities deserve from wind farms, according to the Daily Telegraph.

“What is concerning us is generally these kinds of things would not be allowed in the planning system because they would be seen as bribes or buying planning permission,” CPRE’s senior planning campaigner Paul Miner said.

The group wants the government to outlaw the payments in the new Planning Bill and make wind farms liable to a levy that will go towards small scale renewables or district heating.