Understanding Public Opposition to Wind Power as an Opportunity, Not an Obstacle


to disregard opposition arguments. This then implies a need for stronger policies to support wind power development and increase rates of planning approval without necessarily fully engaging with public views and concerns. It has been suggested that there is a ‘planning problem’ facing wind power,10


whereby the desired goal of


increased renewable energy capacity is being impeded by ineffective planning processes. This presumes that the appropriate outcome in planning processes is greater rates of approval for wind power developments and largely overlooks the crucial democratic character of the planning system.


Moving Towards a Fuller Understanding of Public Opposition


Despite significant work in this area, it has been acknowledged that public responses to renewable energy are still not fully understood.11 As a result, there have recently been a number of studies that have aimed to engage more fully with public opinions and responses to wind power; there has also been a widespread rejection of simplistic explanations such as NIMBYism.4,12


Researchers have begun


to look in more detail at the reasons behind public opposition and the ways in which planning and development processes are experienced and perceived.


In particular, the assumption that opposition to wind power developments represents a deviation from ‘real’ public opinion has been critiqued. It is now widely acknowledged that public opinion is “flexible, transitory and adaptable”.3


It is not static, but instead


changes in response to inter alia social, political or environmental factors. Moreover, individuals who express support for wind power may retain certain qualifications in this support that opinion polls do not reflect: “Most of the people who support wind energy do not support it without qualification. They believe that wind energy is a good idea but they also believe that there are general limits and controls that should be placed on its development.”6


Accordingly,


opposition to particular wind power developments is not necessarily at odds with a positive opinion about wind power in general. It must be acknowledged that public opinions will change and adapt in relation to changing situations and particular circumstances.


The notion that opposition emerges from a lack of awareness about wind power also appears to be an overly simplistic supposition. Increased awareness has been shown to result in both support and opposition for wind power.13


Debates concerning renewable energy


are routinely present within the media and there is “a proliferation of diverse civic organisations openly contesting or supporting the legitimacy of government policy for renewable energy generally and wind energy particularly”.14


As such, information relating to renewable


energy is publicly contested. As has been noted elsewhere, “In many cases increased knowledge… might in fact lead to lower acceptance, especially when this means that one becomes aware of competing and conflicting scientific theories”.3


There is no clear relationship between


knowledge and acceptance of wind power: “Indeed, many objectors appear extremely well informed about these issues”.15


Moreover, local responses to proposed wind power developments are typically rooted in significant – and potentially valuable – local knowledge and experience.16


potential impacts on bird populations might be based on years or 68 For example, concerns relating to


Involving members of the public in decision-making processes relating to wind power developments is one way of securing a sense of fairness relating to the processes and of generating trust in developers, and may result in a sense of fairness in the outcomes. Community involvement could be facilitated at a number of stages, including the selection of a site and the design of the development (i.e. in relation to the number or size of turbines or how the turbines are to be


MODERN ENERGY REVIEW – VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2


even decades of experience of living in the local area and witnessing bird activity. Equally, concerns relating to construction traffic may have been informed by previous experiences of encountering large vehicles on the local roads or by awareness of accidents (or near accidents) in the area. Developers will typically conduct highly technical evaluations of the local area and potential impacts that the development might cause. While such assessments are informed by significant expertise and scientific or technical knowledge, this should not be taken as necessarily more accurate or appropriate than the local community’s own knowledge and perspective. Indeed, there may be significant value in seeking to incorporate local knowledge and perspectives into design processes. Evaluations performed by developers are likely to be based on highly technical but short-term assessments, whereas local knowledge is likely to be based on long-term experience of the particular environment in question. As such, the two forms of knowledge might complement each other. Finding ways of incorporating both within decision-making processes could open up new opportunities to improve both design processes and outcomes.


In itself, this may have a role to play in addressing public opposition to wind power developments, since issues of fairness and trust appear to be of great significance in the formation of public attitudes and responses to proposed developments.17


In particular, where


individuals do not trust developers they are unlikely to accept the proposed development as being fair. Equally, where individuals do not feel that the processes through which the proposed development was designed or the planning application was determined were fair, they will be unlikely to accept the outcomes as fair. Thus, perceptions of outcome fairness (or acceptance of a wind power development) will always be connected to perceptions of procedural fairness in decision-making processes and to assessments of the trustworthiness of developers. Therefore, addressing opposition requires engagement with public views and the facilitation of decision-making processes that members of the public will consider fair.


Conclusions – Working with Rather than Against Opposition


In the past, public opposition to wind power developments was typically framed as a problem or obstacle that needed to be overcome or avoided. This informed approaches to policy and practice that overlooked the complexity and value of public knowledge and experience. More recent work has highlighted the subtlety and flexibility of public views and the importance of trust and fairness in attempts to generate support for wind power developments. It is not appropriate to disregard opposition as being uninformed or as representing a deviation from ‘real’ public opinion. Instead, there is a new emphasis on seeking to understand opposition and to find ways of engaging with objectors and addressing (rather than discrediting) opposition arguments.


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