Emerging case law and evolving government policy, combined with rapidly developing technological innovation, places daily demands on our clients and professional partners in statutory agencies to update skills and expertise. Landmark has considerable experience of planning for sustainable development, and we are conscious of the value of sharing knowledge across the development sector.
We often lead training exercises with local authorities and developers to share our expertise. We were honoured to be invited to the ISEA (Irish Solar Energy Association) Planning for Solar conference in Dublin earlier this month, to discuss lessons learnt from our experience in the UK.
Director Bernice Roberts led discussions focusing on coping with the whirlwind of planning applications that followed the launch of UK government subsidies to the solar PV market. She highlighted the need for selection of development sites to be planning led, rather than engineered, and of the value of working with the planning and environmental opportunities and constraints of the specific site to bring forward development within pressing time frames.
A key theme from the day was the need for specialist technical knowledge when dealing with renewable energy proposals. Whilst the subsidies for ground mounted solar in Ireland have yet to be confirmed, there is already tremendous pressure on the grid network. It is therefore essential that all involved are thoroughly prepared to address the challenges around delivery of solar PV development.
Photo credit ISEA (irishsolarenergy.org) 19.10.16