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UTILITY WEEK | 27Th JUnE - 3rd JULY 2014 | 13 Policy & Regulation This week Onshore wind ban for fifth of Scotland Scottish planning policy will prevent turbines from being built in 19 per cent of the country The Scottish Government's new National Planning Framework (NPF3) and Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) will ban onshore wind developments being made in 19 per cent of Scotland. The policies will prevent turbines being built in areas identified as National Parks and National Scenic Areas. "Significant protection" is also being provided to areas of land identified within Scottish Natural Heritage's Wild Land Areas Maps 2014. The NPF3 and SPP will provide 30 per cent of Scot- land with "stronger protection against inappropriate development". Scottish planning minister Derek Mackay said: "The Scottish Government remains strongly com- mitted to releasing Scotland's onshore wind energy potential. However, we have always made clear that we want the right developments in the right places." The new policies have also brought in tighter controls on onshore oil and gas developments. Five new measures, including plans for a buffer zone around fracking wells, have also been introduced. The other requirements are: additional risk assess- ments to be prepared; making explicit that buffer zone proposals will be assessed by the planning authority and statutory consultees; for operators to consult local communities; and for fresh planning applications to be required if permission for fracking was not sought but developers subsequently decide to undertake this process. A total of 14 significant national developments were named within NPF3, including carbon capture and storage networks and thermal generation. MB WaTEr Anglian fined £94k for polluting brook Anglian Water has been fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £44,736 in costs aer sewage contaminated a brook through an emergency overflow pipe in Essex. The water company entered late guilty pleas to breaching two conditions of its environ- mental permit at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court. All three of its pumps at Ingrave pumping sta- tion, near Brentwood, failed on 10 April 2011 and sewage polluted more than 4km of the Haverings Grove Brook. More than 1,500 fish were killed aer alarms failed to alert the water company to the pollution. At one point the pumping station was le with no operational pumps for 12 hours. Anglian Water said it "deeply regretted" the incident and had taken "various remedial and precautionary actions" since. ELEcTrIcITY MPs to scrutinise demand-side plans The Energy and Climate Change select committee (ECCC) is set to probe government efforts to reduce demand in response to the rising risk posed to the UK's security of supply. The cross-party committee will scrutinise plans to reduce demand, through both short- term and permanent measures, which are needed by the UK to manage its shrinking generation capacity margins. An ECCC statement said there is concern that the government's demand-side response and electricity demand reduction policies "will fail to ensure that demand-side measures reach their full potential". The ECCC has called for evi- dence on whether the measures are sufficient to ensure the poten- tial energy savings of 196TWh, and what problems the measures might face. Written submissions are required by 9 July. WaTEr EU agrees to consult over drinking water The EU Drinking Water Directive could face amendments aer the European Commission launched a public consultation in response to a Right2Water campaign. The consultation seeks views on the current level of drinking water quality, the main threats to drinking water and possible additional actions that could be taken at EU level. Right2Water was the first campaigning group to reach Brussels via the European Citizens' Initiative, which gives citizens the chance to ask for European legislation if they can collect one million signa- tures in support of their plans. Right2Water amassed 1,659,543. No turbines: Scotland's national parks protected Political Agenda Mathew Beech "The energy debate has degraded into a tit-for-tat" The House of Commons appears to resemble a school playground more and more. No, it is not that MPs are getting younger, it is the way the debate on energy seems to have degraded into a tit-for-tat spat. Each side is trying to pin the blame for creating the big six on the other. The Tories accuse Labour. Labour accuses the Tories. It's a case of "you did it", "no you did it", "no, you did it first". History shows that both the government for failing to act. Energy secretary Ed Davey hits back with the "you're wrong, we're right" response, that the coalition – and it's always the coalition – is increas- ing competition, which will benefit the consumer in the end. This rally of words has been going on for months, and will continue for many more. The winner will be the one who shouts loudest, giving them the right to rule the energy play- ground for the next five years. Tories, in the late 80s and early 90s, and Labour, throughout the 90s and early 00s, played their part in creating the energy market we have today. Once each side gets bored of playing blame tennis, they then move on to what needs to be done – and another set of verbal volleys begins. Labour's Caroline Flint says the coalition is not doing any- thing, playing to the rules of the big six suppliers, and failing to ensure consumers are paying a fair – and lower – price. She calls for a price freeze and radical reform in the sector, decreeing these two ideas as the solution, while damning the