A new poll reveals that people living in the North East overwhelmingly back more clean energy schemes in their communities but feel the region is currently being short-changed by the Government.

Commissioned by pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, it shows 85% of local people in the North East support the building of onshore wind in their community. The Government is currently consulting on lifting its effective ban on onshore wind farms and support for the move is higher in the North East than any other region.

The North East also comes out on top for being the most supportive of more local offshore wind (90%) and installing more solar panels on homes (91%).

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However, the survey, carried out by Opinium, shows people in the region are the most likely to feel they are not getting a fair share of Government investment in clean energy infrastructure. Almost two thirds of people (65%) in the North East said their local area was not getting its fair share of infrastructure spending, compared to 12% who thought it was.

Almost half of people in the North East (44%) supported having a nuclear power station in their area, above the national average of 39%. However, the region was less supportive of fossil fuel sources of energy.

Sam Richards, Founder of Britain Remade, said the North East had the potential to reinvigorate its proud industrial heritage to attract and grow new clean industries such as onshore wind, but this potential was being held back by red tape.

He said: “From steelmaking to engineering and chemicals to processing, the North East has a proud industrial heritage that has shaped the world. In places like Blyth and Teesside local leaders have made great progress in attracting investments in clean energy projects ranging from offshore wind to hydrogen production.

“However, the huge amount of talent in the North East could go to waste because of needless barriers put in the way of building the infrastructure the region and the country needs. These results show just how much people want that infrastructure delivered.”

Following the release of the poll, Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen commented: “Teesside and the wider North East has established itself as the go-to region for any company that’s serious about cracking on and delivering new clean energy infrastructure.

"From developing world-leading carbon capture technology to ground-breaking developments in hydrogen as a fuel source, we’re securing huge investments that are creating thousands of jobs in the cleaner, healthier and safer industries of the future for generations to come.

"Every day I speak to people across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool and they're firmly behind our region playing a major role in the drive for net zero.”

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Over the last few years, the North East has led from the front when it comes to the offshore wind sector with significant investments secured, such as SeAH Winds £300m Teesside manufacturing facility. But Britain Remade says the successful offshore wind sector is beset by delays. It takes up to 13 years to get a new offshore wind farm up and running, despite the construction taking just a fraction of that time.

Significantly more time is spent on getting planning consent for projects, carrying out increasingly lengthy environmental impact assessments, and seeing off potential legal challenges.