The percentage of onshore windfarms being rejected rose dramatically in the UK last year, leading the renewable energy trade body to accuse the Conservative party of "heavy-handed intervention" in the planning process.

Last summer, Eric Pickles urged planners to give greater weight to local concerns over windfarm applications, saying "current planning decisions on onshore wind are not always reflecting a locally led planning system".

The secretary of state for communities and local government has also taken 35 windfarm planning appeals out of the hands of the planning inspectorate since last June, and has so far refused eight and approved two, with the remaining applications awaiting judgment.

Figures published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) on Tuesday show a surge in both approvals and rejections for windfarms in 2013, but the percentage of all windfarms rejected jumped from 25-29% over the previous four years to 41%. A record 436 windfarms were approved and 310 rejected approved in 2013, up from 105 and 38, respectively, in 2009.

Click here to read the article in The Guardian.