In 2011, a Referendum was passed which enabled the National Assembly for Wales to pass planning laws without the UK parliament's consent. Since then, the Welsh government has been drafting legislation and policy proposals to alter the way the planning system is administered.

The main change commenced with the publishing of the Planning (Wales) Bill on the 6th October 2014, which hopes to receive royal assent in 2015. There are a further six consultation papers on various aspects of the bill, secondary legislation and changes to planning policy which were issued in subsequent days.

The bill focuses on promoting growth, but does highlight that it must be balanced against the requirement to safeguard Wales's distinctive landscapes, heritage assets and beautiful coastline.  Although the bill is not a developer's charter, and puts considerable weight on embedding sustainability into Welsh decision making,Welsh natural resources minister Carl Sargeant states "Planning is at the heart of our communities, from building an extension on a house to building a new local school,"

The significant changes to Welsh planning law that the bill proposes are detailed below:

A new National Development Framework

The bill proposes a National Development Framework (NDF) that will be used in planning authority's statutory development plans, alongside local development plans and the strategic development plan.

The main aims of the NDF are to:

  • Concentrate on land use issues of national significance
  • Identify key locations for infrastructure development
  • Set the framework for strategic and local level plans on nationally significant matters.
  • Refer matters that are developments of national significance above a certain scale to the Welsh Ministers for determination. This will include energy projects between 25 and 50 megawatts.
  • Consider the infrastructure development at a national level.
  • Test the developments effects by an environmental impact assessment.

Local Development Plans

Local Development plans will be retained, but they will be reviewed to ensure they comply with the NDF and the SDP's.

The bill also proposes an end date for adopted plans, where they will be deemed to have expired after that date. This will provide an incentive for Local Planning Authorities to adopt their LDP's promptly, and provides certainty for everybody involved in the planning process.

Appeals Reforms

The bill proposes that the majority of the work involved with evidence preparation and statements of common ground is completed up front, to speed up the process and enhance transparency.

New sub-regional Plans

The bill proposes three strategic planning panels; one in Cardiff, one in Swansea and one in North Wales, to take responsibility for SDP's. These SDP's will aim to provide a statutory basis to resolve cross-boundary issues such as employment, housing, waste and transport.

The panel will involve two thirds of elected members from the Local Planning Authorities, and one third of members from organisations which have responsibility in social, economic or environmental matters.

Mandatory public consultation ahead of applications

The bill proposes mandatory pre-application consultation, with a requirement to produce a pre-application report that will probably include public consultation. This will require the applicants to listen to the community and to respond to the concerns of the local community. 

Community consultations on major developments will be required to take place as early as possible to ensure a more prompt planning system, and a clearer framework for how developers can involve communities in planning.

Increased powers for Welsh ministers

The bill seeks to increase the powers of the Welsh government. Firstly, as discussed above, matters of national significance will be referred to the ministers directly for determination. Secondly, in limited circumstances, the applicants may be able to apply directly to the ministers, so that the government can provide expertise on issues that the Local Planning Authorities may be struggling to provide.

This referral will occur where a local planning authority is performing poorly. The memorandum states "Poor performance has serious consequences including acting as a barrier to economic growth, increasing costs and reducing certainty for both developers and the local community."

The proposed Planning (Wales) Bill does demonstrate that huge changes are in place for Wales. Carl Sargeant, the Welsh natural resources minister states that "The introduction of this Bill is the beginning of an exciting period for planning in Wales and I will soon be putting in place additional measures to ensure that the Bill's objectives are met in full. I look forward to seeing these reforms, coupled with a 'can do' culture across the planning sector, providing a system which can make a positive and lasting impact on our communities." The changes that are proposed by the bill appear largely positive, and should be welcomed across Wales. What is more of a challenge for Wales is whether the objectives will actually be translated into reality, and more importantly, whether these reforms will prove successful.

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