North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has challenged the Cabinet Secretary for Planning over Local Development Plans (LDPs) and the fact that some local authorities in North Wales are still without them.
Raising the matter in the Assembly Chamber yesterday, Mr Isherwood said:
“In October, the Leader of Conwy Council wrote to you stating that the Welsh Government's removal of the past building rate methodology from the calculation of land supply process had significantly undermined Local Development Plans across Wales, rendering Councils unable to defend speculative development applications that put the wrong houses in the wrong places.
“The only reason Wrexham doesn't have an LDP is because they'd nearly completed their LDP, but the Welsh Government told them to start again because they didn't have enough houses, and we've just heard from my colleague across the Chamber what resulted from that.
“In December, you wrote to me saying that the underlying cause of Flintshire's exposure to speculative planning applications is their failure to adopt an LDP, and adding, you said, that Flintshire is one of the few local planning authorities in Wales still to adopt an LDP and is likely to be the last authority to do so. So, which is the problem? Is it the failure by County Councils to produce LDPs or does Conwy Council have a point?”
In her response, the Cabinet Secretary Lesley Griffiths AM said:
“It's really important that local planning authorities have their five-year land supply and you referred to a letter I sent you before Christmas. The problem is when they don't have those five-year land supplies, we see developers coming in with very speculative applications. So, I think it's really important and I don't want to talk about specific plans because, obviously, our powers in the development process means that I can't. But I think, looking at it on a case-by-case way, when a Member writes to me, I respond in that way. So, if I wrote to you about Conwy, that's what I stand by; if I wrote to you about Flintshire, that's what I stand by, also.”
Mr Isherwood added: “She can’t have it both ways – or can she? Welsh Labour Government policy lies at the root of the problem, but this is only compounded when Councils like Labour-led Flintshire drag their feet so blatantly.”