North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has blamed "Welsh Government interference" for the planning crisis facing Wrexham following the withdrawal of its Local Development Plan (LDP).
Questioning the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning in today's meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood said if Ministers had listened to Wrexham County Council three years ago, "they'd be well on their way now to a replacement Plan".
He stressed that Wrexham could face problems arising from the decisions made whilst the Plan was in use and increased speculative development without a Plan in place.
He said:
"Let's be absolutely clear: when the adoption of this Local Development Plan, LDP, properly referred to as LDP2, was quashed by the High Court last May, and subsequent appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court confirmed that Wrexham Council was not legally required to adopt the LDP, this effectively ended the push by developers and the Welsh Government. This is why the Welsh Government has directed its formal withdrawal.
"But if Ministers had listened to the Council three years ago, they'd be well on their way now to a replacement plan.
"As Welsh Conservative Councillor Hugh Jones, who supported the legal challenge, stated,
'This will now give us the opportunity to develop a new plan which will more accurately reflect the needs of the people of Wrexham'.
"Of course, the Welsh Government has form in this area, having previously told Wrexham Council to scrap LDP1 and start again when they were the first Council in Wales to publish a draft Plan.
"How will you address both the decisions made whilst this second plan was being used and the increased speculative development that will now result whilst Wrexham has no LDP, where this is a direct consequence of Welsh Government interference?"
Responding, the Cabinet Secretary said, "this is an unfortunate situation that the Council has brought upon itself, so it now is for the council to get on with the job of preparing a new LDP as soon as possible".
She added:
"My officials remain available to provide the necessary advice and support to the Council to enable the timely progression of a replacement LDP. But as colleagues have recognised, the lack of an up-to-date LDP does have the potential for some really significant adverse effects for Wrexham and the communities within it. The council, we expect, would be without an up-to-date plan for at least three more years, and developer contributions towards affordable housing and new schools, for example, could be impacted by that as well."
Speaking afterwards, Mr Isherwood said:
"It's a bit rich to say the Council brought the situation on itself, when this is a direct result of top-down diktat by the Welsh Government".
