February 15, 2012
The Welsh Government and Planning Inspectors are taking a hard line on housing figures in emerging Local Development Plans (LDPs). Recently, a number of LDPs have been questioned on grounds of housing provision – most recently Wrexham, Denbighshire and Monmouthshire.
The Inspector examining the Denbighshire LDP has called an exploratory meeting and concluded that “the Council has failed to produce convincing evidence to justify deviating below the latest household projections.”
Similarly, the LDP Inspector for Wrexham Council has suspended all examination hearings, pending an exploratory meeting on the grounds of an under-provision in housing. Monmouthshire Council has also received a letter from the Welsh Government advising them to allocate more housing in its LDP.
These latest turn of events highlight the importance of a robust evidence-base in justifying any deviation from the Welsh Assembly’s latest household projections.
NLP Contact: Gareth Williams 02920435880 / gwilliams@nlpplanning.com