Could Wales be Following in the Footsteps of England?

1st November 2004

T. Wyn Jones

As in the area governed by the South Shropshire District Council (SSDC) over 130 small villages in Powys will lose any rights to development under proposals published in their Unitary Development Plan 2001-2016. There are twenty such proposed settlements in Radnorshire and nearly one hundred in Montgomeryshire, which will be completely mothballed, from any development.

For those of you who are not aware of the effects, in a nutshell, because of the sustainability argument, no new dwellings will be allowed in these villages at all, even within the existing boundaries or where there is logical ‘rounding off’ - as in the past. The only exception will be “affordable housing” where satisfactory arrangements have been made to ensure that the house remains affordable in perpetuity.

Complications over identifying who qualifies under the ‘local needs’ heading and red tape surrounding their construction will (as is the case in the SSDC area) make it unlikely that land will be made available, and of course such plots will only be worth a fraction of their ‘unrestricted’ value. Yet Powys County Council seem to be of the view that the adoption of this policy will answer all their low cost housing problems.

This proposal is outlined within the deposit draft of the Unitary Development Plan, which was published at the end of October and is available for public consultation until the 13th December. Open forums displaying details of the draft plan will take place at specific locations. Objections to the plan can be made with the unresolved issues being considered at a subsequent public enquiry, probably sometime in mid 2005. Usually the rules are that if you do not object/raise the particular matter now you will not be able to do so at the public enquiry.

Those who feel strongly about the exclusion of their villages from the plan should make representations through their County Councillors and at these public consultation exercises. More importantly they should consult the current local plan to see if they have property which is disadvantaged by the proposals.

We at McCartneys are well versed in carrying out objections to Local Planning Policies. We can also bring in teams of specialist Solicitors & Town Planners to aid our client's in matters of this nature. Please feel free to ring me on this issue if you wish.

If the people of Powys don’t get the planning policies they want, it is primarily their own fault for ignoring the consultation process. Whether you live in town or country, it is important to be aware what is going on around you. Making representations is your right, and remember, even if you are not directly affected you will no doubt be in some other way.


And finally, remember planners see apathy as a tacit acceptance of their proposed policies, so have your say now, when you can. You never know if the objections are sufficient in number and adequately vociferous it may be a shot in the arm for local democracy!