Local Authorities Part 1 - Planning

 

One of the great forgotten achievements of the greatest government we ever had, the Attlee Government 1945-51) was the Town and Country Planning act 1947 which came into effect in 1948 that still forms the basis of planning law in Britain.This Act has been substantially amended and added to but its basic principals remain

The most fundamental requirement of the legislation was to establish that

planning permission was required for land development; ownership alone no longer conferred the right to develop the land. To control this, the Act reorganised the planning system from the 1,400 existing planning authorities to 145 (formed from county and borough councils), and required them all to prepare a comprehensive development plan.

These local authorities were given wide-ranging powers in addition to approval of planning proposals; they could carry out redevelopment of land themselves, or use

compulsory purchase orders to buy land and lease it to private developers. They were also given powers to control outdoor advertising, and to preserve woodland or buildings of architectural or historic interest - the latter the beginning of the modern listed building system.

Planning must be used as a means of protecting the environment, achieving social sustainability and economic prosperity. It is about putting the right things in the right places for the benefit of everyone

Planners and the planning system get this wrong occasionally and some planners have their own petty obsessions but I would argue that Local authority planning committees get it right more often that the unelected but appointed planning inspectors who sometimes overturn their decision.

There is need, especially in urban areas for local authorities to work together to achieve the best for the larger community in both the Cardiff and Swansea City regions. Both housing and commercial development and the necessary infrastructure including meeting transportation needs must be planned on a regional basis. We want no more estates being built with no public transport links or commercial and industrial areas which are not able to be reached by public transport or where there is no public transport available at the times people start and finish work.

Planning should work for the people of an area and for their benefit not be used to just maximize the return of the land owner no matter what effect it has on the locality.

I would prefer the Local Development Plans better reflect the housing needs of the wider area because whilst I agree with the sentiment it could be said the area is the village or suburb rather than the county or city region. It is also important that villages and hamlets are not swamped by new developments which can put a serious strain on infrastructure ranging from the sewerage system to the local school.

The failure to protect the language with planning developments was brought home to me by my daughter who believes that she must move to the constituency of Dafyfdd Ellis Thomas if she wants to live her life using the Welsh language as her main means of communication.

I would for in designated areas where the Welsh speaking population still exceeds 70%of the population that the protection of the language should be the primary planning consideration.

The Welsh Labour Government has made substantial progress and with the planning bill it gives the chance to bring in both regional plans and the perhaps last chance to save Welsh as a community language as opposed to the language of work and school.