Future development in Powys comes under the spotlight
Work to guide the scale and location of new development in Powys has begun, the County Council has announced.
The council has started a three-and-a-half-year process to prepare a new development plan which will cover all of Powys, excluding the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Such plans are used by the council to guide and manage development, providing a basis by which planning applications are determined.
The replacement Local Development Plan will be drawn up to take effect from March 2026 when the current Local Development Plan ends and will run until 2037.
The council has now published its delivery agreement which includes a Community Involvement Scheme, and a timetable for preparing and adopting the plan.
Approved by the Welsh Government last month the agreement explains the stages the council will follow as well as explaining how developers, the public and other interested groups can take part in the development of the plan.
Councillor Jake Berriman, Cabinet Member for a Connected Powys, said: “As a qualified town planner, whose first managerial role was served at the former Radnorshire District Council back in the early 1990’s, it is a privilege to now be in a position to oversee the production of Powys’s Replacement Local Development Plan."
“Whilst there is always a lot of understandable interest in the determination of individual planning applications, it is the Local Development Plan that establishes the context, strategic direction, tone and thrust of the Policies which will guide those individual decisions.
“It is crucial, therefore, for developers, Town and Community Councils, Local Interest Groups and individuals to exercise their rights to have their voices heard in drawing up this exciting new plan.
“I hope it will continue to set the appropriate policy context to embrace the very real challenges we face over the climate and ecological emergencies, facilitate the construction of affordable homes, boost the vibrancy of our town centres and strengthen our rural communities.”
One of the most important early stages of the process will be the call for potential development sites, known as the ‘Candidate Sites Stage’, which is scheduled for this Autumn.
