Work starts to see how well planning policies performed in 2020/21
The first Annual Monitoring Review of Powys’ Local Development Plan, (LDP) will be prepared over the next few months, so that it can be submitted to the Welsh Government in the autumn.
Councillors at a meeting of Powys County Council’s LDP working group recently, were told that a draft version should be ready to be discussed by June.
The review needs to be approved by cabinet before it is sent to Cardiff by the end of October.
Planning policy officer, Claire Seddon, explained that a review is needed a full year after the adoption of an LDP.
The county council adopted the LDP in April 2018, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Welsh Government took away the requirement to send the review for 2019/20.
The council retain a copy of last year’s work and data from 2020/21 will be used to form this review.
Data for all the planning permission granted in 2020/21, as well as finding out the number of houses that were built will be needed for the review.
It will also lead to a separate review of how well the LDP is working for the county, as well as kick start the process of collecting data for the next county wide LDP.
Ms Seddon added: “It’s proposed that our recommendation to review (the LDP) is published in the AMR, as the current LDP expires in March 2026.
“It should take three and a half to four years to prepare a new LDP.”
She added that the council would need to be in a position to start this process by July 2022 .
The LDP sets out the strategy for meeting the future needs of the county’s communities.
It makes provision for 4,500 new houses to be built by 2026 including 952 affordable homes.
It also provides 45 hectares of land for employment purposes and includes policies to meet the needs of the economy.
The LDP focussed development and economic opportunities on Powys’ market towns and larger villages.
