Wales planning news, June 2018

On 10 May, the Welsh Government launched a consultation document exploring the possibility of temporarily dis-applying paragraph 6.2 of Technical Advice Note 1 (TAN 1).

The Welsh Government’s proposal would remove the reference to attaching ‘considerable’ weight to the lack of a five-year housing land supply as a material consideration, in the determination of planning applications for housing. As specified in the consultation document, this temporary dis-application would last ‘for the duration of a wide-ranging review of the delivery of housing through the planning system which it is proposed to undertake this summer’.

The proposal comes as the monitoring of housing land supply across Welsh local planning authorities (LPAs) has highlighted a shortfall in deliverable land; as of 1 April 2017, nineteen out of twenty-five welsh LPAs were unable to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply.

The consultation closes on 21 June.

For further details on this consultation, and on Planning Policy Wales Edition 10, please see the latest Lichfields Insight Focus.

On 31 May, the Welsh Government launched a consultation on the consolidation of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 and Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995.

Through the consultation documents the Welsh Government has set out its intention to revise the Use Class Order to reflect disparities between uses currently falling within the same use classes. Of most significance, proposed changes to the Use Classes Order would see existing Use Class A3 (Food & Drink) divided into three separate classes: A3 (Cafe & Sandwich Bars subject to opening hour restrictions); A4 (Drinking Establishments & Restaurants) and A5 (Hot Food Takeaways including Drive Through Restaurants).

The consultation also proposes to remove the need for planning permission for some minor developments to allow the planning system to concentrate on more complex development proposals. Planned changes to permitted development rights include those affecting householder development, minor operations, houses in multiple occupation, statutory undertakers, demolition of buildings, fixed-line broadband services, renewable energy generation and small scale hydropower.

The consultation ends on 24 August 2018.

The National Assembly for Wales’ Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee has published a report following its inquiry into Enterprise Zones in Wales.

The ‘Enterprise Zones, boldly going?’ report provides a mixed picture about the success of the eight Welsh Enterprise Zones established since 2012, and on which more than £220m has been spent overall.

Among its recommendations, the Committee calls for further information to be released by the Welsh Government, returning to annual reports for each Enterprise Zone with clear data attached and details of the support they have received, both directly and indirectly.

The Chair of the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee, Russell George, commented:

‘[…] any future regional approaches to economic development will require clear and realistic goals accompanied by detailed, transparent and appropriate data for monitoring. Enterprise Zones have been a series of place-based experiments and we believe they will continue to merit further study over the coming years.’

On 4 May, the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2018 was laid before the National Assembly for Wales.

The amendment relates to paragraph A.2 (4A) of Part 24 of the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) and has the effect of extending the date for prior approval not being requested for fixed line broadband apparatus (such as cabinets, telegraph poles, and lines). The prior approval relaxation, which was due to expire at the end of May 2018, has now been extended for another year to 30 May 2019.

 

The Welsh Government has announced the launch of the Stalled Sites Fund, a £160m loan fund aimed at supporting small and medium-sized builders in unlocking stalled sites.

2015 research cited by the Welsh Government identified nearly 400 sites across Wales, capable of delivering around 7,600 homes, where development had stalled for different reasons, relating to pre-development works, economic viability, and/ or funding.

Housing and Regeneration Minister, Rebecca Evans, said:

‘We know that many SMEs moved away from house building following the recession ten years ago and have not returned to development. I believe this fund can help them to do this, ensuring a diverse housing sector and more homes being built.’

On 29 May, ‘Planning Application Wales’ was launched, providing a new dedicated online application service for Wales.

The online service can be accessed on the Welsh Government website.