Wales planning news, November 2018

 

On 29 October, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond delivered the Autumn Budget 2018 highlighting the economic priorities for the UK.

The spending decisions taken by the UK Government, and the application of the ‘Barnett consequentials’ (a formula that aims to give the devolved administrations the same pounds-per-person change in funding as a change in England), mean that the Welsh Government’s budget will be increased by over £550m through to 2020-21. This also reflects a 5% uplift in ‘Barnett consequentials’ agreed as part of the Welsh Government’s fiscal framework.

The UK Government has also announced £120m in funding to support the development of a North Wales Growth Deal (yet to be agreed), which will become the third Deal agreed for Wales (following those for Cardiff and Swansea). Furthermore, the UK Government has also announced that it is working with local partners and the Welsh Government towards a Mid Wales Growth Deal.

Finally, the UK Government has announced that it will conduct a review of the Welsh Government’s capital borrowing powers, to understand whether the borrowing cap should be increased by up to £300m to support the delivery of a new M4 relief road.

Welsh Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford commented:

‘The Welsh Government has long championed a growth deal for North Wales and has been actively engaged with the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, alongside the UK government to ensure a deal which is right for the people, communities and businesses of North Wales.’

Following a reduction in tolls on the two bridges across the Severn from the start of 2018, the UK Government has announced that tolls on the Severn Crossings will be abolished from 17 December this year.

Their removal is expected to generate annual savings for regular drivers of more than £1,000 per annum, and boost the Welsh economy by an estimated £100m each year. A pledge to abolish the toll was first included in the Conservative Manifesto for the 2017 general election; the formal announcement was made in July 2017.

The Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns, said:

‘Removing the tolls will cement the already strong ties between the economies and communities of South Wales and the South West of England, creating a growth corridor for prosperity to flourish from Cardiff, through Newport to Bristol and beyond.’

The Welsh Government has announced the allocation of £43m to support projects aimed at showcasing innovation in the house building sector; the allocations are part of the second phase of the £90m Innovative Housing Programme.

Successful projects so far include: the creation of infrastructure to ensure that 225 homes can ‘act as power stations’ (nearly £7m, near Tonyrefail); a 30-homes scheme built off-site using Welsh timber (£4m, in Burry Port); and investment to build apartments that can flexibly adapt to meet the changing needs of social housing tenants (£1.1.m, for Flintshire Council).

The Welsh Housing and Regeneration Minister, Rebecca Evans, stated:

‘We are investing in our Innovative Housing Programme to reduce fuel poverty, reduce the impact of house building on the environment, and reduce the health and wellbeing inequalities which are exacerbated by poor quality housing.’

During a plenary session of the Welsh Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee, Welsh Planning Secretary Lesley Griffiths answered questions regarding the disapplication of paragraph 6.2 of TAN1.

When questioned by Welsh Assembly Member Andrew Davies about the developer’s ability to bring sites forward if local development plans are not in place, and paragraph 6.2 of TAN1 is disapplied, Lesley Griffiths responded:

‘It was temporary, and it is still viewed as being temporary. I'm actually meeting with the housebuilders. On the basis that you can't please all the people all the time, you can imagine half of the—. So, the local authorities were very happy about the disapplication and the housebuilders aren't. So, I think it's about trying to reach some sort of agreement between the two. So, in answer to your question, it was temporary.’

Further details on the temporary disapplication of paragraph 6.2 were provided via responses to written questions by Assembly members. Responding to questions posed by Andrew Davies, Lesley Griffiths stated:

‘A decision about whether or not to reinstate paragraph 6.2 of TAN 1 will be made as part of the full review of the delivery of housing through the planning system which I launched on 18 July with a ‘call for evidence’ (which ended on 10 October) […] I will decide how to take the review forward based on the responses from stakeholders to the ‘call for evidence.’

Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service, has published its ‘Historic Environment Update’ for October 2018.

The bulletin highlights the latest news updates affecting the Historic Environment in Wales. Of interest to planning, the publication of ‘Understanding Listing in Wales’ detailing how buildings are listed; and the Welsh Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport Lord Elis-Thomas statement about his ambitions for the historic environment in Wales, as well as the related publication of ‘Priorities for the Historic Environment of Wales’.

On 22 October, further sections of The Planning (Wales) Act 2015 came into force, as a consequence of The Planning (Wales) Act 2015 (Commencement No. 5 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2018.

These are specifically s52 (Statement by owner to end use of land as of right), and s53 (Exclusion of right to apply for registration) and related Schedule 6 (Town and Village Greens: New Schedule 1B to the Commons Act 2006).

The legislative provisions amend the Commons Act 2006, and specifically s15A (Registration of greens: statement by owner), and s15C (Registration of greens: exclusions), which deal with setting out the circumstances and related procedure under which land may be newly registered as a town or village green.

The effect of the new Planning (Wales) Act sections coming into force is to extend the related Commons Act’s provisions to Wales, omitting reference to England only and UK Government powers. Accordingly, any reference to ‘Secretary of State’ in the relevant Commons Act sections are replaced by ‘appropriate national authority’; similarly, a new schedule (new Schedule 1B of the Commons Act) deals with the exclusion of right (trigger and terminating events) in Wales.