Enhancing Efficiency in Welsh Planning

Town planning holds particular significance in Wales due to its role in preserving the country's unique cultural heritage and natural landscapes and fostering sustainable development. Wales boasts a rich tapestry of historical sites, diverse ecosystems, and scenic beauty, which must be carefully managed and protected through thoughtful planning. Alongside this, the planning system is instrumental in fostering growth, attracting investment, and creating opportunities for businesses and industries. It is also critically important in planning for enough high-quality new market and affordable homes to allow communities to thrive.

 

2024 will be a year of many political changes in Wales and the UK. Vaughan Gething MS is now the First Minister of Wales and later in the year we will see if Keir Starmer’s Labour Party makes it into power in Westminster, for the first time since 2010.

 

In her Mais lecture speech in March 2024 Rachel Reeves (Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer) described the UK planning system as:

 

 

Rachel Reeves went on to say that the Labour Party will put planning reform at the very centre of their economic and political argument.

 

It will be interesting to see whether Vaughan Gething MS shares these views on the need for radical reform of the planning system.

  

This Insight Focus – which is the first in a series on the critical issues that we feel the new First Minister (and his cabinet) will need to address to improve and streamline the planning system – considers the procedural improvements to the planning system. Our second instalment will focus on policy matters that we feel need further consideration if Wales is to flourish.

   

 

Both candidates for First Minister recognised that planning backlogs are acting as barriers to investment. Vaughan Gething MS called for an Affordable Homes Taskforce to fast-track major affordable housing developments. Whilst this is welcomed, Lichfields is concerned it is far too narrow in its focus given that backlogs are impacting much wider investment opportunities beyond affordable housing.

 

Jeremy Miles MS similarly promised to focus on removing barriers to the delivery of social housing. This included improving local planning capacity and allowing pre-approved building designs on land allocated for housing. This latter proposal is of particular interest to Lichfields as it suggests a more fundamental review of the operation of the development management process. Such a review would be welcomed and whilst allowing pre-approved building designs might raise some alarms within the placemaking community, it recognises the need to simplify and streamline the system in locations where the principle of development has been agreed through the development plan preparation process.

 

Whilst there was nothing groundbreaking in either manifesto both candidates recognised the need to remove inertia from the planning system.

 

In February 2024 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its market study final report into housebuilding including a Wales summary. In relation to the planning system, the CMA found that there is a lack of predictability for housebuilders when navigating the system; the process is significantly costly, lengthy and complex; and there are mixed and inconsistent incentives for LPAs to meet housing need.

 

The CMA recognises that the planning system plays a vital role in shaping market outcomes, and as a result set out proposed options for consideration which could reform the planning systems. These include:

 

The Welsh Government has repeatedly committed to a plan led system so that there is certainty about where development will happen. This should mean certainty for local authorities, local residents and developers alike. However, for this to be a reality there is a need for LDPs to be put in place in a timely manner and to remain up to date.

 

In the recent Senedd Plenary Short Debate: Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail, Minister for Climate Change Julie James MS concluded that:

 

 

Whilst at face value there is good plan coverage in Wales, this hides the fact that 50% of the 24 LDPs are time-expired so fail to provide an up-to-date assessment of development needs and how these should be met.

 

 

Regulation 41 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires an LDP to be reviewed every 4 years from the date of adoption. As the Development Plans Manual highlights, beyond that the evidence base becomes dated[1]. It goes on to say that maintaining an up-to-date LDP ensures effective and consistent planning decisions, supports the objectives of a plan-led system and minimises speculative development.

 

These time-expired plans may provide a continuing basis for development management decisions but are of little value in guiding much needed future investment for our local communities. The Development Plans Manual notes that replacement plans should be prepared in 3 ½ years with a single additional slippage period of 3 months. However, replacement plans are taking significantly longer but there are no repercussions for any such delays and the resultant lack of up-to-date plan coverage.

 

By way of example Caerphilly’s LDP expired in 2021 and the replacement LDP isn’t likely to be adopted until December 2025 at the earliest. This has created a period of great uncertainty in the county borough due to the lack of deliverable allocated sites. The replacement LDP review process should have commenced in 2014/15 and been adopted around 2019. Instead the process has stalled (partly for reasons outside its control) meaning the authority’s programme has slipped by six years and the current plan is four years past its end date.

 

This is not an isolated example as illustrated by the diagram below analysing LDP coverage across across South Wales:

 

 

Of the 12 LDPs in South Wales that are not time expired seven are within two years of their end date so there is little scope for any further slippage in replacement LDP preparation otherwise we could find ourselves in a position where less than half of the adopted LDPs in Wales are up to date.

 

Allocating land for new development is a politically fraught activity that is rarely welcomed by local communities. It is therefore unsurprising that LDP’s take such a long time to navigate their way through the review process. As LDPs age and allocations are taken up or fall away they shift in function from being documents that facilitate and guide growth to documents that by default primarily limit growth. LDPs must be living documents that plan actively to meet the country’s need for new infrastructure including jobs and homes.

 

LDPs provide the business plan for the development sector in Wales and it is essential that the planning system is more fleet of foot to respond to changing economic, social and environmental circumstances. A failure to keep plans up to date cannot be a reason to delay necessary ongoing investment in Wales including homes, jobs and energy infrastructure.

 

There needs to be a greater emphasis on delivering prompt LDP review, perhaps through the greater use of short-form reviews, but there also need to be mechanisms in place to ensure continuity in the supply of land to meet identified development needs where LDP reviews are stalling. The Welsh Government has been ready to regulate ahead of LDP review for those circumstances where development needs to be limited e.g. phosphates. It would be similarly helpful for active intervention where land supply limitations are stifling delivery of necessary development in appropriate locations. A policy mechanism should be brought into force to assist in prompt delivery where up to date LDP coverage is not in place.

 

As suggested by Jeremy Miles in his manifesto, consideration should be given to a simplified consenting regime for allocated development sites (especially given the detailed nature of the candidate site process). The burden of application requirements is expanding year on year raising costs and expanding timescales. Both of these factors further limit those able to engage in the development process particularly as development viability is already marginal across much of Wales. SME’s are least likely to be able to readily bear these burdens but ultimately these challenges are affecting all applicants, even householders.

 

The legislative framework for SDPs was introduced as part of the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 with the relevant provisions commenced in October 2015. The idea being that SDPs would be in place across strategic areas (such as the Cardiff City Region) and LDPs can then become LDP lite, simpler, shorter and more locally focussed plans that can be prepared quicker.

 

SDPs will guide strategic growth levels across regions for housing and employment, linking them to strategic infrastructure investment in particular transportation. As statutory development plan documents their preparation would be done in consultation with the public and be subject to independent scrutiny by PEDW.

 

However, 9 years on from the initial legislation, progress on SDPs has been painfully slow with the first adopted SDP still at least another 5 years away. The preparation of SDPs has now been formally handed over to four Corporate Joint Committees (CJC) across Wales; setting these up has added significant complication and delay, although, there now seems to be a formal way forward. In the south-east, the CJC is seeking to take responsibility for delivering the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal.

 

With the first SDP not being adopted until at least 2030, the Welsh Government has requested that Local Planning Authorities (LPA) in SE Wales undertake a collaborative assessment of regional growth ambitions and their general conformity with Future Wales to inform Replacement LDP (RLDP) production as an interim measure.

  

Until SDPs are progressed the housing requirement can only be tested at a local authority level.

  

Accelerating the delivery of the SDPs is a critical objective, in our view, so that strategic development can be properly planned across the respective regions and LDPs can become more streamlined and easier to prepare. However, Local Authorities should not be pausing or delaying their respective LDPs to await the SDP as the reliance on outdated LDPs will only further stifle investment in much needed growth. Alongside SDPs the Welsh Government could also potentially look at national development management policies, further reducing the number of policies that need to be included in an LDP.

 

There is no question that local planning authorities are under-resourced and have been for a number of years. The Wales Audit Office’s report on the effectiveness of Local Planning Authorities in Wales (2019) stated:

  

  

The Welsh Parliament Public Accounts Committee Report on the Effectiveness of Local Planning Authorities in Wales also said:

  

 

The shift in decision-making on developments of national significance scale away from local authorities to the Welsh Government but the retained need to undertake impact assessments is one example where authorities have seen a significant drop in income.

 

The RTPI’s Big Conversation report (January 2023) noted the real challenge facing the planning system in Wales:

 

  

The RTPI Research Paper on Building Capacity Through Collaboration and Change (November 2023 and March 2024) and the Wales Audit Office Review in 2019 also highlights similar issues.

  

Not only is there a reduction in capacity but seemingly also in expertise as experienced staff leave the profession and local authorities having difficulties in recruiting new staff. There have been suggestions about increased sharing of resources and expertise across local authorities which seems logical. Lichfields would support more innovative ways of working whereby planning officers work across local authority boundaries particularly if they have specialist skills or expertise that can create additional capacity. Examples might include complex heritage, energy or urban regeneration schemes and potentially this could be facilitated through the CJCs.

  

The decline in local planning authority resources comes at a time when planning requirements are constantly increasing in complexity, resulting in significant delays in obtaining approval for important developments. The average time for a planning approval in Wales in 2022/23 was 107 days[2] with the slowest authority taking an average of 170 days. This compares with 97 and 147 days respectively for 2021/22. Whilst flexibility to the target determination period are helpful in order to address comments from officers and consultees, this is best achieved through a collaborative approach to ensure that there is acknowledgement of the likely timescales. Refusing applications simply because a target determination deadline is approaching is not a positive way of achieving sustainable development, and inevitably results in greater time and cost burdens all round.

 

Welsh Government used to prepare an All Wales Planning Annual Performance Report which considered the performance of the planning system in terms of various metrics such as the performance of statutory consultees, local plan delays and planning application timeframes as well as decisions taken against officer advice. However, for some reason this monitoring process appears to have stopped in 2018/2019. This was highlighted as a concern by the RTPI and Wales Audit office respectively.

 

In the foreword to the 2018/19 report Minister for Housing and Local Government Julie James noted that “the system of continuous self reflection and self improvement allows the planning service to deliver the future that we – and future generations – deserve”. It is unclear why this reporting process has stopped as it could pinpoint areas that need specific attention and/or ways to highlight best practice.

 

Similarly, the increase in planning fees isn’t necessarily a concern provided it is leading to improved resourcing of the planning function through ring fencing of increased income.

  

Lichfields has direct experience of the difficulties that planning authorities have in dealing with significant workloads. Inevitably, a consequence of this is the time taken to obtain approval for developments as well as inadequate and slow pre-application advice which raises the question as to whether there is capacity for local authorities to carry out effective pre-application discussions. The statutory pre-application process introduced in 2016 has sought to standardise the pre-app process but in our view has not proven effective as it doesn’t allow the level of detail that is required on more complex development schemes. It rarely adds much value beyond what can be gleaned from reading the relevant LDP policies.

  

Some authorities offer non-statutory pre-application services which can be helpful in overcoming this challenge but from our experience this two-tier option results in elongated response times and a strict silo approach to dealing with the statutory pre-application submissions.

  

In an ideal world a collaborative pre-application process would inform a well-considered planning application that can then progress swiftly through the determination process. The reality is that all too often the resources are not available within planning departments to provide detailed pre-application responses and instead it is simply adding time and cost to the process rather than improved outcomes. Pre-application responses often fail to provide clear guidance on the Council’s view of a specific proposal that developers require in order to be able to proceed with funding a project. In other cases, responses are too narrowly focused on saying ‘no’ without trying to work with applicants to understand what else might be needed to overcome concerns and how proposals can be shaped positively.

  

The use of PPAs can be effective for larger schemes provided they have sufficient accountability (for applicant and council) and make provision for timely responses from all local authority in-house consultees. However this is not a silver bullet as 1) the planning departments often rely on consultation comments from external consultees that are not bound by the PPA, 2) there is no remedy if timescales are missed and 3) we are often told that authorities do not have the resource to commit to a PPA.

 

The PAC process was introduced in 2016 with the premise that greater community involvement at an early stage of the planning process was required. Clearly the involvement of the general public within planning is hugely important in terms of ensuring community buy-in to local developments and to help shape developments based on local knowledge and needs. However, the PAC process has unfortunately in our view not been effective in encouraging public involvement or addressing issues ahead of the planning application stage.

 

We consider that a meaningful review of the PAC system is required to understand whether it is adding value to the planning application process.

  

In our view it is questionable whether the PAC process is effective in obtaining meaningful feedback from the public and statutory consultees, neither does it accelerate the timescales for determining planning applications.

 

Welsh Government has an opportunity to lighten the loads of local authorities and to boost sustainable economic development by expanding the scope of development that is categorised as permitted development.

 

Future Wales (The National Plan 2040) promotes building places at a walkable scale and increasing population density in urban areas, especially close to public transport facilities. In our view there is scope to introduce helpful permitted development rights within town centres to assist with this aspiration such as the conversion of redundant office buildings to residential as well as upward extensions. There is plenty to learn from the mixed experience in England when these rights were initially introduced but we consider any shortcomings could be overcome by utilising a well-considered prior approval process.

 

In April 2021, temporary permitted development rights (Classes C-E, Part ) came into force which allowed town centre A1 (shops) uses to change to A2 (financial and professional), A3 (food and drink), B1 (business), D1 (non residential institution) or (assembly and leisure) for a 6-month trial period without the need to obtain planning permission for change of use. In November 2021 the Welsh Government – recognising the need to diversify town centres - subsequently consulted on whether to make this permitted development right permanent, but this change has not come into force yet and therefore planning permission is still required to change from A1 to the above uses. Our understanding is that these have not been brought forward due to legislative resourcing challenges.

 

In England, the Use Class Order was fundamentally changed in 2021 to introduce Use Class E (Commercial, Business and Service) to incorporate the old class A1, A2, A3, B1 and part of D1 and D2. There may also be scope in Wales to adapt the Use Class Order (which dates back to 1987) to allow greater flexibility within our town centres. Certainly, this has been a long-standing government aspiration that we share but for some reason change has been slow in coming through.

 

Similarly, changes were consulted upon in November 2021 to allow greater flexibility for EV charging infrastructure but again this has not come into force.

 

In contrast, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) in England has been very proactive with new permitted development rights including for temporary buildings for schools and hospitals affected by RAAC[3]. No such flexibility is available in Wales meaning that planning applications are required for facilities such as temporary classrooms. The Welsh Government reacted swiftly to the need for emergency legislation for permitted development rights during the pandemic and we consider there is an opportunity to broaden the ability of authorities to respond to situations such as these.

 

There are other areas where PD rights could be introduced to reduce the number of planning applications. This could include for minor extensions to hospitals and universities (beyond the 100sqm cumulative cap) and additional householder permitted development rights. The above would all help reduce the burden on local authority planning staff and assist in speeding up the delivery of often essential development.

 

 

Local Development Orders (LDO) is a tool that is readily available for use in Wales. It is intended to help speed up the planning system as LDOs will, in effect, grant permission for the development to which they relate and thus remove the need for a planning application and the associated application fee. However, the LDO process is infrequently used. This could be a useful tool to speed up the planning system in some areas and it may be that the Welsh Government needs to relook at the guidance and encourage greater implementation.

 

Special Development Orders are also an infrequently used tool. They grant permission for specified kinds of development in a given area. It was used successfully in the Cardiff Bay area in the 1990s and has been used recently in Holyhead for border control facilities but the use generally is very limited. Could there be an opportunity for the government to relook at this tool to see whether it could assist in accelerating the development of specific areas?

 

There could be merit in seeking to align these procedures with areas proposed for economic development such as enterprise zones, freeports and town centres.

 

We have highlighted a number of issues in an attempt to promote further discussion around ways to enhance the planning system and ensure that it delivers for Wales. We recognise that many of these echo themes identified by the CMA, RTPI and Audit Office in their recent reporting of the planning system.

 

Of utmost importance is the need to accelerate the system and ensure that it has the necessary resources to operate to its full potential. For too long the development plan preparation process has been slow and cumbersome. Alongside this there is a need to ensure that there is sufficient resource to work positively with applicants to determine pre-application enquiries and planning applications, and where possible at timescales agreed by all parties.

 

To ensure the delivery of sustainable development, Lichfields calls for:

 

1. The proper resourcing of planning departments in terms of the availability of staff and experience.
     
2. Effective policy levers to allow appropriate development to come forward in the absence of an up-to-date LDPs.
     
3. Streamlining the planning system including a simpler planning stage on allocated sites to limit the ever-expanding application requirements, reducing costs and reducing timescales.
     
4. Committing legislative resources to bring forward PD rights previously consulted on and exploring further PD rights.
     
5. Better utilisation of planning tools that are readily available to reduce the volume of planning applications required easing the burden for both LPAs and developers.
     
6. A comprehensive review of the pre-application advice process to ensure that it adds value
     
7. A thorough review of the effectiveness of the PAC process to local authorities, communities, statutory consultees and applicants
     
8. Greater collaboration with planning professionals and developer agencies across Wales to identify issues in the operation of the planning system and discuss potential resolutions.
     

We are committed to working with the Welsh Government, RTPI Cymru, Planning Officers Society Wales and across the private sector to support positive changes that bring sustainable development to Wales.