A controversial draft planning blueprint, which would have paved the way for thousands of new homes to be built in Caerphilly County Borough, has been scrapped.
At a meeting on Tuesday, July 19, councillors unanimously voted to formally withdraw Caerphilly County Borough Council’s draft Local Development Plan (LDP).
There had been widespread opposition from residents and campaign groups to the draft LDP, which set out the potential for around 13,640 new homes to be built by the year 2031 – many on green spaces.
Approved in its initial stages by councillors back in February this year, the document was then put out to public consultation.
In total, 4,654 individuals and organisations responded with six petitions received objecting to a number of key proposals.
Caerphilly County Borough Council will now work with neighbouring local authorities to develop a Strategic Development Plan covering a wider region in tandem with developing a new “light touch” LDP.
Cllr Ken James, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Sustainable Development, said: “We’ve heard the erroneous claim that we do not support green field sites and wedges. Well, we do.
“We have listened to the consultation exercise and are addressing the concerns and complaints raised by residents.”
Caerphilly’s Assembly Member Hefin David has been a long-time critic of the planning system and used his Welsh Assembly election campaign to push for the withdrawal of Caerphilly’s LDP.
The AM is still a sitting Labour councillor and was the only one to vote against the plan in February.
He told the meeting: “When I spoke at council in February, one of the things I said was that LDPs do not connect very well and that Cardiff has a strategy of getting cars off the road, and Caerphilly has a strategy of getting cars on to the road.
“It made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever, which is why I called for a Strategic Development Plan.”
Cllr David also read out a letter he had received from Lesley Griffiths AM, Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, which suggested she would not stand in the way of Caerphilly Council withdrawing its draft LDP.
Councillors will now seek a meeting with Ms Griffiths to discuss forming a Strategic Development Plan under the Planning (Wales) Act 2015.
However, Plaid Cymru councillor Lindsay Whittle, a former AM for South Wales East and council leader, said the authority had “failed”.
He said: “Let’s be honest about this. This is a failure on behalf of Caerphilly Council.
“The [existing] LDP is now out of date, leaving the council in a vulnerable position in terms of speculative planning applications.
“By our own admission, the county borough has failed to maintain a five-year housing land supply, as required by national policy.”
The need for a new LDP arose after Welsh Government withdrew funding to help redevelop brownfield sites, meaning the existing LDP was left wanting in terms of housing land supply – as it relied on development of such sites to maintain a five-year supply.
Councillors were warned that by withdrawing the draft LDP and relying on the existing one, the council was opening itself up to an increase in planning appeals by developers.
Christina Harrhy, Corporate Director for Communities, said each planning appeal could cost the council between £25,000 and £30,000.
Plaid Cymru councillor James Fussell asked the meeting that the issue of how the five-year land supply is calculated be brought up with the Welsh Government – something that the controlling Labour group accepted.
Council leader Keith Reynolds said: “I know it’s easy to say there have been failures in the plan – I don’t believe that to be the case over the last couple of years.
“We were short on our housing supply by a couple of years and that needed to be addressed.
“That was taken into account in the consultation as well.
“We have listened and we are a listening council, to coin a phrase. We’ve taken account of those views.”
Cllr Reynolds also spoke about the proposed Cardiff Capital Region City Deal in terms of future development and that the northern end of the county borough was in desperate need of investment.
A Strategic Development Plan could take until 2021 to develop – the same year the council’s existing LDP expires.
The Labour Caerphilly Council has clearly proven that it really is a Council of the people, it placed a plan before the ratepayers, the ratepayers made representations in relation to that process, the Council appear to have considered those submissions objectively, together with the longstanding objections based on planning grounds consistantly made by Caerphilly`s Assembly Member Hefin David, who opposed the now abolished plan from the beginning. The Labour Council have now abolished the plan in favour of a Regional Plan being developed, that has to be the correct decision.
If there are planning appeals as a result of this move by the Council, which lead planning officers warned would cost thousands of pounds, then that is down to the inability of those same professional planning officers to get it right first time around. Now is the time for those officers to listen to thier paymasters, the ratepayers, and The Councillors of Caerphilly Council and do THEIR bidding.
You mean Caerphilly Council is for the devious charlatans who are costing Caerphilly taxpayers millions of pounds, money that could have been spent far more effectively elsewhere.
“Councillors on Caerphilly County Borough Council have agreed to put aside a further £500,000 to cover legal costs and salaries for three bosses suspended in a long-running pay scandal.”
Pete; Now that`s another matter. Does appear odd that an `employer` cannot discipline staff, in a timely manner, and within a set process and either reinstate them, or sack them, it also seems off that this same process for lower graded staff is over in a tick.
What really is going on one wonders.
I smell a rat.
My advice to voters is continue to be vigilant. Ths council officers that pranced around and ‘high fived’ the announcement that this miserable plan had been adopted in February are, unfortunately, still in post. They will be smarting at this set back but will never give up.