Welsh Assembly Government unveils new national planning policy
The Welsh Assembly Government this week issued an updated national planning policy that places a greater emphasis on tackling climate change.
The second edition of Planning Policy Wales sets out the strategic policy framework for local planning authorities to use when preparing development plans and determining applications for planning permission.
The policy, which is supplemented by 21 Technical Advice Notes, now:
- Includes all policy updates that have been issued since 2002 in the form of Ministerial Interim Planning Policy Statements (MIPPS), and
- Reflects changes to facts, law, policies and other documents referred to in the original policy and in the various MIPPS.
Launching the policy at a Royal Town Planning Institute conference in Cardiff, Environment Minister Jane Davidson said: “The main driver for this consolidated version of Planning Policy Wales is to further embed the need to tackle climate change into the planning system.
“Climate change will have potentially profound environmental, economic and social justice implications and failure to address it will make planning for sustainable development impossible. As a small industrialised nation, Wales has the opportunity to lead the way in tackling climate change, and the planning system must play its part.”
A copy of the new policy can be downloaded here.
