Consultation On LDP To Be Launched

A formal consultation on changes to Pembrokeshire’s local development plan, with an ambition to create nearly 2,000 affordable homes, is to go ahead.

At an extraordinary council meeting taking place on September 13, councillors approved a public consultation on the Replacement Pembrokeshire County Council Local Development Plan (2017-2033) – LDP 2, Deposit Plan 2.

The consultation will take place later this year and run for a minimum of six weeks.

The Local Development Plan (LDP) sets out the local policy framework for determining planning applications and directing growth in the part of Pembrokeshire for which the county council has planning jurisdiction.

The report and proposal for a consultation was presented – and the recommendation moved – by Cabinet Member for Planning & Regulatory Services Cllr Jacob Williams, who tempted fate and superstition by pointing out that not only was the meeting being held on Friday 13, but the recommendation in the report was on page 13.

The report for members stated: “Pembrokeshire County Council’s current LDP was adopted in 2013 and has an end date of 2021, although it remains in force as the adoption of the plan pre-dated the formal introduction of statutory end dates for LDPs in Wales.

“Nonetheless the current LDP is now more than 11 years old and the need to prepare and adopt a replacement LDP is paramount, in order to make provision for the new growth needed to support communities and businesses up until 2033 and to protect and enhance Pembrokeshire’s environment.”

The new LDP2 includes a 60/40 per cent split between new dwellings proposed in the urban and rural areas, with a target of 5,840 dwellings, 2,000 of them affordable.

There are three strategic residential allocations made by LDP 2:  Slade Lane, Haverfordwest; Maesgwynne, Fishguard; and South of Conway Drive, Steynton, intended to provide 622 new dwellings between them.

In town centre developments, protected retail frontages are retained but their extent has generally been reduced, with no residential use at ground floor level in the primary frontages, residential use above ground floor level being supported.

Two solar array allocations are included in the plan, at Llanstadwell and Wolfscastle, and a coastal change policy, which limits development in areas vulnerable to flooding due to sea-level rise.

A new policy on water quality, including protection of water resources, is also included, responding to the river water quality issues in the Cleddau and Teifi catchments.

Council leader Cllr Jon Harvey said there was a need for additional affordable housing, expressing his frustration at some developers “trying to chip away” affordable housing promises in developments.

The consultation is expected to be launched later this autumn.