The bare minimum for Wales

Friends of the Earth Cymru has condemned new Welsh Assembly Government regulations on local planning as "a huge missed opportunity to boost democracy" and called on AMs to vote against the approval of the regulations.

The Assembly Government has published regulations governing the production of Local Development Plans (LDPs) by councils in Wales. LDPs must be produced by each Unitary Authority in Wales to show what sort of development is planned in their area for a ten to fifteen year period.

Friends of the Earth Cymru has objected to the regulations because:

- they do not give people a guaranteed right to participate in each stage of the process as the plans are written;

- they fail to establish a clear mechanism for people and community groups to be involved in decision making from the beginning of the process (when plans are being written) to the end (when planning applications are being determined by councils);

Naomi Luhde-Thompson of Friends of the Earth Cymru commented,

"This is a massive missed opportunity to boost democracy in the planning process. All across Wales there are countless examples of bad development and angry communities because people haven't been given enough say in decisions which affect their environment and their lives.

"Wales could be at the forefront of a revolution in planning and participation - the Assembly Government could put in place regulations which would increase people's involvement and lead to better development. With these proposals, parts of the system will be falling behind what happens in England.

"The Assembly government needs to demonstrate its commitment to participation in concrete guidelines. We think that the Assembly has made mistakes in the past on planning legislation, making it difficult to now envisage a coherent system of involvement. It could rectify these by setting out clear guidance on participation."