Wrexham readies for appeals in aftermath of local plan quashing
Acknowledging its vulnerable position, Wrexham County Council’s planning team warned councillors legal challenges were likely to increase now that the latest approved spatial strategy is the Unitary Development Plan, which expired 15 years ago.
Welsh Government may have formally withdrawn Wrexham County Council’s proposed local plan spatial development plan last month, but the evidence base behind the strategic document could still be part of the planning application decision process.
That was the gist of a report filed by the county council’s head of service for planning, Matthew Phillips, which he shared with members of the county council’s planning committee on Monday.
Phillips went on to explain that this is because the existing UDP is out-of-date and the national Future Wales framework does not contain detailed allocations for land and employment. The evidence used to formulate the LDP is therefore the most up-to-date and site-specific information, and, having been tested through examination, was found to be sound.
He added that LDP evidence may thus be used by council planning officers when assessing applications, and that an appeal body would likely do the same. This may lead to departures from the UDP, he warned.
In the meantime, he noted that navigating planning applications in the post-LDP world may prove tricky.
“We are going to be in a situation where both officer recommendations and committee decisions are going to be more frequently challenged at appeal and the outcomes of those are increasingly uncertain for the time being,” he told county councillors.
Despite Leader Cllr Mark Pritchard’s insistence at that meeting that “costs should never come into a discussion or a debate in the planning committee,” Phillips noted that there is an important role that costs have to play. Cost awards are given when the planning inspectors view the county council’s actions as unreasonable. The Welsh Government will be monitoring the county council’s performance at appeal and if it racks up too many costs awards, there could be a further intervention.
Wrexham County Council will be holding workshops for planning committee members in the future to help guide them in the decision making process in the new, LDP-free era.
