RLDP Deposit 2018-2033

1. Introduction Comment

1.1 Background Comment

1.1.1 The Council is responsible for preparing and keeping an up-to-date Local Development Plan (LDP) in accordance with Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 for all areas that fall outside of the Eryri National Park. The National Park has its own planning authority and LDP. The LDP must set out planning policies and allocates sites for different types of development. The Council is also responsible for development management which involves the processing and determination of planning applications in the County Borough outside of Eryri National Park. The LDP guides and manages development by providing the foundation for consistent and clear decision making. In meeting the above responsibilities, the Council are in the process of preparing a Replacement LDP (RLDP). Comment

1.1.2 Conwy adopted its first LDP in 2013 and was intended to run up and until 2022. The current LDP will remain in force until the RLDP is adopted, however, its policies and land supply to meet the needs of Conwy’s communities is outdated. There is therefore a need to develop a RLDP, which will provide a framework for development in Conwy (excluding Eryri National Park) for the period from 2018 up until 2033. The current LDP will remain in force until the RLDP is adopted. Comment

1.1.3 Evidence suggests that the population and number of households will grow in Conwy RLDP area over the next 15 years. Together with the need to increase affordable housing, tackle homelessness and contribute to the economic aspirations of the North Wales Growth Deal, we need to work collectively and plan for new homes, jobs, community facilities and infrastructure to support this growth. It is important that growth is properly planned to ensure that it benefits communities and delivers sustainable development and places. Areas of Conwy County Borough are also in need of improvement and regeneration to promote resilience, whilst other areas require safeguarding to encourage healthy lifestyles and sustainable tourism. The RLDP will embrace the sustainable principles and concept of placemaking to deliver this growth in a sustainable manner and meet our wellbeing duties under the Well-being of Future Generations (WFG) Act 2015. Comment

1.2 The Deposit Conwy RLDP Comment

1.2.1 This Deposit RLDP is the result of early statutory preparation and community engagement stages as follows: Comment

• Delivery Agreement (DA) and Community Involvement Scheme (CIS) (October 2018/Revision December 2025);
• Call for Candidate Sites (September – November 2018)
• Pre-Deposit Participation (January – July 2019); and,
• Pre-Deposit (Preferred Strategy) Consultation (July – September 2019).

1.2.2 The LPA has taken a proactive and transparent approach to engagement, frontloading and plan preparation to date. A second Call for Candidate Sites for affordable housing took place in August 2022. Further non-statutory placemaking engagement events have taken place working alongside Planning Aid Wales (PAW) to capture community’s needs and identify site specific and area based placemaking needs. This Deposit RLDP takes forward the evidence gathering, stakeholder engagement and Pre-Deposit work undertaken to date, including that contained within the Preferred Strategy and looks to develop on its strategic direction through more detailed land use policies and proposals (including the allocation of land for development). Comment

1.2.3 The Deposit RLDP consists of a written statement and proposals map. The written statement outlines local planning policies, land use allocations and associated justification based on the supporting evidence in background papers (BP). It also contains a monitoring framework, which sets out how the plan’s strategy, objectives, policies and proposals will be monitored against appropriate indicators and trigger points for action (linked to plan review/revision). The proposals map illustrates the land use allocations, settlement boundaries and planning designations in the plan, which are key to delivery of the spatial strategy. Comment

1.2.4 The RLDP is more than just a land use plan; its scope is wider, focusing on placemaking and the creation of sustainable communities, and demonstrating links to related issues such as health, education, climate change, green infrastructure, active travel and wellbeing. All objectives and policies of the RLDP are inter-related in their nature and need to be read in conjunction with one another in order to gain an understanding of the overall policy direction of the Deposit RLDP. Comment

1.3 Supporting documents Comment

1.3.1 The Deposit RLDP is supported by a number of impact assessments and background evidence base documents to inform the approach and overall goal of promoting sustainable communities. All the following documents should be read alongside the Deposit RLDP: Comment

• Sustainability Appraisal (SA) incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) - the Deposit RLDP has been subject to a SA/SEA to assess whether it will have any significant impacts upon the environment (positive or negative) and ascertain whether it will help to deliver sustainable development. The SA Framework which underpins this assessment includes a strong focus on wellbeing issues linked to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
   
• Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) -assessment of likely significant effects on sites designated at European level (‘European Sites’) for reasons of ecological importance.
   
• Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA) - reviews and identifies the likely impact of the Plan on existing and future communities, considering relevant evidence in order to understand the likely or actual effect of policies and practices on protected groups.
   
• Health Impact Assessment (HIA) -assesses the likely impacts of the Plan on health and equality considerations, particularly those which may impact upon the health of the County Borough’s residents.
   
• Welsh Language Impact Assessment (WLiA) – assesses the potential effects of the RLDP on the Welsh language and culture and proposes appropriate mitigation measures.
   
• Background Paper (BP) evidence – a suite of evidence base to inform and support the RLDP. BPs also provide supporting information and a rationale for the Deposit RLDP. These focus in more detail on some of the key issues and subject areas that are of particular significance for the RLDP. There are currently 66 BPs as detailed at Appendix 4.

1.3.2 These impact assessments and BPs have been undertaken in an integrated manner and used as plan-making tools to inform the RLDP, rather than simply being statutory reporting exercises. This has allowed the environmental, social, economic and cultural implications of all plan components to be tested at the earliest opportunity and for any uncertainties, issues or mitigation requirements identified during the impact assessment processes to be addressed during plan preparation. In addition to meeting statutory requirements, this process has helped to maximise the performance of and more generally improve the quality of the RLDP. Comment

1.3.3 Further documents have been published alongside the Deposit RLDP: Comment

• Existing LDP Review Report - sets out the proposed extent of likely changes to the existing LDP (2007-2022) and to confirm the revision procedure to be followed in preparing the RLDP.
   
• DA and CIS – theDA provides a project plan for preparing the RLDP and to set out the measures within the CIS in terms of consultation and engagement. The DA and CIS has been amended to reflect the impact of COVD19 on the production timetable.
   
• Candidate Sites Register - the Candidate Sites Register shows all of the sites submitted to the LPA as part of its call for Candidate Sites. These are sites submitted by members of the public and stakeholders suggesting land for development, or for protection from development. The sites suggested for development have been identified in this Deposit RLDP based on needs and full assessment to demonstrate deliverability.

1.4 Previous key stakeholder and community engagement Comment

1.4.1 The RLDP must be based on and underpinned by early, effective and meaningful community engagement in order to understand and consider a wide range of views, with the aim of building a broad consensus on the spatial strategy, policies and proposals. Comment

1.4.2 The Council have also prepared a Deposit Consultation Reportwhich comprehensively documents how all previous representations made have informed the Deposit Plan. It summarises the key issues raised throughout the process, including the representations made and recommendations as to how the LPA considers each representation should be addressed. Comment

1.4.3 The representations received during previous consultation were assessed and many of the comments influenced the preparation of the Deposit plan. A summary of the representations received during consultation is published separately as part of the Deposit RLDP. Comment

1.5 RLDP structure Comment

1.5.1 The initial Pre-Deposit consultation stages proposed a new RLDP Structure to ensure it embraces the key themes in national plan ‘Future Wales 2040, PPW and the wellbeing goals set out in the Well-Being of Future Generations Act 2015. All elements of the Deposit RLDP are structured around the four themes to achieve the vision, objectives and spatial strategy. These themes draw together the linkages between planning policies to make it clear how individual components contribute to the overall goal to contribute positively to sustainable places and improved well-being in Conwy. The Monitoring and Implementation Plan also reflects these key four themes. Comment

1.5.2 The Deposit RLDP consists of a written statement detailing its policies and proposals and a proposals map on a geographical base. The Deposit RLDP is structured as follows: Comment

1.5.3 The plan includes the following strategic and criteria based policies for each section: Comment

Strategic and spatial choices in Conwy Comment

Placemaking policy framework Comment

Healthy and social places in Conwy Comment

Housing and affordable housing framework Comment

Sustainable transport and accessibility strategy Comment

Retail and commercial centres Comment

Community facilities & services strategy Comment

Recreational spaces strategy Comment

Prosperous places in Conwy Comment

Economic development strategy Comment

Tourism strategy Comment

Net-zero planning framework Comment

Minerals and waste Comment

Natural and cultural places in Conwy Comment

Natural environment Comment

Environmental qualities Comment

Historic environment Comment

1.6 Working towards sustainable places and improved well-being in Conwy Comment

1.6.1 The WFG Act 2015 places a duty on public bodies that they must carry out sustainable development in preparing LDPs. The WFG Act puts in place seven well-being goals which the Conwy RLDP must work towards. The Conwy Deposit RLDP embraces this sustainable development principle and concept of placemaking to ensure that it works towards the sustainable places and improved well-being in Conwy. Comment

1.6.2 To ensure the RLDP works towards these goals, there are key drivers that must be followed and connected with, which will enable the goals in the WFG Act to be realised. Figure 2 illustrates how these key documents connect to inform the RLDP and contribute positively to sustainable places and wellbeing: Comment

• The WFG Act establishes the ‘five ways of working’ which public bodies need to demonstrate they have carried out in undertaking their sustainable development duty and in preparing the RLDP.
   
• The Welsh Government (WG) identifies key planning drivers in the form ‘five key planning principles’ which should be the starting point in preparing the RLDP. These principles support the culture change needed to embrace placemaking and ensure that planning facilitates the right development in the right place.
   
• The national sustainable placemaking outcomes should be used to inform the preparation of development plans and the assessment of development proposals. The outcomes provide a framework which contains those factors which are considered to be the ideal outcome of development plans and individual developments. These outcomes also form the starting point for the RLDP

1.6.3 Appendix 2 further demonstrates how the national sustainable placemaking outcomes relate to the national well-being goals, the themes of PPW, policies in Future Wales, the Conwy and Denbighshire Well-being Plan and the proposed themes in this Deposit Plan conform with each other. Comment

Source: SPPS, CCBC Comment

1.6.4 The RLDP must be based on a robust understanding of the role and function of an area including the functional linkages to areas beyond administrative boundaries. This section has been informed on a sound understanding of the national, regional and the key local issues facing Conwy’s plan area, which inform the RLDP vision, objectives and strategic framework presented in section 4 and strategic and criteria-based policies in section 5. In preparing the RLDP we have sought to review and update our understanding of the relevant issues further through frontloading and evidence base gathering involving key stakeholders and communities. Comment

1.6.5 The RLDP must strike the right balance between protecting those elements that make Conwy special, whilst at the same time helping to facilitate new opportunities for growth and regeneration to contribute to the creation of sustainable places and improved well-being. Comment