In 2011, a Referendum was passed which enabled the National
Assembly for Wales to pass planning laws without the UK
parliament's consent. Since then, the Welsh government has been
drafting legislation and policy proposals to alter the way the
planning system is administered.
The main change commenced with the publishing of the Planning
(Wales) Bill on the 6th October 2014, which hopes to
receive royal assent in 2015. There are a further six consultation
papers on various aspects of the bill, secondary legislation and
changes to planning policy which were issued in subsequent
days.
The bill focuses on promoting growth, but does highlight that it
must be balanced against the requirement to safeguard Wales's
distinctive landscapes, heritage assets and beautiful
coastline. Although the bill is not a developer's
charter, and puts considerable weight on embedding sustainability
into Welsh decision making,Welsh natural resources minister Carl
Sargeant states "Planning
