Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones has confirmed that his administration will consolidate existing legislation to make the planning system more transparent and accessible, while Huw Lewis, the housing, regeneration and heritage minister, has stressed that one of his ministerial priorities will be to strengthen the heritage aspects of regeneration.
IHBC Wales Branch comments informally as follows:
Following the Minister’s announcement on the proposed new Bill, Cadw have very helpfully already issued a briefing note (attached). The announcement made it clear the Bill was not due to come forward until the 4th year of the programme (ie 2015) and we have a long lead in.
Details are provided in the link to Senedd TV athttp://www.senedd.tv/, under the Plenary session for the 12 July [search under ‘Bill’], are details of the Bill’s announcement and responses at
The coverage on Senedd TV begins at 03h 21m 35s and mentions the Heritage Bill (no longer a Heritage Preservation Bill or Heritage Protection Bill, which had been referred to the Labour Manifesto and previous Welsh Government announcements). The theme is ‘streamlining and modernisation’, making legislation ‘more fitting to modern day issues’ as it ‘reduces bureaucracy’ and is ‘specifically geared to the needs of Wales’. A clear focus referred to there is a class of ‘neglectful owners’.
Ieuan Wyn Jones of Plaid responded he was not sure what the Minister was trying to achieve through such a Bill! Kirsty Williams of the Liberals (04h 09m 4s) welcomed the principle of the Bill and mentioned the need to address local values and seeking to protect what communities valued, making specific reference to the Vulcan Pub inCardiff, a well known campaign to those of you in the South.
The First Minister responded (04h 15m 50s) making reference to present difficulties in the current legislation of requiring owners to repair buildings. Christie Chapman (Labour) made a very valid point (04h 19m 15s) about the role heritage plays in town and village regeneration, where well-loved historic landmarks contribute to tourism and communities well being.
The First Minister responded (04h 22m 00s) that our heritage should not be lost to communities, even buildings without clear architectural merit but much loved by their communities. Too often our town and village centres were damaged by the discredited architecture of the 1960’s and 1970’s, which he no longer wished to see happening.
This announcement must be seen as positive first step and the Wales Branch Chair, Richard Dean, will be writing to the First Minister and the Heritage Minister responding positively to the news during this week.
Download Cadw’s briefing note HERE
Welsh Government News: LINK
Search Planning Portal: LINK
Search Planning Resource:LINK
