Preferred Strategy

10. The Wider Strategic Framework

The wider strategic framework provides the strategic policies which support and enable the implementation and delivery of the Preferred Strategy and the Replacement LDP as a whole. The following Strategic Policies respond to the Vision and Objectives and will be relevant for determination of all development proposals made to the LPA up to 2037.

10.1 Infrastructure to Serve New Development

The provision of appropriate infrastructure, services, and facilities is vital to ensure the delivery of the Plan's policies and proposals. Appropriate infrastructure is key to facilitate development but is also a necessity to support the ongoing needs and demands arising from the development and sustainable communities.

A range of infrastructure may be required and will vary according to the nature, type, scale, and location of development and the capacity of existing infrastructure provision. In considering the needs of development proposals contributions towards the following infrastructure, services and facilities may be required:

• Highways and other transport facilities including sustainable transport, public transport, Active Travel and other walking and cycling routes.
• Affordable Housing.
• Public Open Spaces, green and blue infrastructure.
• Utility services, including upgrades and improvements to Waste-Water Treatment Works and Water Supply infrastructure.
• Welsh language mitigation.
• Schools and other educational and training facilities.
• Biodiversity and environmental protection and enhancement.
• Community facilities.
• Digital Infrastructure.
• Other facilities and services considered necessary.

The Replacement LDP has been informed by an Infrastructure Plan that will be updated to include the infrastructure needed to facilitate the delivery of allocated sites.

Further details regarding planning contributions will be included in the Deposit Plan, taking development viability into consideration and the cost of measures that are necessary to physically deliver a development to ensure that it is acceptable in planning terms. The Replacement LDP will be supported by a development viability appraisal underpinned by relevant and robust assumptions. This should negate the need for further viability assessments at the planning application stage, meaning that viability negotiations will only be undertaken in exceptional circumstances. The assumptions underpinning the viability appraisal include an appropriate contingency for infrastructure contributions in accordance with this policy.

10.2 Climate Change

Policy SP12 seeks to ensure that all new development responds to climate change through:

• Mitigation: ensuring design and construction minimises carbon emissions, including measures to reduce energy consumption; and
• Adaptation: ensuring resilience to projected changes of weather patterns, including more extreme weather events, such as flooding and overheating.

Resource efficiency of energy, heat and water is an essential element of good design (see Policy SP16) and reducing resource demand will assist in meeting UK targets to tackle climate change, avoid the retrofit of new homes, lessen pressure on local resources such as water supply and reduce the long-term running costs of buildings.

New development will have to consider whether there are opportunities for achieving higher sustainable building standards, including zero carbon and more detailed policies on efficiency measures, including the requirements of Energy Reports, will be set out in the Deposit Plan.

To ensure that finite resources are used in a sustainable manner, developments should wherever possible use secondary and recycled aggregates as part of the construction process. Wherever possible, this should be done without taking materials off site. A detailed policy for Whole Life Carbon Assessments, will be set out in the Deposit Plan, for circumstances where it may be appropriate to replace a building based on supporting evidence that less carbon may be emitted by the replacement building than by retaining and adapting the original structure.

Nature-based solutions will be supported and measures such as green roofs and buffer strips offer multiple benefits by for instance supporting net benefit for biodiversity and green infrastructure.

10.3 Sustainable Transport

PPW clearly states that the Sustainable Transport Hierarchy (Figure 11) must be a key principle in the preparation of development plans. The transport hierarchy prioritises walking, cycling and the use of public transport ahead of the use of private motor vehicles. However, it also recognises that ULEVs have an important role to play in the decarbonisation of transport, particularly in rural areas with limited public transport services.

Figure 11 - Welsh Government's Sustainable Transport Hierarchy for Planning

The Integrated Planning and Transport background paper supporting the Replacement LDP considers sustainable transport opportunities across the Plan area. Additionally, the Settlement Assessment and Cluster Analysis methodologies have been designed to give priority to promoting settlements with the highest range of sustainable transport opportunities in accordance with the Sustainable Transport Hierarchy and to reducing the need to travel.

The Replacement LDP focusses the majority of growth to higher tiered settlements in either Regional Growth Area Clusters or Local Clusters. The strategy promotes the concept of 'Living Locally', where the majority of new development is within walking / cycling distance or a short journey by public transport of key everyday services, which in turn will promote physical activity and the health and well-being of residents.

Active Travel is a term used in the Active Travel Act guidance to describe walking, wheeling and cycling for purposeful everyday journeys, such as to and from a workplace or education establishment, or in order to access health, leisure or other services or facilities.

The Active Travel Network includes both existing and future Active Travel Routes which should be incorporated within new developments where possible. Development proposals likely to generate significant levels of movement may need to make provision for Active Travel infrastructure that will be secured by planning condition or Planning Obligation. This may include elements of the infrastructure needed to facilitate Active Travel from a development via a Future Active Travel Route, as identified on the Active Travel Network Maps.

Given the rural nature of the Plan area, it is recognised that applying some elements of the Sustainable Transport Hierarchy could be challenging to some development proposals. The strategy directs the majority of development to settlements with a range of sustainable transport opportunities. However, in order to address local needs, achieve sustainable rural communities and to support the rural economy, some developments is required in areas with limited-service provision with regards to active travel and public transport.

In these areas, development proposals will be required to apply an alternative approach to meeting the sustainable transport hierarchy, in accordance with Strategic Policy SP14. Applicants will need to provide a clear justification within Design and Access Statements to demonstrate measures included to reduce travel and dependency on private motor vehicles.

The Deposit Plan will provide a detailed policy framework for sustainable transport that will include policies for transport improvements, highway standards and active travel.

10.4 Flood Risk

Flood risk is an issue for many of Powys's communities where settlements and major communication routes are located in river valleys. In addition to fluvial flood risk, development proposals must consider impacts associated with surface water and groundwater flooding.

In accordance with PPW and TAN15, development and highly vulnerable development in particular must be directed away from flood risk areas identified on NRW's Flood Map for Planning https://flood-map-for-planning.naturalresources.wales

Proposals must demonstrate that any impacts and consequences from development are acceptable and will not exacerbate flood risk elsewhere through reductions in floodplain storage, increasing runoff or impeding flood flows.

Where required, development proposals will need to incorporate appropriate sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) which comply with national standards. These are subject to approval by the Council's Sustainable Drainage Approval Body (SAB).

10.5 Placemaking and Good Design

Good design and place-making are important considerations for all development proposals. Proposals must be designed to meet the sustainable placemaking outcomes defined in PPW to ensure development positively contributes to creating prosperous and sustainable places that meet the needs of residents and visitors. Further guidance is provided by the Design Commission for Wales and further policy will be provided in the Deposit Plan and as SPG following adoption of the Replacement LDP.

Design and Access Statements submitted with planning applications should incorporate a Placemaking Statement which should be proportionate to the nature and scale of the development, setting out how the proposal accords with the criteria set out in policy.

The planning system and development can contribute positively to health and well-being in a variety of ways. For instance, by incorporating the "Living locally" concept, places can be made more inclusive and attractive with active travel opportunities to a range of services enabling people to enjoy active and healthy lifestyles.

A Health Impact Assessment (HIA) will be required with applications proposing major developments (10 or more dwellings, etc.) in order to demonstrate how the development has considered and addressed health implications. Guidance on completing a HIA has been prepared by the Welsh Health Impact Assessment Unit.

Proposals for new community, leisure and recreation facilities are supported in principle and town centre locations are preferred for large scale developments, in line with the Town Centre First policy in Future Wales. The loss of such facilities will only be acceptable where justified and further detailed policy will be provided in the Deposit LDP.

10.6 Green Infrastructure, Nature Recovery and the Natural Environment

The Environment (Wales) Act 2016 introduced an enhanced biodiversity and resilience of ecosystems duty - Section 6 Duty – to public authorities. This duty requires that in the exercise of their functions, public authorities in Wales must seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity by ensuring development does not cause any significant loss of habitats or populations of species and must provide a net benefit for biodiversity.

Future Wales recognises that Powys includes biodiversity hotspots and important ecological corridors, including some at a landscape scale, and development should be directed away from these areas. Green infrastructure corridors (see Policy SP20) provide opportunities for species to migrate and disperse and enable genetic exchange to improve species resilience within the wider environment, and such networks should be protected from inappropriate development.

All development proposals will be required to demonstrate that a net benefit for biodiversity can be achieved. Actions which provide net benefit for biodiversity include new habitat creation, long term management of existing degraded habitat, creating connectivity corridors linking isolated habitats, all of which contribute to improving the resilience of ecosystems and support nature recovery. Benefits must be long term, measurable, demonstrable, and primarily on site.

Geodiversity includes assets such as important rock faces, quarries and geomorphological landforms and important soils including peat. Development proposals must avoid damaging such assets, which may have scientific or environmental significance, particularly if they have been identified as having regional importance.

Powys has a rich and varied biodiversity with a broad range of species, habitats and unique, rich landscapes with internationally and nationally important sites and other regionally and locally important areas as identified in Table 9.

Table 9. Natural Environment Designations in the Replacement LDP Plan Area

In addition to the natural environment designations, the landscape of Powys encompasses large areas of farmland with traditional field boundaries, river valleys, open upland hill and plateaux, upland peat bog, woodlands and areas of open water. Powys has published a Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) which provides guidance on how the landscape character should be considered when designing developments and to inform planning decisions. The LCA takes account of what is valued or characteristic and so provides distinctiveness in a particular landscape character area and highlights sensitivities and qualities which may be affected by development. Guidelines seek to ensure that future change respects local character. The LCA is supported by 61 Landscape Character Area profiles.

Eleven of the 58 Registered Landscapes of Historic Interest in Wales are either wholly or partially located within Powys. The impact of development affecting these landscapes may require assessment under the 'Assessment of the Impact of Development on Historic Landscapes' (ASIDOHL2) process.

Development proposals will also be considered against the impacts they may have on the special qualities or purposes of adjoining National Parks or National Landscape Areas (AONB). The Council has a duty under Section 62 (2) of the Environment Act 1995 to conserve and enhance the wildlife, natural beauty and cultural heritage of National Parks.

Surface and groundwaters should be maintained to ensure that they achieve overall "good status by 2027, in accordance with the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations 2017. Surface water should be protected from discharges which have negative impacts on water quality including suspended solids and nutrients.

Whilst air quality across Powys is generally good, development can cause increases in gaseous and particulate air pollution during construction and from the end users of the development. New development should seek to identify the means by which the potential for air pollution can be mitigated, including exploring renewable energy technologies for space heating.

Best and Most Versatile Agriculture land is found across Powys, development should be directed away from this land to safeguard it for food production. Soils which are rich in carbon, including peat, are important carbon sinks and contribute to climate mitigation strategies. Disturbing such soils can result in drying out and the release of carbon dioxide. Development proposals should avoid areas of peat and opportunities which increase peat cover should be investigated.

Trees, woodlands and hedgerows offer multiple benefits, including visual amenity, defining a sense of place, providing places for relaxation and recreation, habitats for wildlife, ecological corridors and assist in mitigating the effects of climate change. Trees, woodlands and hedgerows of significant public amenity or biodiversity value, including defined ancient woodlands, shall be protected.

Green infrastructure is defined by PPW as, "the network of natural and semi-natural features, green spaces, rivers and lakes that intersperse and connect places. At the landscape scale green infrastructure can comprise of entire ecosystems (e.g. wetlands, waterways, peatlands and mountain ranges) or be connected networks of mosaic habitats, including grasslands. At the local scale, it might comprise parks, fields, trees and woodlands, ponds, natural green spaces, public rights of way, allotments, cemeteries and gardens, or managed features (e.g. sustainable drainage schemes) and, at the individual scale, could be street trees, roundabout islands, hedgerows, verges and green roofs/walls".

A Green Infrastructure Audit and Assessment should be undertaken to inform development proposals. This will identify areas for protection and opportunities for enhancement. The Audit and Assessment should utilise map-based evidence, including the Green Infrastructure Assessment informing the Replacement LDP (see Appendix 7). Planning applications must be accompanied by a Green Infrastructure Statement setting out and justifying the approach proposed and how proposals support the aims of the Powys Nature Recovery Action Plan (NRAP) and NRW's Mid Wales Area Statement.

Further policy will be included in the Deposit LDP and SPG will be prepared following the adoption of the LDP. Further information and guidance is provided by the Building with Nature standards.

10.7 Built and Historic Environment

This policy provides protection for Powys's historic environment as required by legislation, PPW and TAN 24: The Historic Environment. The historic environment is a finite, non-renewable and shared resource and a vital and integral part of the historical and cultural identity of Powys. An understanding of the historic and cultural significance of Powys can provide a context for managing change.

There are currently 3,938 Listed Buildings in the Plan area designated by Cadw on behalf of the Welsh Government. National planning policy seeks to safeguard the character of historic buildings and manage change to that their special architectural and historic interest is preserved.

There are currently 55 Conservation Areas in the Plan area. National planning policy seeks to preserve or enhance the character of appearance of Conservation Areas, whilst at the same time helping them remain vibrant and prosperous.

There are currently 10 Registered Historic Landscapes either within or partly within the Plan area. National planning policy seeks to protect areas on the Register of Historic Landscapes in Wales.

There are currently 37 Registered Parks and Gardens in the Plan area. National planning policy seeks to preserve the special interest of sites on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

There are currently 723 Scheduled Monuments in the Plan area along with other non-designated archaeological remains. National Planning Policy seeks to conserve archaeological remains, both for their own sake and for their role in education, leisure and the economy.

The statutory Historic Environment Record for the Plan area is managed and kept up-to-date by Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust on behalf of the Welsh Ministers. National statutory guidance requires these records to be used as a key source of information in making planning decisions affecting the historic environment. Advice on their use in decision making should be sought from the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust.

Applications for listed building consent and conservation area consent are required to be accompanied by a Heritage Impact Statement to assess the impact of works on the significance of the building or area.

SPG on the Historic Environment, Archaeology and Conservation Areas will be prepared following the adoption of the Replacement LDP. Best-practice guidance is also published by Cadw for different types of historic assets, including guidance on renewable energy and historic buildings.

10.8 Protecting Strategic Resources

This policy provides protection to a range of strategically important resources and assets to ensure that they and their operation, including use and enjoyment, are not unacceptably adversely affected by inappropriate development.

Only development proposals that will not have an unacceptable impact on the resource or asset will be permitted. For example, it may not be appropriate to permit development in close proximity to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) training area where low flying aircraft need to operate and military hardware is in use, as such developments can create pressure to limit the activities and use of the MOD land.

The potential cumulative impacts of existing and proposed developments should be carefully considered as resources and assets may offer multiple benefits. The Offa' Dyke Path National Trail, for example, contributes historic, recreational, tourism and visual / landscape assets, as well as Offa's Dyke itself and its setting being a nationally important Scheduled Monument in much of Powys.

As well as having regard to adjoining National Parks and National Landscapes (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty), development should have regard to other designations such as Dark Skies and the Register of Historic Landscapes. The Council has published a Landscape Character Assessment to indicate how development can be accommodated within a landscape character area.

10.9 Welsh Language and Culture

The 2021 Census identified significant variation in the percentage of Welsh speakers across Powys, ranging from 54% of residents able to speak Welsh in the Glantwymyn Ward to 4% in the Churchstoke Ward. The Welsh language is a significant part of the social fabric of communities in the north-west, west and south-west of Powys, providing a strong sense of place and identity.

In Welsh Language Strongholds where Welsh is the everyday language of the community, development must be managed to ensure there are jobs and homes to enable the language to remain central to those communities. Development must be of an appropriate scale, type and character to meets the needs of these communities and should occur at a rate which can be absorbed and assimilated without damaging the character of the community.

Figure 12 - Welsh Language Strongholds

Elsewhere, development should be considered as a positive force for encouraging the creation of education and social infrastructure, community activities and a sound economic base to enable the language to develop as a natural, thriving part of sustainable communities.

Further policies will be included in the Deposit Plan to set out the circumstances where: mitigation measures may be required according to the Welsh language sensitivity of the area in which a proposed development is located; and where planning applications must be informed by a Welsh Language Impact Assessment.

10.10 Social and Community Facilities

Social and community facilities are defined as facilities used by local communities for leisure, social, health, education and cultural purposes and include village halls and shops, schools, GP surgeries, health centres, public houses, places of worship, cemeteries, leisure centres, allotments, open space, community growing areas and libraries. These facilities provide valuable services, generate employment and attract people to live in an area. They can be owned by public bodies, private individuals or community groups.

The Council supports the protection and enhancement of social and community facilities which contribute to meeting the needs of residents in towns, villages and rural communities. Providing a range of community facilities which are as accessible to as many people as possible is essential in the development of sustainable, resilient and inclusive communities.

New facilities should be located where users can easily walk, cycle or use public transport to access them.

Recreation facilities include formal sport, recreation and leisure pursuits such as team game pitches, children's play facilities, public parks and other recreational spaces where informal activities such as walking can take place. Further details on such spaces will be provided through the Open Space Assessment.

The Deposit Plan will include further policy on the loss of a social or community facility. This will include details on where a period of marketing and consultation with the community, together with an investigation of alternative community uses or community purchase to maintain the facility, must be undertaken before an alternative use can be justified.

10.11 Renewable and Low Carbon Energy Generation

Policies 17 and 18 of Future Wales provide the national planning policies for the development of Renewable Energy. Policy 17: Renewable and Low Carbon Energy and Associated Infrastructure identifies Pre-Assessed Areas for large scale on-shore wind developments. Policy 18 states that outside these areas, renewable energy proposals which qualify as Developments of National Significance (DNS) must not have an unacceptable adverse impact on the surrounding landscape. Policy 17 also supports associated reinforcement of the grid infrastructure related to the transmission and distribution of energy.

A Renewable and Low Carbon Energy Assessment (RLCEA) is being prepared for the Replacement LDP. Initial results indicate that an additional 232MW of renewable and low carbon energy technologies could be potentially delivered by the most common technologies during the Plan period, including DNS projects, as shown in Table10.

Table 10. Potential additional renewable and low carbon energy generation 2022-2037

In addition, the RLCEA recognises that heat pumps installed in domestic and non-domestic new buildings could contribute an additional 39.5MW installed capacity of low carbon technology. Other technologies such as Combined Heat and Power, hydro-electric, district heating and anaerobic digestion (AD) will also play a role in contributing to low carbon energy generation, but potential growth is considered more limited.

For all renewable energy proposals and associated infrastructure, proposals which unacceptably impact upon designated sites will be resisted. Furthermore, care will be taken in assessing impacts on non-designated but rare habitats, heritage and recreational/tourism assets including their settings, and areas of high landscape quality. Proposals which unacceptably impact other strategically important land uses, such as the operation and function of military training areas, will not be supported. Areas which offer opportunities to sequester carbon, such as peat and ancient woodland, should also be avoided.

All renewable energy proposals and associated infrastructure, such as distribution lines or energy storage facilities, must address issues of cumulative impacts and respect the existence and amenity of neighbouring residential and other sensitive development, including approved but unbuilt development.

Further guidance to support the implementation of this policy will be developed in the Deposit Plan.

10.12 Minerals and Waste Planning

Powys has a wide variety of mineral resources which are safeguarded to prevent unnecessary sterilisation in accordance with national guidance.

The South Wales Regional Technical Statement (RTS) Second Review (2020) sets out the contribution each constituent local authority (Mineral Planning Authority) should make towards meeting the regional demand for aggregates (both hard rock and sand and gravel).

The RTS confirms there is no requirement for Powys to contribute to the regional land-worked sand and gravel supply. The RTS and ongoing monitoring have established that extensive reserves remain at the consented crushed rock quarries within Powys and that the landbank figures for crushed rock supply are in excess of the minimum requirements of MTAN 1: Aggregates. Consequently, there is no requirement to allocate any new sites for minerals development.

Buffer zones help minimise conflict between sensitive development and quarrying operations. Buffer zones vary in extent due to the proximity of existing sensitive receptors and depend on a number of factors including the size, type and location of quarry workings, topography and existing and anticipated levels of noise and dust, and vibration from blasting operations.

The system of waste management and waste planning continues to evolve and in accordance with Towards Zero Waste strategy document and PPW, local authorities are required to develop a sustainable approach to the management of waste, including support for waste operations, which moves the management of waste up the waste hierarchy. New facilities will be required to support waste minimisation and recycling and to meet the targets set for these.

Figure 13 - Waste Hierarchy

The sustainable waste management approach includes the identification of land appropriate to facilitate an integrated network of waste facilities. With technological advances and changes in legislation, policy and practices, in-building waste management facilities have external appearances and internal methods of waste management no different from other industrial processes. Thus, the in-principle suitability of Class B2 industrial sites has become accepted.

During the preparation of all development proposals, consideration should be given to the implications for waste. The location and scale of developments should have regard to storage of waste, and the availability and capacity of waste management facilities in the area. Development proposals should not result in unnecessary journey generation to dispose of waste.