INVESTING IN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE

A Plaid Cymru government will embark upon the biggest programme of reconstruction our nation has seen since devolution. We will establish a new body, the National Infrastructure Commission Wales, (NICW), an independent public corporation that will be responsible for planning, funding and delivering the aspirations set out in the National Infrastructure Investment Plan.

NICW will develop as a centre of specialist knowledge in the procurement and project management of major infrastructure projects to achieve best value for money while maximizing opportunities for Welsh firms in partnership with the National Procurement Service together with sector-specific non-profit distributing organisations.

Projects in transport, for example, will involve substantial investment in new rolling stock, creating new economic opportunities for local manufacturers for innovation and collaboration. Similarly in energy generation we will seek to maximise the proportion of the new technology that is manufactured in Wales. In housing we will support the manufacture of public rental housing in German-style house factories.

NICW will seek to arrange for the funding of these projects in a variety of different ways, including from the European Investment Bank and other European institutions, UK sources like the Green Investment bank and Infrastructure UK, working with local authorities, pension funds and other institutional investors and using long term leasing arrangements to raise funds independently of the UK Government’s balance sheet, enabling it to borrow additional funding at historically low interest rates to invest in vital Welsh infrastructure projects, creating jobs in the Welsh economy.

Investing using these sources of finance, together with those of the Welsh Government will enable us to double the current capital investment totals with an additional £1.5 billion of investment per year. The borrowing would be for long periods (e.g. 25 years) and we anticipate that the debt service ratio would be some 2.2% after five years at the end of the first Senedd term, and it is not intended that the debt service for all outstanding debt would rise above 4.5% under a long term rolling investment programme.

Our broad priorities for investment, beyond those contained in current spending plans, would include:

• housing where it would be possible for an additional 10,000 homes to be built beyond current targets, for local and affordable housing needs throughout Wales

• a comprehensive programme to improve the energy efficiency of housing in Wales with a sustained programme over the next twenty years o creating a network of local energy grids for Wales. 

• creating the south-east Metro as well as a similar Metro-style network for both north Wales and Swansea and the western valleys 

• creating a national rail link from north to south along the west Wales coast.

The Party of Wales will also expand capital investment in health to include investing in new NHS medical care homes and patient hotels, plus modern residential care facilities to be leased by local SMEs and social enterprises and education, with universal upgrading of existing facilities, new school-community hubs, together with the development of new Welsh medium schools and 3-14 and 3-19 through-schools where there is local demand.

HERE WE GO AGAIN…

New plans to build 209 homes on the former paper mill site in Sudbrook have been submitted to Monmouthshire council’s planning department. Harrow Estates plc (who acquired the site in March 2011) now propose to build 209 homes on the 10.7 hectares of brownfield land. Harrow Estates Plc (part of the Redrow Group) which specialises in land acquisition) proposed the development of some 340 houses with new roads and infrastructure, public spaces and landscaping, etc.

After MCC rejected the planning application, Harrow Estates Plc appealed, something that resulted in a planning inquiry. The then Welsh Assembly’s housing and regeneration minister, Carl Sargeant, following a four-day public inquiry, dismissed a subsequent appeal against the decision in 2014. In the new application – the proposed houses will be a mixture of two, three, and four bedroom homes.

Sudbrook incidentally has around 150 houses with the nearest secondary school and shopping area being some 3 kilometres away in Caldicot. Sudbrook, without its paper mill (which closed in 2006) sits in the shadow of the Second Severn Crossing. The village has five buses a day and is about an hour’s walk away from the nearest railway station. 

The scale of the development moved Monmouthshire’s Planning Office to previously object because of the large number of houses in the proposed development. Now don’t get me wrong, there is room for well-planned and integrated (including affordable) housing development even on the increasingly crowded costal fringe of south Monmouthshire.

I question just exactly for whom these proposed houses are for? And how they will be marketed? No doubt (as has happened previously) all sorts of offers will be included with any purchase house (should the planning appeal be granted) including perhaps free bridge tools for a year, etc.  Just exactly what is in for local residents who happen not to work across the Severn Bridges?

This is part of the failure of the Unitary Development Plan based system of planning – which does not fit with devolution as it has developed. Simply building houses in south Monmouthshire, Newport or Torfaen to cash in on the projected housing shortage in the Bristol area is not acceptable; it fails to solve the local housing shortage. Local residents are being effectively priced out of the market as any proposed houses are often priced to maximise profits and effectively marketed and sold in Bristol (as has happened in the past).

It is clear is that we need a sensible properly planned housing strategy, not just for south Monmouthshire and the rest of Gwent, but for all of Wales. Our planning appeal system, historically favours the developers at the expense of local people and local communities. The planning process in Wales is pretty much designed to work in a non-devolved planning environment.

There appears to be no joined up housing plan or housing strategy for Wales, other than to carry on mostly rubber stamping and approving housing developments that bring little benefit to local people and local communities, certainly not affordable housing.

Local democracy has been undermined, as developers (and here we are not just talking about housing) simply appear to carry on appealing until they get their way or get their development retrospectively approved at a higher level. Or the process of land acquisition literally begins before the proposal even goes to inquiry almost as if the decision has already been made.

Local government officers will (and do) advise local councillors not to turn down developments (whatever the grounds) because the developers will simply appeal until the cows come home and that local government just does not have the finances to cope with this situation.

Westminster ministers during the heady days of the Con Dem coalition were in favour of changing the planning rules (in England) to boost house-building to revive the economy. The Labour in Wales Government in Cardiff similarly favoured changing to planning rules in Wales to ‘tilt the balance in favour of economic growth over the environment and social factors’.

Ironically that sentiment was perhaps aimed specifically at overturning those few occasions of late when our Local Authorities have rejected some developments (often at the behest of concerned local residents) rather than simply putting economic needs ahead of economic, environmental benefits and community cohesion.

Over the medium to long term this is fundamentally bad news for those residents of south Monmouthshire, or residents of Torfaen, who have fought the plan and the good citizens of Abergavenny who fought to retain the livestock market. Not to mention the concerned residents of Carmarthen who have worries about the impact of over large housing developments or the residents of Holyhead who opposed a planned new marina development.

Over the years our communities have been ill-served by the planning system, by our local authorities (via the flawed system of Unitary Development Plans) and more recently by our own Labour in Wales Welsh Government in Cardiff. With increasing pressure for development community cohesion is under threat, along with increased demand on overstretched local amenities, our NHS and our green spaces.

Perhaps before constructing large numbers of new houses which fail to tackle local housing needs we should take a long hard look at the number of empty properties – something that remains largely unaddressed in many of our communities. We need a planning system that takes account of local housing needs, the environment (and develops protected green belt land) and looks sustainability at the whole of Wales – and we need it now…

6 OUT OF 10

The more I hear about the proposed Planning (Wales) Bill the less I like it. The draft bill has been proceeding through various stages for a while, in its present form, it will actually take decisions further away from communities and further erode the democratic accountability of decision-making over land use in our country. Now none of this should surprise anyone, Labour in Wales at various levels of government have over the years long seen people as part of the problem when it comes to planning.

In essence the Labour in Wales Government has aimed to makes it more difficult for local communities when it comes to trying to stop developers building on green spaces. It was originally suggested that its Planning Bill would stop "vexatious" bids to register greens intended, it claimed, simply to frustrate development. Applications for village greens must show people have had a right to use the site in question for at least 20 years.

Affordable Housing?

The reality of the current relationship between local and central government is that when it comes to housing developments those members of the public who question or challenge planning decisions are seen as part of the problem. The Labour in Wales Welsh Government has missed a real opportunity to actually deliver a modern planning system to meet the needs of the people of Wales in the 21st century.

Plaid is right to call for root and branch reform of our planning system to strengthen local voices. That probably does not suit the labour in Wales Government who’s current Government Bill looks to be enshrining a top-down regime that will take decisions one step further away from the decisions that affect them.

Our planning system, along with our pretty much nineteenth century local government setup is not designed to coexist with devolution or for that matter to deliver planning decisions with real and lasting benefits for local people and local communities. There is a real need for root and branch reform and reorganisation of our planning system; the Welsh Government’s simply decided to tinker and tweak with existing outdated legislation rather than reform it.

The current Bill has proposed a system where a National Development Framework sets the parameters for Regional Development Plans, which in turn set the parameters for Local Development Plans. This will create a top-down approach, which runs contrary to any notions that our communities should have a stronger say in planning decisions that will directly affect them.

It would be more democratic, if even at this late stage, the Labour in Wales Welsh Government began its bill again. Starting with the simple idea that the development aspirations of our communities should be the primary building blocks of our planning system.

The introduction of unelected and effectively unaccountable members to the Strategic Development Panels must be unacceptable. While there is a need for a wide range of different voices be heard it would be both sensible and democratic for any co-opted members not have voting rights.

What should be more disturbing is that current legislation as is, contains some 65 examples of Ministers being empowered to make subordinate legislation, which will be afforded significantly less scrutiny. The legislation is effectively a government power grab with the Minister literally picking and choosing powers without any clarity as to how he intends to use them, if at all.

This potentially sets a dangerous precedent for increasingly unaccountable governance and an even more unresponsive planning system. The bill includes the creation of a National Development Framework, which would replace the deeply flawed but at least nominally publically accountable Wales Spatial Plan, which at least periodically required the actual endorsement of the National Assembly.

Whether Wales needs new strategic development plans at present is open to question? Especially as there is about to be a significant (and perhaps more ominously) a largely Labour in Wales driven reorganisation of our local government, which will by default create larger planning authorities.

Is there a need for Strategic Development Plans, as the Local Government reorganisation will create much larger planning authorities, which will inevitably take on more of a regional and strategic roll? There is a need for development planning to take place on more of a regional basis but this could be dealt with joint Local Development Plans rather than another whole new tier of Development Plans.

What is not being addressed is the observed reality that the current planning system remains too focused on railroading through large housing developments that often bring little real benefits for local people and local communities and often fail to resolve real and pressing local housing needs. We need a fundamental change in planning culture to encourage appropriate and sustainable smaller scale housing developments, which are based on good design and actively promote energy efficiency and good environmental standards.

An opportunity to address the shortage of affordable housing, to encourage more small-scale renewable energy projects, and to actively support small businesses in relation to the Planning Bill has clearly been missed.  It is time to start the process of actually addressing the flawed LDP (Local Development Plan) system, which does not deliver for local communities and fails to serve our national interests.

Our planning system and planning processes are too slow, too bureaucratic and too unresponsive to real local needs and local opinions. The current system is based on the post-war Town and Country Planning Act from 1947 and is simply outdated; our country needs a modern planning system that meets the needs of modern Welsh society. In line with the realities of devolution our country needs an independent Planning inspectorate for Wales as the old single planning inspectorate for England and Wales is increasingly unsustainable.

Local democracy on a county borough level has been undermined, as developers (and here we are not just talking about housing) simply appear to carry on appealing until they get their way or get their development retrospectively approved at a higher level. Local government officers will (and do) advise local councillors not to turn down developments (whether grounds are reasonable or not) because the developers will simply appeal until the cows come home and local government just does not have the finances to cope with this situation.

The Labour in Wales Welsh Government in Cardiff favour changing the planning rules in Wales to ‘tilt the balance in favour of economic growth over the environment and social factors’. This is something that appears to be aimed quite specifically at overturning those few occasions when our Local Authorities have rejected some developments (often at the behest of local residents) rather than putting economic needs ahead of economic and environmental benefits.

KALM Rally in Abergavenny

The proposed Planning Bill is bad news for those residents of south Monmouthshire, and the residents of Torfaen, who fought the plan and the good citizens of Abergavenny who fought to retain the livestock market. Not to mention the concerned residents of Cardiff and Carmarthen who have real worries about the impact of over large housing developments or the residents of Holyhead who opposed a planned new marina development and people who are genuinely concerned about how their communities develop.

The bottom line is that over the years our communities have been increasingly ill served by the planning system, by our local authorities (and the system of Unitary Development Plans) and more recently by our own Government in Cardiff. We need a planning system that takes account of local housing needs, the environment and looks sustainability at the whole of our country and above all it needs sit firmly within local democratic accountable local authorities which are elected by STV. 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The news that twenty councils in England are considering calling for the so-called "Tesco tax" on supermarkets, which could raise up to £400m a year, has excited some interest. Naturally the Westminster Con-Dem Government has come out and said that additional taxes on supermarkets would push up food prices. Oddly enough the three largest of the Westminster based and focused political parties have a warm if not cozy relationship with the large supermarket chains. This also ignores the fact that a similar tax already operates in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Supporters of the tax believe the supermarkets can afford it, saying it's just a fraction of the costs that supermarkets had to swallow when VAT was raised in 2011. Supermarket retailers are likely to strongly resist the move arguing that they are taxed enough already. They already pay more in business rates, a property-based tax, than any other form of taxation and have been lobbying the Westminster government for a complete rethink on the system. I have no doubt that the larger retailers will also no doubt raise concerns about fresh investment and jobs being put at risk, etc.

Concerns about the economic impact of supermarkets on local economies are nothing new. Some years ago an excellent piece of work on this very subject was produced by 'The Campaign for the Preservation of Rural England' (CPRE) - their report: ‘A Real Choice exposed the real damage (including job losses) done by superstores to local economies something that should be seriously considered in relation to any proposed retail development that would affect our small towns and communities.

The CPRE report should make a valuable indirect contribution to the on-going debate over the future of the Welsh economy. When it comes to the really big issues then a sustainable and prosperous local economy in our communities has to be one of the biggest. It is important to be able to think outside the envelope and make long-term rather than short-term cash focused decisions. The redevelopment, restoration and retention of a living and breathing economic heart in our communities is vital.

Slowly but surely there has been an increased recognition of late of the benefits of local food economies and the important role of local shops and retailers, despite the fact that both the Westminster Government and the Welsh government have increasingly caved into pressures to weaken the ordinary people’s involvement in the planning process. The CPRE report exposed some of the real costs that are paid by local retailers and small businesses and consumers as retail planning policy is increasingly driven to benefit large scale superstore developments, which continue to aggressively expand their market share at the expense of local retailers, suppliers and customers.

Surveys (even as far back as 2005) revealed that 70% of British Shoppers would like to buy local food and 49% would like to buy more than they do. Yet the expansion of the supermarket sector market share at the expense of independent shops and smaller retailers continues pretty much unchecked – despite the spin from the larger retailers what this means is that shoppers will increasingly continue to have less and less  little opportunities to buy fresh, seasonal, traditional and easily traceable distinctive local food.

This is not about nimbyism, because Supermarkets and high quality food stores definitely have their place in the urban and rural economy but their contribution could be significantly enhanced if they stocked more locally grown, produced and clearly labelled local foodstuffs as they do in Brittany, something that would bring benefits to both farmers and consumers alike. The continued popularity of local farmers markets across South Wales has shown that the public is more than happy to buy quality local produce and to support local retailers. Yet most supermarkets still have barely between 1% and 2% turnover from local food producers, something that badly serves local food producers and customers alike.

AFTER THE STORM IS OVER...

The Welsh and Westminster Governments need to make rational long term sustainable choices when it comes to flood defence. We in Wales need to develop a comprehensive planning system for our country that hardens our communities and infrastructure against the effects of severe weather events.   We need to focus on flood prevention and develop flood preventative schemes rather than end up clearing up after the flood is over again and again.

This winter is proving to be hard one when it comes to sea and riverine flooding, the persistent bad weather has meant that some of our communities have had some pretty close calls and other communities have been inundated. There can be no blank cheque for flood defences so we need to make rational cost effective sustainable choices when it comes to flood defence whether for coastal or riverine flooding on the Gwent levels or the Wye, Usk or Monnow valleys. 

The debate taking place around flooding needs to focus on re-engineering the whole water system in Wales to ensure that water is retained in the uplands to prevent downstream flooding. Here in Wales, those agencies responsible for our environment need to take the lead and work to ensure that potential flood waters are retained our uplands for longer and flood prevention avoidance schemes are comprehensively built into our planning system.

Where possible we should avoid building in those areas that are particularly vulnerable to flooding or at least when building to take into account the possibilities of flooding. If we are going to build on flood plains or other areas that are vulnerable to flooding then we must use flood resistant or at the very least flood hardened modern intelligent design techniques to limit potential damage, loss and inconvenience as are used elsewhere.

Here in Wales there is a good example of what is possible, as one of the largest flood preventive scheme is being developed in Llanelli.  Welsh Water, a not-for-profit company, has developed the scheme because the town's sewerage system repeatedly flooded homes and polluted the River Lliedi. The scheme involves digging up stretches of tarmac and paving to create catchment pits for storm water, diverting water into the pits from gutters and then putting grass and plants on top of the pits.

This means that water is held in the soil and slowly seeps away or evaporates. The ideas have been praised by the water regulator Ofwat. If these ideas are built into the planning process then we may help to reduce runoff and flooding. Who knows, perhaps the major supermarkets will demonstrate their much trumpeted claims over social responsibility by breaking up their car parks and installing porous surfaces to catch runoff – personally I won’t hold my breath.

The Llanelli scheme is a good example of what is possible, but, we also need to work to ensure that our power network and our communities are hardened to the effects of severe weather events. Those coastal roads and railways that have been damaged by the recent combination of bad weather and high tides will be eventually repaired.

None of this is new, after the bad floods of 2007, which saw the loss of thirteen  lives and much devastation, the then Labour Government commissioned Sir Michael Pitt to undertake a thorough review of the UK's flood defences. The full report, which is now published, makes interesting reading and  contains 92 proposals need to be implemented if communities are to be better protected. It is a pity that the recommendations were not fully implemented.

We also need to take a longer sustainable view and seriously consider the possibilities of building railway lines, roads and key infrastructure projects away from those areas that are and may become more susceptible to flooding. In England recent changes in planning law oblige all new developments to catch water from their own site and prevent it adding to floods, although the full implementation of the law has been delayed by what critics claim is disarray as the government is under pressure from housing industry lobbyists.

The retention of water in upland areas is by cramming gorse into streams from peat bogs, blocking young rivers with fallen trees and creating low-level earth dams to contain water so it soaks into the soil. There has even been talk of changing policies to incentivise farmers to re-forest upland areas to catch water and stop soil running off into streams. Some (in including the World Wildlife Fund) think farmers should be obliged to change the way they farm in order to obtain their grants from taxpayers.

Trying to retrofit the decade’s long legacy of flood-inducing buildings in our communities, our towns and cities will be costly and challenging.  The legacy of building on flood plains (and on potentially vulnerable the Gwent levels (aside from people’s homes and businesses which has been estimated to contain £3 billion pounds worth of infrastructure) will be more difficult to fix in the short term, but, not perhaps as expense as repeatedly clearing up the chaos, misery and destruction that follows every flood.

WHY SIMPLY TINKERING WON’T DO…

Once again the Labour in Wales Welsh Government has missed a real opportunity to actually deliver a modern planning system to meet the needs of the people of Wales in the 21st century. Our planning system is in need of root and branch reform so simply tinkering with the existing out-dated legislation as suggested the Welsh Government White Paper on Planning simply won’t do.

Our planning system, along with our pretty much nineteenth century local government setup is not designed to coexist with devolution or for that matter fit to deliver planning decisions with real and lasting benefits for local people and local communities. There is a real need for root and branch reform and reorganisation of our planning system; the Welsh Government’s decision to simply tinker and tweak with existing out-dated legislation in its White Paper on Planning (which was released on 4^th December) is disappointing to say the least.

Our current planning system is too focussed railroading through large housing developments that bring little benefits for local people and local communities. We need a fundamental change in planning culture to encourage appropriate and sustainable development which is based on good design and actively promotes energy efficiency and good environmental standards.

An opportunity to address the shortage of affordable housing, to encourage more small-scale renewable energy projects, and to actively support small businesses in relation to the Planning Bill has been missed.  It is time to start the process of actually addressing the flawed LDP (Local Development Plan) and UDP (Unitary Development Plan) system which does not deliver for local communities and fails to serve our national interests.

Our planning system and planning processes are too slow, too bureaucratic and too unresponsive to local needs and local opinions. The current system is based on the post-war Town and Country Planning Act from 1947 and is simply out-dated; our country needs a modern planning system that meets the needs of modern Welsh society. In line with the realities of devolution our country needs an independent Planning inspectorate for Wales as the old single planning inspectorate for England and Wales is increasingly unsustainable.

THE WAY TO GO

The news that the number of new limited companies registered in Wales has gone up by more than 20% is good news. Companies House say 469 new firms were registered with them in 2012, when compared with 386 in 2011. This increase is actually higher than the UK average but it has to be balanced by the sobering news that the number of company failures in Wales also rose when they fell on average across the UK.

A number of my friends run their own businesses, so I am fully aware of the pitfalls and the opportunities that can await anyone who goes into business for themselves. With a good idea, a sound business case, timely support and advice it can work out. Our small businesses can create wealth and sustainable employment opportunities for local people and play a significant role at the heart of our communities. Their profits and investments tend to stay within the communities where they are based.

For too many years economic development in Wales has been focused on large scale development of what can be best described a single egg solutions. They promise much in the short to medium term yet often deliver significantly less over the long term, if they survive. The latest figures show that Wales saw a 191% rise in the number of projects, by way of comparison with a 41% increase in Northern Ireland, a 16% rise in Scotland and a 10% increase in England (outside of London).

The statistics have been released by UK Trade andInvestment (UKTI), the Westminster government department responsible for exports and inward investment. There is no breakdown of the number of jobs created or safeguarded (in Wales) by these projects; the BBC says that Welsh government says they created of 2,605 jobs and safeguarded another 4,442 in the 2012/13 financial year.

Despite rise in the number of projects, Wales' share of the UK total inward investment accounts for 4%, is much lower than the high point of the 1980s and 1990s. Now this is good news, but, our focus should be on developing small to medium size local businesses, which are significantly less likely to up sticks and leave for perceived greener pastures and fresh applications of development grants.

We are still too focused on attracting large scale single enterprises, which promise much but deliver significantly less than anticipated. The LG development near Newport, is a good example of an expensive white elephant which promised the usual total of 6,000 jobs and accrued significant public funding (£376 million pounds at the last count) which was committed by the then Welsh Secretary, William Hague.

The promises and the pledges and the public funding  never quite managed to deliver anything like what was promised. While anyone with a basic  understanding of the state of the Korean and the Far Eastern economies at the time that, let alone a basic understanding of where technological developments was going in relation to PC monitor screens, would have put their hands up and said hang on a moment.

What can best be described as a combination of fantasy island economic assessments, a fatally flawed business case and the prospect of looking good with a forthcoming Westminster election looming led to one of the spectacularly duller decisions of recent years being made. The old WDA had in truth never really consistently delivered anything like long term economic stability and much needed long term job opportunities to our communities that it should have done.

The European funding opportunities available to Wales (as a result of economic mismanagement on the part of successive Westminster governments) may well turn out to have been squandered on schemes that fail to deliver measurable results yet manage to deliver fat salaries to the managers. Much of the money has been scammed into dubious schemes and training programmes that fail to deliver the necessary skills that workers and potential workers need to make a decent living in the modern economy.

Anyone who has visited Spain and Ireland prior to the self inflicted banking crash will have seen (and can see) the results of years of European regional investment the question we should be asking is where are the physical assets? By this I mean the things you can literally put your hand on like improved communications (rail, railway stations, etc), broadband infrastructure, etc?

The Westminster, Welsh Office, WDA model of concentrating on attracting branch factory operations of a relative short term duration has failed to develop and sustain our economy. Back between 2007 and 2011 the Plaid driven One Wales Government made significant efforts and tried to think and act differently when it comes to economic development and support for small to medium sized enterprises.

Small businesses should be the life blood of our urban centres, yet, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has long noted that the UK is losing around 2,000 local shops every year and that of this rate of loss is dangerously unacceptable. In a few years unless things change there will be precious few no independent retailers left in business, something that will hammer both consumers and our communities hard as they lose any real choice in the marketplace and lose potential job opportunities.

Now as someone who now and then takes the bus to work and walks through streets that were once the retail heart of Newport (nominally Wales’s third largest city) I can see with my own eyes the economic realities of our situation. Over the last twenty five years the commercial heart of many of our communities has been shattered as a result of a combination of aggressive policies pursued by the larger retail chains, exceptionally poor decision making on the part of local government and central government indifference.

This combined with the rapid growth of unsustainable, ill-thought out of and edge of town retail developments has effectively left no place for the smaller local businesses and retailers. When you factor in parking charges, business rates and the effect of the closure of high street banks and post offices in many of our communities then you can begin to see why many of our smaller businesses and local shopping centres are up against it.

Local small businesses as well as trading with us the consumers, also trade with each other - so the community gets twice the benefit. Money spent by and in local businesses spends on average three times longer in the local economy than that spent with chain stores which is instantly lost to the local economy which in times of recession our communities can ill afford. We really do need to think differently and focus economic development priorities on developing and supporting smaller local businesses who will be rooted in our communities and offer more flexible employment opportunities too our people.

The Welsh Government needs to have the power (and the vision) to remove or reduce business taxes to help boost our businesses, to encourage investment in skills, technology and  workers. If we are going to make Wales a nation of aspiring entrepreneurs and to encourage and enable them, our communities and our economy to flourish we also need to encourage the development of community owned social enterprises.

A few years ago the Rowlands review into the provision of growth capital recognised that an economical vibrant SME sector is vital for economic growth. There has been a lack of provision for companies in Wales who were looking for between £2 and £10 million pounds in capital, this has to change if we are to encourage sustainable economic growth and development.

It’s pretty clear that the present financial market and its institutions have failed to supply sufficient venture capital for the SME sector in Wales. We need a venture capital fund for Wales, which should be established by, but independent of the Welsh Government. Such an independent venture capital fund could raise capital and deliver investment through a co-investment model, with approved private sector partners to our SME sector, where such investment would make a real difference.

Despite nearly 15 years of devolution much of the same old mid to late twentieth century economic thinking lingers at the heart of the Welsh Government when it comes to economic development. There is still far too much focus on vastly expensive one egg, one basket schemes to generate the seemingly standard figure of 6,000 jobs which seems to haunt government press releases whether we are talking about the Severn Barrage, the Severnside airport , the M4 relief road or whatever.

We badly need new ideas not just talk, we need some concrete steps to encourage growth, boost manufacturing industry, support and develop  our small to medium sized enterprises. One positive step would be to end business rates and that's just to start with... otherwise it will just be a case of same old twaddle which will do nothing to help our communities and our economy.

TIME FOR A HOUSING PLAN FOR WALES

Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) refused outline planning permission for 340 houses in Sudbrook (in South Monmouthshire) because of concerns about the scale of the development which would triple the size of the village. The proposed development put forward by Harrow Estates Plc (a part of the Redrow Group) which specialises in land acquisition) proposed the development of some 340 houses with new roads and infrastructure, public spaces and landscaping, etc.

After MCC throughout the planning application, Harrow Estates Plc naturally appealed, hence the ongoing (4 day) Planning inquiry. Sudbrook it should be noted has around 150 houses with the nearest secondary school and shopping area being some 3 kilometres away in Caldicot. Sudbrook, now without its paper mill (which closed in 2006) sits pretty much in the shadow of the Second Severn Crossing. The village has five buses a day and is about an hour’s walk away from the nearest railway station. 

The scale of the development managed to motivate Monmouthshire’s Planning Office to object because of the large number of houses in the proposed development. Now don’t get me wrong, there is room for well planned and integrated (and affordable) housing development along the increasingly crowded costal fringe of south Monmouthshire. I question just exactly who these proposed houses are for? and how they will be marketed?

No doubt (as has happened previously) all sorts of offers will be included with any purchase house (should the planning appeal be granted) including perhaps free bridge tools for a year, etc.  Just exactly what is in for local residents who happen not to work across the Severn Bridges for one thing?

Simply building houses in south Monmouthshire to cash in on the projected housing shortage in the Bristol area is not acceptable, it fails to solve the local housing shortage. I have no doubt that local residents will be effectively priced out of the market. As any proposed houses will be priced to maximise profits and effectively marketed and sold in Bristol (as has happened in the past).

What is clear is that we badly need a sensible properly planned housing strategy, not just for south Monmouthshire and the rest of Gwent, but for the rest of our country. Based on previous observations, I can pretty much predict what will happen next. If the planning inquiry come out against the proposed development then there will be another appeal to Cardiff – where I have little doubt that the proposal will be rubber stamped by the Government in Cardiff.

Our planning appeal system, appears to favour the developers at the expense of local people and local communities. The planning process in Wales is pretty much  designed to work as far as I can see in a non-devolved planning environment. There appears to be no joined up housing plan or strategy for Wales, other than to carry on rubber stamping and approving housing developments that bring little benefit to local people and local communities, certainly not affordable housing.

Local democracy on a county borough level has been undermined, as developers (and here we are not just talking about housing) simply appear to carry on appealing until they get their way or get their development retrospectively approved at a higher level. Local government officers will (and do) advise local councillors not to turn down developments (whatever the grounds) because the developers will simply appeal until the cows come home and that local government just does not have the finances to cope with this situation.

Westminster ministers are in favour of changing the planning rules (in England) to boost house-building to revive the economy. The Labour in Wales Government in Cardiff also favours changing to planning rules in Wales to ‘tilt the balance in favour of economic growth over the environment and social factors’. This decision may be aimed quite specifically at overturning those few occasions of late when our Local Authorities have rejected some developments (often at the behest of local residents) rather than putting economic needs ahead of economic and environmental benefits.

Fundamentally this is bad news for those residents of south Monmouthshire, and the residents of Torfaen, who have fought the plan and the good citizens of Abergavenny who fought to retain the livestock market. Not to mention the concerned residents of Carmarthen who have worries about the impact of over large housing developments or the residents of Holyhead who have opposed a planned new marina development.

The bottom line is that over the years our communities have been ill-served by the planning system, by our local authorities (and the system of Unitary Development Plans) and more recently by our own Government in Cardiff. I think that we need a planning system that takes account of local housing needs, the environment and looks sustainability at the whole of Wales.