MORE time is needed to consider the impact of future developments on Torfaen and how the public can have their say.
It is the second delay to drawing up the borough’s replacement local development plan, which when in place will be the official policy to guide development, including where new housing and employment sites should be.
Torfaen Borough Council currently relies on the local development plan agreed in 2013 as its planning policy and the replacement plan was originally supposed to come in from January 2026, but in July last year it accepted it couldn’t meet that timetable.
At that point it agreed a revised timeframe with the intention of having the policy in place by October 2026 but councillors will be asked to agree to a further change to the delivery agreement when they meet at the Civic Centre in Pontypool on Tuesday, November 19.
That will push back the date it is expected the plan can be adopted as the official planning policy to December 2028 with the intention the council should be able to submit it to the Welsh Government, for approval and independent examination, in January of that year.
As well as setting the target dates for the significant developments the agreement sets out a ‘community involvement scheme’ which will explain how stakeholders, such as landowners and businesses, and the community will be involved throughout the process.
The latest delay is due to council officers taking six months longer than planned to consider how areas of land could be used, and all the supporting evidence intended to address issues from social inequality to the impact on the environment.
They have also been considering feedback from the Welsh Government on sites in the south east of Torfaen with the council considering a study for a regional science, technology and innovation park in east Cwmbran, a viability and master plan for east Cwmbran as well as an assessment of local employment sites and regional transport.
A preferred strategy for the plan should be agreed by October 2025 and the deposit version, for the public to have their say on, should be published by the following October.
Councillors will be told new “robust governance” arrangements are in place to ensure the new timescale is stuck to.