2 Background

2.1 All Local Authorities in Wales are required to produce a Local Development Plan (LDP) to manage land and development over the long term. The LDP sets out a positive vision for the Vale of Glamorgan and identifies where and how development should take place in the future.

2.2 The existing Vale of Glamorgan LDP was adopted in June 2017 and covers the period 2011-2026. It is necessary to review the LDP on a regular basis and work formally commenced in May 2022 on a Replacement LDP (RLDP) which will supersede the existing LDP which once formally adopted will cover the period 2021-2036.

2.3 The RLDP will include site allocations for different land uses, such as housing and employment, and policies to help tackle the declared climate and nature emergencies, safeguard the environment, and secure high-quality design. When adopted by the Council, the RLDP will be used as a basis for determining planning applications.

2.4 A key stage in the RLDP process is the preparation of a 'Preferred Strategy' for the Plan, which includes a Vision, key themes and objectives for the Vale over the next 15 years, as well as identifying an appropriate level of population, housing and employment growth informed by a wide evidence base and the national planning policy context. The Preferred Strategy also sets out the spatial distribution of that growth and identifies key allocations and strategic policies that will help to deliver the Strategy.

2.5 The RLDP Preferred Strategy was subject to a 10-week public consultation between December 2023 and February 2024. The Strategy sought to promote development in a Strategic Growth Area, an area that accommodates the main centres of population and urban settlements that are served by a range of facilities and services and are accessible by transport modes, including the Vale of Glamorgan rail line. Within the Strategic Growth Area, Barry as a key settlement, and the service centre settlements of Llantwit Major, Penarth and Cowbridge, provide opportunities for sustainable growth. The primary settlements of Sully, Dinas Powys, Llandough (Penarth), Rhoose and St Athan have also been included within the Strategic Growth Area, as these are sustainable locations where new residential development can be aligned with other uses and where there are current and proposed sustainable transport options to reduce the need to travel by car.

2.6 The RLDP Preferred Strategy was considered by full Council in September 2024 where it was agreed that the strategy should form the basis of the Deposit RLDP, the next stage in plan preparation. The Strategy comprises the following components:

• Delivering a sustainable level of housing and employment growth supported by appropriate infrastructure to accord with the Vale's position within the Cardiff Capital Region.
• Aligning locations for new housing employment services and facilities to reduce the need to travel.
• Focusing developments in locations that are well served by existing and proposed rail stations as part of the South Wales metro and in areas with good bus links.
• Allowing for small scale affordable housing led development in settlements outside the strategic growth area at a scale proportionate to the size of the settlement.
• Supporting the role of Cardiff Airport as a strategic gateway the international connectivity.
• Allowing for regeneration opportunities including at Aberthaw and Barry Docks.

2.7 A key element of the strategy is the level of growth proposed over the plan period. A housing requirement of 7,890 new dwellings is identified with a further flexibility allowance of 10% added to this to allow for non-delivery. A significant proportion of the housing requirement can be met by the existing housing land supply (sites with planning permission and deliverable sites rolled forward from the adopted LDP) together with windfall sites (unallocated sites that become available for development), but there is also a need for new housing sites to be identified.

2.8 The Preferred Strategy identified 5 new key sites on sustainable sites within the strategic growth area. In order for a site to be allocated, it must be demonstrated that it can contribute to placemaking, as well as being financially viable and deliverable within the plan period. A deliverable site is one that is generally free from constraints, or where it can be demonstrated that any barriers to delivery can be overcome. The nature of constraints will differ on a site-by-site basis, but one of the considerations common to all sites is land ownership.

2.9 As part of the evidence base for the Deposit Plan, further work is being undertaken to understand and address the site-specific constraints for each site.

2.10 The largest key site is Land at North East of Barry which was included in the Preferred Strategy as the main focus for future growth in the Barry area. The background to the site and issues in respect of deliverability, specifically in relation to land ownership, are explained in the next section.