Building with Nature: What are the updates to the Planning Policy Wales, and how do they affect my project?

What is the Planning Policy Wales?

The Welsh Government puts in place advice and guidance to help you make planning decisions for your projects. Dutifully so, this policy increasingly frames guidance through the backdrop of the climate emergency and how planning decisions can mitigate a plan’s impact on the nature emergency within Wales.

Why is it important?

This sort of guidance is paramount, not only from a practical perspective (i.e., attaining the approval of your plans) but also from an ideological perspective. The planning guidance aims to not only benefit the Welsh landscape from an environmental perspective, but also from economic and even socio-cultural perspectives.

 In emphasising biodiversity and ecological hardiness in Wales-based projects, we can ‘future-proof’ Welsh economic assets and ensure prosperity in the face of future climate-related challenges. In maximising green infrastructure (the network of natural and semi-natural features, green spaces, rivers, and lakes that intersperse and connect places”) we can promote healthier practices such as active travel, or connection with the natural environment- benefiting both physical and mental wellbeing within Wales.

What are the changes?

So, what’s been changed? Last month the Welsh Government added guidance on which practices are best to inform one’s development proposals. In this guidance the standards laid out by Building with Nature (BwN) are explicitly referenced as “good” and “effective” measures to use alongside green infrastructure assessments and locally based planning guidance. Read more about it here.

What can Land Studio do to help?

This addition to the Planning Policy Wales guidance is important because of the repercussions for not following this guidance. The policy makes note of the fact that where biodiversity enhancement is not outlined in an application, and unless significant material considerations indicate otherwise, it will be necessary to “refuse permission”.

Thankfully, at Land Studio two of our Landscape Architects, Matt Northall and Kate Richards, have recently attained their BwN assessor accreditation. This means that we can ensure your projects appropriately follow the BwN standards and maximise the environmental potential of your project- whilst also adhering with the Planning Policy Wales guidelines. If you want to learn how the standards could apply to your next project, get in touch here.