2. Will the First Minister make a statement on Section 68 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004? OAQ(5)0318(FM)

Yes. It enables Welsh Ministers to revoke a development plan, if requested to do so by a local authority.

Okay. Thanks, First Minister. Well, last week, you described this as a nonsense; it clearly isn’t. So, first of all, will you accept that you were wrong last week? And I’ll re-pose the question that I asked last week: will you support, in this Chamber, saving Cardiff greenfield sites by voting to revoke the LDP?

Well, those are matters for Cardiff council. Unfortunately, he didn’t listen to my answer. Last week, he said that the Assembly had the power to revoke local development plans. That is not true; it’s Welsh Ministers who have that power. In the original legislation, in 2004, the Assembly was mentioned, but, of course, those powers were transferred to the Executive after the Government of Wales Act 2006. So, again, as I said, there is no vote on the floor of this Assembly. It’s a matter for a local authority to make an application to revoke its local development plan, and it’s then for Welsh Ministers to consider and not the National Assembly itself.

First Minister, one of the problems with local development plans is that local authorities are constrained by the guidance issued by you and your Cabinet colleagues. And the big problem we’ve got up in Conwy and Denbighshire—areas that I represent—is that the requirements to create lots of new housing are completely unsustainable in terms of the local infrastructure that is there. What are you doing to improve your guidance on the infrastructure that is going to be required, to ensure that there are GP services, schools and roads, and other community services, available to those areas of new development that are going to be created?

Well, local authorities are responsible for that and there are tools available for them, of course. Section 106 enables them to look for community gain. They are able to see infrastructure develop, whether that’s buildings such as schools or roads, via section 106. The community infrastructure levy, of course—soon to be devolved—is another way in which benefit can be drawn to a local community. It depends on how clever a local authority is willing to be. But it should never be the case that a major development takes place without any contribution by the developers to infrastructure, and that is something we would encourage local authorities to do.