Thank you very much. At the outset, Plaid Cymru would like to bring a slightly different vision to the table—different to what is outlined in the Government’s motion, or perhaps additional to what’s included in the Government’s motion, because we believe that we need to recognise that the planning system has a role to play in maintaining and creating viable communities as a means of securing the health and well-being of the people of Wales. We believe that the planning system in Wales should reflect the need for appropriate housing in the right places, in accordance with local need, and that the planning system should give a greater voice to communities in terms of developments in their areas. Also, the planning system should enable holistic planning at the appropriate level.

In turning to the Government motion, placemaking—and I see that that’s where the emphasis is, on placemaking—that can mean a number of different things to different people. What’s important in our view is securing a balance in the planning system. We need more than warm words about the future well-being of people and communities to ensure that the system works in a way that delivers that. In order to deliver placemaking that improves the long-term well-being of people and communities, you need a balance in the planning system, between developers on the one hand and communities on the other. You also need a balance between giving guidance to local planning authorities at a national level and, on the other hand, securing a strong voice for our communities.

This is true in all areas, but Plaid Cymru has taken this opportunity today to table an amendment that emphasises the role of the Welsh language and the position of the Welsh language within the planning regime. At the moment, there is a lack of guidance from the Welsh Government as to how the Welsh language should be dealt with within the planning system. There is an opportunity with the national development framework to show clear leadership in planning. From the point of view of the Welsh language, the new framework should include a clear statement on the importance and relevance of the Welsh language in delivering spatial planning. The Welsh language needs to be there at the top of the agenda in all policy areas so that it will be truly meaningful. If we are to safeguard and promote the Welsh language through the planning system, then we need to be aware that that isn’t an easy issue for local authorities because there isn’t much information or expertise available in this area.

Joint strategic planning between local authorities is a means of sharing expertise and resources. The joint local development plan by Gwynedd and Môn, adopted in 2017, was contentious in certain aspects, but it does deliver a policy on a local housing market and it lists specific areas, usually where there’s been major development in the past or where there’s a high percentage of holiday accommodation, and in those areas there are planning conditions on new homes in order to restrict their occupation to people with strong local connections. The opinion of a number of planning experts is that this is an innovative policy and that good practice should be shared, as should the methodology and processes used by Gwynedd and Anglesey, with a view to rolling out this policy more broadly.

Turning specifically to TAN 20, yes, there is a need to reform and amend TAN 20 as a matter of urgency, because it is unclear and, according to some experts, contradicts what is in the Planning (Wales) Act 2015. So, Plaid Cymru is calling on the Welsh Government to amend TAN 20 urgently in order to make it clear that assessments of the impact of individual applications on the Welsh language in specific circumstances need to be carried out and also to make it clear that it’s possible for local authorities to carry out assessments of the impact of individual planning applications on the Welsh language on all occasions if they choose to do that.

Finally, in discussing the Planning Inspectorate, and accepting that you may need some further persuasion in order to deliver this over the next few months—not this afternoon; I don’t have time to persuade you this afternoon—the four nations of the UK do have separate legislation and policies for planning, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have systems that correspond to the England-and-Wales Planning Inspectorate. With planning legislation in Wales continuing to develop, I do think that it’s time to create a separate planning inspectorate for Wales, so that the inspectorate can develop expertise—the kind of expertise that David Melding mentioned was necessary. If the system is changing, then the expertise needs to change too, and we could do that in a Wales-only planning system. I look forward to continuing this discussion over the next few months. Thank you.