4. How does planning policy for new housing take into account the provisions of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015? OAQ54488

National planning policy for new housing has been completely revised to reflect the well-being of future generations Act. 'Planning Policy Wales' puts placemaking at the heart of the planning system and, rather than the building of isolated housing estates, focuses on creating sustainable places that positively contribute towards well-being.

In late 2016, Mark Lang made Lansbury Park the subject of a deep place study to try and understand the root causes of the area's relative deprivation. And while there are no easy answers, what resulted was a decision by Caerphilly County Borough Council to adopt a deep place plan to address these multifaceted problems. At Caerphilly public services board's most recent annual conference, held on 5 July, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales praised the work that's been going on at Lansbury Park and emphasised the importance of maintaining access to natural green spaces for the estate's residents. This was specifically mentioned at that conference. It shouldn't just be for wealthier communities to enjoy those green spaces. Does the Minister agree that building new expensive houses on green spaces near communities—for example, like Lansbury Park—jeopardises this and is a hallmark of unsustainable development, in contradiction of the well-being of future generations Act?

Yes. Well, as Hefin David knows, I'm unable to comment on the specifics of any given planning application, but, in general, I'm very happy to say that I agree with the future generations commissioner about the importance of access to green space for all our communities, particularly those who have less access, actually. And that very much enhances health and well-being, particularly in deprived areas, and that is currently reflected in planning policy, which needs to be reflected in the decisions of planning committees and in the inspectorate's decisions.

Minister, last week, a planning application for 111 new houses in my constituency, which had previously been approved by the local authority before being called in by the Welsh Government, was subsequently rejected by the inspectorate on the grounds of it contravening the well-being of future generations legislation, which Hefin David has just mentioned. It was rejected on the basis that the development would rely too much on cars, totally in keeping with the legislation.

Now, I'm not asking you to comment in any way on this case, because I know that you're going to say that you can't, and I know how these things work. But I will ask a more general question about this legislation and how it interacts with local planning. Given that the well-being of future generations legislation is having an increasing impact on planning in particular, will you consider better guidance to local planning authorities and perhaps training for councillors and officials involved in the planning process, so that they are fully versed in their obligations under the legislation early on in this process and so that all the complexities and associated costs that we see later on with call-ins and referrals—a lot of that—could be avoided because planning authorities would know full well what their obligations were under that future generations legislation at the very start?

Yes, I'm happy to agree with that. Actually, my colleague Ken Skates and I attended a meeting of the housing building federation—I can't remember the exact title; just to confuse poor Ministers, they all have almost identical names—but the housing building federation, only this morning, in which we undertook to work together with the leads for planning and highways in the WLGA to do exactly as Nick Ramsay has just suggested.

So, this is a relatively new planning policy, introduced by my colleague Lesley Griffiths, just as she left that portfolio, inherited by me very happily, and is a step change in the way that we look at planning. I'm delighted to hear it taking effect on the ground, but you're absolutely right that we need to make sure that we have the hearts and minds of all of the people implementing the process, including our builders and developers, on board. And that was the purpose of the meeting this morning that we attended—to make sure that everybody has an unequivocal understanding of where our policy direction lies so that they can be both more effective and efficient in implementing it.

I just wanted to pick up on something that Leanne Wood raised with you earlier, which you didn't directly respond to, so I just wanted to try again and ask for a simple 'yes' or 'no', if possible. I was just wondering whether you could confirm that the well-being of future generations Act should be used as a material consideration by planning committees when making decisions on planning applications, and that local development plans produced prior to this Act shouldn't be given more weight than the requirements of the Act in decisions being made by committees today. 'Yes' or 'no'?

'Planning Policy Wales' sets that out. 'Planning Policy Wales' is the extant planning policy for Wales, which is what should be taken into account when planning committees make their decisions. It's pretty straightforward stuff.

Is that a 'yes' or a 'no'?

Yes.

Thank you. That's all I want.

I thought I'd said 'yes' to start with. The most recent policy is the one that should be considered.

Okay, thanks.

Sorry, Deputy Presiding Officer.

Okay. Question 5, David Melding.