8. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to protect community interests in the planning process? OQ58114

I thank Rhun ap Iorwerth for the question, Llywydd. Ensuring that development is based on a plan-led approach leads to communities having the housing, jobs and infrastructure they need. By following such an approach, it's the communities themselves that decide the right way for them.

May I draw the First Minister's attention to the Parc Del Fryn housing estate in Brynteg in my constituency? It's a development I've highlighted many times over the years, and it's attracted attention again now as more homes are built. It's a wonderful village—I'm not sure if the First Minister is familiar with it—and these look like ideal homes for young couples to buy or rent for the first time, to raise a family in them. But the reality is that local residents who need a house are prohibited from buying these properties because it's a holiday development, and the prices are way beyond their reach anyway. The cynic in me even sees the name, 'Parc Del Fryn', although being in Welsh, being a reflection of foreign holiday locations.

Now, permission was given for this over 10 years ago, so the hands of the current council are tied. But what can the First Minister do, as a matter of urgency, to ensure, through national planning regulations, that these kinds of developments can't be allowed to happen? Because, plainly speaking, it's an insult to local communities, particularly when we're facing a housing crisis.

Well, Llywydd, just to say, I've received advice from our officials in the Government, and what they've told me about the specific example that the Member is talking about, what they've said to me is that the original planning consent was granted specifically for holiday homes. So, they can't sell them to people who want to live there throughout the year because it is only as holiday homes that the permission was granted in the first instance. If the application had been made for permanent residential homes on that site, perhaps they wouldn't have been permitted, in terms of that development. That's what I've heard.

Now, Anglesey and Gwynedd have a local development plan, a joint plan, and they're about to undertake a full review of that joint plan. I look forward to discussing all of the relevant issues in a meeting that I'll be holding with the leaders of local authorities across north Wales tomorrow. I am content to work with the local authorities if there's more that we can do to help them, particularly in the context of Anglesey now, when the United Kingdom Government once again has raised the possibility of the future of Wylfa Newydd. I remember the last time when we talked about the impact on housing on the island if that development were to go ahead.

So, the points that Rhun ap Iorwerth has made this afternoon, Llywydd, they are going to be even more pertinent and important in future if that scheme were to go ahead, and I am willing to discuss how we as a Government, in collaboration with local authorities, can do more to help in the context that Rhun ap Iorwerth has spoken about this afternoon.