4. What assessment has the Minister made of the adequacy of permitted development rights in Wales? OQ58564

Permitted development rights are kept under review in consultation with local planning authorities, businesses and other organisations with an interest in development and the planning system. The latest changes help deliver flexibility to local authorities to manage second homes and short-term lets.

As you'll know, Minister, the roll-out of ultrafast broadband is going rather well in my Clwyd West constituency as a result of the work of the UK Government, including in the town of Abergele. But one of the concerns that has been expressed to me by local residents is that much of the current underground infrastructure that Openreach have available in the town is not being used, and much of it is going to be replaced with overhead cables on top of poles. That is a concern for local residents, who feel that there ought to have been an obligation on Openreach to maintain the existing infrastructure underground and to replace like with like.

Obviously, the current permitted development arrangements in Wales allow Openreach to do this without any planning consent whatsoever. What consideration will the Welsh Government give to changing the arrangements for utility companies such as Openreach to require them to replace like with like when they're going to upgrade infrastructure in the future? 

Well, just to start off with, it's not a utility. It should be treated as one, but it isn't treated as one, and actually that brings a whole series of consequences. So one of the first things I'd suggest is that you actually ask the UK Government to make it a utility, which would solve quite a lot of why premises that are behind—[Interruption.] 

You're responsible for planning.

Yes, but I'm just saying to you that you said it was a utility and it isn't.

It's an important utility. I was using the definition in a wider sense. 

It makes quite a big difference to how the planning system works, Darren. I'm just telling you, it makes a difference, and it's not a utility.

I also don't know what the UK Government's contract with Openreach to do this piece of work looks like, but why on earth doesn't it involve them in having to utilise existing infrastructure? Ours did. Theirs ought to have done. So again, I'm not in charge of that. It's about time they stepped up to their responsibilities. We've had to put economic development money into expanding broadband in Wales for a long time, because the UK Government have been absolutely dead asleep on the job.

However, I wasn't aware of the particular problem. If you want to write to me, I will certainly look into it, but I would imagine that it's to do with the contract provision, so I will probably want to ask you to write and ask the UK Government Minister whether they're prepared to discuss with me what the contract arrangements for Openreach are for that particular contract. But just bear in mind that, if it was a utility, the planning rules would be very different.