The Welsh Assembly Government has issued a new edition of Planning Policy Wales placing greater stress on avoiding greenfield development, soil sealing and urban sprawl and locating development to minimise the need to travel, especially by car.
The new planning policy was launched by environment minister Jane Davidson during a visit to a sustainable housing development in Newport.
"I'm delighted to have had the chance to visit Mariners Quay," she said.
"This is exactly the type of high quality and sustainable development, on brownfield land, that Planning Policy Wales is intended to deliver".
The new edition includes policy updates since 2002 in ministerial interim planning policy statements and emphasises the sort of changes which will be required in response to climate change.
It says planning policies and proposals should:
- promote resource-efficient and climate change resilient settlement patterns that minimise land-take (and especially extensions to the area of impermeable surfaces) and urban sprawl, especially through preference for the re-use of suitable previously developed land and buildings, wherever possible avoiding development on greenfield sites;
- locate developments so as to minimise the demand for travel, especially by private car.
It says higher density development should be encouraged near public transport nodes.
Sites which are not well-served by public transport, walking and cycling should not be allocated for travel-intensive development or not developed at all.
"The main driver for this consolidated version of Planning Policy Wales is to further embed the need to tackle climate change into the planning system," said Ms Davidson.
"Climate change is one of the most serious global threats facing us today. As a society we must take action to minimise the causes of global climate change as well as understand and deal with the consequences of inevitable change."
Mariners Quay is a 101-home development which is being built to meet Code for Sustainable Homes Level 5.
