The Council has commenced work on the preparation of the Carmarthenshire Local Development Plan (LDP).

The LDP will set out the Authority’s policies and proposals for the future development and use of land within its administrative area. Upon adoption, the LDP will supersede the existing Unitary Development Plan (UDP), with decisions on planning applications primarily based on its content. It therefore provides a measure of certainty about what kind of development will, and will not, be permitted in particular locations during the plan period.

The requirement for Councils to prepare a LDP is set out in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The aim of the new plans is to make the development plan system more relevant, inclusive and engaging to local communities and to encourage a collaborative approach to plan preparation involving the voluntary, public and private sectors, which should result in a plan based on consensus.  The LDP process is also intended to result in a faster plan making system than that seen under the previous development plans.

The LDP will set out the Authority’s proposals and policies for future development and use of land in the area. Once adopted, decisions on planning permissions will be mostly based on the LDP. Further guidance on the Carmarthenshire LDP, it’s preparatory process, as well as current and past consultations can be found on these web pages. More guidance on LDPs can also be found on the Welsh Assembly’s website.

As part of the preparation of the Carmarthenshire Local Development Plan (LDP) the Council has published for consultation its Pre-Deposit Preferred Strategy and other Pre-Deposit documents.  The Pre-Deposit Preferred Strategy is an important statutory stage in the LDP process and contains the spatial strategy for Carmarthenshire.  The Strategy sets out key plan issues, the vision and objectives, strategic options, key policies, suggested overall level of growth and key areas of change and protection for the County. It also identifies strategic sites which contribute to the delivery of the strategy.  It is a strategic document and does not therefore include detailed policies or non strategic site specific proposals. The Council is required to undertake a Sustainability Appraisal/ Strategic Environmental Assessment (SA) and a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) of the LDP.  The Council has also produced the Initial Sustainability Appraisal/Strategic Environmental Assessment Report and the Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) Preliminary Screening Report as part of the Pre-Deposit documents published for consultation. The Preferred Strategy and other pre-deposit documents were available for consultation from the 4 November 2009 to the 4 January 2010, during which time comments were invited on their content.  For more information please clicks on the links above or the links on the left.