Policy Forum for Wales

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The future for planning policy in Wales - the proposed strategy, supporting clean economic growth, and serving the changing needs of work and communities

July 2021

Price: £95 PLUS VAT
Format: DOWNLOADABLE PDF


When it happened…


Tuesday, 6 July 2021


What delegates came to discuss…


This conference will be an opportunity to discuss Future Wales - the National Plan 2040, the recently published first National Spatial Strategy for Wales, setting out where housing, employment, and infrastructure should be developed, with measures to support town and city centres and decarbonisation, as well as improve health and wellbeing in Wales.


Delegates will discuss what is needed from planning policy to help drive regional economic growth in the wake of the pandemic, while at the same time supporting decarbonisation efforts and upgrading infrastructure.


The discussion also takes place in the run-up to the new nationally-focused Planning Inspectorate for Wales becoming operational in October.


We are very pleased to be able to include a keynote session on establishing the new inspectorate with Tony Thickett, Head, Planning Inspectorate Wales; as well as a keynote contribution from Dr Roisin Willmott, Director of Wales and Northern Ireland, Royal Town and Planning Institute (RTPI), which will look at the priorities and key issues for implementing the National Plan 2040.


Overall, the agenda looks at:


  • Future Wales - the National Plan 2040 - looking at key issues for implementation
  • establishing the new Planning Inspectorate for Wales
  • serving local communities into the future - ensuring accessibility to key services and preparing for the potential impact of changes, including to working practice
  • the wider policy context - aligning development and planning with net-zero goals, and priorities for improving connectivity

Who attended…


Officials from the Cadw; the Department for Transport; the Department of Education (ROI); the DWP; HM Revenue & Customs; the Welsh European Funding Office and the Welsh Government.


Representatives from Associated British Ports; Atkins; Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales/Geconservation Cymru-Wales; Cardiff and Vale College; Cardiff University; Carmarthenshire County Council; Dalton Warner Davis; Egnedol Wales; First Class Partnerships; Hughes Architects; IMechE; Natural Resources Wales; Persimmon Homes; Renewable Energy Systems; RWE Renewables; Savills; The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; TNEI; University of Aberdeen Business School; University of Cambridge and Vattenfall.



This pack includes

  • Dropbox video recording of the conference
  • PDF transcript of the discussion, including all speaker remarks and Q&A
  • PDFs of speakers' slide material (subject to permission)
  • PDFs of the delegate pack, including speaker biographies and attendee list
  • PDFs of delegate articles