Green belt (From Penarth Times)

Green belt

THE Inspector at the 1999 inquiry into the Vale"s Unitary Development Plan seriously considered a Green Belt for the eastern Vale, although the council said it didn"t want one.

The Inspector delved into policies from 1995 and decided that a Green Belt bordering the River Ely is essential, for protecting Cardiff"s "setting", and a wider belt for protecting the green areas between Penarth, Dinas Powys, Barry and Wenvoe from development pressures.

He suggested a Green Belt extending as far as Five Mile Lane, which Friends of the Earth supported at the inquiry.

Despite the inspector"s verdict, the Vale Council has just submitted the UDP to the Minister without any Green Belt proposal, giving pretty flimsy excuses.

They claim that a Green Belt "could have a serious detrimental effect upon both the growth dynamics of the region and regional sustainability".

Both Newport and Cardiff have opted for Green Belt in their areas, but the Vale Council pretends further studies are needed - studies that it has failed to undertake since 1999.

Proposals from UDP Inspectors have to be taken seriously; the official Welsh guidance requires "clear and cogent" reasons if the council wishes to reject them.

So has the Welsh Assembly office not yet taken the council to task over its flimsy excuses?

It seems that no-one has drawn the minister"s attention to it.

Friends of the Earth are telling the Minister, Carwyn Jones, that he needs to intervene over the Vale"s flouting of the planning system.

He needs to act by March 28 to stop the council rolling through this deficient UDP.

Keith Stockdale

Co-ordinator

Barry and Vale Friends of the Earth

Robert Street

Barry