Demand for planning law in Wales to protect the Welsh language

A rally was held today in Pwllheli to protest that the Welsh language should be at the heart of the reform of planning laws about to be presented to the National Assembly. Their concern is to protect Welsh speakers and communities where Welsh is the majority language. The campaign wants councils to be handed power over developments based on their language impact. Local needs should form the basis of the planning system, not housing targets set in Cardiff. 

As reported in the Daily Wales, Robin Farrar, chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraegth, said: “Many people are concerned about the effect of over-development in a number of areas across Wales – from un-needed housing developments to the new M4 – and the effect of that on the environment, the Welsh language, and poverty. In the hundreds of pages of paper about their proposed Bill there wasn’t a single word about the effect of the planning system on the Welsh language.”