A development plan is written text and a map which guides the future use and development of land.   It is prepared in consultation with the public and interested groups and organisations.

The preparation of a Development Plan is a legal requirement for all Local Planning Authorities.

The existing approved Development Plan for the National Park is known as the Unitary Development Plan.  The Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 introduced a new type of plan called a "Local Development Plan" or LDP.  The pre-consultation documents for the LDP will be published on 7th January 2009. 

What does the Development Plan do?

Provides a long term strategy for development: The Plan thinks about the long term impact of development on our communities and landscape.  It contains a strategy which seeks to manage the development of land and buildings in a way which fits with the purposes of the National Park and with the wider principles of sustainability.

Sets out Detailed Policies and Allocations: The strategy is achieved through detailed policies which set out how specific proposals for development will be treated.  The Plan also allocates land for development.

National Planning Policy: Development Plans are prepared in the context of National Planning Policy Guidance and the Wales Spatial Plan.

Who uses the Development Plan? A development plan is not a blue sky strategy document which gathers dust on the shelf. It is used every day:

• By our development control officers who apply the policies to determine whether or not planning permission should be granted.

• By planning applicants and by the community who can read the plan to assess in advance how the NPA will react to a proposal for development.

What is the relationship between Development Plans and Planning Applications?  Many people do not realise what is in a local authority development plan until they are affected by a planning application.

Development plans usually establish the principle of what use is proposed for a piece of land before a planning application for the detailed development is received.

When a development plan is in place, it is much more difficult to challenge the need for any development of land at the planning application stage.   Those who wish to make representations to a planning application will usually only have an influence on the finer details of how land is developed, rather than the principle of whether it is developed.

Read more detailed information about the Development Plan system in Wales