Wales - One Planet Development

Since July 2010, Wales has had a national planning policy on low-impact development, that opens up new and exciting possibilities for creating Eco-Hamlets. This is a development of a policy in Pembrokeshire that resulted from Tony Wrench's famous roundhouse, and was used by Lammas to obtain their planning permission. The Pembrokeshire policy allows land based developments in the countryside, where residents must make the majority of their income from working their land, but the new policy also allows non land based development, making it more flexible, and fitting in with the aims of Eco-Hamlets UK. As the policy is very new, how it is put into practice is still to be tested.

This is a summary of the new policy (TAN6) from the Welsh Assembly Government, for Low-Impact Development across the whole of Wales. The policy can be downloaded from the Lammas web site.

• Wales should use only its fair share of the earth's resources – 1.88 global hectares per person.
• One Planet Developments:
• Should either enhance or not significantly diminish environmental quality
• Should initially achieve an ecological footprint of 2.4 global hectares per person or less (Carmarthenshire average is currently 5.01)
• Should demonstrate potential to move towards ecological footprint of 1.88 global hectares
• Should be zero carbon in both construction and use
• Can be single homes, co-operative communities, or larger settlements
• Should be managed by a trust, co-operative or similar where more than one family is involved
• May be within existing settlements or in open countryside
• Should, if Land Based, provide for minimum needs of inhabitants in terms of income, food, energy and waste within a reasonable time
• Should, when in open countryside be supported by a management plan covering
  • Business and Improvement plan
  • Ecological footprint analysis
  • Carbon Analysis
  • Biodiversity and landscape assessment
  • Community impact assessment
  • Transport assessment and travel plan
• Should, when in open countryside, be the sole residence of the occupants

Planning consent will be tied to an agreement (S106) to control activities, and tie the dwelling to the land.

Change of ownership will require a new management plan to be approved by the local authority.

An annual monitoring report must be submitted to the planning authority.

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