Vale Council LDP

The Vale Council have just released the latest version of their Local Development Plan.  The LDP is a critical planning document that sets out a range of policies and the locations of major developments for years to come.  I've had a quick look and picked up that the Vision and Objectives set out in the report make no mention of biodiversity (unless I've missed it!).  It also promotes development of a number of brownfield sites and I wonder how well understood they are from an ecological point of view, as such sites often support a plethora of rare invertebrates. 

If anyone is interested in commenting, there are drop-in sessions organised as follows:

• Monday 7 October (Paget Rooms, Penarth)
• Thursday 10 October (Dock offices, Barry)
• Monday 14 October (Lesser Hall, Town Hall, Cowbridge)
• Tuesday 15 October (Old School, Llantwit Major)
• Tuesday 22 October (Gathering Place, St. Athan) 

The report itself is at http://www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/Documents/Living/Planning/Policy/LDP-2013/01_Deposit_LDP_2011_2026_Cabinet_Draft_October_2013.pdf.

 It is also important to note that this is apparently an 'informal' consultation; the official public consultation will not begin until after it has been through various committees within the Council, probably later this month or early next.