Neath Port Talbot Council has announced a new chapter in its development journey with a re-launch of its latest Local Development Plan (LDP).

The LDP is a crucial roadmap in the sustainable and responsible use of land, allocating areas for development in housing, employment, retail and tourism and containing policies to protect the environment and address climate change.

The latest version of Neath Port Talbot Council’s LDP – known as the Replacement Local Development Plan or RLDP –  is being re-launched now with an open call for Candidate (potential development) Sites from 6^th November 2023 to 18^th December 2023.

This open call will give landowners, developers and others the chance to submit land or sites in NPT for potential development, redevelopment or protection.

This process will enable the RLDP to consider the exciting investment and growth opportunities presented by major local projects including:

• The recently announced Celtic Freeport in Neath Port Talbot which could create tens of thousands of new jobs,
• The Wildfox adventure resort project in the Afan Valley (promising as many as 1,000 jobs),
• And the GCRE rail testing centre at Onllwyn which is set to create hundreds of jobs in what will be Europe’s leading rail innovation centre.

Workers in these projects will require sustainable places to live and spend their recreational time and the RLDP will allow site owners and promoters to put forward sites to enable the council to respond to this increased demand.

As a result, the council is particularly interested in larger housing development opportunities for 50+ dwelling units.

Also, the viability of potential development sites in Neath Port Talbot may improve given the potential increased jobs growth. As a result, sites which may not have been viable for development previously may now be more deliverable.

The council is also aiming to boost investment in its valleys and villages as evidenced by the recent launch of its Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) Valleys and Villages Prosperity Fund (VVPF) – it is hoped more interest in valleys areas will relieve housing and other pressures on more urban areas.

For more information about the Call for Sites visit: www.npt.gov.uk/cs

Sites can be proposed for residential use (including a site for gypsy and traveller accommodation), employment, retail, tourism, community use, education, health and social care, leisure and recreation, green infrastructure, active travel, transport infrastructure, renewable energy, waste or minerals.

If you have submitted a parcel of land to us for consideration under the previous 2022 ‘Call for Sites’ consultation, your site will still be considered and will be transferred over for this new RLDP. There is no need to resubmit these sites. Any sites that are current allocations in the Adopted LDP will need to be resubmitted to us, if you have not already done so.

This new RLDP Delivery Agreement is accompanied by an Integrated Sustainability Appraisal (ISA) which can be viewed here: Integrated Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulations Assessment – Neath Port Talbot Council (npt.gov.uk)

The RLDP, on which work started in 2022, is being re-launched now after the Welsh Government agreed the council should have more time to identify candidate sites and resolve infrastructure and viability issues.