Brecon Beacons take over administration of Powys planning applications

Brecon Beacons National Park Authority and Powys County Council have entered a partnership where planning applications for minor developments within the south of Powys are handled by the National Park planners. This is a first for modern planning in Wales where another authority takes over the planning responsibilities of another although Snowdonia did successfully provide the planning service for the old Meirionnydd District Council pre-1996. It is something of a coup for the BB National Park who just two years ago was deemed a failing planning authority following the Gilestone planning debacle that saw the ousting of Mr Gledhill the former Park's Chief Executive. The BBNP planning authority has been in special measures ever since under the spotlight of the Audit Wales Office but seemingly has improved its performance over the past year and took over Powys County Council applications from 15th February under a Service Level Agreement (SLA). The SLA could see the National Park Authority handling up to 25 minor and household cases from within the Brecknockshire part of Powys per month and is in line with the Welsh Assembly Government’s agenda to ‘make the connections, drive for efficiencies and improve joint-working…’ . The National Park will validate planning applications received from the remainder of Brecknockshire falling outsside the National Park boundaries, process the planning applications and make a recommendation on whether to grant or refuse planning permission back to Powys County Council. One wonders whether this arrangement will allow Powys to centralise its planning service to Llandrindod , possibly to the detriment of local democracy long term. But it may also allow Powys to improve its own planning service - certainly the Park's public access IT system is far advance of that of its County Council partner.