I REFER to the front page article ‘LDP to be scrapped’ (Barry and District News, November 15) and would suggest the council’s announcement and cabinet report are very much planning officials’ attempt to moderate the impact of Labour’s election pledge to scrap the LDP.

Not scrapped because the LDP preferred strategy is to remain in place, and that is the foundation for the preparation of the LDP and many of its problems.

This strategy was constructed following two “stakeholder” meetings that considered options for housing development, excluding option 8a (Llandow). I have previously raised questions about the composition of the so-called “stakeholder” group and the subsequent analysis by council officials.

However, there are many other reasons for the council to step back to a time before the preferred strategy was agreed.

Firstly, this decision was based on the provision of 7,500 dwellings, not the 11,000 now proposed; housing was to be concentrated in Barry and the south east zone ignoring the potential for development and infrastructure improvements in the western Vale; the desperate need for an improved infrastructure appears not to have been a concern at that time; and the potential for a Severn barrage appears not to have been part of the analysis.

The cabinet report is unhelpful in assessing the options available to a council elected with the promise to scrap the LDP and paints a rather rosy picture of some events. However, it does confirm that it is just the latest stage in the LDP process that is to be repeated.

Dennis Harkus FocusBARRY supporter