Welsh Language Impact Assessment
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Welsh Language Impact Assessment Land at Heol Pentre Bach, Gorseinon, Swansea December 2015 Summary Proposal Welsh Language Impact Assessment Location Heol Pentre Bach, Gorseinon Date December 2015 Project Reference S15.773 Client Elan Homes Ltd Product of Asbri Planning Limited Prepared by Keith Warren - Associate Director Disclaimer This report has been prepared for the sole and exclusive use of Elan Homes Ltd from whom it was commissioned and has been prepared in response to their particular requirements and brief. This report may not be relied upon by any other party. The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 shall not apply to this report and the provisions of the said Act are expressly excluded from this report. This report may not be used for any purpose other than that for which it was commissioned. This report may not be reproduced and/or made public by print, photocopy, microfilm or any other means without the prior written permission of Asbri Planning Ltd. The conclusions resulting from this study and contained in this report are not necessarily indicative of future conditions or operating practices at or adjacent to the Site. Much of the information presented in this report is based on information provided by others. That information has neither been checked nor verified by Asbri Planning Ltd Page | 2 Contents Section 1 Introduction Section 2 Methodology Section 3 Linguistic Context Section 4 Language Impact Assessment Section 5 Conclusion of Linguistic Effects Appendices Appendix 1 – Site Plan Appendix 2 – Origin of Purchasers, Elan Homes Development at Parc Gwyn Faen, Penyrheol, Gorseinon Page | 3 Introduction Client Brief 1.1 Asbri Planning Ltd has been instructed by Elan Homes Ltd to prepare a Welsh Language Impact Assessment to accompany a planning application for land at Heol Pentre Bach Gorseinon. The site is not allocated for development in the adopted City and County of Swansea Unitary Development Plan but is emerging as a housing land allocation through the Local Development Plan. We therefore seek to assess and establish whether the proposed development would have any impact on the Welsh Language, particularly in relation to the local community. The Proposed Development 1.2 Elan Homes are submitting a new planning application for 43 residential units on the site identified on Plan A below. 1.3 Using a figure given by the 2011 Census for the average household size in Upper Loughor Ward (2.36), the proposed development would result in a population increase of 101 (2.36 x 43). 1.4 The development will deliver a mix of two, three and four bedroom houses. Page | 4 The Loughor and Gorseinon Areas 1.5 The Upper Loughor Ward lies approximately 9 kilometres north-west of Swansea City Centre, and consists of the northern and eastern parts of the urban area of Loughor. Loughor forms part of a larger urban agglomeration which includes neighbouring Gorseinon. Neighbouring wards are Lower Loughor (to the west); Penyrheol (to the north-east); and Gorseinon and Kingsbridge (to the east). Part of the ward boundary also adjoins the Carmarthenshire County Boundary along the Loughor Estuary to the west. 1.6 The 2011 Census shows that of the overall population of 2,771, 2,406 were born in Wales (86.8% compared with 77.7% in Swansea as a whole). 1.7 All local facilities including bus stops, schools, shops, leisure facilities and open space are located within a short distance of the site, mainly along the A4240 Borough Road to the south and Frampton Road in the east (within Penyheol Ward). The site is approximately 1.5 kilometres north west of Gorseinon District centre. 1.8 In terms of demographics, at the time of the 2011 Census, the population of the Upper Loughor Ward was 2,685 (aged 3 and over). Of this population, 546 (20.3 %) were able to read, write or speak Welsh. The residential area directly east of the site lies within the Penyrheol Ward, which has a larger population of 5,378 (aged 3 or over) but where a lower percentage, 18.1% can read, write or speak Welsh. The equivalent percentage for the City and County of Swansea was only 13.8%. On a national level, this figure was 21.31%. 1.9 As a result of the fact that the ward within which the site is located has a greater proportion of individuals with an understanding of Welsh than at a County level, it is evident that the Welsh language forms an important role and feature of this community. As a result, any proposed development within this community must wherever possible protect and promote the Welsh Language, as well mitigate any negative impacts such a development may introduce. Page | 5 Methodology 2.1 This assessment has been undertaken using the methodology and guidance set out by the document Planning and the Welsh Language: The Way Forward (2005) (PWL), in particular Appendices B and C. Although not formerly adopted as part of the national planning policy and guidance system, it is acknowledged as representing the most up to date and representative form of guidance on how Welsh Language Impact Assessments should be undertaken. 2.2 In assessing the potential impact of the proposal on the Welsh Language, this WLA also aims to satisfy the requirements of the Swansea Unitary Development Plan (UDP), as regards the Welsh Language. The Plan was adopted in March Council in July 2008. In particular, careful consideration has been given to Part 1 – Section D of the UDP which acknowledges that the Welsh Language is an important part of the social fabric in many Swansea communities, especially in the north of the County. 2.3 Those communities where more than 25% of the resident population speak Welsh have been identified as Language Sensitive Areas (LSAs) in the UDP. These are shown on the Diagram below which is reproduced from the UDP Written Statement. They include the Ward of Upper Loughor, within which the application site is located. 2.4 Through UDP policies it is stated that the Council have sought to sustain the communities within the LSAs by allowing sufficient housing development to meet local needs, identifying opportunities for suitable employment and supporting local centres. It is anticipated that similar aims will be incorporated in the Deposit Local Development Plan (LDP) which is scheduled to be published early in 2016. When adopted this will replace the UDP. A Cultural Heritage Issues Paper has been prepared to inform future policies. It Page | 6 states that a key objective is to review Welsh Language sensitive areas and identify communities where the language is an important part of the social fabric. 2.5 Technical Advice Note 20: Planning and the Welsh Language (Revised October 2013), emphasises the need to address how the land use planning system can be used to consider and, if necessary, mitigate any effects of development on the Welsh language and the sustainability of Welsh language communities. The TAN comments that in some areas both the number of Welsh speakers and the use made of the language is increasing, but in other areas there is a decline. The future of the language across the whole of Wales will depend on a wide range of factors, particularly education, demographic change, community activities and a sound economic base to maintain thriving sustainable communities. 2.6 With regard to development management, the TAN maintains that, in determining individual planning applications and appeals where the needs and interests of the Welsh language may be a material consideration, decisions must, as with all other planning applications, be based on planning grounds only and be reasonable. Adopted development plan policies are planning grounds, including those which have taken the needs and interests of the Welsh language into account. Page | 7 Linguistic Context National Level 3.1 From a national perspective the general trend of the number of people living in Wales with an ability to speak Welsh has declined over the last century, as illustrated by the graph below: 3.2 What is encouraging though is that the number of Welsh speakers has risen since 1991, a trend which has been accredited to the language being taught more widespread in schools, the process of devolution as well as the 1993 Welsh Language Act. However, despite this rise, concern continues to be raised over the preservation of the language in the future and this has led to it now forming part of the planning decision making process, particularly since the introduction of Technical Advice Note 20: The Welsh Language – Unitary Development Plans and Planning Controls. 3.3 Notwithstanding the above, until the undertaking and publication of the 2011 Census, the current ‘snapshot’ of the Welsh Language on a national level is that although its decline has possibly been halted, less than a quarter of the population of Wales have an understanding of it. County Level (City and County of Swansea) 3.4 At the 2001 Census it was found that 18.3% of the County’s population had an understanding of spoken Welsh, while 16.5% were either able to read, write or speak Welsh. The 2011 Census shows that these percentages had fallen to 16.1% and 13.8% respectively. Page | 8 3.5 11.4% of the Swansea population aged 3 years or more were Welsh speakers according to the 2011 Census. Whilst the number of people who speak Welsh varies greatly across the local authority area, the figures show a decline in the percentage of Welsh speakers over the last decade from 13.4%. Local Level (Upper Loughor ) 3.6 The following tables provide a comparison of the Welsh language skills from related data collected by the 2001 and 2011 Censuses in terms of the Ward in which the site lies (Upper Loughor).