Roisin Willmott is the Director of RTPI Wales
In April there was a flurry of media coverage and conversations over the change in name of the Brecon Beacons to Y Bannau Brycheiniog (the peaks of Brychan's kingdom – Brychan being a fifth century king). In reality, it wasn’t a change in name, it was a decision by the National Park Authority that it would only use the Welsh name in future. Eryri National Park – formerly known as Snowdonia – made a similar decision last year. The name change is branded “an old name for a new way to be”.
Whilst much of the chatter and attention from this announcement has been on the name, it was also the launch of the National Park’s new Management Plan. The Authority’s Chief Executive Officer – Catherine Mealing-Jones – speaking on the BBC said “we have lost the balance between people and nature and the plan is about redressing the imbalance.”
Balance is the most essential and yet arguably the most under-used term in built environment practice, although its use appears to be rising, in Wales at least. The Oxford English Dictionary provides a useful definition to help understand the importance of balance: “Stability or steadiness due to the equilibrium prevailing between all the forces of any system.” This is entirely applicable to the work of planners and the planning system; climate change is a clear effect of the imbalance we have across the globe on a complex scale.
The need for balance was repeatedly stressed at recent roundtable events we held with the National Infrastructure Commission Wales (NICW) to consider the success of the delivery of good places in Wales over the past 24 years since devolution. Christine Boston of Sustrans Cymru flagged the imbalance between traffic and people and Naomi Luhde-Thompson who leads Rights Community Action, discussed the need for equality and justice in creating good places. Sue Essex, former Environment Minister for Welsh Government, flagged the importance of the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, in acknowledging the biodiversity crisis; a global crisis that needs addressing hand in hand with carbon reduction strategies – all aimed at redressing the global balance.
In June, the Wales Planning Conference will be providing a how to guide for planners in Wales and beyond on addressing climate change, sharing good practice and support for action. A problem we are now experiencing the effects of through flooding, changing and disruptive weather patterns and dry summers – Wales’ drought status was only lifted in January 2023, after last summer.
