Senedd Manifesto 2026

This year’s Senedd elections provide an opportunity to elect representatives committed to improve the natural, built and social environment of our country. We ask candidates to consider our proposals and to pursue them when elected. Our proposals are borne of our experience in Cardiff but they are relevant across the nation.

Wales in 2026

The Government and citizens of Wales face numerous challenges. Whether it be the impact of climate change on our infrastructure or the increasing extent of poverty and inequality, we need to be honest about reality in order to craft a future that is positive for both people and planet.

Planning

Wales needs more jobs and homes. Planning should enable these but also enhance our natural, social and heritage environment. Residents should be engaged from the outset in planning processes, which must become more open, transparent and accountable.

Planning obligations and conditions should be enforced. Wales deserves productive, enterprising, active, social, natural and distinctive places.

Environment, Nature and Landscape

Nature is in crisis. Wales’ State of Nature report makes for depressing reading. One in six species faces extinction. 73 species have already been lost. The Environment Bill must have proper powers to protect nature. We need the right renewables in the right place.

Fragile habitats and irreplaceable landscapes must not be destroyed in the blind rush for net zero. Natural Resources Wales must fulfil its statutory duties on nature conservation.

Housing and Homelessness

Everyone in Wales should have a decent, affordable home. We are a long way from that with record numbers of people on waiting lists for social housing and living in temporary accommodation. There are problems with the quality and environmental performance of many homes. Housing needs to be a higher priority.

Communities across Wales need many more social homes.

Public Green Space

Welsh towns and cities need more public green space, particularly in the older industrial areas. Urban public green spaces need better protection, particularly parks, Sites of Interest for Nature Conservation, and Local Nature Reserves. Towns and cities should publish their public green space availability as in Natural Resources Wales’s Greenspace Toolkit. Decisions about public green spaces must involve local people from the outset.

The Well-being of Future Generations Act

The Act offers a vision of Wales as more prosperous, resilient, healthier, more equal, culturally vibrant, globally responsible, and with cohesive communities. Work is needed to improve implementation at all levels. The law needs strengthening in the context of a long-term vision for Wales.

Community-owned Businesses and Assets

Wales has few community-owned assets. These have significant potential to build wealth at community level. A Community Right to Buy, Community Land Reform and access to dependable finance are needed to enable this sector to flourish and maximise its impact.

Design and Placemaking

Design is widely recognised as the key to improving the quality of the built environment. It is clear - with the occasional notable exception - that few recent edifices in Cardiff will stand the test of time. The principles of people-centred urban design should be applied to the design of buildings and urban spaces across Wales.

Net Zero and Energy

Global warming from human activity is real. It increases natural disasters like flooding and disrupts agriculture. Wales must achieve its net zero targets. Energy efficiency and repurposing can reduce carbon emission and poverty. Renewables need infrastructure but should avoid destroying nature. Communities should benefit from energy transition.

Adaptation to climate change requires investment and more green infrastructure.

Transport

Wales’ transport infrastructure is inadequate for both people and planet. Many people do not have access to decent public transport. Transport is a major emitter of greenhouse gases. We need to ensure the modal shift away from car journeys is done in a way that reduces rather than exacerbates inequality.

Heritage Buildings

Many buildings of significance appear to be victims of a wilful neglect. The prime example being the splendid Coal Exchange in Cardiff. Approval for an unsightly tower block in the Howells building highlights a lack of appreciation of heritage. Those in power must grasp the cultural, economic and social value of heritage, and protect it along with its context.

Town Centres

Many centres are in decline. Planning makes matters worse by approving car-dependent developments. Estates with few facilities aggravate service pressures. New uses should be found for surplus space plus Community Right-to-Buy. Centres need trees and plants with heritage buildings protected. Centres must be safe and accessible for everyone.

Waste Management

Enforcement action on waste dumping and fly-tipping must be fast and robust. Planning permission for sites with unacceptable pollution or danger should be refused. Places of importance for nature need extra protection. Our environment must be cleaned up.

Governance, Delivery and Enforcement

Welsh Government must deliver action not just policy. A sense of powerlessness erodes confidence in institutions. Engagement requires easier access to information and earlier consultation. Wales needs joined-up government with clear accountability, plus vision to realise potential gains. The new Senedd must reconnect with the people of Wales.

Wales in 2026

The range of challenges facing the people of Wales has been extensively written about by journalists, academics and others. Rising levels of poverty and inequality, inadequate physical infrastructure, particularly in the context of climate change, highly pressurised public services, models of provision that feature extraction of wealth from our country, denuded ecosystems, increasing numbers of people without somewhere decent to live: the list goes on. We have also seen a decline in the levels of trust that citizens have for institutions.

There are plenty of examples of effective organisations, positive projects and amazing work going on in communities. But the 2026 Senedd elections will take place in a context of many people not being able to meet their basic needs, severe pressure on services and housing, and continuing emergencies and crises in nature and biodiversity.

We have plenty of sources of information and research – from the Welsh Government, think-tanks, universities and other organisations – that tell us the story of Wales in 2026. Political parties and civil society need to be honest about the challenges that face us and the range of life experiences of citizens across Wales to develop a realistic way forward that is positive for both people and planet.

Planning rules are often presented as hindering growth. Bigger obstacles are high land values, shortage of construction skills, rising building costs, land-banking by large house builders, and low demand from stagnant incomes. Austerity has shrunk local planning departments, slowing decisions and reducing oversight.

Welsh Government’s headline goals often dissolve in policy detail. Planning decisions abuse language. ‘Exceptional’ permits destruction of unique biodiversity, heritage and green spaces. ‘Viability’ evades planning obligations. ‘Planning balance’ gives little weight to climate and nature emergencies or to impacts on residents.

Wales needs jobs and homes but planners let developers bypass rules. Contributions to infrastructure, especially affordable homes, often fall below Local Development Plan targets. Supplementary Planning Guidance often proves ineffective in court. Public functions are given to private consultants reluctant to offend future clients. Builders too often ignore planning conditions, confident that authorities will turn a blind eye.

Despite claims that development in Wales is ‘plan-led’, corporate profit sets the pace. Developers access processes that exclude residents, who also need advice and aid to submit constructive comments. Consultation presents heaps of technical documents but little time. Pre-Application Consultation happens only once key decisions have been taken.3 Instead, it should welcome input and iterate through the evolution of a project.

Planning Departments too often treat residents as adversaries to be defeated, rather than citizens with a voice. Planning Committees are intimidated by the threat of legal challenge. Unlike developers, residents cannot appeal against planning decisions.

Planning Policy Wales aspires to productive, enterprising, active, social, natural and distinctive places.4 It advocates inclusive placemaking to deliver developments that create and enhance sustainable places.5 PPW 12 increases protection for areas of high natural value but these remain vulnerable.6 Implementation must deliver these goals.

To build confidence in the planning system, we want to see:

• Deliver the right homes at the right prices in the right places, plus good jobs

• Give full weight in the planning balance to climate, nature, heritage and residents

• Change the planning mindset from consultation to participation, recognising that residents and community councils can add value to the planning process

• Ensure adequate scrutiny of Strategic Development or Transport Plans prepared by Consultative Joint Committees, with Citizens Assemblies where appropriate

• Directly elect chairs of planning committees to increase accountability

• Provide Community Impact Statements and assistance to guide residents through documents plus early visibility of large applications to give more time to respond

• Increase planning decision transparency, lifting the veil on validity claims

• Set Planning and Environment Decisions Wales objectives prioritising people and environment, with residents enabled to petition PEDW to review local decisions

Nature in Wales is in crisis. We have the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most nature depleted countries in the world.

Wales is still home to unique and wonderful wildlife, but for how much longer? The latest State of Nature report makes for depressing reading.7 One in six species in our country faces extinction. 73 species have already been lost from Wales. The key driver for species decline is habitat loss, with the Climate Crisis playing its part in tandem. Even without the climate emergency, loss of habitat for breeding, roosting, and feeding, and the pollution of our waterways, is driving many of our precious species to the brink.

Firstly, we must recognise what constitutes habitat. Scrub is vitally important for many birds and mammals. Most small birds do not nest in trees, as commonly thought, they nest and shelter in dense scrub. Protecting such habitat rather than dismissing it as ‘low amenity value’ is essential. Brownfield sites can also be immensely rich in biodiversity.8

We must also accept that mitigation – that concept beloved of developers – is a myth. Many species are faithful to a very specific type of habitat, and once that’s gone, that’s often the end of the line for the animals that once lived there. Adding to the rapid decline in even our commonest species.

Stringent protection for our trees and woodland also needs to be in place. And the new Environment Bill must have proper powers to protect nature.

Those in power must also look at the right renewables in the right place. Fragile habitats and irreplaceable wild landscapes must not be destroyed in the blind rush for net zero – the Gwent Levels and Cambrian Mountains being two examples of such landscapes.

Sadly, National Resources Wales, far from being the champion of nature in Wales, has become the major statutory facilitator of damaging development on Sites of Special Scientific Interest. It does not act in conformity with its statutory duties as the Welsh Government’s advisers on nature conservation, refusing to adopt a precautionary approach to SSSI development in the face of evidence. NRW’s failure to object on nature conservation grounds to damaging renewable energy and other development carries overwhelming weight with planning inspectors, critically undermining all others’ attempts to successfully object to such development, including communities, environmentalists, and local authorities. Audit Wales has criticised NRW on SSSIs.9

Nature is our life support system, vital for our health and wellbeing, yet we are at risk of losing it unless immediate action is taken. Along with protection of habitat, and better understanding of what habitat is, a mosaic of nature-friendly areas, along with natural dispersal corridors, need to be created. The importance of urban habitat also needs to be recognised, given the farming landscape has become increasingly hostile to biodiversity.

We are now at a tipping point in our relationship with nature. Immediate action is vital for nature to recover and thrive. How tragic would it be if future generations cannot experience the joy of the cuckoo’s call heralding summer, the swoop of a swallow or the hauntingly beautiful cry of the curlew.

Over 11,000 people (more than 2,600 children) live in temporary accommodation in Wales. 170,000 people are on waiting lists for social housing, while over 22,500 homes lie empty for over six months. House prices and rents are rising much faster than incomes. The list goes on.10

Our housing system is not functioning well. Many people are unable to access a decent, affordable home. Others live in poor quality homes, overcrowded conditions, or where facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms are shared with others, often strangers.

The Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Bill will introduce new responsibilities on local authorities and other public bodies to prevent homelessness.11 This is positive but will increase the need for social and good quality private homes.

The affordable housing definition is problematic, as demonstrated by the recent update on delivery against the 20,000 target for this Senedd term.12 Welsh Government includes intermediate (sub-market rent), shared ownership (part purchase and part rent), homes leased for over a year for homeless families, even if privately owned or empty homes refurbished by local authorities and housing associations. Research by Crisis and Shelter Cymru shows that more social housing at truly affordable rents is needed to prevent and respond to homelessness. Shelter Cymru estimates that, at 2023/24 delivery rates, it would take more than 35 years to build the number of social homes we currently need.13

This mismatch between need and delivery is evident locally as Cardiff illustrates. The Local Housing Market Assessment that feeds into the Replacement Local Development Plan identifies an annual shortfall of 960 affordable dwellings over 15 years – a total of 14,400 extra affordable homes.14 But the RLDP provides for only around 6,000, even if all of these are delivered.15 At both national and local level, current plans and targets will not address homelessness, let alone prevent it and meet other housing needs.

Section 106 agreements could deliver affordable housing but developers increasingly cite financial viability to excuse not delivering this. Across four developments totalling around 1500 dwellings in central Cardiff, Council requested £25.9 million S106 for affordable housing (in line with policy) but only obtained £900,000.16

Local authorities in Wales are able to levy council tax premiums on long-term empty and second homes. An increasing number of these homes are subject to premiums, but more clarity is needed on how the money is being spent.

There is a need to better balance the rights of landlords with those of tenants, addressing issues of security, affordability and quality of accommodation. Tenants of Registered Social Landlords need effective representation. Councils should not use bailiffs to collect tax arrears. Wales has now fallen behind England on some tenant protections.

Housing is devolved to Welsh Government but key UK Department of Work and Pensions policies significantly impact on housing in Wales. The continued freeze of Local Housing Allowance makes most private rented sector lets in Wales unaffordable for those on benefits. Finding affordable lets for households experiencing homelessness is hard, sometimes almost impossible, given the speed at which private sector rents are rising.

What we want to see:

• A significant and sustained increase in the target and delivery of social homes with both target and delivery based on need assessment and ending homelessness

• Welsh Government should renegotiate the Housing Revenue Account borrowing limit with UK Treasury to enable more council housing to be built

• Greater transparency in relation to the use of council tax premiums on empty and second homes

• More robust use of existing powers available to bring long-term empty homes back into use

• Consider rent controls as an emergency measure while increasing the supply and quality of affordable homes to meet growing demand

• Taxes on land or property values would be fairer than council tax

Welsh cities, including Cardiff, Newport and Swansea, all contain significant areas with insufficient public green spaces, particularly in older industrial regions. Some towns lack this too. The Woodland Trust estimates 80% of Welsh neighbourhoods have inadequate tree cover and calls for Tree Equity.17

Natural Resources Wales has a Greenspace Toolkit to help local authorities assess whether they have enough green spaces of the right kind, in the right places to promote the well-being of local people.18 NRW states “It is important to involve local people when you use the Greenspace Toolkit because their knowledge and opinions will add vital information to whatever you learn from studying maps and data. Unless you understand what local people think about their local green spaces you will find it extremely difficult to plan for the right kinds of green space in the right places to promote their well-being.”

The standards set out in the Toolkit include that everyone should live within 300m of their nearest natural greenspace. This is about a six minute walk. Ideally green spaces should be 0.25ha (0.5 acres) or larger. Provision should be made for at least 2ha (5 acres) of accessible greenspace per 1000 population.

The Toolkit says “literature reviews have shown ample evidence of the values of natural greenspace for amenity/recreation, the control of pollution, moderation of the urban microclimate for biodiversity and to support social interaction and cohesion. Recent studies have shown how natural greenspace improves the health and quality of life of residents of urban areas.”

Across Wales local people have campaigned against threats to the loss of public green space, from the Gwent Levels to Penrhos Nature Reserve and from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park to Kilvey Hill in Swansea.

Cardiff Civic Society has published a map of over 30 recent campaigns by Cardiff residents to try and save local green spaces and trees.19 In 2025 CCS launched its Pocket Parks campaign which aims to create accessible green space for more people within the city, especially in areas where there is below average public green space as access to green space is a social justice issue.20

Public green space should not be sacrificed for commercial gain. Planning conditions and covenants safeguarding land must be enforced. More local authority owned public green space should be placed in trust to protect it for future generations.

The Wellbeing of Future Generations Act offers a vision of Wales as more prosperous, resilient, healthier, more equal, culturally vibrant, globally responsible and with cohesive communities. This legislation has often been referred to within the UK and beyond as ground-breaking and inspirational.

While the implementation of the Act has yet to meet the aspiration of its vision, it is a vital foundation for better decision-making which looks to the long-term rather than the short-term. Rather than attacking it as ineffective, it is important to defend the value of this law and work to improve implementation at all levels.21

What we want to see happen:

• Continued funding for the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales

• The development of a long-term vision for Wales

• Mechanisms that support longer-term decision-making such as multi-year budgets for key areas

• Meaningful involvement of communities and citizens in decision-making at all levels

• Strengthening of the legislation, including greater powers for the Future Generations Commissioner

Wales has a low proportion of community-owned assets, whether this be energy generation, land, housing or community buildings and businesses.22 Such assets have significant potential to build wealth at community level, instead of it being extracted from communities and often leaving Wales altogether. Most community businesses reinvest any surpluses or profits to grow their business and nearly half use profits for community, social or environmental benefit.

There are places in Wales where the community business sector is flourishing. Blaenau Ffestiniog has an extensive range of community owned businesses that have come together in a network called Cymunedoli.23 They work in areas as diverse as social care, an arts centre, a hardware shop, hotels, shops and an electric vehicle hire business and together have a multi-million pound turnover.

Some community businesses or activities work in conjunction with Community Land Trusts.24 These are non-profit corporations that hold land on behalf of a community, while serving as the long-term steward for affordable housing, community gardens, civic buildings, commercial spaces and other community assets. They prevent speculation on the value of the land.

Another sector that has significant potential is community-owned energy generation schemes.25 They could reduce energy bills, as well as being a valuable part of the transition away from fossil fuels.

For community ownership to grow and become self-sustaining businesses in the medium to long term, a source of dependable finance is required for new start up organisations/businesses and the expansion of existing organisations.

What we want to see happen:

• Legislate for a Community Right to Buy to make it easier for communities to take valued community assets like local buildings and spaces into community ownership

• Legislate for Community Land Reform to support communities to access, manage and own land

• The introduction of a Community Wealth Fund to support the start-up and development of community businesses. This has been called for in relation to community energy schemes; our view is that it could be used more widely to support the acquisition of assets by communities

• Increased Welsh Government funding and support for Community Land Trusts to work alongside the Community Wealth Fund

Well-designed places are fundamental to us living happy, fulfilling lives. They have high-quality, sustainable buildings; are inclusive and offer fair access to green spaces; increase biodiversity; all while contributing to a strong sense of place.

That is, built environments should encapsulate core principles such as those of the Placemaking Wales Charter, including a focus on people and community and facilitating inclusive movement, all while preserving a place’s unique heritage. The benefits of good urban design are well-known, ranging from resilient healthy communities to a flourishing local economy. In other words, we all deserve a beautiful city, town or village.

However, many recent edifices constructed in Cardiff and elsewhere are not sustainable, and there is still inadequate and unfair access to green spaces. Generally, development is piecemeal and unfair, and so fails to live up to this standard.

Local Development Plans are important in changing this. It is encouraging that ‘good design’ is a goal in Cardiff’s LDP, which states that: ‘All new development will be required to be of the highest architectural quality, sustainable design and make a positive contribution to the creation of distinctive and healthy communities, places and spaces […] Good design therefore goes beyond traditional aesthetic considerations [...]’.26

However, in line with national trends, this LDP omits reference to the concept of beauty. But in ‘traditional aesthetics’ from antiquity to the present day, philosophers have treated beauty as a wide-ranging concept which incorporates ethical, civic, and environmental values. Cardiff University philosophers Panos Paris and Daisy Dixon argue that beauty is not a matter of mere visual attractiveness, but of embodying ethical care for those whom a design will affect. This is essential to the flourishing of a community, and so beautiful design should be a matter of social justice, and not a mere luxury for those with the means to enjoy it.27

So, Cardiff LDP’s understanding of ‘good design’ is in tension with its overall goals for a stronger, fairer, greener city. Much the same is true of many other local plans. Truly inclusive and environmentally friendly design is beautiful design. In sum:

• Local Development Plans across Wales should incorporate the concept of beautiful design – not merely ‘good’ design – as a matter of social justice.

• Community engagement should be treated as a priority. We saw from our local community work in 2024-2025 that beauty is a shared, holistic value considered integral to living a good life.

• Future consultations by both Welsh Government and local authorities should invite comments from and engage with non-stakeholder experts in aesthetics.

Global warming resulting from human activity is real despite denials by those wilfully blind to science or motivated by greed. Environmental collapse increases the number and magnitude of natural disasters. More frequent and severe flooding, most recently in Monmouth, is one symptom of this. Climate change is disrupting agriculture across the world, increasing the cost of food.

Governments and power brokers are losing interest. COP 30 was poorly attended and little will result from its meagre agreements. Missing the 1.5 degree limit for increases in global temperature is now inevitable making adjustment essential. We must act now to slow then reverse further warming. Hard-to-predict tipping points could be catastrophic. Wales must achieve its net zero targets, progress toward which has slipped.28

Effective energy efficiency measures could reduce both carbon emissions and poverty. Construction emits carbon through operation and construction.29 Repurposing buildings can cut emissions from carbon embodied in cement, steel and glass.

Renewable energy requires infrastructure. We will have to construct solar farms, on- and off-shore wind turbines, and associated transmission lines, on a large scale. But Wales has enough land to avoid renewable energy infrastructure at locations of importance for nature, such as the Gwent Levels. Pylons are cheaper than underground transmission lines but do not need to be erected in National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, other iconic spots, or places of high tourism value. Other land should be used.

Solar panels, green walls and roofs, insulation, heat pumps, and local heat networks improve efficiency or reduce demand. Communities should benefit from renewable energies rather than enduring wealth extraction on top of disruptive infrastructure. Local projects cut bills or generate local wealth and income, creating support for renewables.30

Adaptation to climate change requires investment. Flood defences can pay back many times their investment.31 Open spaces and suitable materials and designs can reduce urban heat islands, while trees absorb carbon and offer shade and a home for wildlife.32

What we want to see:

• Wales must sustain and preferably accelerate investment towards its net zero targets

• Wales must invest in both renewable energy for our net zero targets plus adaptation measures, such as flood defences or reforestation, both vital for the well-being of future generations and to protect the life-giving biodiversity of our unique planet

• Welsh Government should be ready to use compulsory purchase to obtain suitable land for energy infrastructure that would not ruin nature, landscapes or communities

• Planning policy and decisions must recognise the climate emergency, insisting that plans have high-efficiency buildings, public and active travel, and open green spaces

• Assess whole life carbon emissions across construction, operation and demolition 33

• A programme of insulation of older buildings, done by well-trained staff employed by local councils to avoid the botched work done under the UK government scheme

Wales has particular challenges when it comes to transport. Many areas have little public transport and lack of access to transport is a factor contributing to over a fifth of people in Wales living in poverty.34 Access to employment, education and training can be limited by lack of public transport. New developments which are not linked to public transport, and do not have facilities integrated from the start, generate more car journeys.

Transport is currently a significant emitter of greenhouse gases and negatively affects air quality. Options to encourage a modal shift away from individual car travel must be considered in the round. It is not only emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrous dioxide but also particulates from tyres whether the vehicle is electric, petrol or diesel. Heavy vehicle, the more particulates are produced. Potholes damage cars and injure cyclists.

Stable ringfenced funding for active travel is essential for ensuring resources dedicated to safe walking and cycling routes.35 Introducing 20mph speed limits on most urban roads generated a lot of controversy. But evidence shows that the main reason for these limits – road user safety – has improved since the lower speed limits have been in place.36

Pavements must be kept in good repair. Electric vehicle charging stations, secure bicycle parking, and bicycles or scooters for hire can make pavements less accessible or unsafe, particularly for people pushing buggies or prams, or with restricted sight or mobility.

Buses are vital for many people in Wales. Recent years have seen a reduction in some services and reliability can be an issue. Lack of integration with other forms of public transport, even with other bus services, or with active travel facilities, creates barriers. The Bus Services Bill must address these issues.37

What we want to see happen:

• Continued commitment to a modal shift from private cars to public and active travel, recognising health and social benefits beyond monetary return

• Ringfenced funding to invest in high standard bus, train, cycling and walking networks plus park-and-ride, integrated for seamless travel through single tickets and up-to-date information, cycle parking, and shelters

• Better, cleaner public transport that is safe for everyone, including women and girls, people with disabilities, and those at risk from racist or other abuse

• Proper cycle paths on roads rather than through parkland and green space, plus secure cycle storage and geolocation-managed Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles

• Safe and unobstructed streets and pedestrian paths plus walking encouraged from an early age to break the pattern of unnecessary car use for short journeys

• Financial incentives for people to stop owning cars, or to car share

• Targeted financial support for the transition to electric vehicles focused on people on low incomes plus more affordable train and bus travel

• Incorporating future-proof transport plans, including public and active travel, into new residential, public service and commercial developments

• Review and implement cleaner air quality standards to reflect the lower pollutant limits set out by the World Health Organisation in 2021 38

About a third of all buildings in Wales were built before 1919, and many of these are stone-built. Furthermore, we have about half a million traditional buildings in the country. Yet heritage experts warn that many of these irreplaceable treasures could be lost through ignorance or lack of skills to repair them. Many recent buildings are also under threat, including some of the Art Deco Queen St buildings.

Other buildings of significance appear to be victims of wilful neglect or indifference. One of the prime examples is the splendid Coal Exchange building in Cardiff. Almost any other city in the world would have cherished this iconic building, yet it has been passed from one spurious operator to the next, and the north elevation has been left to languish in a shocking state of disrepair.39

Similarly, planning permission for the unsightly tower block proposed for the former Howells building in Cardiff’s St. Mary Street highlights a lack of appreciation of heritage value, and a lack of sensitivity for historical and cultural context.40

Those in positions of power need to grasp that heritage has cultural, economic, and social value, and needs to be properly protected along with its context. Unsympathetic development can have a negative impact on entire districts.

There is a failure to protect working-class heritage. Cardiff Civic Society has successfully campaigned to Grade II list East Moors Community Centre in Splott, and with Campaign for Real Ale to protect pubs. Cardiff Council has now locally listed 70 traditional pubs in Cardiff, making it easier to stop demolitions.41 But pubs still have less protection (under Town & Country Planning Act schedules) in Wales than in England.42

Current progress by no means covers all the cherished buildings that give a sense of place to communities throughout Wales, and have huge significance in terms of memory, familiarity and continuity. Other buildings, including some homes, should be added to CADW or local lists but this needs both commitment and officer resource.

Community action is helping to save historic buildings. Capel Rhondda has been bought through crowd-funding for community use. The Bevan Foundation proposes converting unused chapels into social housing. Across Wales, pubs are being saved by local people. In a few cases, such as Cross Inn and Tafarn Crymych Arms in Pembrokeshire, or Radnor Arms Hotel in Powys, UK government funding has helped.43 Much more is needed.

Historic working-class buildings throughout Wales deserve more recognition, or run the risk of being lost. Many Valleys working men’s institutes lie derelict. Newport’s Chartist- associated Westgate Hotel is in disrepair.44 Future generations might witness a heritage landscape defined by middle and upper-class structures, while edifices of those whose labour made the success of others possible, could vanish. Does Wales really want to leave a legacy that excludes a huge swathe of society?

Heritage is more than castles and stately homes, it should be part of the living, breathing fabric of all communities. Without a meaningful commitment to conservation, our cities, towns and villages risk being faceless, homogenous places devoid of soul or character.

Our city, town, district and local centres are vital. They provide essential commercial, retail, education, health, leisure and public services, and a focus for community life.

Today, many centres are in decline. Out-of-town and online shopping have reduced footfall. Covid recovery is still incomplete. Many find home delivery, from groceries or dinner to streamed entertainment, more convenient than going out. The cost-of-living crisis leaves many with little money for extras.

Welsh Government acknowledges the problem. Its Future Wales Town Centre First policy proclaims, ‘the health and vibrancy of town centres as the starting point of locational decision-making’.45 Both Welsh and UK Governments have provided some funding for regeneration.46 This is welcome but does not substitute for consistent coherent policy.

Too often planning decisions make matters worse. Car-based retail and commercial developments on the edge of towns or cities have drained vitality from town centres. Some are still being approved. Cardiff Parkway may one day find businesses for its towers, but offices in Newport and Cardiff stand empty. It will generate yet more traffic on the M4. If and when a rail station is built, that will require public subsidy.47

Large new estates with few nearby facilities aggravate pressures on health and other services. Developers resist or delay providing these even when planning conditions require them.48 Poor public and active travel routes can leave little choice but cars.

To regenerate city, town, district and local centres, we want to see:

• Use surplus retail or commercial space for public services, leisure and other uses, repurpose buildings to provide homes and boost footfall, and enable Community Right-to-Buy to convert properties to social use

• Stop approving car-based developments away from designated centres, rebalance business rates from town centre to out-of-town businesses, and introduce retail park car space levies to raise revenue and make local businesses more competitive

• Build or enhance urban villages with good local centres plus public and active travel

• Improve public and active travel plus park-and-ride to ease congestion and pollution

• Use visitor levies for facilities benefitting tourists and residents, such as public toilets or more trees, shrubs and flowers to enhance centres while cooling ‘heat islands’

• Preserve and creatively use heritage buildings for local pride, interest and beauty

• Make places safe and accessible for everyone, of all ages, genders or abilities

Going to town should be a joy, but we need commitment and action to restore that.

Wales can be proud of its record as one of the world’s top recyclers, even if there is still room for improvement.49 Other aspects of waste management are less positive.

The legacy of extraction and heavy industry lies heavily on the Welsh environment. The Lower Swansea Valley has been regenerated and much of the south Wales landscape is green again. Recent funding increases for coal tip clearance is welcome but these still pose a danger, as does chemical leakage.50 The problems are not just historic. The owner of Ffos-y-Fran open cast at Dowlais is evading responsibility for land restoration despite the dangers it poses.51 Communities oppose quarry expansions too close to homes.52

The new heat network in Cardiff is powered by energy from burning waste that would otherwise be lost.53 This reduces carbon emissions, which is positive. But such plants are usually located in less prosperous areas like Splott, where this one adds to air pollution from a steel works. Residents oppose further gas extraction from landfill at Hafod near Wrexham.54 Landfill sites are often badly, even illegally, managed, ruining local lives and health with foul odours and noise, as at Withyhedge in Pembrokeshire.55

Casual fly-tipping plagues many communities, costing large sums to clean up.56 Across Wales, private companies dump waste as they like.57 The House of Lords wants action against organised waste crime.58 Nature suffers as well as people. A lawsuit is trying to stop pollution of the river Wye by industrial chicken producers.59

What we want to see:

• Faster and more robust enforcement action on waste dumping and fly-tipping by public bodies, such as National Resources Wales and local authorities

• Refusal of planning permission for extractive or other industries that present unacceptable pollution or danger for nearby communities

• Greater protection for Sites of Special Scientific Interest (like the Gwent Levels) and other places of high natural value

• Rapid progress in cleaning up the Welsh environment

Welsh Government, local authorities and other public bodies produce vast quantities of legislation and policies. Much of this is well-meaning and could improve our quality of life, our natural, historic and social environment, if carried through. Too often it is not, through lack of commitment, insufficient resources, or pressure from vested interests.

Public scrutiny of proposals is impeded by overuse of ‘commercial confidentiality’ to hide costs and impacts. Extracting relevant facts through Freedom of Information requests can be long and difficult. Consultation is often too late to change anything. Many feel they cannot influence decisions that affect their lives. Powerlessness erodes confidence in public institutions.

This sense of helplessness undermines public engagement with local democracy. Inner-city wards lack community councils. Social media comments are rarely constructive and no substitute for healthy public forums. Citizens Assemblies could both enhance policy and build public acceptance and confidence.

Wales needs joined-up government. Overlapping responsibilities on issues like pollution confuse and frustrate. Water should be managed across the whole catchment area. Corporate Joint Committees have strategic potential but are acquiring powers in areas such as planning and transport with little accountability to either councillors or public.

Lack of vision means potential gains are not always realised. Compulsory purchase could open land for development alongside transport infrastructure, while protecting nature. A land value tax would be more equitable than council tax, convert development gain into public benefit, and reduce inefficient land use such as surface parking.

Devolution has achieved much over a quarter century, but it now confronts a crisis. Westminster continues to deny Wales the resources we need, and Welsh Government promises more than it delivers. The new Senedd must reconnect with the people of Wales, putting their interests first, and turning words into actions.