P-04-489 A National affordable and priority housing Act of Wales– Correspondence from the petitioner to the clerking team, 06.06.2013

The petition for a national priority and affordable housing act of Wales aims to shine a light on the incredibly disproportionate 320,000 new houses (projected 800,000 new people) planned for Wales in the next 20 years by local authorities and the Welsh Government's planning policy framework (or lack of) and calls for a new act to regulate new housing in line with prioritised local and national need, and sustainability in general. I don't believe it is far fetched to say that these housing plans by local authorities, and the failure of the Welsh government to have a coherent sustainable national housing policy are akin to the Israeli forced housing settlements in the West Bank of Palestine, although the proposed plans for Wales would mean that new housing (which could be described as settlements) would be roughly three times the amount already carried out in the West Bank. When we already have over 125,000 people looking for work in Wales, the Welsh Government have failed to state where these extra proposed 800,000 people will suddenly come from, what jobs there will be for them or how our already crumbling economy and infrastructure is meant to deal with them all.

I'm sure that there is no need to state that this is not based on an anti new houses or an anti immigration sentiment but rather on the rights of all Welsh citizens to priority and affordable housing and a pro sustainable level of immigration that's based on Wales's economic capabilities and its general sustainability - sustainability supposedly being one of the core remits of the Welsh Government. Currently there is also no exclusive single Welsh planning inspectorate or Welsh projections panel - there are housing projections research banded out to various institutions such as the Anglia Ruskin University in England and an England and Wales housing inspectorate with a technically subordinate Welsh division of that main inspectorate. These disproportionate planned 320,000 new houses  are an utterly irresponsible plan by local authorities and a Welsh Government that are happy to preach sustainability but seem unable to practice it. I believe there is a duty on our representatives, who we elect and pay to represent us as public servants, to bring in a new act that regulates all new housing in Wales in a way that ensures the economic and societal sustainability of all areas of Wales first and foremost, and stops these bizarre un-asked for mass plans before they do any more damage.