Madam,

It seems to me entirely appropriate that planning in the Snowdonia and other national parks is dealt with by the park authority and not the local council.

It is local council planning departments that have a conflict of interest in that they generally have targets for new housing, so their priority is to meet those targets and protection of the environment comes second.

National park planning authorities’ primary concern is to protect the park ahead of allowing new development. That is exactly as it should be. There is no duplication, merely a division of planning work between the two bodies who, thankfully, apply different criteria to applications within and outside the park area.

Having had considerable experience of local council planners in Derbyshire before moving to Wales, I can assure you we do not want council planners with house-building targets let loose in national parks.

Yours etc,

Alan MacMaster, Barmouth.

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