PLAID Cymru has questioned Powys County Council’s plan to build 5,500 new homes after new figures forecast a dramatic drop in the county’s population.

The Office for National Statistics published figures last week predicting a drop in Powys’ population from 133,000 in 2014 to 122,400 in 2039.

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: “Why, therefore, does the proposed Local Development Plan approved by the Powys council’s Cabinet continue to state the need to build 5,500 new houses? Where has the principle of sustainability gone, let alone common sense?

“We publicly call on Powys council and the Cabinet to amend the LDP with immediate effect to reflect the new statistics and to base the plan on local needs not on outdated, misinformed and irrelevant information.

“Put sustainability into action rather than pontificate about it.”