Our Services

Planning Aid Wales is a registered charity that advocates and supports community involvement in planning in Wales.  Founded in 1978, we have almost 40 years’ experience of helping individuals and community groups to understand and engage with the planning system.

Our core-funded services include delivering planning training to a range of audiences, developing easy read planning guidance and a free planning advice helpline.

We also undertake projects and commissions on behalf of Welsh Government, Local Planning Authorities and Community and Town Councils.

Training on all aspects of the planning system

Planning Aid Wales can deliver informative and engaging training courses for elected members, community and town councils, community groups and organisations across Wales.

Our ‘off the shelf’ courses last 2.5 hours and consistently receive excellent feedback. Topics include:

• Understanding Section 106 Planning Obligations
• An Introduction to Local Development Plans
• Responding to Planning Applications
• An Introduction to Planning Enforcement
• An Introduction to Place Plans
• An Introduction to Heritage Issues and the Planning System
• The Value of Engagement in Planning in Wales
• Solving Problems with Planning Online
• Planning Policy for Beginners

We are also able to prepare bespoke training courses tailored to your needs. For more information and prices of our training services, contact us.

Community engagement support

Planning Aid Wales is an advocate of meaningful community engagement in planning.  Through our work, we seek to raise the knowledge and capacity of communities to engage, but not just in the activity at hand – we seek to enable people to effectively participate in planning activities on an ongoing basis.

We are available to support Local Planning Authorities on community engagement in the Local Development Plan process.

As an independent third party organisation, we have found time and again that communities are willing to engage with us, even where Local Planning Authorities have encountered barriers to engagement in the past. As part of our process, we encourage active collaboration between local planning authority staff and community groups, thereby building better relationships for future engagement. We take no view on any local policy or specific development; we only support individuals and communities to express their own views effectively.

Our community engagement services include:

• Community engagement strategy development
• Capacity & consensus building training workshops
• Seldom heard groups engagement and youth engagement workshops
• Place Plan support, including training and Place Plan development
• Easy-read LDP documents
• Awareness-raising support

For more information on our engagement support services, please contact us.

Place Plan advice & support

Planning Aid Wales has produced comprehensive guidance on Place Plans for local authority planners and communities, which is available at www.placeplans.org.uk

We are also able to offer support services to both Community and Town Councils, Local Planning Authorities and community groups in the preparation of Place Plans.  Our services include:

• ‘An introduction to Place Plans’ training workshops
• ‘Should we prepare a Place Plan?’ – making the decision workshops
• Place Plan development and project management support
• Community Engagement exercises & events

For more information or to discuss our Place Plan support services, please contact us.

Easy-read / accessible guidance development

Planning Aid Wales has developed a number of ‘easy-read’ planning guidance documents on behalf of Welsh Government and Local Planning Authorities.  Examples include:

• Place Plans
• Flintshire LDP: Easy-read Strategic Options guide
• Access Statement Guidance
• Planning for Gypsy and Traveller Caravan Sites Guidance

For more information or to commission us to prepare planning guidance, please contact us.

For examples of completed work, please see our recent successes page.