Monmouthshire County Council’s controversial Replacement Local Development Plan (RLDP) is now hanging by a thread, as a procedural failing threatens to delay a key vote on its adoption by up to four months. A failure to properly advertise the Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) hearings has forced a pause in the process, pushing the final vote likely into next summer. This delay carries significant political and financial implications, as most of the Labour councillors who have supported the plan are expecting to lose their seats in the local elections in May.

There was no wriggle room in the timetable. The final vote on whether to adopt or reject the RLDP had been scheduled for what was expected to be the final full council meeting before the local elections on Thursday, March 4. This in itself seemed irresponsible, but it is how the Labour/Green coalition has operated for much of this term, usually holding its first vote on the annual budget just hours before the legal deadline to set a budget.

But now, due to an administrative error identified by the Welsh Government’s planning inspectorate, PEDW, the hearings scheduled for July have been pushed back to October and the final vote on adoption is likely to be held after the local elections. The RLDP has only had the backing of Labour councillors and two other councillors, one Green and one ‘independent’, who always vote with Labour. But Labour councillors are openly telling residents they’re not expecting to be re-elected. In the Senedd election, Labour didn’t come first in a single one of the 39 Monmouthshire wards. A couple were won by Plaid Cymru and either the Conservatives or Reform UK came first in all the others.

If the RLDP isn’t passed, it means the council has effectively wasted millions of pounds and years’ worth of work. The council would then need to start the RLDP process all over again. It feels incredibly irresponsible for the cabinet to put the council in this position.

The RLDP has come in for particular criticism for its proposed overdevelopment of certain communities with insufficient investment in infrastructure. While we need more housing, some sites raise legitimate concerns. Thousands of people have engaged in the process since it began in 2022, but it’s extraordinary that the flagship policy of the Labour administration could fall, not because of its strengths or weaknesses but because of a failure to follow due process.