Shaping Wales’s Future: Starting the National Conversation
Where do we want Wales to be by 2050, and how can planning help us get there?
Welsh Government has launched a consultation on the review of the National Development Framework (NDF), beginning a National Conversation about Wales’s future.
As part of this process, Welsh Government is bringing together local authorities and key stakeholders through interactive roundtable discussions, exploring the opportunities and challenges facing Wales through the goals of the Well-being of Future Generations Act.
On 30 September, Hannah Dineen, Director of Stakeholder Engagement at Grasshopper, joined the first stakeholder event in Cardiff.
Several important themes emerged from the discussions:
- Delivering the right mix of homes in the right places to create sustainable, cohesive communities.
- Recognising digital connectivity as essential infrastructure, particularly in reducing inequalities between communities.
- Creating a clearer planning framework, avoiding duplication between national, regional and local plans and allowing local plans to focus on genuinely local issues.
- Engaging communities earlier, when there is still an opportunity to influence proposals, build trust and potentially reduce delays later in the planning process.
These discussions highlight the importance of meaningful engagement in shaping both the future NDF and the development proposals that follow.
The consultation is open until 20 November 2026, providing an opportunity for communities, businesses and planning professionals to contribute.