Is Welsh Planning Policy protecting agricultural land in practice?

The tension between development and agricultural land take is one of the aspects covered in Digging the dirt. Improving Wales' soil health recently published by the Welsh Parliament Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee. The publication was the follow-up to an Inquiry for which evidence sessions were held in May and June 2025 with the following terms of reference:

• the role and state of soils in agricultural systems;
• monitoring of soil health;
• classification of soils for land use;
• the policy and legislative mechanisms to protect soils and productive land (including the Sustainable Farming Scheme, National Minimum Standards and planning policy); and
• the potential for legal frameworks and targets for soils.

While the report highlights some success, it also sets out several areas where the Welsh Government could make improvements, for example, the development of a new decision-making framework to ‘address different types of land use and where one should be prioritised over the other’.  A recommendation derived from the Committee’s view that ‘the current planning system is not working as well as it should’ as Wales’s ‘best and most versatile land’ is currently being developed. Such a framework would help planners make sustainable choices amid competing land-use pressures, enabling development in the right place and preserving the best Welsh soil resources for future generations.