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By
<a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/authors/rachael-misstear/" rel="author" class="">Rachael Misstear</a> </li><li class="">
<a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/welsh-language-risk-lifestyle-refugees-4306224#comments" class="">8 Comments</a>
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<h1 class="">
Welsh language at risk from 'lifestyle refugees flooding into its heartlands'
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<a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/by-date/12-06-2013">
12 Jun 2013 17:10
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<p class="">Large new housing developments catering for commuters,
retirees and 'lifestyle refugees' are putting the future of the language
at risk, a council meeting has been told</p>
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<p>‘Lifestyle refugees’ leaving cities for the countryside are
threatening the Welsh language in more rural communities, it has been
claimed.</p><p>Large new estates for retirees and commuters were also said to be having a negative impact on the language.</p><p>It was also claimed that tough new planning policies were needed to protect the language in its heartlands.</p>
<p>Census
figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in
December showed an overall drop of 2% in the number of people who speak
Welsh to 19% of the population.</p><p>It also suggested Welsh was now a
minority language in two counties which are still considered among its
heartlands, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.</p><p>Those concerned for
the future of Welsh believe oversized developments in or near small
communities are rapidly eroding the language.</p><p>At a meeting of
Carmarthenshire council, Plaid Cymru councillor Alun Lenny put forward a
motion to call on the Welsh Government to set up a statutory agency to
assess the effect housing developments have on the language in order to
advise planners.</p><p>It follows approval of plans to build almost 300
houses at Penybanc, near Ammanford, despite opposition by language
campaigners and residents. Other large developments are also in the
pipeline, and several have been built in recent years.</p><p>Mr Lenny said current policies are “nothing more than froth”.</p><p>“The
Carmarthenshire UDP [Unitary Development Plan] states clearly that it
is ‘this council’s policy to resist developments that would have an
adverse affect on the long-term vitality of the Welsh language and
culture’.</p><p>“The LDP [Local Development Plan] strategic policy also
states a need for the ‘regard to the needs of the interests of the Welsh
language. While the proposed development is located within a linguistic
sensitive area, the applicant may be requested to submit a linguistic
impact statement’.”</p><p>The planning committee member said current
policies cause frustration for the committee who don’t know how much to
attention should be given to the Welsh language.</p><p>Questioning who
should define an area as “linguistically sensitive”, he said the
practicality of asking a developer to prepare a statement on the
linguistic impact is like “asking the fox to look after the geese”.</p><p>Llanelli councillor Sian Caiach said mistakes had already been made and the council had “sold out” the Welsh language.</p><p>She referred to the impact of a 400-house development near Ffos Las race course on neighbouring Carway.</p>
<p>She said the council was persuaded to add 200 houses to that development.</p><p>“We are suddenly putting in more people than are in the existing village,” she said.</p><p>“Looking
back on it, we sold out the Welsh language in doing that and we have
to think it is not just about the money, it is about culture and we have
got to get a way of keeping this language alive.</p><p>“It’s fine to
have a ‘retropectoscope’ but I think that perhaps we should have thought
that with our big planning policies for building large attractive
estates for retirees, commuters and lifestyle refugees from the cities
and people who like second homes for weekends [while] not [building] a
large number for first time buyers.</p><p>“These people are likely to come from outside the county and likely to not speak Welsh.”</p><p>But
while all councillors spoke in favour of protecting the Welsh language,
some insisted that the council should wait for the conclusions of its
own cross-party task and finish group on the Welsh language before
representations are made to Welsh Government.</p><p>Councillor Ceri Thomas suggested other cultural changes have a more detrimental impact than planning issues.</p><p>He
backed an amendment, which was approved, calling for the task and
finish group to deliberate and make recommendations as to what
representations should be made to the Welsh Government.</p><p>“We have set up a select committee of the great and the good to look at why the language has deteriorated,” he said.</p><p>“I
don’t think it’s very hard to understand why, when we have 82
television stations through the medium of English and then you look at
S4C.”</p><p>Carmarthenshire council's head of planning Eifion Bowen
said: “As part of UDP deliberations, approved by a planning inspector,
sites that have been allocated as suitable for housing were subject to
various tests and considerations, one of these being impact on the Welsh
language.</p><p>“For the site to have been allocated, it would have
been deemed that the impact upon the Welsh language would be acceptable
to allow the consideration of the site as one allocated for housing
development.”</p><p>A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: "Iaith Byw
makes a commitment to finalise the review of planning policy and
associated technical advice on the Welsh language and this is reflected
in the Welsh Language Strategy Action Plan for 2013-14. A revised
version of TAN 20 will be published in due course."</p>
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