Denbighshire urged to cost replacement development plan and close data gaps
Denbighshire County Council should establish the full cost and timetable for its replacement Local Development Plan and improve planning-service monitoring, Audit Wales has recommended.
A dated assessment
The report, dated July 2026 and published on 15 October, examines arrangements during the 2025–26 financial year. It finds clear short-term alignment between the service and council objectives, but says longer-term consistency is harder to demonstrate, partly because the existing plan’s intended period ended in 2021.
The cost has not been established
Auditors recorded a £148,000 reserve for completing the replacement plan. The planning department considered that insufficient, but the full resource requirement had not been assessed. The figure is a reserve identified by the review, not the estimated total cost or a newly announced October budget gap.
Three areas for improvement
The recommendations call for one comprehensive staffing business case, a resourced plan with milestones and a completion date, and better access to monitoring data. Audit Wales describes staffing requests as inconsistent and reactive, with delays contributing to unfilled posts. It also identifies gaps in quarterly performance returns for 2023–24 and 2024–25 and indicators without clear targets.
What the council’s update says
In its separate June 2026 update, the council says work on the evidence base and policies continues. It cites the pandemic, national-policy delays and updated household projections as obstacles to the timetable, and says it is reviewing the remaining work and resources. That update predates publication of the audit.
Existing policy still applies
The council says its adopted 2006–2021 plan and Future Wales remain the development plan until a replacement is adopted. The end of the plan’s intended period does not mean planning applications are decided without policy. The audit did not assess individual planning decisions or the council’s wider strategic management.
Background and supporting figures
Where this sits
The review records a £148,000 LDP reserve considered insufficient by the planning department, with full resource cost unassessed.
Three recommendations cover staffing business case, costed LDP timetable and complete outcome monitoring.
The council’s June2026 update says the old adopted plan remains in force until replacement, and describes external timetable pressures.