The Welsh Assembly Government has made a formal objection to a scheme by Pembrokeshire National Park which restricts who can build within the park's boundaries.

The park introduced a "local needs" policy earlier this year, meaning only local people, or those who could prove real need, were allowed to construct new houses or convert existing buildings to homes.

It is a policy already implemented by other National Parks to help local people compete in the housing market

Rhodri Glyn John, Plaid Cymru AM

But the assembly has now said the policy is incompatible with its own all-Wales planning policies.

Plaid Cymru has condemned the objection, saying the Assembly Government is backtracking in its statutory obligation to promote sustainable development.

Plaid's development spokesman Rhodri Glyn Thomas said the policy was a "genuine attempt to create sustainable communities in the area", although there was no guarantee it would have been successful.

"This policy by the Pembrokshire Costal National Park would have to have been monitored carefully by the park," he said.

"It is a policy already implemented by other National Parks such as Exmoor, the Lake District and Peak District to help local people compete in the housing market."

The assembly's objections will almost certainly mean a public inquiry will take place, probably in the autumn of 2003.

The national park introduced the policy after claiming it had reached "environmental planning capacity".

It was seen as a measure to halt the number of holiday and retirement homes - which have been blamed for pushing up house prices.

Lack of evidence

The policy was devised as a part of a joint Unitary Development Plan (UDP) with Pembrokeshire County Council, which sets out a strategy for development decisions for the next 15 years.

The policy restricts building for local needs only

Part of the plan dealt with a "local needs" policy, proposing that no new housing or conversions would be permitted within the park's area unless it met the need for residential accommodation for local people or an "essential need to live locally".

The UDP as a whole is not due to be implemented until 2004, and proposals have been put out for consultation for the past six weeks to get feedback from interested parties.

One of the 4,500 responses has come from the assembly - which argued that the local needs policy runs contrary to its own planning strategy.

The assembly has said not enough evidence has been provided to support the adoption of such a change to housing policy.

The park and Pembrokeshire council will now have to consider the objections to the plan - if they cannot be resolved, a public inquiry will be called.

Legally, however, the assembly has the final say on planning matters.

Pembrokeshire National Park

Welsh language pressure groups such as Cymuned had welcomed the policy as a step forward in protecting rural, mostly Welsh-speaking communities.

In March, Snowdonia National Park agreed in principle to a similar scheme.

Connection to area

Policies like the one in Pembrokeshire have already been adopted by English national parks such as Exmoor, the Peak District and the Lake District.

In order to qualify for local need status, a person must have a three-year residency qualification, family connections, previous residency or previous or current employment.

Pembrokeshire's coastline is a big attraction

It is estimated that the national park receives an average of 100 such applications annually and it was envisaged that the number of future recommendations of such applications would be reduced drastically.

Pembrokeshire National Park stretches from Tenby in the south through St David's and Newport as far north as the outskirts of St Dogmaels - a distance of 180 miles.

The policy referred to the need to protect what were described as sustainable communities as well as Welsh language communities.