Cymdeithas yr Iaith are calling on Eifion Bowen, Head of Planning at Carmarthenshire County Council, to end the process of allowing Property Development Companies to prepare their own Impact Studiese on the Welsh Language.

Angharad Clwyd, Dyfed Field Officer for Cymdeithas yr Iaith, in her letter to Eifion Bowen said:"It is obvious that the development companies will be biased in favour of thedevlopments and lack any expertise in the field od assessing the impact of such developments on the Welsh language. A recent example of the elementary mistakes caused by this lack of expertise is the misinterpretation of figures quoted in Lovell Development Company's study of the impact of the development at Porthyrhyd.The company claimed that there had been an increase in the percentage of Welsh speakers in Carmarthenshire from 55% to 64% between the census of 1991 and 2001.The reality was that the wording of the question had changed by 2001, to include the number of people that had an understanding of the Welsh Language.The truth is that the figure had decreased from 55% to 50% over the ten year period. Planning for the Welsh Language deserves the same professional attention as any other field and these amateur assessments by the development companies are simply not acceptable.We ask the County Council therefore to set up an in-house team to assess the local need for housing and the impact of any possible development on the local community and on the language. The same team could be responsible to assess the effect of possible school closures on the community and the Welsh language as it is obvious that the Education Department has no expertise in planning.We are confident that you will be in favour of increasing the professional standards of the Council by taking these steps."