A plan to ban English speakers from moving into a new housing estate in a Welsh coastal village has been ruled illegal.
The village council of Trefor, on the North Wales coast, said it would only support building the cluster of 15 homes on the condition that they were sold to people who could speak Welsh.
It claimed this was a ‘golden opportunity’ to be the first planning authority in Wales to ‘impose a language condition on a new social housing estate’.
But county planners at Gwynedd Council dismissed the landmark attempt, and ruled that authorities must not ‘introduce elements of discrimination based on their linguistic ability’.
It said: ‘Policies should not seek to control housing occupancy on linguistic grounds. The use of a planning condition to restrict occupancy of the houses to Welsh speakers only would therefore be unlawful.’
Trefor is a village of around 1,000, and is predominantly Welsh-speaking.
Manon Williams, a resident of six years, said: ‘The Welsh language is already dying. It would be nice to house people that are willing to learn or Welsh speakers already.’
Gareth Jones, who grew up in the village, said the plan was ‘a good idea’ that demonstrates residents are ‘committed to the village’.
A council wants a Welsh-language condition before it approves building 15 affordable homes (pictured) in the Welsh-speaking village of Trefor
The village of Trefor (marked by the pin) is on Wales’ northern coastline, in the county of Gwynedd, which has the highest proportion of Welsh speakers in the county
Manon Williams said it would be good to bring in people who spoke Welsh, or would be willing to learn
He added: ‘We have to preserve the Welsh language, and first choice is Welsh in my opinion.’
Maureen, who has lived in the village for 28 years, told ITV: ‘It would be nice to have the Welsh. It matters where they’re coming from.’
Despite the rejection by Gwynedd Council, Wales’s Deputy Welsh Language Commissioner, Osian Llywelyn, said he is ‘eager’ for more policies ‘that contribute to strengthening these communities’.
He said: ‘The sustainability of communities with a high density of Welsh speakers is essential to the future of the language.’
The planning application, made by Grŵp Cynefin, proposes a variety of ‘fully affordable’ homes on land in the north-west of the village, minutes’ walk from the coast.
The one and two-story semi-detached houses would be a mix of social-rented, intermediate affordable rental and part-ownership, with gardens and parking provisions.
The full application also includes associated developments, new vehicular access, an estate road, landscaping and a sustainable surface water drainage area.
During a consultation held on the plans, the community council said it had ‘no objection to the application per se’ – provided two conditions were met.
These were that the proposal be managed under a lettings policy, as opposed to the common housing allocation policy, as well as the Welsh language requirement.
The homes were proposed for a field in the north-west of the village, minutes’ walk from the coast
Maureen said she would prefer see Welsh people move into the village
Before the ruling, Trefor Council said: ‘We understand that the Welsh Language Commissioner has received a legal opinion, which states unequivocally that it would not be illegal to make “able to speak Welsh” a condition for the letting of social housing.
‘We also understand that the commissioner has asked Cyngor Gwynedd, along with housing associations operating within the county, to consider this vital issue seriously.’
It said: ‘This can give a decisive and solid start to the preservation of the soul of our nation and the few remaining fragile areas.
‘We beg for your willingness to do so and to show our people that Cyngor Gwynedd’s mission for our language is genuine, sincere and uncompromising.’
But not all locals were so enthusiastic about the idea.
A local Welsh businessman, who asked not to be named, had warned: ‘Nationalists might be holding power in Cardiff within months.
‘This discrimination could be a sign of things to come for the English-speaking majority in Wales.’
Meanwhile, Reform Wales argued that homes should be for all Welsh people, regardless of ‘whether they speak Welsh or English’.
The county of Gwynedd, with a population of about 120,000, was found in the 2021 census to have the highest proportion of Welsh speakers in the country, with 64.4 per cent of people aged three or older able to speak Welsh.