In seeking to support the wider economic and social needs of the Plan Area, the County Borough Council will seek to regulate development so as to conserve and, where possible, enhance the Plan Area’s natural environment, countryside and coastline.  This will be achieved by:

1. Safeguarding the Plan Area’s biodiversity, geology, habitats, history and landscapes through the protection and enhancement of sites of international, national, regional and local importance, in line with Policy DP/6.
2. Designating selected areas of Green Wedge in proximity to the Urban Development Strategy Area to accommodate development to meet the housing needs of the community but also controlling further growth, in line with Policy NTE/2 – ‘Green Wedges and Meeting the Development Needs of the Community’ and Table NTE/2a.  New Green Wedges will be designated between Craigside & Penrhynside and at Old Colwyn (between Coed Coch Road and Peulwys Lane) to prevent coalescence of the settlements and retain the open character of those areas, in line with Policy NTE/3 – New Green Wedges’.
3. Retaining and controlling the identity of individual settlements and the open countryside through the use of settlement boundaries to control development.
4. Where appropriate and necessary, improving the quality of statutory and non-statutory landscapes and areas of biodiversity value affected by development, through management agreements, including improved planting, landscape and maintenance specifications, in line with the Development Principle Policies and Policy NTE/4 – ‘Biodiversity’.
5. Working with developers to safeguard protected species and enhance their habitats in line with Policies DP/6 and NTE/4 and LDP5 – ‘Biodiversity in Planning’ SPG.
6. Seeking to minimise the loss of Grade 2 and 3a agricultural land to new development, in particular, in the east of the Urban Development Strategy Area, in line with Policy DP/6.
7. Respecting, retaining or enhancing the local character and distinctiveness of the individual Landscape Character Areas in line with Policy NTE/5 – ‘Landscape Character Areas’ and as shown on the Proposals Map.
8. Protecting the Coastal Zone in line with Policy NTE/6 – ‘The Coastal Zone’.
9. Promoting energy efficiency and renewable technologies in development in line with Policy NTE/7 –‘Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies in New Development’.
10. Preventing, reducing or remedying all forms of pollution including air, light, noise, soil and water, in line with Policy DP/6.