Issue - meetings

To note the content of this report and the key milestones in the SDP programme.

The report was submitted by the Regional Strategic Development Planning Officer.

RESOLVED

To note the content of this report and the key milestones in the SDP programme.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

To bring Members up to speed with progress on the SDP, given that the last workshop took place in March 2026 and the Senedd Elections resulted in the cessation of formal Corporate Joint Committee (CJC) business during the pre-election period.

DISCUSSION

It was noted that the report’s purpose was to inform members and refresh members on where we are currently within the Strategic Development Plan (SDP) and where we intend to go in the next year. It was emphasised that this year is an important one politically and electorally, and therefore how and what work takes place in this period is of particular importance. It was explained that much of the work intended for this period involves evidence gathering and background work, which is opportune given the criticality of the year and the onset of the elections next May.

It was noted that the report contains five key parts, with the first part focusing on reflection on the key milestone of the approval of the delivery agreement for the SDP. It was noted that the delivery agreement was submitted formally in February 2026 and an endorsement was received by the Welsh Government soon after. It was noted that work has started in earnest in taking the delivery agreement forward.

The second part of the report focused on reflecting on the performance of last year and deciding on whether it was possible to claim a Welsh Government one-off in-year performance grant of up to £200,000 for recognition of the work and progress made. It was confirmed that given that the milestones were reached, the claim of the full £200,000 has been successful, which will go into the general balances of the CJC to support further budget pressures whenever they may occur, particularly in relation to the SDP.

The third part of the report focused on starting work in earnest on the SDP. It was noted that milestones had been set out within the report. It was highlighted that the SDP was currently in stage two of the plan-making process, termed the ‘pre-deposit preparation and consultation phase’, which includes a recruitment phase. It was emphasised that the current stage was an evidence-gathering stage. It was noted that the first part of this stage would include auditing what pre-existing information is available. Within this first part, it was noted that a Regional Scoping Meeting was held with Arup and all local authority representatives and various other bodies, including Natural Resources Wales, and then further individual policy meetings were held with each local authority to identify the scope, timelines, and breadth of the evidence bases currently held. It was explained that Arup would then take these evidence bases and consolidate, update, and bolster them for use in the SDP. It was noted this work would take until the end of the summer period  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7