Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

Councillors Stephen Churchman, Endaf Cooke, Annwen Daniels, Selwyn Griffiths, Sian Gwenllian, Annwen Hughes, Peredur Jenkins, Dyfrig Jones, Linda Wyn Jones, Eryl Jones-Williams, Beth Lawton, Linda Morgan, W.Roy Owen, Peter Read, Caerwyn Roberts, Mair Rowlands, Glyn Thomas, Ioan Thomas, Gethin Glyn Williams, Mandy Williams-Davies and Eurig Wyn.

To receive any declaration of personal interest.

No declarations of personal interest were received from any members present.

To receive any Chairman’s announcements.

The following were congratulated:-

·         Councillor Charles W Jones on being awarded a Bachelor in Theology degree (BTh) with honours from the South Africa Institute of Theology.

·         Everyone who was awarded in the Council at its Best Ceremony and the Interviews for Dafydd Orwig Memorial Prize the previous week.   Everyone who had been associated with the ceremony were thanked.

·         Janet Williams, Foster Carer with the Council for being awarded the Citizenship Award in this year's St David's Day Awards.

To receive any correspondence, communications or other business brought forward at the request of the Chairman.

None.

To note any items which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman so they may be considered.

None.

To consider a question which notice has been given.

The Chairman explained that Councillor Eurig Wyn has submitted a question prior to the last meeting of the Council and the question had been submitted after the closing date and he was to allow the question to be asked at this Extraordinary Meeting of the Council.

A Question from Councillor Eurig Wyn (and asked by Councillor Hefin Williams in the absence of Councillor Eurig Wyn)

"What financial community benefits will be afforded to the community of Waunfawr following the damage done to the area as a result of FIRST HYDRO developments to establish a hydro-electricity scheme in the area?"

Answer from Councillor Dafydd Meurig, Cabinet Member for Planning.

(The Cabinet Member's written response was distributed to the members in advance).

"Contributions to local communities considerations are not part of the planning regime and we are not aware that a specific financial community benefit has been given to the community of Waunfawr as a result of the development of the Dinorwig Power Station.  However, it must be noted that the economic benefit which this scheme has provided during the construction and operational phases up until the present day has been substantial for the local area , which itself has benefited the community.

A supplementary Question from Councillor Eurig Wyn (and asked by Councillor Hefin Williams in the absence of Councillor Eurig Wyn)

"Will the Council, through the Planning Department, agree to investigate similar developments in Scotland where the County Councils and the Government have created an effective strategy to fund such schemes ensuring that benefits are provided to the communities?"

Answer from Councillor Dafydd Meurig, Cabinet Member for Planning.

(The Cabinet Member's written response was distributed to the members in advance).

"The guidance of the Scottish Government also emphasises that financial community benefit is not a voluntary arrangement that is entirely separate from the planning process and, therefore, the same is true in this case but the preliminary work has been undertaken by officers from the Council's  Property Service and the Economy and Community Department to try to scope the the economic/community benefits that could be associated with renewable energy schemes.    Additionally, it is important to state that in situations where a renewable scheme is on land where the Council is the landowner, which is true in the case of Glyn Rhonwy, namely an application that is currently under consideration, the Council will consider opportunities to negotiate community benefits as part of the arrangement for the disposal of the land.

In accordance with section 4.12.1 (d) of the Constitution a letter was received from Cllr. Aled Evans which was signed by nine other councillors asking for a meeting of the Council to discuss "aspects of the LDP (Gwynedd and Anglesey), that is, the method used to evaluate the impact of this proposed plan on the Welsh language. We feel that what has been done is unacceptable regarding protecting the Welsh language, and we would like to consider further steps to reverse this weakness.”

The Chairman explained that in accordance with section 4.12.1 (d) of the Constitution, a letter had been received from Cllr Aled Evans, signed by nine other councillors requesting an extraordinary meeting of the Council to discuss"aspects of the LDP (Gwynedd and Anglesey), that is, the method used to evaluate the impact of this proposed plan on the Welsh language.   We feel that what has been done us unacceptable regarding protecting the Welsh language and we would like further steps to reverse the weakness."

The Chairman emphasised that it would be this matter only that would be under discussion and constitutionally it would not be possible to discuss any other aspect of the plan.

The Monitoring Officer provided guidance regarding the general legal and constitutional position regarding the discussion and he noted:-

·         The development of the Deposit Plan was in the hands of the Joint-Planning Policy Committee and decisions on the consultation, the response to the consultation and its submission for an independent inquiry had been delegated by this Council to the Joint-committee since 2011.

·         On 29 January of this year, the Joint-committee decided that the plan would go forward to an independent inquiry and on that basis the decision was notified and the preparatory work was commenced.

·         This decision was in accordance with the Joint-committee's delegated powers and it was satisfied, on behalf of Gwynedd Council, that the plan was sound enough to proceed to the inquiry and that the process and the response was robust to proceed to an inquiry.   Consequently, it was not legally possible for the Council to overturn this decision. 

·         It had been a joint decision with Anglesey and there was also a significance to this decision for those who has supported or objected to the plan.

·         There was a process which allowed objections to the plan to be addressed by the Inspector and it was likely that there would be hearings on the response to some of these issues also and, therefore, the objections would be weighed up. 

·         The request for an extraordinary meeting of the Council did not state a specific notice of motion but rather a request for a discussion only. According to the Council's Constitution, in order to have a discussion there had to be a proposal and one of the rare occasions when a proposal could be made without a notice was by means of a recommendation by a Cabinet Member.    Therefore, the Cabinet Member for Planning intended to submit a proposal to open the discussion.   Then, it would be a matter for the members to consider whether they accepted the motion or submit appropriate amendments.

It was proposed and seconded that the Procedural Rules should be set aside to allow any member to submit a proposal to the Council. 

A registered vote was called for on the proposal to set the Procedural Rules aside.

In accordance with the Procedural Rules, the following vote was recorded:

In favour: (32) Councillors - Craig ab Iago, Anwen Davies, Elwyn Edwards, Trevor Edwards,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.