Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Cabinet Members and Officers were welcomed to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillor Annwen Hughes, local member for Llanbedr.

No declarations of personal interest were received.

There were no urgent items.

There were no matters arising from overview and scrutiny.

To authorise the making of a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) in respect of the A496 Llanbedr Road Improvement Scheme.

To authorise the Head of Environment in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and the Head of Legal Services to acquire all necessary interests in the land set out in Appendix 5 of the report to deliver the A496 Llanbedr Road Improvement Scheme and, where required to take all necessary steps to acquire those interests by way of a CPO including pursuing its confirmation with the Welsh Ministers should the Council fail to reach a negotiated settlement for the purchase of those interests within the scheme timescales.

The report was presented, and it was noted that the Cabinet was asked to authorise two things. Firstly, permission to make a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) in respect of the A496 Llanbedr Road Improvement Scheme.
Secondly, to authorise the Head of Environment Department, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and the Head of Legal Services, to acquire all necessary interests to deliver the Llanbedr Road Improvement Scheme.

One change to the report was noted. In point 2.3 - European Funding - the reported noted that the 'funding would be spent by the end of March 2019'. This had been deleted and the date changed to December 2022 which was the date which had now been agreed with Welsh Government via the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO). It should be noted that Council officials meet on a monthly basis with WEFO to update them on progress with the project and that they were willing to consider extending the date further as the work progressed.

The Head of Environment Department added that this would give assurance for the department to realise the scheme in accordance with the timeframe but that in the meantime they would continue to negotiate with landowners to reach a purchase agreement.

It was noted that restrictions on the timeframe as a result of the funding situation remained and that the ability to issue a draft order would facilitate any delay.

Members were reminded that the scheme had been submitted before the National Park planning authority twice in the past but that the report submitted to the Cabinet today was a different phase of the scheme. It was said that lands were required in order to secure access to the aerospace site to enable any further developments.

The discussion was opened for members to ask further questions. Observations on the scheme were provided including the acknowledgement that it had been underway for some considerable time and that developments which ensured that the scheme would be realised were welcome. It was noted that the Environment Department should be thanked or their perseverance with the scheme to ensure that funding would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.