Agenda item

To submit the report of the Cabinet Member for Environment.

To agree to publish the Review Report in Appendix 1 to the report and to present it to Welsh Government, so that the preparation of the Replacement Plan can commence.

 

The Chair explained that a report on the next step of the process of reviewing the Local Development Plan was being submitted, and that this was not an opportunity to have a discussion on individual planning policies.  He explained, should the Council agree to proceed to hold a full review of the current plan, then there would be many opportunities to have input into individual policies and discuss specific fields at a later date. 

 

The Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Gareth Griffith, submitted a report seeking approval from the full Council to publish a Review Report and forward it to Welsh Government, in order to proceed with the work of preparing an Amended Plan.

 

The Assistant Head of the Environment Department elaborated on the content of the report.

 

Members were given an opportunity to make observations and ask questions.  The following matters were raised by individual members:-

 

·         It was noted that a lot of work had gone into the report, and the Cabinet Member and officers involved with this were thanked.

·         It was expressed that the phraseology and bureaucracy associated with the document was immense and incredible, and that the entire planning system was so complex, so that the majority of people, including elected members, did not fully understand what was going on.  It was suggested that the latest consultation work could be used as an example of that, since only 5 members had responded to this all-important consultation. 

·         Disappointment was expressed that officers were not of the opinion that the one out of almost 80 indicators used to save the Welsh language highlighted that harm was being caused to the language, and that it appeared, without Brexit and Covid, that no changes would be mentioned at all.

·         Concern was expressed about what exactly was being submitted, and what exactly would be returned from Welsh Government, and worse than that, there was major concern that the Joint Planning Policy Committee would be dealing with any changes. 

·         It was noted, in 2017, that the Joint Planning Policy Committee had given its approval to bring the plan before the Council, and it had been passed there by a whisker.  All members could do at the time was approve it or refuse it, and it was not possible to ask for more time in order for the new members at the time to have an opportunity to discuss the policies.

·         It was noted that we were seeing, time and time again, that planning policies were working against the wishes of members to seek to protect our Welsh communities, and it was concerned, when a response was received from Welsh Government, that the new members would not understand the importance or significance of this.

·         A wish to abolish the Joint Planning Policy Committee was expressed, so that Gwynedd Council implemented this on its own, but it was concerned that this would not happen, despite all evidence highlighting that there was a major difference between our wishes in Gwynedd and the wishes of Anglesey.

 

In response to these observations, the Cabinet Member noted:-

 

·         That sessions had been arranged for members, where the Planning Policy Department submitted information about this part of the review, and should the Council decide to forward it to Cardiff, the hard work would happen after the Elections in May.

·         That the work would continue and the Department had declared its willingness to listen, hold more sessions and consult.

 

The observations of the previous speaker were reiterated by other members, who noted:-

 

·         That members had only been given five days to read this 152-page document, and it was asked how they had been able to scrutinise and approve the report, particularly since we were now almost 4 hours into this meeting.

·         That these things were being dumped on us and being pushed through, and doubtless that the new Council would be told that they would not be able to change the document as the previous Council had adopted it.

·         That members had been told in 2017 that this was a 'live' document, but it was subsequently realised that it could not be changed for 3.5 years.

·         That sending this plan to the Government as it was did nothing but confirm the status quo, and we should think outside the box and be revolutionary.

·         That a number of the points raised during the public consultation, and that were at the core of our vision, i.e. the Welsh language, affordable housing for local people, local market housing, second homes and holiday homes, tourism and over-tourism, the Well-being Act, etc., was only a part of what was being submitted to the Government, and it was asked for assurance that approving the recommendation did not close the door on any full and detailed discussion on all of these matters.

·         There was concern that all we would be doing by adopting the recommendation was confirm what had been voted in favour of, by one vote, in 2017, with only some minor changes made.

·         That the question of separating from Anglesey was a question that the new Council would have to seriously consider.

 

It was asked whether approving the recommendation bound the Council to a joint local plan in the future. In response, it was explained that the current system of collaborating with Anglesey was not any under discussion at this meeting.  Should there be a wish to make a different decision on that, the right was there, and the Council could discuss that in the future.  It was noted further that the brief of the Full Council was that they wished to see a full review of the plan, and for this to happen quickly, and the first step to allow that to happen would be to publish a Review Report and send it to Welsh Government.

 

In response to some of the observations, an individual member noted:-

 

·         That it was not seen how having a full review of the plan could confirm the status quo in any way.

·         That he was disappointed with the allegation that elected members did not understand the planning system, and he had found that insulting.

·         That some were of the opinion that the 3.5 years it took to review the plan was too much time, and that it would be better to have a way to speed this up; however, it had to be borne in mind that the Council had passed this as a principle and had written to the Government to ask for the process to be sped up, but that the Government had said that this was not possible.

·         That this did not close the door on a discussion, but rather opened it, and the important points raised during the public consultation would be discussed in detail over the coming years.

 

In his closing comments, the Cabinet Member noted:-

 

·         Although he accepted the comment about the size of the document, that the report had been available on the Council's website for some months, but one had to go and look for it.

·         That he was disappointed that so few members had participated in the first consultation, and he pleaded on everyone to participate in the second consultation following the Election.

·         That the observations submitted during the first consultation were being considered in the second consultation, and therefore, there was no need to submit the same observations twice.

 

RESOLVED to agree to publish the Review Report in Appendix 1 to the report and to present it to Welsh Government, so that the preparation of the Replacement Plan can commence.