Agenda item

To accept and note the information in the report.

The report was submitted by Cllr Dafydd Meurig.      

DECISION 

To accept and note the information in the report. 

DISCUSSION 

The report was presented, noting what had happened to date in relation to the priorities within the current Council Plan. An update was provided on the situation regarding second homes and short-term holiday accommodation in the County, noting that the Department was leading on the work of preparing an Article 4 Direction to give planning authorities the right to control second homes. It was noted that this work would continue with the intention of bringing a report to the Cabinet in the new year.   

Reference was made to some challenges facing the Department, including the planning service and staffing challenges, specifically within the planning enforcement service. It was reported that there were 740 open applications at the end of June, which had reduced to 586 open applications by the end of October.  The huge work that had been achieved was praised, while acknowledging that there were challenges that remained, but the Department was doing its best to address the demand on the service. 

Similarly, a report was provided on the work to clear the backlog in the field of Land Charges, and to reduce the average time taken to process those applications.  It was noted that interim staff had been appointed and that the service was in the process of transferring to a new computer system in the hope that it would speed up the process once the system was in place.  

In conclusion, the successes within the Department were noted, including 90% of the work in the field of Street Works being carried out by contractors within the original timetable.  

Observations arising from the discussion 

·                It was noted that the work completed by the Department was huge and that it played a major part in the priorities within the Council Plan. It was considered that they deserved praise for their achievements. 

·                Pride was expressed in the fact that the time taken to process Land Charges times was reducing and the work of the Department in dealing with these issues was acknowledged. It was obvious that the Department was trying its best, and was succeeding to tackle the workload, and it was suggested that the Department could share these efforts and solutions in an effort to change perceptions. 

·                The Department was wished well in the work of taking over some aspects of Highways and Municipal services.  

·                A question was raised about the control of motorhomes, and whether the timetable noted in the report was realistic in relation to capacity and the planning application timetable.  

·                In response, the Assistant Head of Department noted that there were challenges such as the identification of suitable sites, which had been challenging due to planning restrictions. It was noted that planning applications should have been submitted for the sites before Christmas, which demonstrated that the timetable had slipped. It was confirmed that discussion was continuing in relation to funding matters with Visit Wales, led by the Economy and Community Department. It was hoped that decisions would be made swiftly on the planning applications in order for the development phase to move forward.  

·                An update was requested on the 20 miles per hour scheme in villages. It was highlighted that was an element of confusion regarding who was leading the scheme.  

·                In response, it was noted that Welsh Government was eager to change the speed limit from 30 mph to 20 mph in villages. It was believed that this would improve air quality and make villages safer. It was reported that this was a Welsh Government decision, and discussions had taken place with Local Authorities with the intention of implementing it by April 2023. It was noted that there were some situations where the speed limit would remain at 30, consultants would be appointed to examine the exceptions and consultation would take place soon with Community Councils. It was reported that the information would be updated on the Members' Portal to ensure that Councillors were aware of the campaign. This was timely as awareness needed to be raised about the consultation period with Community Councils. Exceptions would be considered, but on the whole, everywhere with a 30mph speed limit currently within villages / street light systems would soon change to 20mph. 

·                A further observation was made that a number of Councils objected to this change, with questions arising about the practicality of the scheme. It was reported that a request to defer the scheme had been made to Welsh Government due to the current financial crisis as it appeared to be an expensive project. 

·                A question was asked about public transport issues, with a request for an update on the discussion regarding bus arrangements throughout Wales. Concern was expressed about the practicality of this in rural locations. 

·                In response it was noted that a report had been submitted to the Communities Scrutiny Committee some weeks ago about public transport. It was noted that Transport for Wales and Welsh Government provided support to Local Authorities to examine the networks and improve them. It was acknowledged that this was challenging in rural areas. It was reported that improvements were evident in some services, and that re-designing a service had led to benefits to local communities. Having said this, it was noted that the partnerships were struggling to meet the additional costs. Reference was made to the innovative electric bus scheme, and the provision to charge electric buses in Porthmadog. This meant that the Council would be requested to contribute towards this work. It was noted that improvements had been made in the public transport provision, but the transportation service had overspent by over £300,000 this year, and therefore it was a difficult situation in attempting to improve provision while contributing to the improvement.