Agenda item

Approve the Model of Governance in Appendix 1 for the preparation of the Local Development Plan for inclusion in the Draft Delivery Agreement.

Agree to establish a 15-member Planning Policy Working Group with the Terms of Reference (Appendix 2) to support the preparation of the New Local Development Plan.

To delegate authority to the Head of Environment Department in consultation with the Head of Legal Services to make linguistic adjustments and minor editorial corrections to the Terms of Reference.

The report was submitted by Cllr Dafydd Meurig.

DECISION

To approve the Model of Governance in Appendix 1 for the preparation of the Local Development Plan for inclusion in the Draft Delivery Agreement.

To agree to establish a 15-member Planning Policy Working Group with the Terms of Reference (Appendix 2) to support the preparation of the New Local Development Plan.

To delegate authority to the Head of Environment Department in consultation with the Head of Legal Services to make linguistic adjustments and minor editorial corrections to the Terms of Reference.

DISCUSSION

It was reported on the need to establish a new governance arrangement to prepare a New Local Development Plan and planning policy matters for the Cyngor Gwynedd Planning Authority, following decisions to bring formal joint working arrangements with the Isle of Anglesey County Council to an end.

It was explained that the process of establishing the new Local Development Plan was part of a joint duty between the Cabinet and the Full Council. It was noted that this process was an approximately four-year period of work and there was a need to monitor the Local Development Plan, prepare Supplementary Planning guidance as well as undertake general planning policy work. The importance of all members taking ownership of the developments of this work was noted.

A suggestion was made to establish a Planning Policy Working Group with a membership of 15 Cyngor Gwynedd Members, based on political allocation, to support the process of forming and maintaining the Local Development Plan. It was noted that some of the main functions of the terms of reference would be:

·       Provide opinion and guidance on the draft documents of the Planning Policy Service as well as the draft documents of the Supplementary Planning Guidance, before the service makes arrangements to seek public feedback.

·       Provide opinion and guidance on the observations received by the public and any stakeholder group or forum during periods of public engagement or other consultations in the processes of the Local Development Plan and Supplementary Planning Guidance.

·       Provide opinion and guidance on the Annual Monitoring Report of the Local Development Plan and any document that is prepared as part of the process of reviewing the Local Development Plan.

It was confirmed that the Cabinet, the Full Council and the Communities Scrutiny Committee would have a role within these processes and a timetable of the process was shared. It was confirmed that there was a statutory requirement for this process to be submitted to the Full Council twice within the four-year period. It was elaborated that Service officers had timetabled for the updates to be submitted to the Full Council four times within this period, in order to correspond with key steps and to ensure that Members took ownership of the development process.

It was noted that all Council members would receive awareness raising sessions throughout the process when it would be timely to do so.

It was reported that this governance process would be a reflection of the previous joint-arrangement with the Isle of Anglesey County Council. It was elaborated that a large number of other local authorities used a similar arrangement to what had been recommended in the report.