Agenda item

To present the draft Delivery Agreement.

1.    To accept the report, noting the observations made during the discussion.

2.    To recommend to the Cabinet that 'consultation' should be added as a potential risk to the Local Development Plan.

The Vice-chair chaired the discussion on this item.

The report was presented by the Cabinet Member for the Environment, the Assistant Head of Environment and the Planning Manager. Attention was drawn briefly to the following principal points: 

It was explained that a new Local Development Plan was being prepared following a recent review. It was further noted that the development process was technical with several statutory steps to be followed.

It was confirmed that the first step was to adopt the Delivery Agreement. It was explained that the process of developing the Local Development Plan was split into seven steps with an outline timetable and key consultation periods noted for each aspect.

It was noted that the observations of the Communities Scrutiny Committee would be taken into consideration when the Delivery Agreement was submitted to the Cabinet on 10 October 2023. The matter would be submitted to the Planning Policy Working Group in January before returning to Cabinet and submitted to the Full Council in due course.

Consideration was given to the possibility of adding 'consultation' as a risk within Appendix 5 of the Plan (Potential Risks and Response Methods). It was noted that it was evident from the document that consultation was an important part of the delivery agreement but had not been noted as a risk. Namely, the risk of not consulting was sufficient. It was further explained that as it was such an important element, it would be beneficial to include it as a risk to ensure that it received regular attention. It was accepted that the timetable to complete the Plan was challenging, and a discussion took place regarding the possibility that it would be difficult to consult effectively within this timescale with a high number of responses reaching officers, requiring time for their analysis. A question was asked on what was had been learnt from the previous consultation, and whether those lessons had been learnt to feed into the forthcoming consultation.

The fact that the list of intended consultation bodies included under-represented groups and that the consultation was open for everyone was welcomed. Reference was made to the consultation methods, and concern was noted that they were the usual consultation methods. A question was asked on how to ensure responses from under-represented groups, to identify any gaps in the responses early and take action. It was noted that there was a role for councillors to support the work.

In response to these considerations, the Cabinet Member for Environment noted that it was extremely important for the Council to take ownership of this plan, by ensuring that Members encouraged anyone who was suitable to complete any consultations and participate in any discussions on the Plan when appropriate.  It was explained that the Department had revised its consultation methods following past feedback, with the hope that it would lead to a higher number of responses this time.

Attention was drawn to the fact that the Plan would be submitted to the Full Council on four separate occasions. It was explained that the statutory requirement was to submit the Plan twice, and therefore Cyngor Gwynedd was making every effort to ensure that the process was inclusive and provided a number of opportunities to receive feedback on it.

The Planning Policy Manager stated that an Equality Impact Assessment had been undertaken by officers at the beginning of the process of producing a new Plan. This assessment would ensure that the voices of groups and organisations within our communities were heard. It was noted that this had been beneficial when developing Appendix 6 (List of Consultees) within the Plan. It was explained that a high number of consultees had been listed, including bodies that represented the interest of disabled people, business owners and bodies representing the interests of Welsh culture. It was acknowledged that all the potential bodies had not been listed in the Appendix, and assurance was given that this list was not exhaustive. It was confirmed that consultations with additional bodies would be delivered if the need arose.

Assurance was given that Members were provided with regular updates regarding the development of the Local Development Plan.

RESOLVED:

1.       To accept the report, noting the observations made during the discussion.

2.    To recommend to the Cabinet that 'consultation' should be added as a potential risk to the Local Development Plan.