Agenda item

In accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, Councillor Dewi Jones will propose as follows:-

 

1.      Cyngor Gwynedd states that we believe responsibility for the Crown Estate should be devolved to the Welsh Government. Any profits generated by the Crown Estate, here on Welsh lands and waters, should remain in Wales, for the benefit of our residents and communities. Responsibility for the Crown Estate is already devolved to the Scottish Government.

 

2.      This Council also states our dissatisfaction that we are obliged to pay annual fees (in the form of leases) to ensure that Gwynedd residents and visitors have access to various sites, including our beaches and other facilities. In 2023, Cyngor Gwynedd paid a total of over £161,000 to the Crown Estate. Lease fees in 2023 ranged from £35 for 'Bangor beach front', to £8,500 for 'Dwyfor beach front', to £144,000 for 'Hafan Pwllheli'. In a period of severe financial hardship for public services, we believe that it is immoral that such fees go towards the maintenance of the British Monarchy and to the coffers of the Treasury in London. This money should remain in Gwynedd to support the people of Gwynedd.

 

3.      We call on the Chief Executive to make arrangements to open discussions with the Crown Estate regarding the fees paid by Cyngor Gwynedd.  We will encourage the Chief Executive to endeavour to persuade the Crown Estate to delay further invoicing until such time as the Council’s financial situation has improved. We note that the Crown Estate’s profits have more than doubled from £443 million in 2022/23 to £1.1billion in 2023/24.  During the same period Cyngor Gwynedd has seen their budget cut in real terms.

 

 

1.          Cyngor Gwynedd states that we believe responsibility for the Crown Estate should be devolved to the Welsh Government. Any profits generated by the Crown Estate, here on Welsh lands and waters, should remain in Wales, for the benefit of our residents and communities. Responsibility for the Crown Estate is already devolved to the Scottish Government.

2.          This Council also states our dissatisfaction that we are obliged to pay annual fees (in the form of leases) to ensure that Gwynedd residents and visitors have access to various sites, including our beaches and other facilities. In 2023, Cyngor Gwynedd paid a total of over £161,000 to the Crown Estate. Lease fees in 2023 ranged from £35 for 'Bangor beach front', to £8,500 for 'Dwyfor beach front', to £144,000 for 'Hafan Pwllheli'. In a period of severe financial hardship for public services, we believe that it is immoral that such fees go towards the maintenance of the British Monarchy and to the coffers of the Treasury in London. This money should remain in Gwynedd to support the people of Gwynedd.

3.          We are calling on the Chief Executive to arrange to open discussions with the Crown Estate regarding the fees paid by Cyngor Gwynedd. We would urge the Chief Executive to try to persuade the Crown Estate not to charge rent on the Council until the Council's financial position has improved. We note that the Crown Estate's profits have more than doubled from £443 million in 2022/23 to £1.1 billion in 2023/24, in the same period Cyngor Gwynedd has seen their budget cut in real terms.

 

 

Submitted - the following notice of motion by Councillor Dewi Jones, under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, and it was seconded:-

 

1.         Cyngor Gwynedd states that we believe responsibility for the Crown Estate should be devolved to the Welsh Government.  Any profits generated by the Crown Estate, here on Welsh lands and waters, should remain in Wales, for the benefit of our residents and communities. Responsibility for the Crown Estate is already devolved to the Scottish Government.

 

2.         This Council also states our dissatisfaction that we are obliged to pay annual fees (in the form of leases) to ensure that Gwynedd residents and visitors have access to various sites, including our beaches and other facilities. In 2023, Cyngor Gwynedd paid a total of over £161,000 to the Crown Estate. Lease fees in 2023 ranged from £35 for 'Bangor beach front', to £8,500 for 'Dwyfor beach front', to £144,000 for 'Hafan Pwllheli'.  In a period of severe financial hardship for public services, we believe that it is immoral that such fees go towards the maintenance of the British Monarchy and to the coffers of the Treasury in London. This money should remain in Gwynedd to support the people of Gwynedd.

 

3.         We are calling on the Chief Executive to arrange to open discussions with the Crown Estate regarding the fees paid by Cyngor Gwynedd. We would urge the Chief Executive to try to persuade the Crown Estate to delay further invoicing until the Council's financial position has improved. ⁠ We note that the Crown Estate's profits have more than doubled from £443 million in 2022/23 to £1.1 billion in 2023/24, in the same period Cyngor Gwynedd has seen their budget cut in real terms.

 

The member set out the context to his motion, and noted:-

 

·         In a period of serious financial hardship, that it was a disgrace that this Council had to pay a number of leases to the Crown Estate to ensure that residents and visitors to Gwynedd have access to our beaches and other facilities.

·         That a further delay in further invoicing would create a financial saving that would contribute to protecting essential services that are under so much stress at the moment.

·         Wales is a country that is rich natural resources, with her land, coastline and seas that possess the potential to power our economy, to reinforce our communities and support us to lead the way when addressing climate change.  However, at the moment, these resources were managed by a body accountable to the Westminster Government, not to the people of Wales and the revenue that derives from the Crown Estate in Wales goes to the UK's Treasury in London. 

·         Should the responsibility for the Crown Estate be devolved, the profit generated from Welsh land and sea would remain in Wales, enabling us to invest in infrastructure, public services and community projects to suit our specific needs.

·         Wales could lead the world in the field of renewable energy development, especially sea wind, tide energy and other innovative green technology, however, to do so we would need the authority to manage our own resources, with a focus on sustainability and long-term benefits for our communities and environment.

·         That the devolvement of the Crown Estate related to much more than merely who manages our lands and seas, and involved confidence in our ability to govern ourselves, trust in our vision for the future, and the confidence that we can shape an economy that serves the people of Wales.

 

The Chief Executive asked for the proposer to consider strengthening the direction in the second sentence of the third paragraph of the proposal by amending the wording to read 'We would urge the Chief Executive to try to persuade the Crown Estate not to charge the Council rent until the Council's fiscal position has improved'. ⁠ ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠

 

The proposer agreed to the change and there was no objection to this from the floor.  With this change, the proposal was seconded.

 

It was noted that it was not understood why the Welsh counties could not take advantage of the resources they have and keep the benefit truly local, rather than all the money going to Cardiff, and the proposer was asked to consider amending the first sentence of the first paragraph of the proposal to read "Cyngor Gwynedd states that we believe that the responsibility for the Crown Estate should be devolved to Welsh local authorities." ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠

 

The proposer noted that such a change could have far-reaching implications for the Council, and as neither he nor his fellow members had not had an opportunity to weigh-up and consider this seriously, he sought members' support for the proposal as it stood.

 

Referring to the second sentence of the third paragraph of the proposal, it was noted that the reference to 'until the Council's fiscal position has improved' was vague and a definition was required.⁠⁠  In response, it was agreed that it was difficult to define what constituted a better fiscal position and that it was difficult to see in the current financial climate how the Council could ever reach a better fiscal position.

 

It was noted, although it was fully agreed that Wales should manage its own natural resources, those resources should not be diversified into the hands of multinational corporations pushing for net zero and pushing more people into fuel poverty.

 

The following amendment to the first sentence in the paragraph was proposed and seconded, stating: -

 

"Cyngor Gwynedd states that we believe that responsibility for the Crown Estate should be devolved to the Welsh Government local authorities in Wales."⁠ ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠

 

The amendment was discussed.

 

The proposer of the original motion noted that considerable thought had gone into the motion, but he did not see that the same level of thought had gone into the amendment.  He did not believe that the proposer of the amendment had done any kind of research on the subject or presented any kind of evidence, and on this basis, he urged members to reject the amendment and support the original motion.

 

It was noted that while it would be necessary in due course to argue how to benefit Gwynedd, it was necessary to benefit the whole of Wales first as a nation.

 

The amendment was voted on, and lost.

 

In his closing comments, the proposer noted:-

 

·         That the Crown Estate had made a profit of £443m last year, and this figure had more than doubled to £1.1bn this year, while Cyngor Gwynedd's budgets and other authorities had been squeezed and services had to be cut.

·         In terms of the comment about energy developers in Wales, devolution of the Crown Estate would give us more control over who gets energy permits, etc., and bring the decisions closer to the people of Wales.

·         Having seen the response to this proposal on social media, it was clear that many people had been discussing the Crown Estate over the past few days.  It was important that the people of Wales realised how bad the current deal was and we had a responsibility to fight for a fairer deal for our residents. 

·         There was encouragement for local authorities and other councils across Wales to follow the same direction as this Council, and the people of Wales were encouraged to contact their elected members at all levels calling them to push for the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales.

 

RESOLVED to adopt the motion, namely: -

 

1.         Cyngor Gwynedd states that we believe responsibility for the Crown Estate should be devolved to the Welsh Government. Any profits generated by the Crown Estate, here on Welsh lands and waters, should remain in Wales, for the benefit of our residents and communities. Responsibility for the Crown Estate is already devolved to the Scottish Government.

2.         This Council also states our dissatisfaction that we are obliged to pay annual fees (in the form of leases) to ensure that Gwynedd residents and visitors have access to various sites, including our beaches and other facilities. In 2023, Cyngor Gwynedd paid a total of over £161,000 to the Crown Estate.  Lease fees in 2023 ranged from £35 for 'Bangor beach front', to £8,500 for 'Dwyfor beach front', to £144,000 for 'Hafan Pwllheli'.  In a period of severe financial hardship for public services, we believe that it is immoral that such fees go towards the maintenance of the British Monarchy and to the coffers of the Treasury in London. This money should remain in Gwynedd to support the people of Gwynedd.

3.         We call on the Chief Executive to arrange to open discussions with the Crown Estate regarding the fees paid by Cyngor Gwynedd.  We would urge the Chief Executive to try to persuade the Crown Estate not to charge rent on the Council until the Council's financial position has improved. We note that the Crown Estate's profits have more than doubled from £443 million in 2022/23 to £1.1 billion in 2023/24, in the same period Cyngor Gwynedd has seen their budget cut in real terms.