Agenda item

Alwen Williams (CJC Interim Chief Executive) Andy Roberts (Regional Strategic Development Planning Officer) to present the report.

·       To accept the Report noting the progress on the Strategic Development Plan and the relationship with the Regional Transport Plan to date.

·       To schedule a further Report to this Sub-Committee to share information with members about schemes, such as the electric bus, within the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee's Responsible Adventures project.

The report was presented by the Acting Chief Executive of the North Wales CJC and Regional Strategic Development Planning Officer.

RESOLVED

·       To accept the Report noting the progress to date on the Strategic Development Plan and the relationship with the Regional Transport Plan.

·       To schedule a further Report to this Sub-Committee to share information with members about schemes, such as electric buses, within the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee's Responsible Adventure project.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

To ensure that the Strategic Transport Sub-Committee was fully aware of progress with the Strategic Development Plan from an early stage, to promote regular engagement and an integrated approach to strategic planning.

DISCUSSION

The Regional Strategic Development Planning Officer was welcomed to his first meeting.

An update was provided on the process of developing a Strategic Development Plan and the actions that needed to be delivered. Further information was provided on timetable considerations and legal requirements in relation to the development of the Plan.

It was noted that the development of the scheme ensured that the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee responded to statutory requirements within the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 for regional economic well-being, spatial planning and transport planning issues. It was explained that a Strategic Development Plan Handbook had been submitted to Local Planning Authorities by the Welsh Government in 2022 providing guidance on how to develop a Plan. It was confirmed that it was expected to take five years to produce a full Strategic Development Plan. It was emphasised that work was underway to consider whether the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee could make adjustments to procedures in order to speed up the process where appropriate.

It was explained that the Strategic Development Plan was a long-term one that could be operational for up to 25 years. It was confirmed that this provided the ability to look forward to future developments and ensure that the critical issues were developed for the entire region. It was pointed out that the Plan ran in conjunction with other North Wales Corporate Joint Committee projects in order to secure economic well-being and ensure that there was suitable infrastructure for meeting targets and realising new developments.

It was confirmed that the first step in the development of the Plan would be to prepare a Delivery Agreement. It was clarified that the Agreement would detail how the Plan would be developed as well as confirming how stakeholders and the community could be involved in the development process. The initial timetable for the development process was detailed noting that there were eight main phases for the development of the Plan. The indicative timetable for the Delivery Agreement was reported, stating that it was hoped that the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee would formally adopt it in July 2025 before requesting the Welsh Government to adopt it. It was noted that the Strategic Development Plan would be formalised following these steps and would be further developed, following feedback from the Welsh Government on the detailed timetable for the Strategic Development Plan in due course. It was pointed out that it was hoped that the development timetable for this Plan would be in line with the Local Authorities’ Local Development Plans.

It was reported that the close relationship between the Strategic Development Plan and the Strategic Transport Plan ensured that an integrated collaborative approach was adopted. This collaboration would lead to the ability to deliver transformative projects as knowledge and expertise could be combined, resources accumulated and early engagements promoted.

It was asked whether the Strategic Development Plan provided opportunities for collaboration with private, public and community transport initiatives, such as the development considered as part of the Growth Plan's Responsible Adventure project. In response, the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee's Interim Chief Executive confirmed that an understanding of specific elements of the Responsible Adventure project was relevant to this Sub-Committee, and agreed to add an explanatory item, along with other important transport issues, to the Sub-Committee's agenda in order to share information and understanding of the interaction between the projects. It was stressed that the work of the community initiatives and the public transport framework was very important, confirming that the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee aimed to deliver developments that filled any gaps and facilitated regional links.