Agenda item

To inform members on the State of the Llŷn Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Report.

The report was presented by the Llŷn AONB Officer.

It was noted that the intention of the report was to receive a full and clear picture of the state of the area including the landscape, nature, people, work, historic environment, language and culture. The report would form the basis for the review of the new AONB Management Plan, as the current plan had become outdated.

Members were reminded that the first report on the state of the AONB was developed in 2014, with a review of it undertaken in 2021. It was noted that the Joint Committee had submitted several comments on that report and had decided to update the document in order to receive up-to-date information. It was confirmed that Craggatack company from Cumbria had been appointed to develop a new report, following a tendering process.

It was explained that the State of the AONB Report presented at this meeting was based on information gathered in 2025, with a wide range of information covered, including: location, pollution, renewable energy, flooding, natural and cultural heritage, habitat designations, the language and culture as well as people and health issues.

It was hoped that the development of the AONB Management Plan would continue following receipt of information from the State of the AONB Report. It was explained that the process of carrying out that work would be undertaken by commissioning individuals and consultants, dependent upon the receipt of budget assurances.

During the discussion, the following observations were noted:

Concern was expressed about the need to protect traditional houses and cottages within the AONB, and it was proposed that the Joint Committee write to Cyngor Gwynedd's Planning Policy Committee to highlight the need to introduce stricter policies to protect them so that new owners were not free to demolish them for no reason. In response to the comments, the  Planning Policy Team Leader confirmed that the Planning Policy Service was currently undertaking a period of public engagement on a draft of the Planning Policy and encouraged members of the Joint Committee to submit their observations through the consultation to ensure that they received due consideration, and that they were included within the proposed policy.

Parts of the report were considered to be very comprehensive, such as the data on planning applications and information about Dark Skies. However, it was considered that there was room for improvement in dealing with the economic impact of caravan and camping sites, renewable energy, schools, language and culture and second homes. It was felt that these areas had not received due consideration within the report. Consideration was given to whether all the information necessary for the development of the report was available to the company.

Concern was expressed that incomplete information had been included by the company in compiling the report, drawing particular attention to a part of the report which confirmed that there were only 8 caravan sites and 1 campsite in Gwynedd in 2025. Similarly, the information presented about settlement numbers and sizes was also considered to be flawed. Reference was made to a third part of the report which stated that there was insufficient details were available on the numbers of second homes in the Botwnnog and Aberdaron area. As with previous observations, consideration was given to whether Joint Committee members and Cyngor Gwynedd officials had the information to hand to share with the company to ensure that their report was accurate and a fair reflection of the true state of the AONB, to ensure that there was an accurate baseline for the work.

In response to an enquiry, the AONB Officer confirmed that it was intended to submit the Management Plan to this Joint Committee in future, but the limitations of the AONB Unit's capacity had led to the commissioning of external consultants to deliver the work. Following the response, it was asked whether this Joint Committee could take on a greater role in the development of the Management Plan as several members were eager to support the Unit in ensuring that the information contained within the State of the AONB Report was complete and comprehensive. In response, the AONB Officer confirmed that observations submitted by Joint Committee members had been noted by the AONB and would be used as a starting point for the development of a new Management Plan, in conjunction with the existing plan. It was hoped that independent consultants would be appointed to sift through all the information, to begin assessing the situation in order to deliver a high-quality Management Plan. It was acknowledged that a timetable for the report could not yet be confirmed; it was hoped that a draft timetable could be submitted to the next meeting of this Joint Committee, when funding issues had been confirmed.

In response to an enquiry regarding the role of community councils in contributing information for inclusion in the report, the AONB Officer explained that at present only factual evidence was required in order to set a baseline, information which was not available to the community councils. However, it was noted that they would be able to provide observations in the future.

An idea was put forward to contact Cyngor Gwynedd's Research and Information service to ask whether the information missing from the Report was available so that the process of creating a Management Plan could be developed.

In response to a proposal to reject the flawed sections of the report, the AONB Officer explained that this report had been commissioned by Cyngor Gwynedd and that the service's decision was to proceed based on the information within it. It was further noted that it was intended to continue with the process of drawing up a Management Plan using this report; members of the previous Committee were encouraged to get in touch regarding any area where they believed additional information should be obtained, for consideration by the Llŷn AONB Unit. Several further comments were received from Members who did not believe that the report could be accepted at this time as it was flawed, in the hope that ensuring accuracy would assist the Llŷn AONB Unit in the development of the AONB Management Plan.

          DECISION

·       To reject the flawed sections of the report and ask the AONB Unit to urgently ensure data accuracy, with the assistance of Members.

·       To ask the AONB Officer to write to Cyngor Gwynedd Council's Planning Policy Committee and the Planning Policy Service on behalf of this Joint Committee, formally requesting to include the protection of the character of houses and cottages in the AONB as part of the development of a new planning policy, with the assistance of Councillor Gruffydd Williams.

·       To encourage Members to take part in a Planning Policy Service public engagement event.