Issue - meetings
TOWN AND AREA PLANS
Meeting: 16/04/2013 - Cabinet (Item 7)
7 MOVING FROM TOWN TO AREA PLANS PDF 56 KB
To consider a report by Councillor Hugh Evans (copy enclosed) on the progress of expanding Town Plans into broader Area Plans incorporating smaller and more rural communities across Denbighshire.
Additional documents:
- Town Plans App 1, item 7 PDF 41 KB
- Town Plans App 2, item 7 PDF 9 KB
- Town Plans App 3, item 7 PDF 39 KB
- Town Plans App 4, item 7 PDF 11 KB
Decision:
RESOLVED:- that Cabinet approves the process for expanding Town Plans into
broader Town based Area Plans as set out in this report, including specifically
the:-
·
communities
covered by each Plan, set out in Appendix 1
·
consultation
arrangements, set out in Appendix 2
·
expectation
that Area Plans are completed by September 2013
Minutes:
Councillor H.H. Evans presented the report, circulated
previously, which sought approval for the process for expanding Town Plans into
broader Area Plans incorporating smaller and more rural communities across
Denbighshire.
He explained that during 2011/12, Denbighshire had developed
and agreed Town Plans for the County’s seven principal towns, excluding Rhyl. An exercise
had been undertaken in Rhyl to develop the Rhyl Going Forward Delivery Plan. The Town Plans had allowed community needs
and priorities to be identified for each major settlement. However, they had
not yet addressed the needs and priorities of smaller and more rural
communities. In January, 2013 Cabinet
had agreed to expand Town Plans into broader Area Plans and the report detailed
how this would be implemented. The Town
Plans for Corwen, Denbigh, Llangollen, Prestatyn, Rhuddlan, Ruthin and St Asaph had been
approved by Cabinet between December, 2011 and March, 2012.
In January, 2013 Cabinet
approved an initial allocation of funding for projects identified as Year 1
priorities in the Town Plans and agreed to expand the Town Plans into broader
Area Plans. The Town Plans Co-ordination
Group had considered the appropriate process for expanding the existing Town
Plans into broader Area Plans and had addressed three main questions:-
i)
What was the appropriate ‘area’ for an Area Plan.
ii)
How should the Area Plans
be developed.
iii)
What would the Area Plans look like
The Group
had considered two options which included Plans covering Member Area Group
(MAGs) areas, or areas incorporating the Towns and the communities which had a
traditional or natural affinity to them.
As Area Plans were intended to enact the Council’s commitment to
community based planning and its ambition to be Closer
to the Community, Group Members concluded that the second option – Towns and
their Associated Communities – was preferred.
The Group had considered that such Plans were more easily understood by
residents and this approach would be in line with best practice in community
led planning and economic development of market towns.
Appendix 1
set out the communities to be covered by each Plan and these had been discussed
and agreed by the MAGs and were believed to represent the ‘best fit’ natural
links between communities and towns. The
Town Plan Co-ordination Group decided that in total there should be 9 Plans,
the existing 7 Town Plans, the Rhyl
Going Forward Programme for Rhyl and a new Plan for Bodelwyddan, to be developed if the proposed Local
Development Plan was approved.
The Town
Plan Co-ordination Group had recognised that good local consultation must be at
the foundation of the new Area Plans if they were to be truly community based
and reflective of local needs and priorities.
To ensure consistency of approach, the Co-ordination Group had agreed a
broad framework for consultation and this had been incorporated in Appendix
2. In keeping with the Town &
Community Councils Charter, proposals had been designed to ensure that
Community Councils lead consultation and engagement at local level.
The Leader highlighted the importance of the role of the Champions and the Group had recommended that Town Plan Champions, supported by their Support Officers, draw up detailed consultation plans for the smaller and more rural communities to be incorporated into their Area Plan in line with the framework and the MAGs would be required to agree the local consultation arrangements. A small number of Councillors would have communities within their wards incorporated in an Area Plan outside their MAGs and since MAGs would have an important role in the development of the new Area Plans, the Town Plan Co-ordination Group ... view the full minutes text for item 7