Agenda, decisions and draft minutes
Venue: Council Chamber, County Hall, Ruthin
Media
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No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES Additional documents: Decision: There were no
apologies. Minutes: There were no
apologies. |
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS PDF 116 KB Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Additional documents: Decision: No declarations of interest had been raised. Minutes: No declarations of interest had been raised. |
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URGENT MATTERS Notice of
items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting
as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the
Local Government Act 1972. Additional documents: Decision: No urgent matters had been raised. Minutes: No urgent matters had been raised. |
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To receive the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 26 February 2018 (copy enclosed). Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED that the minutes
of the meeting held on 26 February 2019 be received and confirmed as a correct
record. Minutes: The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 26 February 2019
were submitted. Matters Arising –
Page 6, Item 4 Minutes (Matters Arising) – Cabinet 30 October 2018 (Gypsy and
Traveller Site Provision) – Councillor Peter Scott reported upon his meeting
with the Corporate Director Communities to discuss the pre planning
consultation report. He felt that the
report had not been open and transparent and was concerned that important and
justified public comments and objections had been dismissed with ineffectual
and inappropriate mitigation proposed. Councillor
Scott confirmed he would elaborate further on his concerns under the following
agenda item on Gypsy and Traveller Site Provision. RESOLVED that the minutes
of the meeting held on 26 February 2019 be received and confirmed as a correct
record. |
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GYPSY AND TRAVELLER SITE PROVISION PDF 139 KB To consider a report by Councillor Tony Thomas, Lead Member for Housing, Regulation and the Environment (copy enclosed) updating Cabinet following the pre planning consultation exercise undertaken in respect of the provision of residential and transit Gypsy and Traveller sites and setting out the options for taking the project forward. Additional documents:
Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) note the analysis of the pre planning
consultation exercise undertaken in respect of proposed transit and residential
Gypsy and Traveller sites on the Greengates Farm (East) site in St. Asaph as
outlined in Appendix 2 of the report; (b) note the recommendations of Communities
Scrutiny Committee of 14 March 2019 as set out in paragraph 8.4 of the report; (c) in response to concerns raised during
the pre-planning consultation regarding the proximity of the sites to each
other, lack of meaningful consultation with the Travelling Community and in
recognition of the priority need for the residential family, that Cabinet agree
not to progress the Gypsy and Traveller transit site at Greengates Farm (East)
via a formal planning application, and that the location of this proposed
development site is determined through the formal site allocation process as
part of the adoption of a new Local Development Plan; (d) following consideration of the options
for the Gypsy and Traveller residential site agree to progress the development
of the Gypsy and Traveller residential site at Greengates Farm (East) through
the formal planning application process in the location indicated in Appendix 3
to the report and that the formal planning application should contain as
background supporting information all statutory information together with
business and residential impact assessments and suitable measures for
mitigation where deemed necessary; (e) that whatever options are selected for
identifying the location of the residential and transit Gypsy and traveller
sites, the sites are not developed in close proximity to each other; (f) the Cabinet will not recommend the
allocation of a transit site at Greengates Farm East as part of the Local
Development Plan process, and (g) Cabinet confirms that it has read,
understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessments (Appendix 5
to the report) as part of its consideration. Minutes: Councillor
Tony Thomas presented the report updating Cabinet following the pre planning
consultation exercise undertaken in respect of the provision of residential and
transit Gypsy and Traveller sites and setting out the options for taking the project
forward and recommendations in respect of the next phase of the project. He also took the opportunity to thank
officers for their hard work in that regard. Some
background information had been provided in the report including the Council’s
statutory requirement to carry out an assessment of residential and transit
gypsy and traveller accommodation needs and make provision for sites when need
was identified. The assessment had
identified the need for one residential site and one transit site and following
a comprehensive site selection process Cabinet had approved the undertaking of
pre planning consultation on the proposal for both sites to be located on
Greengates Farm East, St. Asaph. Details
of that consultation, including an analysis of responses received, had been
provided within the report together with Communities Scrutiny Committee’s
recommendations following consideration of the pre planning consultation
exercise and response analysis. The
report recommended that Cabinet agree not to progress the transit site at
Greengates Farm East and that the location be determined through the formal
site allocation process as part of adoption of a new Local Development Plan
(LDP). It was also recommended that Cabinet
consider whether or not to progress the development of a residential site at
Greengates Farm East through formal planning application or through the LDP
process. In any event it was recommended
that the transit and residential sites not be located in close proximity to
each other. The
Corporate Director Communities, via a power point presentation – ·
reiterated the Council’s statutory duties and
relevant legislation in that regard ·
provided an overview of the separate
proposals for residential and transit sites ·
gave an overview of the pre planning
consultation process ·
summarised local activity around the
consultation ·
highlighted the Equality concerns raised as
part of the consultation ·
provided an overview and breakdown of
responses received and issues raised. In
closing the Corporate Director reported that it was officers’ view that the
material planning matters could be satisfactorily mitigated and research
suggested that the perceived impacts were unlikely to materialise. The
Leader confirmed the Council’s statutory responsibilities were clear in terms
of providing Gypsy and Traveller accommodation and Cabinet must be satisfied
that the proposed location was the right one for those sites. He added that there would be no debate on the
position of families affected by the potential developments. Councillor
Huw Williams, Chair of Communities Scrutiny Committee provided an overview of
the scrutiny debate on the pre planning consultation exercise and feedback
during the meeting on 14 March 2019 and elaborated upon the reasoning behind
their recommendations to Cabinet that “(i)
the residential and transit Gypsy and Traveller sites are not developed close
to each other, wherever they are located, and (ii) the location of the
residential and transit Gypsy and Traveller sites are determined through the
ongoing Local Development Plan process”. As a point of clarification
Councillor Brian Jones confirmed the new LDP would be adopted in 2021 for the
period up to 2033. The Leader confirmed
that Cabinet would carefully consider scrutiny’s position and valued their
input into the decision making process. Main
areas of debate focused on the following – · Councillor Tony Thomas reported upon the comprehensive consultation process and elaborated upon the concerns of the business community, citing evidence of cost in that regard even at this early stage of the process. He felt the approach taken to consult on both proposed sites ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets (copy enclosed) detailing the latest financial position and progress against the agreed budget strategy. Additional documents:
Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) note the budgets set for 2018/19 and
progress against the agreed budget strategy; (b) note the proposed use of service carry
forwards, and (c) approve the housing capital schemes in
Aquarium Street and John Street, Rhyl as recommended by the Strategic
Investment Group and detailed in the report. Minutes: Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill presented the
report detailing the latest financial position and progress against the agreed
budget strategy. He provided a summary
of the Council’s financial position as follows – ·
the net revenue
budget for 2018/19 was £194.418m (£189.252m in 2017/18) ·
an
overspend of £0.487m was forecast for service and corporate budgets ·
highlighted
current risks and variances relating to individual service areas, and ·
provided a general
update on the Housing Revenue Account, Housing Capital Plan and the Capital
Plan (including the Corporate Plan element). Cabinet was also asked to note the proposed use
of service carry forwards and to approve the housing capital schemes in
Aquarium Street and John Street, Rhyl as recommended by the Strategic
Investment Group and detailed in the report. The following matters were raised during debate
– ·
the Chief
Executive provided assurances to Cabinet advising that the downward trend in
terms of budget pressure over the last couple of months had been largely due to
the positive action taken by senior officers in managing expenditure to ensure
a more robust position going forward ·
Councillor
Brian Jones reported that Dawnus Construction, who
sub contracted out the Pont y Ddraig bridge
maintenance contract, had recently gone into administration. Assurances were provided that temporary
measures had been implemented to ensure the bridge operated effectively and was
properly maintained prior to the award of a formal maintenance contract ·
the Head
of Legal, HR and Democratic Services also advised that Dawnus
Construction was one of the successful bidders on the North Wales Construction
Framework and reported upon discussions with the administrators regarding their
position and legalities surrounding that process and the potential exclusion of
Dawnus from the framework – in the event of their
exclusion Dawnus would likely be replaced by the next
highest scoring supplier ·
reference
to an overspend relating to SC2 had been included within the report and the
Head of Facilities, Assets and Housing clarified that SC2 was not overspent and
explained that instead of requiring corporate cash the service had opted to
subsume the entire set up costs. The provision
for set up costs had been contained within the original business case and the
entire service had overachieved to contain those set up costs. RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) note the budgets
set for 2018/19 and progress against the agreed budget strategy; (b) note the
proposed use of service carry forwards, and (c) approve the
housing capital schemes in Aquarium Street and John Street, Rhyl as recommended
by the Strategic Investment Group and detailed in the report. |
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CABINET FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME PDF 368 KB To receive the enclosed Cabinet Forward Work Programme and note the contents.
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet’s
Forward Work Programme be noted. Minutes: The Cabinet Forward Work Programme was
presented for consideration. RESOLVED that Cabinet’s
Forward Work Programme be noted. The
meeting concluded at 12.40 hrs. |