Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

There were no apologies.

There were no apologies.

No declarations of interest had been raised.

No declarations of interest had been raised.

No urgent matters had been raised.

No urgent matters had been raised.

To receive the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 26 February 2018 (copy enclosed). 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 26 February 2019 be received and confirmed as a correct record.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

RESOLVED that Cabinet’s Forward Work Programme be noted.

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.