Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Conference Room 1A, County Hall, Ruthin
Contact: 01824 712589 Email: democratic@denbighshire.gov.uk
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INTRODUCTIONS, APOLOGIES AND DECLARATION OF INTERESTS Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Derek Butler (FCC)
and Tony Thomas (Chair, DCC) and Officers Anna Irwin (Senior Conservation &
Environment Officer, WCBC), Martin Howarth (Rights of Way, WCBC), Ceri Lloyd
(AONB Sustainable Development Officer, DCC) and Andy Worthington Chair of AONB
Partnership. In the absence of Councillor Tony Thomas (Chair) Councillor
Carolyn Thomas (Vice Chair) chaired the meeting. Some Councillors had had difficulty accessing the agenda
pack from the internet link circulated via email, hard copies were available at
the meeting. There were no declarations of
interest. |
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MINUTES OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 8th MARCH 2019 PDF 218 KB To consider the minutes of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Joint Committee held on 8th March 2019
Minutes: The minutes of the Joint Committee held on 8 March 2019 were submitted. Accuracy. Councillor David Kelly was present at the meeting. Matters arising. Page 5, item 2 – an appointment
of Coordinator had been made to the Grazing Animals Sustainable Management
Scheme. Page 7, item 6 – Chairs of the
Joint Committee had met with the WHS Board Chair to draft a joint statement of
intent to reflect the working partnership. The Statement would be presented to
the next AONB Joint Committee. Page 7 item 8 - A letter had been drafted by the Joint
Committee Chair, the Leaders of Flintshire County Council Wrexham County
Borough Council and Denbighshire County Council regarding working together on
specific topics. RESOLVED: That subject to the
amendment, the minutes of the Joint Committee meeting
held on 8 March 2019 be approved as a correct record. |
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DRAFT MINUTES OF AONB PARTNERSHIP 22nd MARCH 2019 PDF 442 KB To note the minutes of the meeting held 22nd March 2019 (copy attached).
Minutes: The AONB Officer (HS) informed the Committee that a further meeting of the AONB Partnership had taken place since the 22 March meeting but the minutes were not yet available. Comments on the minutes included: Page 12 – Moorland Fire on Llantysilio Fire. the AONB Senior Countryside Officer disagreed with the statement regarding the reduction of grazing sheep being partially responsible for spread of fire on Llantysilio Mountain, his rationale being that sheep did not graze on heather. The poor management of the extensive heather growth was more of an issue. Page 13 – Flailbot. The Chair of
the Recreation, Enjoyment & Understanding Working Group (JR) had attended
the latest AONB Partnership meeting (last week). There had been an interesting
discussion on the Flailbot which could operate in
difficult areas, cutting heather and providing a fire break. Page 13 – Ash Die Back. Councillor David Kelly asked about the distribution of the Tool Kits and the management of a dead or dying trees? The Access and Natural Environment Manager (TW) advised that Flintshire County Council were considering how to proceed. There was to be a seminar in the coming weeks for Flintshire’s Tree Officers and a working group was being formed to identify an action plan. Trees were being considered on a case by case basis. Blanket felling was to be avoided in case there were trees that had developed a resilience to the disease. It was noted that the disease did not kill the trees but made them more susceptible to other diseases that did. Following further discussion it was agreed that raising the public’s awareness would be beneficial, as would a dedicated telephone contact number if new cases were identified. RESOLVED that the
minutes of the AONB Partnership Board 22 March 2019 be noted. |
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DRAFT MINUTES OF OUR PICTURESQUE LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIP 11th APRIL 2019 PDF 261 KB To note the minutes of the meeting held 11th April 2019 (copy attached)
Minutes: The report (previously circulated) was submitted for information purposes. The Committee were advised that the Digital Trails (ibeacon) linked up with other North Wales authorities and the Celebration Events listed on page 21 were covered in the annual report to be presented later on the agenda. RESOLVED that the
draft minutes of Our Picturesque Landscape Partnership meeting on 11th
April 2019 were noted. |
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JOINT COMMITTEE BUDGET PDF 230 KB Standing Item report (copy attached) presented by Paula O’Hanlon, Senior Finance and Assurance Officer / Gareth O Williams, Finance Manager.
Additional documents:
Minutes: The report was presented by the Chief Accountant (SG). SG explained that: · appendix 1 was reviewing what was spent compared to what had been budgeted; · appendix 2 showed the budget for the coming year. Funding was in place at the same level (with a slight inflationary increase from Denbighshire); · appendix 3 was the legal framework around the Joint Committee, including the Statutory Annual Return that needed to be signed off by the Chair to be forwarded to the external auditors. Responding to questions from the Committee the Chief Accountant responded: · The late receipt of the SDF Grant showed an increase in the AONB reserves from £119k to 259k. That was misleading as it had been partially allocated and therefore not all available. The reserve levels were deemed sensible. · The incomes listed on appendices 1 and 2 were the same funding sources (but had been labelled differently). It was agreed to call them the same on future reports. · The Joint Committee outturn, accounts and draft budget should be available on Wrexham and Flintshire’s websites as well as Denbighshire’s (SG to check). The Chief Accountant went through the Annual Governance Statement
asking the Committee to confirm each statement listed and asked the Chair,
Councillor Carolyn Thomas to sign the Audit report. RESOLVED that subject
to the above that:
I.
The
financial outturn for 201/19 be noted;
II.
The
draft budget for 2019/20 be approved;
III.
The
Annual Return for 2018/19 be agreed and IV.
The
reserve balances as at 31st March 2019 be noted. |
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AONB MANAGEMENT PLAN To receive a verbal update from David Shiel, AONB Senior
Countryside Officer. Minutes: The AONB Senior Countryside Officer (DS) updated the Committee on the AONB Management Plan, explaining that they were in the final year of the management plan and had a statutory duty to produce a new one. Having secured Welsh Government funding to take it forward there needed to be a decision on whether to undertake a review or full revision of the plan. DS said he would like to work with the various AONB working
groups to ascertain priorities before taking the consultation wider to
communities. It was anticipated that a draft plan would be completed and
presented to the Committee by spring 2020. RESOLVED that the
update be noted. |
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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FUND ANNUAL REPORT To consider a verbal update from Ceri Lloyd, AONB Sustainable Development Officer. Minutes: Unfortunately the AONB Sustainable Development Officer was unable to attend the meeting. RESOLVED that the
item be re-tabled for the next AONB Joint Committee meeting on 22nd
November 2019. |
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JOINT COMMITTEE LEGAL AGREEMENT REPORT PDF 159 KB To consider a report by Lisa Jones, Legal Services Manager. Additional documents: Minutes: The Legal Services Manager (LJ) reminded the Committee that
the AONB Local Authorities Legal Agreement was a 5 year agreement due to be
reviewed. The opportunity was being taken to update the schedules etc. To that
end each Local Authority would need to consent to the Joint Committee’s
amendments prior to signing and sealing the agreement. The recommended amendments were minor and had already been shared with the Head of Legal in both Wrexham and Flintshire. LJ highlighted the amendments listed in section 4 of the report (previously circulated). Reviewing the Structure diagram in Schedule 3 the Committee noted that: · More of the flow of information arrows needed dual direction around the Joint Committee box – particularly back to the respective Local Authorities; · The Landscape and Planning Working Group was incorrectly named and · There was no mention of the Tourism Group. The AONB Officer agreed to update the Structure Chart before it was signed. RESOLVED that subject
to the above amendments and inclusion the Legal Agreement be approved and
adopted by the three partner Councils. |
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VISITOR APPRAISAL STUDY REPORT AND PRESENTATION PDF 164 KB To receive a report (copy attached) and presentation by David Shiel, AONB Senior Countryside Officer. Additional documents:
Minutes: Due to the problem accessing the agenda pack prior to the meeting and the substantial amount of information contained in the consultant’s report it was agreed that the item would be re-tabled at the next AONB Joint Committee. The AONB Senior Countryside Officer (DS) gave a presentation summarising the report’s findings. The report was based on six key sites across the AONB and gave a breakdown of the economic value by site as: ·
Chirk Aqueduct
and Viaduct - £3,574,797 ·
Loggerheads
Country Park - £2,290,187 ·
Moel Famau Country Park - £4,648,031 ·
Panorama
- £1,127,811 (mostly spent in Llangollen) ·
Pontcysyllte
Aqueduct and Trevor Basin - £9, 273,469 ·
Horseshoe
Falls and Llantysilio Green - £3,156,015 (mostly
spent in Llangollen). The six sites
supported 449 FTE jobs which equated to 19% of all jobs in tourism in rural
Denbighshire in 2018 (WCBC & FCC did not collect data on rural areas. In terms of
wellbeing and contribution to the level of life satisfaction 92% of residents that
lived in/near the AONB responded positively. Visitors benefited to the tune of
£8.8million (using wellbeing valuation methodology), 6.5% higher than the Wales
national average. The health
benefits (cardio exercise and weight management) derived from walking was
estimated to be £38.1million health spending on cardio vascular disease and
type 2 diabetes related issues forgone. The social impact
of visitors at these sites included: ·
Traffic
congestion and over crowding, the community around
Horseshoe falls reported a negative impact. ·
130
tonnes of litter collected. ·
8.2
tonnes of dog fouling collected at Loggerheads, 4.7 tonnes at Moel Famau. ·
The
cost of litter picking was £17,500. ·
14
sheep killed by dogs over the last 3 years. ·
Mountain
Rescue incidents increased by 30%, there were 9 rescues in 2018 alone. ·
Erosion
of the countryside, particularly in special areas of conservation. The report would
be used to create an action plan for the AONB that maximised the social and
economic benefits of visitors to those sites whilst reducing the environmental
impact. It was suggested
that given the evidence of the monetary value of health benefits to walking
visitors that a letter be compiled to the Head of Public Health Wales, to seek
financial support for AONB maintenance. The Committee proposed to do so after
the report had been discussed further at the next meeting. RESOLVED that the Visitor Appraisal Study
Report be added to the agenda for the Clwydian Range
and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Committee meeting on 22
November 2019. |
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AONB ANNUAL REPORT PRESENTATION To consider a verbal report by Howard Sutcliffe, AONB Officer. Minutes: The AONB Officer (HS) informed the Committee that the AONB
was part of a National association that was celebrating its 75th
anniversary, representatives had attended the National Conference. There were 5 AONB in Wales, efforts were being made to
improve their profile. The Welsh Government Minister would like to see equal
standing for the AONB with National Parks. It was a new era for the Our Picturesque Landscape (OPL)
Team based at Plas Newydd,
with a new scheme of work including: ·
the community access into Plas
Newydd; ·
Trefor / Clinker path
access to the canal; ·
working with youth
groups establishing what the WHS meant to them. Other significant areas of work
within the AONB included: ·
liaising with Scottish
Power to replace overhead electricity lines with underground cables at the
Ponderosa and northwards. ·
establishing Nature for
Health, a project creating bee friendly gardens, allotments & community
gardens. Also looking at working on Denbighshire owned green space. ·
archaeologists looking for a hunting tower at Chirk Castle; ·
landscaping of a caravan park at Carrog; ·
use of a Flailbot to
traverse and maintain steep slopes (potential to purchase one on a spend to
save basis); ·
a garage had been sympathetically built in Tremeirchion to match the farm house; ·
Restoration of the loading gauge at Meliden Goods Shed and ·
The square in Llangollen had been completed with
the use of Sustainable Development Funds, further work investing in highways
and traffic movement would follow. RESOLVED that the
update be noted. |
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PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL REPORT PDF 199 KB To consider a report by Howard Sutcliffe, AONB Officer (copy attached). Additional documents:
Minutes: The AONB Officer (HS) presented the report (previously circulated) informing the Committee that there had been a similar amount of planning applications to the previous year. A summary of all the planning consultations was attached. Discussing the report the Committee noted: · a potential conflict between tourism and preserving the AONB; · an increase in applications for Glamping Pods; · the need for applications to fit in with the local environment; · concern that over saturation of camping sites would drive down the price/cost and affect income generation; · sites for accepting year round occupancy should be discourage as they have a negative impact on schools and medical facilities etc. and · newly build sites were easier to control planning wise than established existing sites. Councillor Bobby Feeley (DCC) raised concerns about the massive egg production units that were being built in the area. Though not in the AONB they do have a negative impact by being in view of it. It was suggested that Councillor Feeley raised the issue with Councillor Martyn Holland (DCC) who would be attending the Landscape and Planning Working Group meeting (open to the public) the following week. RESOLVED that the
Planning and Development Annual Report be noted. |
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FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME PDF 283 KB To consider a revised forward work programme (copy attached) by Howard Sutcliffe, AONB Officer. Minutes: The AONB Officer (HS) presented the Forward Work Programme and reported on the main items scheduled. HS also noted that they need to consider the AONB Tourism Plan with Wrexham and Flintshire partnership working groups – focussing on the Management Plan. RESOLVED that: I.
the Visitor
Appraisal Study report be added to Committee meeting on 22nd
November 2019 and II.
that
the Forward Work Programme be agreed. |
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NEXT MEETING
Minutes: The Senior Finance and Assurance Officer (POH) informed the Committee that the meeting scheduled for 3 July 2020 was too late for the Annual Return to be completed. The Clwydian Range Communications Officer agreed re-arrange the meeting to accommodate the completion of the Annual Governance Statement. RESOLVED that subject
to the above the dates be noted. |