Agenda and draft minutes

The meeting was opened by the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape Lead Officer, Howard Sutcliffe.

Apologies were received from Councillors Dave Hughes (FCC) David Healy (FCC) and Nigel Williams (WCC).

There were no declarations of interest.

The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape Lead Officer sought nominations from the Committee for nominations for Chair.

Councillor Alan James was nominated to become Chair of the Committee.

No other nominations were received.

It was:

RESOLVED: that Councillor Alan James be appointed Chair of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty joint Committee.

To consider the minutes (copy attached) of the previous meeting of the AONB Joint Committee held on 15 November 2024.

The minutes of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Natural Outstanding Beauty Joint Committee meeting held on the 15 November 2024 were submitted.

It was:

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting held on the 15 November 2024 be received and approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

To consider the minutes (copy attached) of the National Landscape Partnership meeting held on 21 February 2025.

The Chair of the National Landscape Partnership Committee guided members through the minutes of the National Landscape Partnership meeting held on 21 February 2025.

The 40^th Anniversary of the designation on the National Landscape would be celebrated in July 2025, events and celebrations were being planned to mark the occasion.

Details regarding Levelling Up Projects for Clwyd West and Clwyd South were provided.

An update received from the National Landscape Officer was discussed and members from Flintshire County Council (FCC) and Denbighshire County Council (DCC) stated that they had submitted a request for further details on funding and planning to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) for further information on the proposal for the new National Park Project.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the National Landscape Partnership meeting held on the 21 February 2025 be received and noted.

To receive a report (copy attached) regarding the Internal Audit Scoping Report.

The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape Lead Officer introduced the Internal Audit Scoping Report to the Committee.

DCC was the lead authority on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which included the monitoring and management of the National Landscape. Contributions were received from all three local authorities and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), which had been apportioned in accordance with areas allocated within the three local authorities.

The risks highlighted within the report were – 

·       Legal arrangements

·       Financial resilience

·       Governance arrangements

·       Lack of clarification on responsibility and liability of land

·       No asset Register of Loan Register

While Flintshire County Council (FCC) and Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC) both contributed financially to the AONB, there was no audit trail to demonstrate how financial contributions were agreed when all three local authorities were part of the AONB in 2013. This was a longstanding agreement, which needed reviewing to consider costs such as inflation, staff costs and other budget pressures (risk 1).

While there was effective financial monitoring in place for the AONB budget, the service had identified a reduction in funding for 2024-25 and 2025-26. This made it difficult to plan for the future in terms of staff costs and project delivery (risk 2).

The AONB Joint Committee met three times a year. Membership included lead officers from each authority, NRW lead and lead member representatives from each authority. A review of the minutes had confirmed that membership was not always quorate, resulting in the Committee not being able to make key decisions (risk 3).

Feedback from officers and members of DCC, FCC, WCBC and NRW had confirmed that the AONB had an effective collaborative working arrangement in place. Whilst the partnership was working well, there needed to be further discussion around the clarity of works and liability responsibilities with WCBC (risk 4).

Assets had been purchased using AONB funding. However, there was no asset register or loan register in place (risk 5).

The Chair thanked the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape Lead Officer and Ranger Service Manager for the report.

RESOLVED: that the Internal Audit Scoping Report be received and noted.

To receive a verbal update by NRW Programme Manager Ash Pierce (NRW) on the Northeast Wales National Park Designation Project.

A presentation was shared by the NRW Programme Manager on Wales’ new National Park proposal which covered:

·       Proposal Evaluation timeline

·       Statutory process

·       Ongoing evidence gathering

·       Main themes for engagement

·       Next steps

Members questioned if there would be any amendments to the proposed boundaries following feedback that had been received. The NRW Project Manager explained that there could be some changes to the boundaries of the National Park to include the Nature Reserve which was situated close to the original boundaries and there were ongoing discussions regarding this.

The Chair thanked the NRW Programme Manager for his presentation.

RESOLVED: that the update on the North-East Wales National Park Designation Project be received and noted.

To consider the Joint Committee Finance report (copy attached) (SG and PO)

The Finance and Assurance Manager briefly guided members through the Joint Committee Finance Report.

The report provided a summary of the National Landscape’s projected revenue outturn for 2024-25. The projected overall position was a contribution from the revenue of c.£45K was needed to support the costs, slightly less than anticipated when the budget was set. Further details were provided in appendices 1 and 2 previously circulated.

The Chair thanked the Finance and Assurance Manager for the report.

RESOLVED: that the Joint Committee Finance Report be received and noted.

To receive an information report (copy attached) regarding the Planning Summary 2024-2025.

The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape Lead Officer presented the Planning Summary to the Committee.

The Planning Consultations covered a broad range of interests which included:

·       Householder applications

·       Residential including conversions

·       Tourism related development

·       Agriculture/ Forestry

·       Energy related applications

·       Other, minerals, signs, tele communications

The number of applications was generally down on previous years across the 3 Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) partly due to the number of applications held in abeyance due to a phosphorous issue. Similarly, there had been a reduction in the number of Enforcement Cases referred to the LPA enforcement teams for investigation. One ongoing case was at land South-Wet of Bryn Oerog Llangollen Road, Trevor.

The Chair thanked the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape Lead Officer and Ranger Service Manager for the report.

RESOLVED: that the Planning Summary 2024-25 be received and noted.

To consider the Forward Work Programme (copy attached) from the AONB Officer (HS).

The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape Lead Officer and Ranger Service Manager guided members through the Committee’s Forward Work Programme, providing updates on funding, partnership working and AONB Projects.

RESOLVED: that the Forward Work Programme be received and noted.

For Information – the next meeting date of the AONB Joint Committee is 27 June 2025.

The next meeting was scheduled for 27 June 2025.

Meeting concluded at 11.25am