Agenda item

To consider a reort by the Area of Outstanding National Beauty Officer (copy attached) for Members to examine the AONB’s long-term management plan and how it supports and compliments the Council’s own plans.

(10.10 a.m. – 11.00 a.m.)

The Chair welcomed Howard Sutcliffe (Countryside Operations Manager) and Huw Rees (Countryside and Heritage Services Manager) to the meeting for discussion on Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty plans.

The Lead Member for Housing, Regulation and the Environment, Councillor Tony Thomas, introduced the AONB Officer’s report and appendices (previously circulated) which briefed the Committee on the relationship between the AONB’s Management Plan and the Council’s various plans and strategies.  He also advised that the report updated members on the discussions currently taking place between officers of the five AONBs in Wales, the National Association of AONBs, National Resources Wales (NRW) and Welsh Government (WG), in addition to information on the English review of national parks and AONBs. 

Members were informed by the Lead Member and AONB Officer that of the five AONBS in Wales three were located in North Wales, and of those whose entire land area was in Wales the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB was the largest.  The AONB’s primary purpose was to conserve and enhance the area’s landscape in accordance with the requirements of Section 85 of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000.  As the AONB’s geographic area spanned areas of Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham a Joint Committee, on which two Cabinet members from each council served, had been established to ensure that the three local authorities complied with their statutory duties.  A further three non-executive members from each council served on the AONB’s Partnership group.    Despite the fact that the majority of the designated AONB area lay within Denbighshire’s boundary all three authorities were equal members of the Joint Committee and contributed an equal amount of money to its budget to cover staffing costs etc.  The AONB’s Management Plan, which it had a statutory duty to develop and manage, had been produced and published in 2014.  

Members were advised that AONB officers worked closely with the Council’s Planning Department to ensure that planning applications complied with statutory conservation obligations.  They also worked closely with the Council’s Countryside Services and its Housing Services in relation to the health and well-being agenda and promoting healthier lifestyles.  They emphasised that a number of the AONB’s plans aligned with the Council’s Corporate Plan and supported the delivery of various corporate priorities - the black grouse, curlew, little terns and heather projects all supported the work to deliver the corporate priority relating to the environment.  Whilst funding sourced to undertake work on other projects, such as the square at Llangollen, developing a community shop in the old school in Llandegla and the work of the Raven community pub in Llanarmon-yn-Iâl all contributed towards the realisation of the connected communities and resilient communities priorities.  The delivery of these projects relied heavily on AONB personnel and volunteers.

Responding to members questions the Lead Member, Corporate Director:  Economy and Public Realm, Countryside and Heritage Services Manager and the AONB Officer:

·         assured the Committee that Denbighshire did benefit from the fact that the Offa’s Dyke National Trail  spanned the entire length of the AONB area from Prestatyn to Chirk.  The fact that there was a railway station at Prestatyn, the end of the Trail if the journey had started from Chepstow was in itself a bonus as it provided walkers with easy accessible transport provision at the end of their journey.  The AONB received funding from NRW to undertake maintenance on the Trail and to work with other groups, such as the Clwydian Range Tourism Group on tourism related initiatives linked to the Trail i.e. support applications  for the development of barn conversions as holiday accommodation etc. whilst ensuring that no major developments were permitted that would have a detrimental effect on the area;

·         confirmed that the AONB’s observations on planning applications were reported in Planning Committee or Lead Member Delegated Decision reports.  Large applications, such as the Windfarms or large developments etc. would be presented to the Planning Committee for consideration.  The AONB’s observations would also be reported to the Planning Committee in the report.  Whilst the report may only include a summary of the AONB’s response members could ask to see the response in its entirety if they so wished;

·         advised that the minutes of the AONB’s Joint Committee, the AONB Partnership and its themed working groups were available to the public.  The minutes of the themed working groups were published with the committee papers for AONB Partnership meetings; 

·         confirmed that the AONB offered opportunities for young people through its Young Ranger programmes and through it voluntary health projects.  Officers also visited schools to promote these opportunities and the AONB in general;

·         advised that whilst the Colomendy outdoor pursuits centre at Loggerheads was no longer operated by Liverpool City Council, pupils from the city’s schools continued to attend courses there which were now run by Kingswood;

·         confirmed that the Community Miles leaflets published by the AONB in conjunction with the Council’s Countryside Services were available in a number of different outlets within the AONB, as well as in libraries and Tourist Information Centres (TICs).  Due to dwindling public funds these leaflets, which had been available free of charge, would now cost 50p to purchase.  The purpose for charging this small fee was to enable libraries to generate some income;

·         advised that located within the AONB were a number of Council assets.  These were mainly assets which had been transferred into the Council’s ownership on local authority reorganisation e.g. the Dyserth to Prestatyn Way, Prestatyn Hillside, Loggerheads etc.;

·         gave an overview of the £700K Sustainable Management Scheme operated along the northern coastal belt of Conwy, Denbighshire and Flintshire which included the use of Carneddau ponies to graze the sand dunes.  When the ponies were not required to graze the dunes they were used elsewhere in the area i.e. the Aberduna Nature Reserve in Maeshafn in the AONB.  This Management scheme included funding from NRW towards water and fencing management programmes;

·         confirmed that their vision was for the AONB to continue its close working relationship with the local authorities, as they felt that this approach worked well in north east Wales;

·         advised that biodiversity was at the core of the AONB’s vision for the area.  Its work focussed on the area’s landscape, a healthy upland moorland with heather habitat inhabited by native species of flora, fauna and wildlife.  Working closely with farmers and graziers traditional ‘ffridd’ land could be reintroduced with controlled burning practices used to control bracken and help nurture the upland habitat;

·         confirmed that a Biodiversity Officer had been appointed to help the Council to fulfil its duties to maintain and enhance biodiversity and promote the resilience of ecosystems in accordance with the requirements of Part 6 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016.  This work was cross-cutting and would include input into the Authority’s highways grass verge cutting programme, work to maintain and increase the black grouse, little tern and adders population etc. which would in turn support the delivery of the Council’s corporate priority relating to the environment;

·         advised that AONB officers worked closely with the Conwy and Denbighshire Local Access Forum. If they became aware of individuals, business or organisations who were interested in delivering environmental/wildlife experiences i.e. activities or holidays they would support them by assisting them to contact the Local Access Forum and access potential funding sources to assist them to establish their businesses;

·         confirmed that the moorland fire on Llantysilio Mountain during the summer of 2018 has caused some medium to long-term damage to the ecosystem in the area.  It would take some considerable time for the mountain habitat to recover and for indigenous species to return.  Whilst green shoots could be seen at present on the mountain, this was mainly bracken which in itself could cause further problems if not properly managed.  An application for funding had been submitted with a view to resourcing remedial work on the mountain.  Communities Scrutiny Committee would be holding a special meeting examining the fire and its impact during the Spring of 2019;

·         advised that AONB officers regularly assisted and supported farmers and graziers in relation to land management matters to ensure that they, visitors and tourists gained maximum benefits from the local environment.  They also worked with the Council’s Economic Development Team and individual businesses in a bid to ensure that small businesses maximised their income through their participation in schemes such as the Stay, Eat, local campaigns etc.;

·         drew members’ attention to the collective response prepared by Wales’ five AONB officers to the WG’s Minister for Environment’s consultation on Greater Parity for AONBs with the National Parks in Wales, a copy of which was appended to the report, and outlined each of the twelve points raised in the document;

·         confirmed that if legislative changes were to be proposed as a result of the WG’s above consultation a White Paper would be published, which would be the subject of further consultation.  It would probably be at least two years before any changes would come into force; and

·         advised that the WG had given a commitment to ‘green’ energy and designated areas where ‘green’ energy should be produced, particularly relating to where large scale wind turbines farms should be located.  The Government was now focussing on community benefits that should be realised from ‘green’ energy projects i.e. the hydro scheme in Corwen which benefited the local community in the town, the large community benefit funds that would shortly become available for communities affected by the Brenig and Clocaenog windfarms, where circa £170K and £750K respectively per annum would be available for community projects for the next 25 years.  Consultation was currently underway in relation to these schemes, including which communities should benefit, the types of projects to be funded, support to be made available to communities to apply for funding and fund administration.  Members agreed that these funds merited being considered for scrutiny at a later date and the Committee asked Councillor Rhys Thomas to complete a ‘member proposal form’ on the Committee’s behalf and submit it to the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs Group (SCVCG) for consideration;

Whilst not in the AONB members requested that officers enquire on the current situation regarding the 7 acres of land in the Bruton Park area of Rhyl, which had been bequeathed to local residents, and proposals to designate it as a nature reserve.

Members congratulated and commended the Council’s Countryside Officer for the north of the county and his team on the excellent conservation and public engagement work they undertake in the area.   

At the conclusion of the discussion the Committee:

RESOLVED: - having considered the Plan, subject to the above observations and the Lead Member and officers undertaking the actions identified, confirmed that it was assured that the Plan’s aims and objectives supported and complemented the Council’s vision and aspirations for the area