Agenda item

RESOLVED that –

(a)       the arrangements established to consolidate Town Plans be developed to broaden them into wider Area Plans incorporating Town Plan Champions, the Town Plan Co-ordination Group and the associated officer support

(b)       the funding available to implement the priorities in the Town and broader Area Plans coming from the following sources be confirmed:

·         Corporate priority funding for ‘Improving the local economy’

·         Community funding revenue budget

·         Community capital and match funding capital allocation

 (c)       the recommendations from the Town Plan Co-ordination Group on initial allocation of funding in 2012/13 and 2013/14 be approved.

Councillor Hugh Evans, Leader and Lead Member for Economic Development and Councillor Huw Jones, Lead Member for Tourism, Leisure and Youth jointly presented the report seeking Cabinet’s confirmation of the process for consolidating and expanding the Town Plans and approval of the initial allocation of funding for priorities identified in 2012/13 and 2013/14.

The report set out measures which had been introduced to address the needs and priorities of smaller and more rural communities which included broadening the Town Plans into wider Area Plans (including the appointment of Town Champions and officer support and the establishment of a Town Co-ordination Group).  Councillor Huw Jones also elaborated upon his role in looking after the rural development aspect to ensure the needs in the rural areas were also being addressed and the work carried out to date in order to identify priority areas within those communities.  Members’ attention was drawn to the funding proposals to implement identified priorities together with the recommendations of the Town Plan Co-ordination Group on initial allocation of funding as detailed within the report.

During consideration of the report Cabinet emphasised the importance of introducing an effective mechanism to address the needs of the rural communities and discussed the governance arrangements in developing the town plans into broader area plans highlighting the mutual benefits of those arrangements for both towns and communities.  Members also reported upon progress being made in delivering the town plans for their individual areas through the Area Member Groups and their relationship with the surrounding communities.  The following matters were discussed in more detail –

-       members considered whether Bodelwyddan should be categorised as a town in light of the proposals identified in the Local Development Plan (LDP) and the large numbers employed there.  The consensus was that the matter be considered further once a final decision had been made on adoption of the LDP

-       the Corporate Director Economic and Community Ambition (CD:ECA) agreed to circulate a list of communities and the towns they were to be associated with

-       to provide assurances regarding progress the CD:ECA advised that progress reports for each town would be produced

-       the Leader and CD:ECA would be attending each Area Member Group to discuss delivery of the plans

-       the Chief Executive felt that the current town plan structure needed to evolve into more logical areas to cover the whole of the county which he suggested should be made explicit in the resolution

-       Councillor Eryl Williams felt that in addition to the inclusion of rural communities in broader Area Plans, the establishment of a Rural Area Group would be beneficial in order to generate ideas, good practice and learn about what was happening in other areas.  The Leader suggested that the former Rural Group be re-established and asked Councillor Huw Jones to take the matter forward

-       it was noted that particular ward areas covering rural communities would likely be associated with different towns which may cause some difficulty and was highlighted as an area of concern.  The CD:ECA confirmed the need to consider both the Council’s organisational boundaries and those made by the communities to ensure the most appropriate transition from Town to Area Plans

-       Cabinet agreed that a progress report on implementing the arrangements detailed within the report be submitted to their meeting in May.

Cabinet approved the funding proposals to implement priorities and was pleased to note that funding had been withheld to address priorities subsequently identified within the rural communities.  Councillor Joan Butterfield added that funding would also be sought for projects identified in the Rhyl Going Forward Delivery Plan when finalised.  Overall Cabinet was reassured that the arrangements to broaden the Town Plans into Area Plans as detailed within the report provided an appropriate mechanism to integrate the needs of the smaller communities and an amendment was made to the recommendation to clarify those arrangements.  Upon being put to the vote it was –

RESOLVED that –

(a)       the arrangements established to consolidate Town Plans be developed to broaden them into wider Area Plans incorporating Town Plan Champions, the Town Plan Co-ordination Group and the associated officer support

(b)       the funding available to implement the priorities in the Town and broader Area Plans coming from the following sources be confirmed:

·         Corporate priority funding for ‘Improving the local economy’

·         Community funding revenue budget

·         Community capital and match funding capital allocation

 (c)       the recommendations from the Town Plan Co-ordination Group on initial allocation of funding in 2012/13 and 2013/14 be approved.