Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Hugh Evans (copy enclosed) on the progress of expanding Town Plans into broader Area Plans incorporating smaller and more rural communities across Denbighshire.

RESOLVED:- that Cabinet approves the process for expanding Town Plans into broader Town based Area Plans as set out in this report, including specifically the:-

·                     communities covered by each Plan, set out in Appendix 1

·                     consultation arrangements, set out in Appendix 2

·                     expectation that Area Plans are completed by September 2013

Councillor H.H. Evans presented the report, circulated previously, which sought approval for the process for expanding Town Plans into broader Area Plans incorporating smaller and more rural communities across Denbighshire.

He explained that during 2011/12, Denbighshire had developed and agreed Town Plans for the County’s seven principal towns, excluding Rhyl.  An exercise had been undertaken in Rhyl to develop the Rhyl Going Forward Delivery Plan.  The Town Plans had allowed community needs and priorities to be identified for each major settlement. However, they had not yet addressed the needs and priorities of smaller and more rural communities.  In January, 2013 Cabinet had agreed to expand Town Plans into broader Area Plans and the report detailed how this would be implemented.  The Town Plans for Corwen, Denbigh, Llangollen, Prestatyn, Rhuddlan, Ruthin and St Asaph had been approved by Cabinet between December, 2011 and March, 2012.

In January, 2013 Cabinet approved an initial allocation of funding for projects identified as Year 1 priorities in the Town Plans and agreed to expand the Town Plans into broader Area Plans.  The Town Plans Co-ordination Group had considered the appropriate process for expanding the existing Town Plans into broader Area Plans and had addressed three main questions:-

i)                         What was the appropriate ‘area’ for an Area Plan.

ii)                        How should the Area Plans be developed.

iii)                       What would the Area Plans look like

The Group had considered two options which included Plans covering Member Area Group (MAGs) areas, or areas incorporating the Towns and the communities which had a traditional or natural affinity to them.  As Area Plans were intended to enact the Council’s commitment to community based planning and its ambition to be Closer to the Community, Group Members concluded that the second option – Towns and their Associated Communities – was preferred.  The Group had considered that such Plans were more easily understood by residents and this approach would be in line with best practice in community led planning and economic development of market towns.

Appendix 1 set out the communities to be covered by each Plan and these had been discussed and agreed by the MAGs and were believed to represent the ‘best fit’ natural links between communities and towns.  The Town Plan Co-ordination Group decided that in total there should be 9 Plans, the existing 7 Town Plans, the Rhyl Going Forward Programme for Rhyl and a new Plan for Bodelwyddan, to be developed if the proposed Local Development Plan was approved.

The Town Plan Co-ordination Group had recognised that good local consultation must be at the foundation of the new Area Plans if they were to be truly community based and reflective of local needs and priorities.  To ensure consistency of approach, the Co-ordination Group had agreed a broad framework for consultation and this had been incorporated in Appendix 2.  In keeping with the Town & Community Councils Charter, proposals had been designed to ensure that Community Councils lead consultation and engagement at local level.

The Leader highlighted the importance of the role of the Champions and the Group had recommended that Town Plan Champions, supported by their Support Officers, draw up detailed consultation plans for the smaller and more rural communities to be incorporated into their Area Plan in line with the framework and the MAGs would be required to agree the local consultation arrangements.  A small number of Councillors would have communities within their wards incorporated in an Area Plan outside their MAGs and since MAGs would have an important role in the development of the new Area Plans, the Town Plan Co-ordination Group had considered how best to address this and had recommended:-

·                       Local Members be consulted by the Town Plan Champion on how best to consult with their individual communities

·                       To inform the local consultation, local Members be invited at the start of the process to identify any key issues or priorities they were aware of within their communities

·                       Local Members be invited to attend relevant MAG meetings when the Area Plan was being considered for approval.  If unable to attend the Lead Member for Tourism, Leisure and Youth, acting in his role as Rural Champion, would ensure the interests of all rural communities, including those not normally covered by a MAG area, were adequately incorporated into the emerging Area Plans.

Area Plans would be developed by the Plan Champions based on the local consultations carried out and would be reviewed by MAGs.  Once agreed by the MAG, the Area Plan would be referred to Cabinet for approval and funding for early priorities could be allocated at that stage.  Area Plans were likely to come forward at different paces depending on the complexity of local consultation and a target date of September, 2013 for all Area Plans to be agreed had been recommended.

The new Area Plans would have three broad sections.  One identifying the vision and priorities for each Town, a second identifying how smaller and more rural communities relate to the Town, and a third setting out any specific needs or priorities for the smaller and more rural communities.  The consultation proposals outlined in the report and set out in Appendix 2 would focus on the second and third sections of the Plans.

It was not the intention to revisit the Town Plan section or priorities at this stage, although future phases of consolidation and strengthening of the Plans would allow issues and priorities to be reviewed as circumstances changed.  A route map for future stages of development had been suggested in Appendix 3.

An outline of the costs and how they would affect other services and the consultation arrangements for developing the Area Plans had been set out in the report.  The risks associated with implementation of the wider Area Plans had been detailed and would be addressed through the process outlined in the report, and specifically the consultation proposals set out in Appendix 2.

Councillor H.Ll. Jones emphasised the need to ensure that the rural areas received a fair share of the available funding.  He explained that many Town and Community Council’s would be appointing new Chairs in May, 2013 and it would be important to ensure that the lines of communication were clear and that consultation responses were received from the appropriate quarters.  Councillor E.W. Williams endorsed the concerns expressed that rural communities could lose out with Town Councils assuming control of the Plans.  He explained that communities were self-sufficient to an extent but faced difficulties in obtaining funding for projects in their respective areas.  The Leader emphasised the importance of ensuring that rural communities received the support in obtaining their entitlements in line with the urban areas of the County.  The CD:ECA referred to page 49 of Appendix 3 which highlighted phases 1 and 2 of the work to be undertaken which would assist in addressed the concerns raised by Councillor Williams.  An outline of the anticipated timescales for the implementation process for the Plans was provided for Members, and a route map for future stages of the development had been included in Appendix 3.

Details of the consultation process were summarised by the CD:ECA who outlined the Communication Teams suggested suite of approaches which could be adopted to expand on the more traditional methods of consultation.  Members agreed that a hard copy of the consultation process be made available to members of the public if requested.  In response to a question from Councillor P. Penlington, the CD:ECA referred to sections 4.11 and 4.12 of the report which detailed the structure and outlined the three broad sections of the new Area Plans.

During the ensuing discussion, Councillor H.Ll. Jones confirmed that he would be prepared to attend and address all Member Area Group meetings.

RESOLVED:- that Cabinet approves the process for expanding Town Plans into broader Town based Area Plans as set out in this report, including specifically the:-

·                     communities covered by each Plan, set out in Appendix 1

·                     consultation arrangements, set out in Appendix 2

·                     expectation that Area Plans are completed by September 2013