Agenda item

To consider a confidential report (copy attached) from the Development Manager (Planning and Public Protection) which seeks the Committee’s observations on options for more effective regulation of the County’s caravan sites.

10.50am – 11.30am

The Lead Member for Public Realm introduced a confidential report by the Development  Manager (Planning and Public Protection) (previously circulated) which summarised the findings of the Project Group established to try and develop a strategy to better manage holiday caravan sites across the county.  Attached to the report was a draft options appraisal for the strategy, titled 'Records, Regulation and Repercussions'.  This document outlined the Council's vision for holiday caravan sites in the area, which was to ensure that they "are operating in accordance with their relevant statutory consents...clear strategies are in place to address the unauthorised residential occupation of holiday caravans including regularisation of established sites and the effective enforcement of others."  There had been widespread concern, both locally and nationally, for some considerable time on whether or not all holiday caravan site operators were wholly complying with the planning and licensing conditions pertaining to their sites.  With a view to researching the extent of the work required in this area the Project Group had been established to research the extent of any planning or licensing non-compliance in this area.  This Group had selected five holiday caravan sites, of different sizes located in various parts of the county, and gathered some preliminary information on their operations with a view to determining the extent of any breach of holiday restrictions on those sites.  Subsequently the addresses were cross-referenced with information held on Council services' databases to establish whether any applications for services or claims for benefits had been generated from these sites, as this would potentially indicate whether regulatory conditions on the sites were being contravened.

 

Officers confirmed that the information collated from the exercise had in effect raised more questions than had been answered.  Council departments held a wealth of information and records which could be used for cross-referencing or evidence purposes e.g. planning and licensing records, social services and education records, benefits, council tax and bus pass application records.  Using such information officers had been able to issue a number of site owners with Planning Contravention Orders (PCNs) informing them of a suspected use of their site for permanent residential purposes.  As a result some of the owners had volunteered to work with the Council to ensure that in future conditions were abided by, discussions were underway with others with a view to ensuring compliance and avoiding enforcement action. Nevertheless, one owner had been summoned to a magistrates court early in 2015 on non-compliance grounds.

 

Based on the success of the pilot project officers were keen to continue with the work.  Whilst there were benefits to the Council and the local tourist industry through ensuring compliance with regulatory conditions, there could also be repercussions for the Council if enforcement action was taken against owners i.e. the need to house displaced vulnerable residents if sites were forced to close etc.  Nevertheless, members felt that the benefits of enforcement and strict application of the regulations outweighed the risk associated with complacency in this area, as illegal residency of holiday caravan sites was a drain on local public services, be it local authority, health services or other public services as the residents were not liable for Council Tax as the caravans were not classed as their permanent residence.

 

Whilst a member of the Welsh Assembly had tabled a Holiday Caravan Sites (Wales) Bill in the Assembly, it seemed that there was a lack of willingness at this moment in time to enact that Bill as a stand-alone piece of legislation. However, some aspects of the Bill may be realised through amendments to existing legislation.

 

Responding to members' questions the Development Manager (Planning and Public Protection):

·         outlined the complex nature of caravan site charging policies and practices and of the legislative definition of 'caravan' and ‘holiday’ etc.

·         confirmed that he would inform members of the outcome of an imminent meeting with the owner of one of the county's largest caravan sites

·         confirmed that the Planning and Public Protection Service was keen to continue with the work undertaken to date by the pilot project and to extend this further;

·         advised that self-regulation would play a key role in ensuring compliance, however enforcement action may well be required in some cases and this may prove difficult due to limited financial and human resources in the light of budget constraints

·         stated that he was seeking a steer from members on the corporate way forward with respect to securing better regulation of caravans sites in the County and on the most effective way of moving the pilot project forward i.e. through the establishment of a high level group to drive the project and maintain momentum

·         confirmed that Conwy County Borough Council had identified a similar non-compliance problem in its area, although it was not thought that they had resolved the matter to date

 

Members suggested that, in addition to the records referred to in the report, it may be useful to utilise the following records for cross-referencing/data collection purposes:

·         Disabled 'blue' badge application records

·         approach the Health Board with a view to sharing information on the number of patients registered on their databases (centrally and with GP surgeries) who had given their address as a caravan site in the county;

·         check again the 'Register of Electors' and any other Council databases to ensure that none of the 'street/avenue names' used actually referred to 'streets' on caravan sites as some of the larger sites were known to have 'named streets' on site, this practice may disguise the true number of unauthorised permanent residents; and

·         to possibly approach mobile phone companies and satellite television providers to establish whether they are providing services to residents at specific caravan sites

 

During the discussion members:

·         emphasised the need to work with caravan site operators to ensure compliance with planning and licensing conditions whilst recognising the valuable assistance provided by them to the Authority in recent years to rehouse displaced victims of large-scale flooding

·         emphasised the need for a clear message to be communicated to holiday caravan site owners that in future the Council would not tolerate non-compliance with planning or licensing instructions and that if owners were not willing to work with the Council to manage their sites effectively that the Authority would utilise enforcement action

·         supported the Lead Member's suggestion that a case be made for additional officer support to be made available, under the 'spend to save' initiative, to progress the project and enforce compliance in this area;

·         raised concerns that the additional, supplementary information sought from Social Services could not be made available in time to inform the report at this stage of its development; and

·         to ask all Council departments to inform Planning and Public Protection as a matter of course if they received a request for a service or benefit from an individual who gave a caravan site as their address. 

 

Following detailed discussion on the report and the options appraisal the Committee:

 

Resolved: 

i)  subject to the above observations, and pursual of the suggested lines of inquiry, to endorse the final production of the Strategy document;

ii) to request that the Head of Planning and Public Protection, at the earliest possible opportunity, present a business case to the Corporate Executive Team (CET) detailing proposals to effectively engage an officer to progress the 'Better Regulation of Caravan Sites' project; and

(iii)  that a progress report on the Strategy's development, and the above points be presented to the Committee at its March 2015 meeting

 

 

 

Prior to the meeting’s conclusion the Chief Executive advised members’ that additional funding of approximately £113m had been allocated to the WG in the UK Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.  The WG had already announced that circa £70m of this money would be allocated to the Health Service, but no decision had yet been made on the allocation of the remainder.  The Leader would be writing to the Minister for Public Services making a case for a substantial amount of the remaining allocation to be awarded to local government, and specifically for local government services in North Wales.  The Chief Executive requested members to similarly lobby their Welsh Assembly representatives and party political representative to do the same with a view to protecting services in the region.

 

Meeting concluded at 12pm.