Venue: Siambr Dafydd Orwig, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence Additional documents: Minutes: Councillors Stephen Churchman, Endaf Cooke, Annwen Daniels, Selwyn Griffiths, Sian
Gwenllian, Annwen Hughes, Peredur Jenkins, Dyfrig Jones, Linda Wyn Jones, Eryl
Jones-Williams, Beth Lawton, Linda Morgan, W.Roy
Owen, Peter Read, Caerwyn Roberts, Mair Rowlands, Glyn Thomas, Ioan Thomas,
Gethin Glyn Williams, Mandy Williams-Davies and Eurig
Wyn. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Additional documents: Minutes: No declarations of personal interest were received from
any members present. |
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THE CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS To receive any Chairman’s announcements. Additional documents: Minutes: The following
were congratulated:- ·
Councillor Charles W Jones on being
awarded a Bachelor in Theology degree
(BTh) with honours from the South Africa Institute of Theology. ·
Everyone who was awarded in the Council at its Best Ceremony
and the Interviews for Dafydd Orwig Memorial Prize the previous week. Everyone who had been associated with the ceremony were thanked. ·
Janet Williams, Foster
Carer with the Council for being awarded
the Citizenship Award in this year's
St David's Day Awards. |
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CORRESPONDENCE, COMMUNICATIONS OR OTHER BUSINESS To receive any correspondence,
communications or other business brought forward at the request of the Chairman. Additional documents: Minutes: None. |
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URGENT ITEMS To note any items which are
urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman so they
may be considered. Additional documents: Minutes: None. |
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To consider a question which notice has been
given. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chairman
explained that Councillor Eurig Wyn has submitted a question prior to the last
meeting of the Council and the question had been submitted after the closing
date and he was to allow the question to be asked at this Extraordinary Meeting
of the Council. A Question from Councillor Eurig Wyn (and asked by Councillor Hefin
Williams in the absence of Councillor Eurig Wyn) "What financial
community benefits will be afforded to the community of Waunfawr following the
damage done to the area as a result of FIRST HYDRO developments to establish a
hydro-electricity scheme in the area?" Answer from Councillor Dafydd Meurig, Cabinet Member for Planning. (The Cabinet Member's written response was
distributed to the members in advance). "Contributions to local communities considerations are not part of
the planning regime and we are not aware that a specific financial community
benefit has been given to the community of Waunfawr as a result of the
development of the Dinorwig Power Station.
However, it must be noted that the economic benefit which this scheme
has provided during the construction and operational phases up until the
present day has been substantial for the local area , which itself has
benefited the community. A supplementary Question from Councillor Eurig Wyn (and asked by
Councillor Hefin Williams in the absence of Councillor Eurig Wyn) "Will the Council,
through the Planning Department, agree to investigate similar developments in
Scotland where the County Councils and the Government have created an effective
strategy to fund such schemes ensuring that benefits are provided to the
communities?" Answer from Councillor Dafydd Meurig, Cabinet Member for Planning. (The Cabinet Member's written response was
distributed to the members in advance). "The guidance of the Scottish Government also
emphasises that financial community benefit is not a voluntary arrangement that
is entirely separate from the planning process and, therefore, the same is true
in this case but the preliminary work has been undertaken by officers from the
Council's Property Service and the
Economy and Community Department to try to scope the the economic/community
benefits that could be associated with renewable energy schemes. Additionally, it is important to state that
in situations where a renewable scheme is on land where the Council is the
landowner, which is true in the case of Glyn Rhonwy, namely an application that
is currently under consideration, the Council will consider opportunities to
negotiate community benefits as part of the arrangement for the disposal of the
land. |
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JOINT LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN PDF 203 KB In accordance with section 4.12.1 (d) of the Constitution a letter was received from Cllr. Aled Evans which was signed by nine other councillors asking for a meeting of the Council to discuss "aspects of the LDP (Gwynedd and Anglesey), that is, the method used to evaluate the impact of this proposed plan on the Welsh language. We feel that what has been done is unacceptable regarding protecting the Welsh language, and we would like to consider further steps to reverse this weakness.” Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chairman explained
that in accordance with section 4.12.1 (d) of the Constitution, a letter had
been received from Cllr Aled Evans, signed by nine other councillors requesting
an extraordinary meeting of the Council to discuss"aspects of the LDP
(Gwynedd and Anglesey), that is, the method used to evaluate the impact of this
proposed plan on the Welsh language. We
feel that what has been done us unacceptable regarding protecting the Welsh
language and we would like further steps to reverse the weakness." The Chairman emphasised
that it would be this matter only that would be under discussion and
constitutionally it would not be possible to discuss any other aspect of the
plan. The Monitoring Officer
provided guidance regarding the general legal and constitutional position
regarding the discussion and he noted:- ·
The development of the Deposit Plan was in the hands of the
Joint-Planning Policy Committee and decisions on the consultation, the response
to the consultation and its submission for an independent inquiry had been
delegated by this Council to the Joint-committee since 2011. ·
On 29 January of this year, the Joint-committee decided that the plan
would go forward to an independent inquiry and on that basis the decision was
notified and the preparatory work was commenced. ·
This decision was in accordance with the Joint-committee's delegated
powers and it was satisfied, on behalf of Gwynedd Council, that the plan was
sound enough to proceed to the inquiry and that the process and the response
was robust to proceed to an inquiry.
Consequently, it was not legally possible for the Council to overturn
this decision. ·
It had been a joint decision with Anglesey and there was also a
significance to this decision for those who has supported or objected to the
plan. ·
There was a process which allowed objections to the plan to be addressed
by the Inspector and it was likely that there would be hearings on the response
to some of these issues also and, therefore, the objections would be weighed
up. ·
The request for an extraordinary meeting of the Council did not state a
specific notice of motion but rather a request for a discussion only. According
to the Council's Constitution, in order to have a discussion there had to be a
proposal and one of the rare occasions when a proposal could be made without a
notice was by means of a recommendation by a Cabinet Member. Therefore, the Cabinet Member for Planning
intended to submit a proposal to open the discussion. Then, it would be a matter for the members
to consider whether they accepted the motion or submit appropriate amendments. It was proposed and
seconded that the Procedural Rules should be set aside to allow any member to
submit a proposal to the Council. A registered vote was called for on the proposal to set the Procedural
Rules aside. In accordance with the Procedural Rules, the following vote was recorded: In favour: (32) Councillors - Craig ab Iago, Anwen Davies, Elwyn Edwards, Trevor Edwards, ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |