Agenda item
Cabinet
Member: Councillor Dafydd Meurig
To consider the report of the Head of Environment
Minutes:
A report was
submitted by the Senior Planning and Public Protection Manager, giving the
Committee an opportunity to scrutinise the Supplementary Planning
Guidance: Facilities and Attractions for
Tourists (final draft), following the public consultations, and offering
feedback before it was considered by the Joint Planning Policy Committee.
During the ensuing discussion, the following points were highlighted by
individual Members:
·
That
the guidance did not clearly highlight the accumulative impact
·
That
there was no objection to the sites, but efforts should be made to protect the
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
·
That
the use of hardstandings needed to be managed - were resources available to
manage this?
·
TWR 2 -
concerns that buildings could be demolished and that holiday units could be
built in their place rather than a house(s) for local people
·
Airbnb -
extreme problem in our communities as people converted their houses into
holiday accommodation
·
Was it
possible to restrict the number by introducing a quota?
The Cabinet Member noted that the observations would be fed into the
discussions of the Joint Planning Policy Committee.
The Senior Planning and Public Protection Manager highlighted the fact
that draft guidance had been submitted, which sought clear and consistent
guidance in terms of policy implementation.
In response to the observations, in relation to the accumulative impact,
he noted that the matter had been discussed in the guidance, but he accepted
and noted the need to highlight this clearer, as well as the comment about
TWR2. In the context of enforcement, he highlighted that enforcement was a
challenging field across the service and a request was made for Councillors to
report on any case where the law had been breached. He reiterated that there were clear
conditions on the use of sites and the use of accommodation and that they
should be complied with.
The Chair expressed that the comments had already been conveyed at
previous meetings, and although they 'had been noted', they had not been
included in the guidance. He suggested
that there was conflict between officers and councillors and that the
observations were not being accepted / included.
In response to a question regarding the lack of response to the
consultation, it was noted that substantial consultation had been undertaken
and it was accepted that the response had been disappointing. It was confirmed that
the unit had gone above and beyond to raise awareness and seek responses and
that the Rural Wales Service and the AONB had been included on the consultation
list.
In response to the observation regarding introducing a quota, the Senior
Planning Manager noted, despite accepting the comment, that the advantages of
tourism had to be considered. He also
noted that the officers accepted the observations of Councillors, responded to
them constructively and he gave assurance that the observations would be submitted
to the Policy Committee. The Head of
Environment Department reiterated that he did not wish for the perception of
'not listening' to be disregarded and that the comment made regarding conflict
was concerning. He noted that a solution
needed to be sought.
RESOLVED to accept the report with a request for the final guidance to
be circulated in the next cycle.
Supporting documents:
- Over-development of Touring Caravan Sites, item 6. PDF 460 KB
- APPENDIX A - SPG Tourism Facilities and Accommodation March 2019, item 6. PDF 5 MB
- APPENDIX B - Tourism SPG Consultation Report, item 6. PDF 657 KB
- APPENDIX C - Tourism SPG Further Consultation Report, item 6. PDF 675 KB