COUNTY COUNCIL

9^TH MARCH, 2011

PRESENT:	Councillor T. Devichand (Chair);
Councillors:
S. M. Allen		S. Dunn	C.M. Jones	D. W. H. Richards
M. Binney		J. G. Edwards	Mrs. E. A. Jones	H. C. Scourfield
M. J. P. Burns		H.A.L. Evans	G. O. Jones	H. B. Shepardson
S. M. Caiach		Ms. L. Evans	I.G. Jones	Mrs. L.M. Stephens
A.P. Cooper		M. H. Evans	J. E. Jones	T. Theophilus
J. D. G. Crossley		W.J.W. Evans	Mrs. P. E. M. Jones	D. Thomas
A. Davies		W. T. Evans	T. J. Jones	Mrs. G. Thomas
D. B. Davies		Mrs. M. Gravell	W.J. Lemon	K.P. Thomas
D.J. Davies		W.G. Hopkins	P. H. Lewis	Mrs. S. E. Thomas
D. M. Davies		F. Hughes	D.J.R. Llewellyn	W. David Thomas
D.R. Davies		M. B. Hughes	D.A. Lloyd	W. Dorrien Thomas
J. J .J. Davies		P. Hughes Griffiths	S. J. Lloyd-Janes	Mrs. J. Tremlett
M.L.. Davies		P. M. Hughes	K. Madge	J.E. Williams
T. Davies		I. J. Jackson	D. H. Morgan	Mrs. J. S. Williams
W. K. Davies		S. R. James	Mrs. P.A. Palmer	P. M. Williams
W. R. A. Davies		D. M. Jenkins	R. T. Price	G. H. Wooldridge
E. Dole		A. W. Jones	K.D. Rees	Ms. H. E. Wyn
The following officers were also in attendance:-
Mr. M. James - Chief Executive;
Mr. D. Gilbert – Director of Regeneration;
Mr. R. Jones – Director of Resources;
Mr. B. McLernon – Director of Social Care, Health and Housing;
Mr. R. Workman – Director of Technical Services;
Mr. R. Sully – Director - Department for Education and Children;
Mr. E. Bowen – Head of Planning;
Mr. C. Burns – Assistant Chief Executive (Customer Focus and Policy);
Mr. C. Moore – Head of Financial Services;
Mr. L. Thomas – Head of Administration and Law;
Ms. D. Williams – Press Manager;
Mr. M.S. Davies – Democratic Services Officer.
(Council Chamber, County Hall, Carmarthen – 10.00 a.m. – 12.45 p.m.)

1. OPENING PRAYER

At the commencement of the meeting a short prayer was offered by the Chair, Councillor T. Devichand.

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D.T. Enoch, A.G. Morgan and D.A. Williams.

3. DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL INTERESTS

Councillor	Minute Reference	Nature of Interest
M.H. Evans	12 – Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee Minutes 17th February 2011 [re. Ammanford Customer Service Centre –minute7];	Member of Ammanford Town Council.

4. PERSONAL MATTERS AND CHAIR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

● The Chair offered condolences to Councillor John Jenkins and his family on the death of his grandmother;

● The Chair announced that she had invited representatives of Wootton Bassett Town Council to her Charity Ball at the Stradey Park Hotel on 18^th March in recognition of the fact that the town’s residents regularly turned out to honour fallen British servicemen and women being repatriated from Iraq and Afghanistan.

5. NOTICE OF MOTION

The Council considered the following Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor P. Hughes Griffiths:

‘That Carmarthenshire County Council opposes the UK government’s proposal to close the Milford Haven coastguard station and centralise daytime cover for Wales in Swansea and night time cover from Southampton. Furthermore this Council is extremely concerned that the loss of local knowledge of coastguard centre staff could lead to unnecessary delays in responding to emergencies around our coastline thus increasing the risk to maritime and shoreline users in distress. The loss of 24 jobs in the area at a time of economic uncertainty is also to be regretted, and this Council urges the UK government to reconsider its plans in order to reassure the population of West Wales that a safe, responsive and high quality coastguard service is maintained in our area.’

The motion was duly proposed and seconded.

The following amendment [wording in underlined italics] to the Notice of Motion was proposed by Councillor P. Palmer and duly seconded:

‘That Carmarthenshire County Council opposes the UK Government’s proposal to close the Milford Haven Coastguard Station and centralise daytime cover for Wales in Swansea and night time cover from Southampton. Furthermore this Council is extremely concerned that the loss of local knowledge of coastguard centre staff could lead to unnecessary delays in responding to emergencies around our coastline thus increasing the risk to maritime and shoreline users in distress. The loss of 24 jobs in the area at a time of economic uncertainty is also to be regretted, and this Council supports the development of the second Maritime Operation Centre with the 90 jobs it will bring in Wales, as a far better strategic option rather than concentrating the resource in the south east of England and it urges the UK Government to reconsider its plans in order to reassure the population of West Wales that a safe, responsive and high quality coastguard service is maintained in our area.’

The proposer and seconder of the original motion intimated their acceptance of the amendment.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the Notice of Motion, as amended, be supported.

6. COUNCIL MINUTES – 9^TH FEBRUARY 2011

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on the 9^TH February 2011 be signed as a correct record.

7. SETTING THE COUNCIL TAX FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2011-2012

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Resources (attached as Appendix A to the minutes) setting out the financial details relevant to the setting of the Council Tax for 2011-2012 together with the Council Tax amounts in respect of the different Council Tax Valuation Bands, as applicable to each of the individual community and town council areas.

It was noted that consultations had taken place with town and community councils and relevant partners, as detailed in the Revenue Budget 2011 -2012 report to Council on the 28^TH February 2011.

RESOLVED

7.1. that, in order for the Council to comply with legislative requirements, the report and recommendations of the Director of Resources (as set out in Appendix A to the minutes) on the setting of the Council Tax for the financial year 2011/12, be adopted;

7.2. that members be circulated with details of the precept and Band D equivalent Tax for Town and Community Councils for 2011/12.

8. CARMARTHENSHIRE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN – CONSULTATION

With reference to minute 13 of the meeting of Council held on the 21^st April 2010 consideration was given to reports detailing the following elements of the Carmarthenshire Local Development Plan for public consultation:
● Strategic Policies - these indicated the scale and distribution of the development in accordance with the vision and implementation of that strategy and were supplemented by the detailed policies and proposals. (These would be subject to a second report to Council on the 13th of April 2011);
● Renewable energy policies - For the purposes of this policy, renewable energy was the term used to cover those sources of energy, other than fossil fuels or nuclear fuel, which were continuously and sustainably available in the environment;
● Revised site assessment methodology - the methodology for evaluating the suitability of potential development sites for inclusion in the LDP.

The Head of Planning reported that whilst the specified legal minimum for consultation was 6 weeks, a period of 8 weeks was proposed which would provide stakeholders, statutory consultees and members of the public the opportunity to comment on the Plan’s suitability to guide development through until the end of the Plan period in 2021. Following the consultation the document, along with all comments received, would be resubmitted to Council before being forwarded to the Welsh Assembly Government and an independently appointed Planning Inspector for Independent Examination.

Issues raised during the ensuing debate included the following:

● Some concern was expressed that the Plan was overly focussed on the three main centres of population;

● There was a consensus that TAN 8 advice that 500m was deemed to be an appropriate minimum separation distance between a wind turbine and residential property was wholly unacceptable and it was suggested that there should be at least a 1 kilometre gap;

● In response to specific comments the Head of Planning stated that the detailed Plan would refer in more detail to issues such as the Welsh language and non-native invasive plants. It was also pointed out that the Plan would need to reflect the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 which was intended to modernise the existing legal framework largely governed by the Welsh Language Act 1993 regarding the use of the Welsh language in the delivery of public services;

● It was noted that whilst the Plan had to reflect the land use implications of national renewable energy policies the efficiency of the renewable energy technology was beyond its remit;

● In terms of affordable housing it was considered that the private rental market sector had an important role to play;

● With regard to the statement within the Strategic Policies document that ‘In order to mitigate the impacts of particular developments, and to facilitate the delivery of the Plan’s strategic objectives, community contributions may be sought through planning obligations as and where appropriate’ Council was advised that Section 106 agreements were likely to be replaced by a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) as the preferred method of securing contributions from developers;

● In terms of improvements to highways it was stated that the Plan reflected the Welsh Assembly Government’s forward work programme which placed the Llandeilo by pass as a post 2014 scheme.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED

8.1. that the following elements of the Carmarthenshire Local Development Plan be approved, as circulated, for public consultation subject to the minimum seperation distance between a wind turbine and residential property in the county being set at 1.5 kilometres:
● Strategic Policies;
● Renewable energy policies;
● Revised site assessment methodology;

8.2. to approve recommended revisions to the Strategic Policies presented in the Preferred Strategy as a consequence of the Sustainability Appraisal, and as a result of the responses received to the Preferred strategy as set out within Report, and further amendments as the process evolves;

8.3. that officers be authorised to correct typographical, cartographical and grammatical errors, and to make amendments which may enhance clarity of meaning, where such revisions are to be incorporated into LDP documents;

8.4. that, in terms of the report to Council on the 13^th April 2011, the Carmarthenshire Local Development Plan be made available on the web only and not circulated due to the fact that it would be a substantial document.

9. ENVIRONMENT SCRUTINY COMMITTEE - 27^TH JANUARY, 2011 UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the above meeting be received.

10. HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE – 4^TH FEBRUARY 2011

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the above meeting be received.

11. EDUCATION AND CHILDREN’S SERVICES SCRUTINY COMMITTEE - 7^TH FEBRUARY 2011

Arising from minute no. 9 – Report on the Future Viability of Branch Libraries as part of the budget strategy – the Executive Board Member for Education and Children’s Services agreed that where branch libraries had been identified for closure more time should be allowed for consultation if community councils and groups had expressed interest in taking over their operation. Members were assured that appropriate training would be given to any person who volunteered to assist in any of the affected libraries.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the above meeting be received.

12. POLICY AND RESOURCES SCRUTINY COMMITTEE - 17^TH FEBRUARY, 2011

(NOTE: Councillor M.H. Evans had earlier declared a personal interest in this item re. Ammanford Customer Service Centre –minute7).

It was noted that the decision in minute 7, Ammanford Customer Service Centre, had not been unanimous as indicated.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the above meeting be received.

13. APPEALS COMMITTEE - 11^TH FEBRUARY 2011

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the above meeting be received.

14. PLANNING COMMITTEE – 3^RD FEBRUARY 2011

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the above meeting be received.

15. PLANNING COMMITTEE - 15^TH FEBRUARY 2011

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the above meeting be received.

16. LICENSING COMMITTEE - 23^RD FEBRUARY, 2011

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the above meeting be received.

17. STANDARDS COMMITTEE - 23^RD FEBRUARY, 2011

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the above meeting be received.

_________________________ _______________

CADEIRYDD/CHAIR DYDDIAD/DATE