Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Greenfield Valley Heritage Park, Greenfield Road, Greenfield, Holywell CH8 7GH

Contact: Sharon Thomas / 01352 702324  Email: sharon.b.thomas@flintshire.gov.uk

Note: Please note the venue 

Items
No. Item

67.

Declarations of Interest (Including Whipping Declarations)

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

Decision:

None were received.

Minutes:

None were received.

68.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 78 KB

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting on 13 March and the joint meeting on 15 March 2018.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 March and the joint meeting on 15 March 2018 were submitted.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

69.

Greenfield Valley Museum Heritage Park visit and presentation pdf icon PDF 81 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

(a)       That the update and presentation be noted; and

 

(b)       That the Committee receive an information update every six months.

Minutes:

The Chief Officer (Planning, Environment & Economy) introduced an update on progress to address the recommendations of the Internal Audit report on the governance, funding and operating arrangements at Greenfield Valley Heritage Park.

 

The Access & Natural Environment Manager gave a presentation covering the following:

 

·         Background

·         Scope of Audit

·         Audit - areas managed well

·         Audit - areas for further improvement

·         Key changes in 2017/18

·         Business Plan objectives

 

During the presentation, the Manager explained a number of key developments such as the appointment of an admin/finance officer to support improvements to back-office systems and the move to a more integrated model under the Planning & Environment portfolio.  As part of structural changes, the two Team Leaders were undertaking a key role in publicising countryside activities, improving site presentation and increasing public engagement, particularly via social media.  Governance arrangements had been strengthened by the recruitment of four new Trustees and retention of some of the former Trustees to provide support through the transitional period.  The three year business plan would form the basis of the revised management agreement and ensure that the needs of the partnership were being met.  The Manager said that the previous challenges were recognised and advised that there was now a positive working relationship between the team and the Trustees to work together to achieve the same objectives.

 

As Cabinet Member, Councillor Carolyn Thomas expressed her appreciation for the work done and future plans to raise the profile of the site.

 

Councillor Shotton thanked officers for the report and highlighted the need to publicise the park, particularly to tourists visiting from abroad.  It was explained that marketing was an important element of work by the team using existing links and creating new ones to develop a long-term strategy, and that the new website was due to go live.

 

Councillor Chris Dolphin spoke about the level of appreciation and support for the park, commenting that issues had only arisen in recent years.  He raised concerns about the findings of the audit report and questioned actions being taken on the governance arrangements, adding that minutes of the Board of Trustee meetings should be accessible.  He commented on the implementation deadline for the audit recommendations and expressed disappointment at the lack of detail in the covering report which he hoped would be addressed in the next update.  He referred to the negative impact on the community arising from the previous decision to remove fishing pegs from the pool at the site to prevent fishing.

 

The Chief Officer clarified that September 2017 was the deadline by which the Trust had been required to give a commitment to take on board the recommendations from the audit report which had been included on the agenda to show transparency.  Internal Audit would be monitoring actions and report back to the Audit Committee in June 2018.  The Board of Trustees included some new members with important skills to support the development and sustainability of the site.  To retain a level of continuity, some of the former members had agreed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.

Presentation Slides pdf icon PDF 209 KB

70.

Air Quality in Flintshire pdf icon PDF 96 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

(a)       That the Council encourage all decisions and policies, where appropriate, to proactively consider the impact on air quality;

 

(b)       That the Council work with the Public Services Board, as part of their environmental theme, to promote a multi-agency approach to addressing air quality; and

 

(c)       That the contents of the North Wales Combined Authority Air Quality Report be noted.

Minutes:

Councillor Chris Bithell presented a report on the findings of the regional Air Quality report, prepared in August 2017, to consider how the Council could do more to promote air quality considerations when taking key strategic and operational decisions.  In highlighting the importance of the topic, he was pleased to note that good standards of air quality were recorded for North Wales, noting that further improvements were needed.

 

The Community and Business Protection Manager spoke about the impact of air quality on health and advised that the collaborative approach to commissioning the report had been commended by Welsh Government.  She advised that the topic was now a priority for the Public Services Board and introduced the Pollution Control Officer who demonstrated monitoring tubes used to give an indication of air quality levels.

 

In response to questions, he provided explanation on monitoring locations and the approach to more intense monitoring.  He said that a link to the Welsh Air Quality Forum could be emailed to the Committee.  The introduction of projects for schools to carry out their own monitoring would help to raise environmental awareness amongst pupils.

 

The Manager explained that the annual report was a statutory requirement and that the findings must be taken into account for any planned developments.

 

Following comments on the impact of traffic management, Councillor Carolyn Thomas said that delays were often due to work carried out by utility companies and that any concerns should be passed to the relevant Area Supervisor.  She referred to the Flintshire Bus Strategy which promoted use of public transport, with some operators using low-emission buses.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)       That the Council encourage all decisions and policies, where appropriate, to proactively consider the impact on air quality;

 

(b)       That the Council work with the Public Services Board, as part of their environmental theme, to promote a multi-agency approach to addressing air quality; and

 

(c)       That the contents of the North Wales Combined Authority Air Quality Report be noted.

71.

Forward Work Programme pdf icon PDF 72 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be noted; and

 

(b)       That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises.

Minutes:

The Facilitator presented the current Forward Work Programme for consideration.  She gave a reminder that Members had been asked to submit any specific questions on Enforcement and Environmental Care in advance of the item scheduled for the next meeting.  Similar arrangements would also apply to the September meeting for an item on Natural Resources Wales.

 

The meeting dates for the 2018/19 municipal year would be included in the Forward Work Programme once the diary had been agreed at the Annual General Meeting.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be noted; and

 

(b)       That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises.

72.

Members of the Press and Public in Attendance

Minutes:

There was one member of the press in attendance.