Agenda item

That the presentation from Natural Resources Wales be noted.

The Chair introduced Mr Nick Thomas, Operations Manager North-East Wales, NRW, to the meeting and invited him to give a presentation on the current work being undertaken by NRW.  

                        Mr. Thomas thanked the Committee for the opportunity to give an outline of the work of NRW.  He advised that NRW was established in 2013 and was responsible for the work of the Environment Agency Wales, CCW, the   Forestry Commission and some Welsh Government (WG) duties.  NRW was the largest WG sponsored body with 1750 member of staff and had an annual budget of around £170m.  Its purpose was to deliver sustainable management of natural resources.  Mr. Thomas went on to give a presentation which covered the following main points: 

·         Wellbeing of Future Generations Act – how we will deliver

·         Environment Act principles

·         Flintshire Public Services Board (PSB)

·         Well-being Assessment for Flintshire

·         Waste regulation

·         Industry regulation

·         River Alyn water framework directive project

·         agriculture

·         Dee Estuary

·         access, recreation, health

·         climate change

·         incident response

·         flood risk management

·         conservation

The Chairman thanked Nick Thomas for his presentation and invited Members to raise questions.

Councillor Owen Thomas referred to the issue of fly-tipping and asked if there was security around quarry sites.  Mr Thomas explained that quarry owners held responsibility for managing security on their sites.  He commented on the significant costs involved in clearing land of waste stored without a permit or exemption and the legal consequences of non-compliance.  He urged Members to report any incidents or concerns regarding the management or illegal tipping/storage of waste to the NRW.

During discussion Members raised a number of concerns around the ability of the sewerage system to cope with increased demand due to new and future property development in Flintshire.  Mr. Thomas referred to the work undertaken to slow and divert the flow of surface water into the sewerage system.  The Chief Officer (Planning, Environment and Economy) explained that Welsh Water would make an assessment of its sewerage system to determine whether it could meet the additional demand of any new build in an area and, if necessary, further development would not take place until the sewerage system had been upgraded.  The Chief Officer advised that some developments in Flintshire had been ‘time locked’ as a result of this process.

The Chief Officer referred to a sustainable urban drainage system for all developments in excess of 18 dwellings, separation of foul water and surface water

Councillor Veronica Gay raised concerns around the maintenance of the Balderton Brook, Saltney.  Mr. Thomas agreed to look into the specific issues raised following the meeting.

During discussion Mr. Thomas  responded to the further questions and concerns raised by Members around the Wales coastal path, Dee Estuary, dredging, and incident responses. 

RESOLVED:

That the presentation from Natural Resources Wales be noted.