Agenda item - Minutes

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 15 April 2015 and 22 April 2015.

(a) That subject to the suggested amendment, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman;

(b) That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman; and

(c) That the update from the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) on the Mold Flood Alleviation Scheme be noted.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 15 April 2015 and 23 April 2015 had been circulated to Members with the agenda.

The Environment and Social Care Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator advised that the action sheet for the 23 April 2015 meeting had been circulated to Members and that the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) was in attendance at this meeting to provide an update on the Mold Flood Alleviation Scheme, as recorded in the recommendation made at the meeting.

15 April 2015

Matters Arising

Councillor Ron Davies gave thanks to the Deputy Leader and the Committee for the proposal to eliminate evening car parking charges at Theatr Clwyd Cymru.

23 April 2015

Accuracy

The Chair indicated that she had submitted apologies for this meeting but they had not been recorded.

Matters Arising

In providing an update on the Mold Flood Alleviation Scheme, the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) circulated a map showing the proposed locations for the works. He explained that a constructive meeting had been held earlier this week, which Councillors Haydn Bateman, Brian Lloyd and Colin Legg had attended. He detailed the two elements to the proposed scheme and the locations for the siting of the underground pipe to intercept surface water, and for two large underground tanks. He added that landowners had raised significant concern about their agricultural holdings and the long term impact on the soil. The application needed to go through the planning application stage then an application would be submitted to Welsh Government for funding for the project. A briefing note would be prepared for Members in the future but the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) felt that it was important to update the Committee on the proposals.

Following a question from Councillor Clive Carver, the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) explained that the original scheme included an open ditch but it had now been decided that the proposal would require a pipe to be buried underground. The scheme was expected to take up to 72 weeks and discussions were ongoing about how to reduce the impact on the school site which was where one of the large tanks was to be placed. The Chief Officer provided a detailed response to a question from Councillor David Evans about which direction the water into the tanks would come from.

Councillor Haydn Bateman commented on the concerns that had been raised about compensation for the farmers. The Chief Officer responded that detailed negotiations would be undertaken at a later date as the details of the scheme were not yet known. He added that figures for compensation had not been included in the known costings of £10m. Councillor Brian Lloyd asked about identified candidate sites and how these would be affected by the proposed scheme. The Chief Officer indicated that the scheme could make candidate sites more attractive to developers. In response to a question from Councillor Joe Johnson, the Chief Officer said that it was not possible to generate power from the water from the pipe as it was not a constant flow.

RESOLVED:

(a) That subject to the suggested amendment, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman;

(b) That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman; and

(c) That the update from the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) on the Mold Flood Alleviation Scheme be noted.