Issue - meetings

            That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions detailed in the report of the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment).

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) in respect of this application which had been the subject of a site visit on 12^th October 2015.  The usual consultations had been undertaken and the responses received detailed in the report.  Additional comments received since the preparation of the report were circulated at the meeting. 

            The officer detailed the background to the report and explained that the application had been submitted as a result of proposed works following the significant flooding in Mold in 2000 and 2012.  The scheme would include the formation of culverts and the installation of attenuation tanks.  The application had been deferred from the 22^nd July 2015 meeting of the Committee due to concerns raised at the site visit held prior to the meeting; the report had been updated since that meeting.  A further site visit had been held on 12^th October 2015 to view the point of discharge into the River Alyn.  The officer drew Members’ attention to the late observations where an objection from a third party was reported.  Previously Members had requested the attendance of the Council’s Drainage Engineer and a representative from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) when the application was considered and the officer introduced Ruairi Barry (Project Engineer) and Rob Green (from NRW).    

            Councillor Derek Butler proposed the recommendation for approval which was duly seconded.  He said that this was an opportunity to apply for funding from Welsh Government (WG) and said that if this application was not agreed and the works undertaken, then nothing would be done.  He felt that the proposal would alleviate any problems further downstream and queried whether the Council had the funding to contribute to the scheme. 

            The Local Member, Councillor Chris Bithell, said that Mold had been very badly flooded in November 2000 mainly in the West and East of Mold.  The floods had caused considerable problems and residents had been forced to leave their homes for several months and their health and wellbeing had been significantly affected.  There had been a campaign for a scheme to combat the problems and this had been achieved and residents could be assured that something had been undertaken.  The culvert through the centre of town was incapable of dealing with the water off Hafod Moor and was causing flooding problems at Cae Bracty, an area that was principally in Councillor Haydn Bateman’s ward.  Councillor Bithell commended many aspects of the scheme but raised concerns about the proposal to capture the Hafod Moor water and take it west of the town to Rhyd Y Goleu, which would jeopardise properties in those areas with the additional water.  Councillor Bithell referred to a scheme from a number of years ago which had proposed using the east of Mold unlike the current proposal which was to the west of the town.  He spoke of the cost of the scheme which would increase water into the River Alyn and said that it had been indicated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70