Agenda item

This item is to receive any Public Questions: one was received by the deadline.

One had been received.

The Chair explained that one public question had been received from Vicki Roskams:

“Following the recent devastation that has happened to the nature and established woodland down in a SSSI area that runs alongside the Dee Estuary, which is also a listed garden and site we would like to ask:-

What is Flintshire going propose to improve both its procedures, reporting strategies and to ENSURE clearer communication and timelines are formalised and adhered, to stop this type of devastation expediting with clearer guidance of reporting and shared responsibilities, guaranteeing clear set rules and consequences for breaking such guidance which are published and enforced?”

In response, the Cabinet Member for Planning, Public Health and Public Protection, Councillor Bithell said:

“The Council is presently dealing with a Planning Enforcement investigation at the John Summers Shotton Point complex, following a series of issues that have been raised with the Council from a number of secondary sources and by third parties, including and unhelpfully in this instance, social media coverage.

Following an email from Mrs Vicki Roskams of Enbarr Enterprises Limited received on Friday 28th April querying progress, Mrs Roskams and other key stakeholders have already been made fully aware of the ongoing investigation that is taking place by the Council, including the steps the Council has already taken and intends to take, in order to ensure that the best interests of all of the relevant conservation assets at this site are taken into account.

The Council can only act in accordance with the legislation and powers available to it, and in the instances where clear planning harm has been identified. In response to the question posed, it is difficult for the Council to understand what it can alter or indeed needs to, as far as its enforcement policies, processes, or response is concerned. The Council has and follows its adopted Enforcement Policy and deals with each case on its merits, which is a well-established planning convention.

What is also important in any enforcement investigation is that the Council takes a balanced and proportionate approach. This includes the need to gain full information before acting, and to hear from both sides of the argument or issue, rather than just taking one perspective. This is what the Council has done and continues to do in a timely and proportionate manner, within the powers available to it.

The Council’s response has been clear, well informed, and proportionate but this has not been helped at times by the coverage given on social media which can act as a barrier to an ongoing enforcement investigation.

The Council will continue to manage the situation and has now fully engaged with the site owners including the receipt of an outline strategy for the whole site which the Council can discuss with them and advise on the appropriate way to take this forward and remain compliant. This in fact is often one of the best outcomes of an enforcement investigation where far from simply seeking to penalise or punish someone, a positive and beneficial outcome can be achieved. This is very much the aim of the Council for this site”.

The following supplementary question was asked, and Ms Roskams was advised that a written response would be provided:

“You clearly state Ms Roskams and other stakeholders had already been made fully aware of the ongoing investigation, including the steps already taken and those the Council intend to take to protect the heritage assets of the site, yet no information has been received and all parties have not yet been spoken to, to gain a balanced and measured overview, hence the email on the 28th April asking for information. Also, later in your answer you discuss how to converse with stakeholders about taking plans forward.

What about everything in the past, and the perceived eradication of greenspace and listed garden, and renovation which has already taken place over the past years. With this in mind- What does the council deem a timely and proportionate manner? – as measures were put in place in March 2022 by Enforcement for further planning for the works undertaken at the site to be submitted the Landlord, but these have yet to be materialised and we are now in May 2023 and when the issue were brought to FCC attention in March 2023 about that trees being removed and the habitats of many “At Risk” wildlife destroyed from the listed site by not just myself but members of the public, your constituents, it took until Ms Roskams got the support of CADW and members of the Senedd for the council to progress this concern forwards.

I also take exception to the comments blaming social media impeding the investigation, because on some of them I was answering public posts or alerting the public that the unsanctioned works and fires that were happening had nothing to do with ourselves or our volunteers and we wanted to distance ourselves from the responsibility, after the numerous messages we received through various social media channels by concerned members of our public / community, and I was called to site on several occasions by the fire service for unsanctioned fires which were burning out of control late into the night, not caused by myself or Enbarr Foundation or Enterprises, when the landlord did not answer there phone.

I have a professional reputation to uphold not just on myself but on members of the community that have gifted their time over the matter of 3 years to turn a place of desolation and neglect into an award-winning place of excellence, so I would like to put back to the council, what they are going to do, to turn this situation around? And what they class as a timely manner because a year to me is not timely manner, hence why I have now brought it up under a whistleblowing policy, because I do not think you have followed your own procedures or dealt with individuals equally or balanced. Thank You.

Can I just make one more comment, I would like to state that both Cllr Selvester and Cllr Jones have been nothing but supportive in this whole situation, they have been down to site, dealt with community members, and I cannot commend them enough on the support they have given?