Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

The minutes of the Economy and Development Select Committee meeting dated 27^th September 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Context:

To provide feedback on Velothon Wales 2016.

Key Issues:

·         On Thursday 19 November 2015, Council agreed to support the 2016 Velothon to enable the route to travel through Monmouthshire having received assurances that the route would be amended and that extensive consultation and communication with those affected will be at the centre of their work leading up to the event.

·         An operational delivery steering group was established to oversee the planning of this year’s event. The group had representation from all five Local Authorities, emergency services, Welsh Government, British Cycling, Run4Wales and key delivery partners. Additional subgroups were established to look specifically at Marketing and Communication, Race Logistics and Event Logistics.

·         Monmouthshire also established an additional ‘Internal Service Disruption’ group that developed arrangements for use by County Council representatives at the Velothon 2016 Event Control. The group prepared a document which detailed the County Council services disrupted by the Velothon, arrangements agreed in relation to service continuity, event ‘Command and Control’ structures, ELAPS points, key contact details and how these would dovetail into existing major incident arrangements if a significant event occurred.

·         In order to ensure that lessons from the Velothon Wales 2016 are fully captured and that actions are implemented to help improve organisational planning and event management, Monmouthshire County Council compiled feedback from its stakeholders and partners to provide feedback to the organisers.

·         The event organisation for 2016 was a significant improvement on the previous year. However, concerns still remain around the length of the road closures, lack of toilet facilities, litter and the benefits of hosting the race to our County. These issues have been discussed at Council at both its July and September 2016 meetings. As a result, it was agreed that the Council would only support next year’s event if the roads were reopened following the mass participation race and a rolling road closure was put in place for the pro race. In addition the organisers would need to reinforce with participants that they must not urinate on the sides of roads and provide sufficient facilities to ensure that this behaviour would not be necessary. Officers are working with the Velothon organisers to deliver these requirements.

Member Scrutiny

Having considered the report, the following points were raised:

·         A Member asked what benefits the Velothon brought to Monmouthshire constituents.  The Head of Community Led Delivery explained that this point was highlightedas a concern in the report.  It was noted thatCardiff mainly benefits as it is the race start and finish point.  It was added that there are less tangible benefits in Monmouthshire.  The example was provided that race participants practice in the area and may stop for breaks potentially using local businesses.  They may return to the area as visitors but there is no hard evidence to support economic benefit.  The importance of obtaining evidence of economic benefit was emphasised to support the Council’s decision to continue involvement with the event. 

·         In response to a question, it was confirmed that rolling road closures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Context:

To provide Members with a report card that considers Monmouthshire Tourism

Performance for 2015 against the objectives and outcomes set out in the Council’s

Improvement Plan.

Key Issues:

This report card highlights performance against key performance indicators for 2015.

In a climate of increasingly stretched resources it has been vital to focus firmly on

priorities and to maximise partnership working and opportunities to access external

funding.

The Strategic Food and Tourism Manager presented the report.

Member Scrutiny

A Member questioned how the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) budget of £42,358 is broken down and the effect on the various TICs in the County.  It was clarified that the figure queried was last year’s budget and that there is a reduced contribution of £18,000 to TICs for the current year.  In view of the operational costs for the Chepstow TIC of £65,000 (for which a £5000 contribution from Chepstow Town Council is received), it has been necessary to make a reduced contribution to Abergavenny TIC this year whilst steps are taken to move Chepstow TIC to the Abergavenny partnership model.  Information on the full costs of Abergavenny TIC was requested and an agenda item and report will be added to the work programme accordingly.

Members appreciated the value of local information and welcome provided by TICs in addition to digital resources.  It was emphasised that the reduction of visitor numbers recorded could be attributed to the restricted opening hours in response to budget cuts.  The commitment to identify suitable partners and progress partnership working for the Chepstow TIC was agreed.

It was agreed to consider the feasibility of becoming a Tourism Business Improvement District.  A Member explained that work has been undertaken to circulate to traders in Abergavenny, in the absence of a trade association, to promote tourism opportunities.

The Chair queried the external funding received, in particular, if local authorities can bid into the Tourism Investment Support Scheme (TISS).  The Officer advised that local authorities can apply to any relevant funding source according to its tourism objectives, and provided examples of funding secured from e.g. Regional Tourism Engagement Fund, Active Travel Quick Wins and the Rural Development Plan.  It was clarified that there are elements of the TISS that public sector can apply for that are not currently open but this will be monitored.  Members were informed that a review of the Destination Plan has been commissioned and that the priorities and opportunities in the new plan will inform the next round of funding applications.

The Chair queried timescales for the development of the new Destination Plan and was informed that it must be completed by 31^st March 2017.  It was advocated that Members are consulted on priorities at the earliest opportunity.

Members and Officers were reminded of the purdah period prior to the elections in May 2017.  It was agreed to consult Members, in a possible workshop format, following engagement with key stakeholders.

A Member welcomed the volume of data in the report and forecasted that visitor numbers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Context:

To receive an updated review of tourism-related planning policies to enable consideration of the extent to which the Local Development Plan (LDP) supports the Council’s objectives for growing our tourism economy.

Key Issues:

To aid consideration of this topic, the report is divided into two sections. The first part of the report identifies tourism-related planning applications determined during the second LDP monitoring period to determine the effectiveness of the existing policy framework in enabling tourism-related development.  This section utilises details from the LDP Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) to investigate planning approvals and identify any refusals.

The second part of the report updates the findings previously reported to the Select Committee. It reviews how LDP policies should be interpreted in relation to sustainable forms of tourist accommodation and reconsiders the extent to which the policies support such development.

Development Management Decisions

The findings of the 2015-16 AMRdemonstrate that 10 applications were approved for tourism uses during the monitoring period, eight of which were for tourist accommodation facilities. These included six holiday lets (all conversions) in various settlements, an extension to an existing holiday lodge site at St Pierre Country Park for five lodges and a new build 60 bed hotel in Monmouth (Premier Inn). Collectively, these provide over 70 new bed spaces and will provide a further boost to the visitor accommodation available in Monmouthshire.  A further two applications were approved for other tourism related uses – a walkers’ café at Llanddewi Skirrid and new play area at Llandegfedd Visitor Centre.  The number of tourism facilities approved is comparable to those approved during the last monitoring period (10 applications) which indicates that the LDP tourism policy framework is operating effectively to enable tourism development in the County.

It is notable that there were no applications permitted which involved the loss of tourism facilities during the 2015-16 monitoring period. Similarly, no applications relating to tourism-related uses were refused. This compares favourably to the previous AMR when five applications were approved involving the loss of tourist facilities and two tourism-related applications were refused.   This, together with the number of tourist facilities approved over the 2015-16 monitoring period and cumulatively since the Plan’s adoption, indicates that the relevant Plan policies are operating effectively allowing such developments to take place in Monmouthshire.

LDP Tourism Policy Framework 

New forms of visitor accommodation have emerged in recent years including yurts, tepees and wooden pods i.e. ‘glamping’. Given that such forms of accommodation are a relatively recent innovation, they are not defined in legislation and not explicitly referred to in current LDP policies. Accordingly, there is a need to consider how such proposals should be assessed against the existing policy framework and to determine whether policy interpretation / implementation could be clarified through the production of Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG). Although this matter was considered in the previous report to Select Committee, it was considered appropriate to review this work in light of an increasing number of enquiries regarding these new forms of visitor accommodation.

An  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

We received the list of actions arising from the Economy and Development Select Committee meeting held on 27^th September 2016.  In doing so, the following points were noted:

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

The Planning Department is still working on this matter.  If there are substantial changes to the document then it will be re-presented to the Select Committee for scrutiny.  However, if there are no substantial changes, the report will be presented to Council in January 2017.

Supplementary Planning Guidance on Affordable Housing

A report will be presented to a joint scrutiny meeting with the Strong Communities Select Committee and the Adults Select Committee in February 2017.

Percentage of planning applications delegated to officers for decision

The Head of Planning, Housing and Place Shaping will provide details of the comparative figures with other local authorities following a meeting with Welsh Government which is shortly being held.

We scrutinised the Economy and Development Select Committee Forward Work Programme.  In doing so, the following points were noted:

Agenda items for the Select Committee meeting on 24^th November 2016

·         Skutrade.

·         Eisteddfod report.

·         Chief Officer Enterprise Annual Report (To be confirmed).

·         CMC2 Performance Report (To be confirmed).

·         Velothon - Return on Investment (To be confirmed).

Agenda items for the Select Committee meeting on 5^th January 2017

·         Budget Scrutiny.

Agenda items for the Select Committee meeting on 9^th February 2017

·         Supplementary Planning Guidance on Tourism.

Select Committee meeting – 27^th April 2017

·         This meeting to be cancelled with a view to arranging an earlier meeting at the end of March / early April 2017.

Agenda item for the Select Committee meeting – March / April 2017

·         Review of achievements of the Economy and Development Select Committee over the previous five years.

End of November / Early December 2016

·         Destinations Management Plan Workshop Event.

We scrutinised the Council and Cabinet Business Forward Plan. 

In response to a Select Committee Member’s question regarding the County Council’s budget setting process for the financial year 2017/18, it was noted that this matter had been raised at the Coordinating Board Meeting.  This year, there will be a different process with regard to the budget setting.  Directorates will not be preparing mandates to generate budget savings as these have been undertaken in previous years and have been taken forward as far as possible.  For the next financial year, this will be about making savings via the Directorates.  It was noted that the budget setting process for 2017/18 has not been publicised in any detail so far.  However, the Select Committees will receive details of the draft budget for 2017/18 in the January 2017 cycle of meetings.  A joint Select Committee meeting comprising of the four Select Committees could be established to scrutinise the budget as a whole, in addition to the individual Select Committee meetings.

Thursday 24^th November 2016 at 10.00am.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 24^th November 2016 at 10.00am.