The Corporate Director – Communities presented a report to Council on the outcome of the consultation exercise on the Bridgend Replacement LDP Delivery Agreement, and to seek Council’s approval to submit the final Delivery Agreement (attached at Appendix 1 to the report) (in conjunction with the Bridgend Local Development Plan (2013) Review Report) to Welsh Government before the end of June 2018.

The Delivery Agreement sets out how and when the local community and other stakeholders can contribute to the preparation of the Replacement Plan and a timetable for its preparation.  It is proposed that the Replacement LDP will cover a plan period up to 2033.

The Development Planning Team Leader advised that in terms of consultation on the Delivery Agreement, Members would also recall that a report was presented to Council on the 25^th April 2018, which outlined the Cabinet Secretary’s response, that allowed Bridgend to proceed with its LDP subject to a very strict deadline requiring submission of the Delivery Agreement before the end of June 2018.  The report also sought authorisation to undertake targeted consultation on the draft Replacement Bridgend LDP Delivery Agreement between 30^th April 2018 and 25^th May 2018.

He added that, the Consultation on the draft Delivery Agreement was undertaken in conjunction with the draft Bridgend Local Development Plan (2013) Review Report.

            The consultation was advertised in the following ways:-

·         The consultation documents were available for inspection at the Civic Offices, Angel Street;

·         Information on the consultation was placed on the Council’s website; and

·         E-mails and letters were sent to approximately 190 consultees including Community Councils, planning consultants, house builders, housing associations and other relevant external organisations with details on how to respond.

The Development Planning Team Leader added, that by the end of the consultation period 8 external organisations had submitted comments on the draft Delivery Agreement. In response, the Council has produced a Consultation Report which was included as Appendix 3 in the final Delivery Agreement, that provided the Council’s response to the representations received.

Copies of the full representations can be viewed by Members at the Planning Department he further added.

The main changes to the Delivery Agreement recommended by Officers included:

·         Updates to the list of Consultation Bodies (attached as Appendix 1 in the Delivery Agreement):

o   It was considered prudent to include all the LPAs in the Cardiff Capital Region rather than just the neighbouring LPAs (Vale of Glamorgan, RCT and Neath Port Talbot) to reflect the importance of collaborative / regional working and Strategic Development Plan preparation.

o   Bridgend Local Health and Bridgend Partnership Board have been deleted as both have been replaced by the Public Service Board.

o   Action on hearing loss has been replaced by RNI Deaf & Hard of Hearing People.

o   The Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission and Disability Rights Commission have been replaced by The Equality and Human Rights Commission. 

o   Fields in Trust – replaces National Playing Fields Association Wales.

o   Royal National Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing People has been replaced by ‘Action on Hearing Loss’.

o   Wales Council for the Disabled has been replaced by Disability Wales.

·         An amendment to the timetable (attached at Appendix 2 to the report) to the Delivery Agreement) to reflect that Sustainability Appraisal (SA) scoping should be undertaken before substantive LDP proposals are publicly consulted on. All sites submitted in response to a future ‘call for sites’ will need to be subject to SA in due course, so it would be best to define the LDP SA framework, methodology and information requirements through the SA Scoping Report prior to issuing the call for sites (and any associated site pro-formas). This should help to ensure that site promoters submit sufficient sustainability and environmental information to enable the SA to be undertaken efficiently.

·         Paragraph 1.6.2 had been amended to show a degree of linkage between the SA (SEA), the Bridgend Well-being Plan (in accordance with the Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act and Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA).

·         Paragraph 1.6.3 has been expanded to reference the statutory requirement to undertake SEA screening.

·         Paragraph 1.6.3 the second and third bullet-points have been combined into a single bullet for clarity purposes.

·         Paragraph 1.6.3 the final bullet point has been amended to make clear that the SA Adoption Statement will be published after the adoption of the replacement LDP.

With regard to the current situation, the Development Planning Team Leader confirmed that the draft Delivery Agreement consists of 2 parts:-

·         A timetable for preparation of the Replacement LDP, and

·         A Community Involvement Scheme.

The timetable sets out the key dates, including statutory consultation periods, for each of the different stages of Plan preparation and publication. 

It also included key stages for the Sustainability Appraisal, which is an iterative process undertaken as an integral part of the Plan preparation process.

He explained that the Delivery Agreement must be approved by Welsh Government, and they had 1 month to consider and agree its contents or notify the LPA that it requires more time to consider the document. 

RESOLVED:                        (1)  That Council approve the final Delivery Agreement for the Replacement LDP and authorise the Group Manager Development, Communities Directorate to submit the final Delivery Agreement (attached at Appendix 1) (in conjunction with the Bridgend LDP (2013) Review Report (see separate item)) to Welsh Government before the end of June 2018.

                                            (2)   That Council give delegated authority to the Group Manager Development, Communities Directorate to make any factual corrections or minor amendments to the Delivery Agreement as considered necessary.