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COUNTY BOROUGH OF BLAENAU GWENT REPORT TO: THE MAYOR & MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL – 10TH JULY, 2013 REPORT OF: MEMBER DEVELOPMENT CO-ORDINATOR PRESENT: COUNCILLOR H. McCARTHY, B. A. (HONS) (THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL, PRESIDING) Councillors G. Bartlett M. Bartlett Mrs. K. Bender, B.Sc. (Hons) D. Bevan K. Brown K. Chaplin B. Clements G. Collier D. Coughlin M. Cross M.B. Dally N. Daniels D. Hancock K. Hayden Mrs. A. Hobbs M. Holland J.J. Hopkins, Dip.Ed. Dip.Sc., O.St.J R. Jones Mrs. A. Lewis M. J. Lewis J. McIlwee C. Meredith J. Morgan D. Owens B. Pagett Mrs. D. Rowberry B. Scully T. Sharrem B. Sutton, Dip.Ed. G. Thomas S.C. Thomas Mrs. C. Tidey H. Trollope D. Wilkshire W. J. Williams, M.B.E., J.P. Mrs. L. Winnett AND: Chief Executive Chief Legal Officer Chief Neighbourhood Services Officer Chief Technical Officer Acting Chief Officer – Environment & Regeneration Assistant Chief Legal Officer/Deputy Monitoring Officer Head of Planning and Building Control Planning Control Manager Development Plans Manager Regeneration Projects Manager Corporate Communications Manager Transportation Strategy Manager Team Leader – Pollution & General Services Environmental Health Officer Senior Engineer Engineer Solicitor Interim Press & Communications Officer WITH: Public Speakers: Objectors Ms. Elizabeth Gibbs representing Brecon Beacons Park Society Mrs. Gwyneth Love Public Speaker: Supporter Mr. Dylan Hurter representing Blaenau Gwent Youth Forum Public Speaker: Applicant Mr. Michael Carrick representing Heads of the Valleys Development Company Ltd Mr Paul Trew – Acoustics and Noise Ltd ITEM SUBJECT ACTION ----- WELCOME The Leader of the Council extended a warm welcome to members of the public and press seated in the public gallery. APOLOGIES 1. Apologies for absence were received from: - Councillors P. Baldwin, J. Mason, Mrs. J. Morgan, J.P., D. White, B. Willis, Director of Social Services. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST AND DISPENSATIONS There were no declarations of interest or dispensations reported. 3. APPLICATION REF NO. C/2013/0062 (OUTLINE) CIRCUIT OF WALES MOTOSPORT FACILITY (COMPRISING: HIGH PERFORMANCE CIRCUIT; MOTORCROSS CIRCUIT; KARTING CIRCUIT; FOUR WHEEL DRIVE CIRCUIT; RIDING ACADEMY; INNOVATION CENTRE; HOTELS; RETAIL SHOWROOMS; ANCILLARY RETAIL; INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS USERS; DRIVER TRAINING AREA; SOLAR PARK; CAMPING; PARKING; LANDSCAPING AND ASSOCIATED USES) Consideration was given to the above-named application. Councillor K. Chaplin joined the meeting at this juncture. At the invitation of the Chair, the Head of Planning and Building Control advised Council of the following key/important points:- Whilst it was a matter for the Council to determine the application - the decision would not be able to be issued following the meeting. The officer advised that if planning permission was granted, discussions would commence with the applicant in relation to the S106 legal agreement. Similarly, if permission was refused a report would have to be prepared outlining the reasons for refusal. Welsh Government had received requests to ‘call in’ and determine the application. Welsh Government had been sent a copy of the report in relation to the outline application on Thursday, 4th July, 2013 and was aware of the Special Council Meeting being held today. Confirmation was received on 9th July, 2013 that Welsh Government would not issue a decision in relation to the ‘call in’ until the Special Council Meeting had taken place. Welsh Government would retain the right of ‘call in’ until the Council had issued a decision on the application i.e. whether to refuse or grant planning permission. Correction: Members were advised that the second sentence on Paragraph 1.9 on Page 10 of the report should be amended to read ‘During construction, it claims 4,000 employment years over 8 years amounting to 500 FTE per year”. Late Correspondence: Noise Issues - The Head of Planning and Building Control reported that there had been on-going discussions between the applicant, agents and Head of Environmental Health in relation to noise issues. The Head of Environmental Health had raised a formal objection to the proposal but since the preparation of the report there had been a further exchange of information between these parties but this had not changed the Head of Environmental Health’s position in terms of objection. Peat & Soil Issues – There was on-going dialogue with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in relation to their concerns over the extent of the impact of the proposal in relation to the peat and soils in the area. Blaenau Gwent Youth Forum - Late correspondence had been received from Blaenau Gwent Youth Forum in support of the application. Association of Motor Circuits Racing Owners (Brands Hatch & Silverstone) – Late correspondence addressed to the applicant and which had also been copied to Welsh Government and the Authority called into question some of the detail of the planning application and the viability and need for the circuit. Taking into account the above additional information the Head of Planning and Building Control advised that the recommendation remained unchanged i.e. that outline planning permission be granted. The Head of Planning and Building Control with the aid of slides showed diagrams and plans of the proposal which would cover both the Rassau and Sirhowy Wards. At this juncture in the meeting, the following parties addressed the Council. Objector - Ms. Elizabeth Gibbs representing Brecon Beacons Park Society – Ms. Gibbs commenced by explaining that she was speaking on behalf of the Brecon Beacons Park Society which was an independent organisation with over 600 members that existed to further the enhancement, protection, conservation and enjoyment of the Brecon Beacons National Park. She congratulated the Head of Planning and Building Control on a very comprehensive report and said that the decision that would have to be made was a very complex one requiring a fine balance of the different concerns. On the one side the benefits to the people of Blaenau Gwent seemed fairly clear – no-one could deny the need for jobs and regeneration in the area, though there did remain doubts in many people’s minds as to whether that was a really viable solution – trying to establish a new motorsport venue on a bleak windswept site that was often lost in rain and mist for a sport that seemed to be experiencing a decline elsewhere. Were there really the high tech research and development companies that were going to take up the buildings in the low carbon technology park? The other side of the balance was of concern to the Park Society. In approving the application the Council would be going against:- the policies of its Local Development Plan (LDP) to build on a Greenfield site, outside the settlement boundary in a special landscape area causing a large loss of biodiversity rather than promoting a gain. Welsh Government directives that made sustainable development its central organising principle that state that Wales’ carbon soils should be left intact, that require the conservation of the historic environment and cultural heritage and ensure that development did not produce irreversible harmful effects on the natural environment and that common land should not be developed. National policy that had been established to protect National Parks. The statutory purposes of National Parks were to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Park and to promote opportunities for public understanding and enjoyment of these special qualities. The statutory duty to have regard to these purposes applied to other public bodies such as the Council and the duty applied to activities both within and outside the National Park that affect it. Ms. Gibbs said that the landscapes of the National Parks were so special that they were given this protection so that the whole nation could enjoy them. The Society believed that the effect of this development on the National Park would be very serious, in particular because of noise, light, air pollution and the effect on the landscape. The open moorland of Mynydd Langynidr, the part of the Park closest to the development included the Chartist Cave, a site of cultural and historic importance and was a part of the remote and wild upland areas for which the Brecon Beacons National Park was renowned and visited. Everyone including the communities of Blaenau Gwent had a right to the peaceful enjoyment of this special area. The development would undoubtedly cause an increase in traffic on the narrow unfenced road over Llangynidr Mountain. Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) (now part of Natural Resources Wales (NRW)) was very concerned that any increase in traffic on this road would threaten the use of Llangattock and Llangynidr Commons by graziers (already too many of their sheep were killed each year by speeding traffic, not to mention the hazard to human life). If this historic use of the commons died out and sheep no longer grazed the mountain then the whole ecology of the areas would be changed. Ms. Gibbs claimed that another factor not properly assessed in the Environmental Statement was the effect of the development on the drainage of the peaty soils within the National Park and how this might affect their ecology. Ms. Gibbs continued by stating that there were many negatives that must be weighed in this delicate balance and what made the decision even more difficult was that there was so much that was unclear and uncertain. Firstly, why was this an outline rather than a full application? The Council would be left trying to guess what approval of the outline plan might commit it to. Secondly, there was a lack of information and level of uncertainty associated with several of the topic areas in the Environmental Statement, particularly the biodiversity, ground conditions, noise and lighting chapters. The uncertainties and lack of clarity made it very difficult to evaluate the nature, extent and severity of the impacts associated with this proposal.