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Contact: Democratic Services: - 636923
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Disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests. Decision: None. Minutes: In accordance with the Code
of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were
declared. |
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To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the
previous meeting(s). Decision: Approved. Minutes: Resolved that
the Minutes of the Steering Group Meeting held on 6 December 2021 be approved as a correct record. |
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Discussion - Gower Commons, Livestock Road Casualties. Decision: Noted. Minutes: Roger Button highlighted for discussion the number of livestock casualties on Gower Commons. The Steering Group discussed the following: - · The large amount of road kill on the commons and the need to possibly introduce fencing and reduce traffic speed; · The speed signs erected by volunteers being damaged by recent storms; · Introduction of physical and electronic fencing to prevent livestock roaming onto roads; · Cross-Party Group which discusses issues on the commons which is also attended by the Police, Commoners, Gower Commons Safety Group and how the traffic speed had been reduced from 60 mph to 40 mph; · Whether it was legal to fence off sections of common land, how locals would respond and the difficulty is siting Go Safe speed cameras at appropriate places on the commons; · Recognising that speed of traffic was the common factor and was a safety issue which needed addressing; · Collection of relevant statistics regarding accidents involving livestock, over 100 animals being killed in the last year and how many accidents were not being reported to the Police; · The need for livestock to remain on the commons in order to manage the land; · The various solutions that had been considered and how other areas were experiencing similar situations; · The difficulties in getting the Go Safe Speed Van to attend areas on Gower, e.g. outside schools; · The loss of livestock and the costs to farmers / owners; · How the commons roads encouraged fast driving and the potential need to look at radical solutions; · How much of the speeding traffic was driven by Gower residents. Hamish Osborn offered his services to assist with finding future solutions. Resolved that the contents of the discussions be noted. |
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Dark Sky Community Award Application - Update. PDF 295 KB Decision: Noted. Minutes: Chris Lindley, Gower AONB Team Leader provided an update report on the Dark Sky Community Award Application. Reference was made to a previous update provided in March
2021 and it was explained that the ‘Placemaking Guidance for the Gower AONB’
was now approved as Supplementary Planning Guidance by Swansea Council’s
Planning Committee. Gower AONB team
could now complete the International Dark Sky Community application to the
IDA. Relevant activities since New Year
2022 included: - · Renewed discussions with IDA representatives regarding completion of the application to their revised 2018 Guidelines for International Dark Sky Communities. · Completion of the annual sky quality monitoring, undertaken at the end of January, with further fieldwork in early March. The monitoring report was still to be completed. · Participation in the first Welsh Dark Skies Week (19-27 February) with all the Welsh National Parks and AONB’s delivering a programme of online and live events. · An ongoing programme of converting street lighting within Gower AONB to LED Dark Sky friendly units by Swansea Council Highways Lighting team. Gower AONB Team would complete drafting of the final application with the working group for submission to the IDA as soon as possible. There would be a further update at the Gower AONB Annual Forum. The Steering Group discussed the following: - · Concern regarding the potential impact of two proposed large attendance events on Gower, how they were two separate events and details of the discussions which had taken place with the organisers; · The difficulties with managing lights on private houses / private property and how education was the preferred method of dealing with matters. Resolved that the contents of the presentation be noted. |
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AONB Grants 2022/23 Report. PDF 220 KB Decision: Noted. Minutes: The Gower AONB Team Leader presented a report which provided
a summary of the current principal
grants supporting the AONB and a forward look into the next financial year. Details of the
following grants were provided: - ·
Sustainable
Development Fund (SDF) – The history and background were outlined. It was explained that this grant was provided
by Welsh Government and the £100k budget in both 2020/21 and 2021/22 was fully
spent/committed. Subject to finalisation / confirmation of the Welsh Government budget,
it was anticipated that the SDF would continue into 2022/23, although no figure
had been agreed. ·
Natural
Resources Wales (NRW) Partnership Grant – The history and background were
provided. It was detailed that this
grant had been typically in a multi-year offer, although the current grant was
a single year offer of around £68k, plus further capital funding (£40k) for
specific biodiversity projects through the NRW Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Resilience Fund. Discussions were ongoing with
NRW regarding their support for the AONB.
Again, any offer would be subject to confirmation of Welsh Government
budgets, but it was understood that NRW were considering offering a two-year
programme offer. ·
Sustainable
Landscapes Sustainable Places (SLSP) - The SLSP programme of capital investment
across Wales’s eight Designated Landscapes ensured that they could contribute
to key Welsh Government objectives. The four main programme strands were
detailed. Project proposals, including collaborative projects were brought forward by the designated landscapes and allocated funding from Welsh Government via the Tirweddau Cymru - Landscapes Wales partnership. The Gower AONB SLSP grant was £185k in 2020/21 and £225k in 2021/22. Subject to finalisation / confirmation of the Welsh Government budget, we were anticipating that the SLSP would continue into 2022/23 and would potentially be a multi-year allocation, although no budget figure had been agreed. · Welsh Government Revenue Grant - Welsh Government offered a one-off revenue grant of £75k for Gower AONB for 2021/22. The grant enabled the recruitment of the Gower AONB Communities and Nature Project Officer on a fixed-term basis (to end of March 2022). It was understood that Welsh
Government were proposing to allocate further revenue funding for each AONB in
Wales in 2022-23, with indicative allocations for the next two financial
years. The allocation was to address
capacity issues within AONB teams in ramping up work on biodiversity,
decarbonisation, community resilience and sustainable tourism. Resolved that the contents of the report be noted. |
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Tourism Sub-Group Update. PDF 209 KB Decision: Noted. Minutes: The Gower AONB Team Leader provided a progress update report regarding the Tourism Sub-Group. It was stated that
at the December 2021 meeting it was “noted that the Gower AONB Tourism
Pressures Working Group had met for preliminary discussions on 22 November
2021. Officers would be contacting stakeholders to provide examples for an
action log and the Working Group would meet to discuss the findings in the New
Year.” It was added that the
Sub-group had met on 31 January 2022 and initiated the preparation of the issues
log for further development and completion.
Key issues noted included: ·
Overnight
parking ·
Management
of major events ·
Dogs
under poor control ·
High
traffic volumes ·
Highway
safety The Gower AONB Team
Leader further added that he would continue to work on the issues log with Sub-Group
members and would report back to the AONB Partnership in due course. Hamish Osborn,
Natural Resources Wales offered his support to the Sub-Group to assist with the
outputs. Resolved that the contents of the report be noted. |
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Sustainable Development Fund (SDF). PDF 106 KB Decision: For Information. Minutes: Mike Scott, Gower AONB Officer presented the Sustainable
Development Fund (SDF) Panel Financial Summary report ‘for information’. It was highlighted that Welsh Government had confirmed the SDF budget for 2022/22 at
£100,000. 15 projects had
been approved, with £100,000 committed, fully committing the funds for 2021/22. The Committed Funds
figure included the CCS Management Fee of £10,000.
A detailed report
would be produced after April and circulated to Steering Group members,
highlighting the work done by the projects the Fund has supported. The SDF budget for 2022/23
had not yet been confirmed by Welsh Government, but indications were that it
would be in excess of £50,000. A new SDF Grants
Panel would be appointed following the Annual Forum meeting of the Gower AONB
Partnership in July 2022. |
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Gower Landscape & Biodiversity Grant Scheme. PDF 215 KB Decision: Noted. Minutes: The Gower AONB Officer presented an update report regarding the Gower Landscape & Biodiversity Grant Scheme. It was out lined that this grant scheme, which would be a
subsidiary of the Sustainable Development Fund, and would be managed locally on
behalf of Welsh Government, aimed to support a range of landscape and
biodiversity enhancement initiatives within Gower AONB. The
grant would be aimed at landowners, Community Councils and other groups, to
encourage and support projects where biodiversity gains could engage and
benefit those who lived within the local community. Priority would be given to
schemes where there was greatest biodiversity gain, and where community benefit
could be demonstrated. The scheme
would provide grant support for the following activities: · Drystone
Walls · Hedge
Laying and Planting · Small
Woodland Creation · Coppicing · Orchard
Creation and Restoration · Pond
Creation · Wildflower
Meadow Restoration · Community
Wildflower Corridor Creation · Small
Historic Features A
series of guidance notes would set out what standards and conditions applied
and where to find additional information and advice. Grants
would be up to £3,000, at up to 50% funding and eligible costs could include
labour, materials, survey work and management plans. It was expected to start
inviting applications in April 2022. A
simple application form would be used to apply for funding, with advice and
support from the AONB Team. A maintenance period of 10 years would be expected,
and a simple management plan would be required as part of the application. The
scheme would run as a pilot in 2022/23, so that it could be reviewed and any
amendments made to improve the outcomes in following years. Copies
of the scheme documentation would be distributed to the SDF Grant Panel
members, and the members of the AONB Steering Group. Resolved that the contents of
the report be noted. |
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Tirweddau Cymru - Landscapes Wales Update. PDF 118 KB Decision: Noted. Minutes: The Gower AONB Team Leader presented an update report on Tirweddau Cymru – Landscapes Wales. It was explained that Tirweddau Cymru-Landscapes Wales (TC-LW) is the partnership of the
designated landscapes in Wales who were working together to address key shared
challenges, including action on the climate change and nature emergencies. The TC-LW
partnership included the five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the three
Welsh National Park Authorities. As well
as connecting landscape bodies to key Welsh Government policy areas and NRW
strategic issues, the aims and remit of the partnership included: ·
Connecting
landscape bodies to work together on key challenges. ·
Administering
the Sustainable Land Sustainable Places (SLSP) fund, a capital investment fund
split across each landscape, with funding for collaborative projects across
multiple landscapes. Tirweddau Cymru
Landscape Wales administration of the SLSP programme had already provided over
£8 million to support more than 90 projects across the Welsh Designated
Landscapes. Following the
online autumn seminar in October 2021, preparations were beginning for an
in-person seminar for AONB Partnership and National Park members and other
stakeholders in the autumn at a venue in the Gower area. Resolved that the contents of the report be noted. |