Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

No disclosures of interest were received.

No declarations were made.

To receive the minutes of the previous meeting(s) and agree as an accurate record.

Panel agreed the Minutes of the meeting on 4 July 2023 as an accurate record of the meeting.

Questions must be submitted in writing, no later than noon on the working day prior to the meeting.  Questions must relate to items on the agenda. Questions will be dealt with in a 10-minute period.

No questions were received.

David Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Corporate Service and Performance

Carol Morgan, Head of Housing & Public Health

Tom Price, Team Leader - Pollution Control

Hamish Osborn / Sarah Bennett, Natural Resources Wales

Relevant Cabinet Member, Team Leader Pollution Control and representatives of Natural Resources Wales attended to brief the Panel on this issue and answer questions.

Discussion Points:

·       Panel heard Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is the key player on this issue, but the Council works very closely with them.

·       Panel heard a lot about rising water temperatures over the Summer and asked if this makes it more likely to have problems with bacteria in sea water.  Heard it is potentially an issue and would warrant some investigations in the future, probably by the scientific community.

·       Panel queried what interaction there is between Welsh Water, the Council and NRW regarding sewerage discharges and how Swansea is performing compared to other parts of the UK. Heard there is a lot of interaction.  NRW liaises with Welsh Water over the number and duration of spills from sewer overflows, with the aim of reducing them.  This area does not have same level of problems as some areas in UK.

·       Panel discussed how new suburban housing developments damage wildlife habitats and can also create pollution and asked what measures should be taken by the Council to ensure surface water drainage solutions do not pollute existing local environmental amenities such as ponds and water courses. Heard from NRW perspective it is important to have a sustainable strategy for dealing with surface water on any site and that is why there is SUDS legislation.  It is the construction phase which NRW is particularly concerned about and would like improvement from the industry on. 

·       Panel stated there has been a lot in the press about water leaks and the amount of time to repair them and asked if there is a major leak from a clean water main how long the response time is.  Informed NRW does not have direct control over this.  Water companies are responsible for controlling leaks.

Discussion on how to encourage people to look at biodiversity within planning applications, for example, checklist/toolkit on biodiversity.

David Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Corporate Service and Performance

Ian Davies, Development Manager Planning and City Regeneration

Cabinet Member for Corporate Service and Performance and the Development Manager attended to brief the Panel on how the Planning system seeks to incorporate Nature and Biodiversity in the decision-making process.

Discussion Points:

·       Panel informed there is a requirement in Future Wales, the national development framework, that action is taken to secure the maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity to provide net benefit, to ensure resilience of eco systems and green infrastructure assets.  The Local Development Plan supports this and provides a clear planning framework.

·       In addition, to provide clarity, the Council has provided Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) ‘Biodiversity and Development’. This is available on the Council website and maildrops have been sent out to developers to inform them about the SPG.

·       Panel noted it is a reactive service as no legislative requirement for developers to notify Planning when starting a development, and Council does not have enough resources to proactively monitor every development. Cabinet Member emphasized the public have very important role to play in reporting issues, therefore public awareness raising is essential going forward.

·       Panel felt it would be useful to publish contact details for reporting issues on Council’s social media pages. Cabinet Member gave commitment to liaise with Communications team to see what they can do proactively to communicate this message.

Actions:

·       Cabinet Member to liaise with Communications Team regarding publicising this message to the public and feed back to Panel.

Panel considered the work plan and noted items for the next meeting.