Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomes Members and Officers and gave a brief update on his attendance at the WLGA AGM. He noted that while it had been a challenging year for the Authority, and that he would not be putting his name forward for Chair this year, he was grateful for the support received and had valued the experience.

The Monitoring Officer drew Member’s attention to the process of self-nomination that would be used throughout the meeting, in accordance with Standing Orders.

Members noted the appointment of Canon Aled Edwards as Chair of the Authority until the next AGM of the Authority. The Chair thanked Members for their support and confidence. He noted the hard work of Cllr Gareth Ratcliffe as Chair over the previous year.

RESOLVED to note the appointment of Canon Aled Edwards as Chair of the Authority until the next Annual General Meeting.

Members noted the appointment of Cllr Gareth Ratcliffe as Deputy Chair of the Authority until the next AGM. Members commended the Deputy Chair on his time as Chair of the Authority.

RESOLVED to note the appointment of Cllr Gareth Ratcliffe as Deputy Chair of the Authority until the next Annual General Meeting.

The Monitoring Officer advised that the appointment of a presiding Member may be difficult as members are not yet aware of their commitments to other committees. It is left to members to decide whether they can deal with this now, or to adjourn to the next full Authority meeting on 29^th July as per the Monitoring Officers recommendation.

RESOLVED: Adjourn the Appointment of Presiding Member if Chair and Deputy Chair are absent to the next NPA meeting

Apologies were received from Cllr Peter Baldwin and Cllr Iain McIntosh as they would both have to leave the meeting early.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members relating to items on the agenda.  Members’ attention is drawn to the sheet attached to the attendance sheet and the need to record their declarations verbally and in writing, specifying the nature of the interest.

If Members have declared an interest in an item please ensure that you inform the Chair when you are leaving the room, so that this can be recorded in the minutes.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the following minutes and authorise the Chair to sign them

as a correct record:

National Park Authority 25 March 2022

EGM 20 May 2022

RESOLVED: To approve the following minutes and authorise the Chair to sign them as a correct record:

·                     National Park Authority – 25 March 2022

·                     National Park Authority (EGM) – 20 May 2022

To give opportunity for members of the public to address the meeting in accordance with the Authority’s Public Speaking Scheme.

There were no requests to speak.

To receive and consider the attached Schedule of Correspondence and any recommendations thereon (below).

Cllr Baldwin and Cllr McIntosh noted that they may have to leave the meeting early, due to other commitments. Both provided information on appointments they wanted to be considered for if they were to leave before nominations were taken.

To receive a verbal report on meetings and events attended by the Chair since the last meeting of the Authority.

To receive a report from the Chief Executive on meetings attended and progress made on Authority business since the last meeting of the Authority.

The Chief Executive noted that the Authority would be Chair for National Parks Wales this year, and that the Chair of the Authority would now also be Chair of National Parks Wales.

She discussed priorities for the upcoming months with the primary focus being imbedding new Exec team, progressing the Audit Wales action plan and the need to look closely at the type of Authority we want to be moving forward.

Looking ahead, key pieces of work were identified – Future Beacons (National Park Management Pan, outstanding Audit Wales recommendations, the appointment of S151 and Monitoring Officers and the Sustainable Tourism update.

It was noted that although the Authority was in a good position financially, there would still be a need to monitor finances accordingly given the current state of affairs.

Lastly, she stressed the importance of a good flow of information for Members and her commitment to transparency.

Membership of the Authority was noted for information by the Democratic Services Manager.

Monitoring Officer to talked to the attached report, noting that Welsh Government appointed Member vacancies would not be filled in the short term, and that this this would have impacts relating to quorum.

RESOLVED: The Authority agrees to delegate power to the Authority Solicitor and Monitoring Officer to amend Standing Orders and the Scheme of Delegation to reflect the required amendments and makes any consequential changes

The Chair sought self-nominations from the floor for membership to the Planning Committee.

RESOLVED: That the following members be appointed to the Planning Committee until the next Annual General Meeting of the Authority: Cllr Jeremy Davies, Cllr Edwin Roderick, Mr Julian Stedman, Cllr Peter Baldwin, Cllr William Powell, Cllr Iain McIntosh, Cllr Edward Jones, Cllr Huw Williams, Cllr Simon Howarth, Cllr Scott Emanuel

RESOLVED: to note the appointment of Mr Julian Stedman as Chair of the Planning Committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

RESOLVED: to note the appointment of Cllr Edwin Roderick as Deputy Chair of the Planning Committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

The Chair sought self-nominations from the floor for membership to the Audit & Risk Committee. The following members were appointed to the Audit and Risk Committee: Cllr William Powell, Cllr Edwin Roderick, Cllr Liam Cowles, Cllr Jeremy Davies

It was noted after the nomination of the other committees that the appointment of Cllr Roderick and Cllr Davies were not eligible under the current Scheme of Delegation (Cllr Roderick being Deputy Chair of Planning and Cllr Davies being Chair of F&P).

RESOLVED: That the following members be appointed to the Audit & Risk Committee until the next Annual General Meeting of the Authority: Cllr William Powell, Cllr Liam Cowles, Cllr Simon Howarth

RESOLVED: to note the appointment of Cllr Liam Cowles as Deputy Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

RESOLVED: to note the appointment of Cllr William Powell as Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

The Monitoring Officer advised that membership for this committee would need to be revisited at the next meeting of the Authority as only three of the required six Members had been appointed.

The Chair sought self-nominations from the floor for membership to the Finance & Performance Committee.

RESOLVED: That the following members be appointed to the Finance & Performance Committee until the next Annual General Meeting of the Authority: Canon Aled Edwards, Cllr Peter Baldwin, Cllr Huw Williams, Cllr Simon Howarth.

RESOLVED: to note the appointment of Cllr Gareth Ratcliffe as Deputy Chair of the Finance & Performance Committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

RESOLVED: to note the appointment of Cllr Jeremy Davies as Chair of the Finance & Performance Committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

RESOLVED: That Mr Julian Stedman, Cllr Jeremy Davies and Cllr Scott Emanuel be appointed to the Standards Committee until the next Annual General Meeting of the Authority.

The Chair sought self-nominations from the floor for membership to the Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) Committee.

RESOLVED: That the following members be appointed to the SDF Committee until the next Annual General Meeting of the Authority: Cllr Jeremy Davies, Cllr William Powell, Cllr Ed Jones, Cllr Edwin Roderick.

RESOLVED: to note the appointment of Cllr Peter Baldwin as Deputy Chair of the SDF Committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

RESOLVED: to note the appointment of Cllr Iain McIntosh as Chair of the SDF Committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

Members noted that the committee would not be quorate as there was no Welsh Government appointed Member representation. As the power to make consequential amendments had been delegated to the Monitoring Officer, Members were assured this would not be an issue. Mr Stedman offered to nominate himself as the Welsh Government Member, but withdrew this nomination as it would mean another Member having to stand down.

RESOLVED: To appoint the following members to the following Corporate Joint Committees until the next Annual General Meeting of the Authority:

·                     Mid Wales CJC – Cllr Gareth Ratcliffe

·                     South-West Wales CJC – Canon Aled Edwards

·                     South-East Wales CJC – Mr Julian Stedman

The Deputy Chair advised that some positions are automatically inherited to a committee position.

RESOLVED: To appoint the following members to the following outside bodies until the next Annual General Meeting of the Authority

The Monitoring Officer asked Members to contact him if they had any queries regarding conflicts of interest when sitting on these outside bodies.

Any other business that the Chair considers of sufficient urgency and has been

notified to him in advance.

No other business was noted.