Agenda and minutes

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

Chair welcomed Officers, Members of the Authority and members of the public watching via the livestream to the first meeting of the Authority for 2023.

No correspondence received.

Apologies were received from Cllr Simon Howarth and Cllr Edwin Roderick.

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.

No declarations were received.

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

No requests were received.

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

The Chair welcomed four new Welsh Government appointed Members:

·                Professor John Hunt

·                Dr Yvonne Howard-Bunt

·                Dr Liz Bickerton

·                Craig Stephenson

Members were advised that this presentation would be rolled out to Officers and various stakeholders, so feedback would we welcomed.

·                stakeholder engagement, and buy in, was key to securing the funding required to progress this work.

·                Cycling and walking was not viable for those coming from outside the park but would be useful for internal routes and local communities within the park.

·                The lack of a rail network within the park was a weakness, and that we should look to partner with gateway opportunities around the park to strengthen this.

·                We should be engaging with major events organisers (such as Green Man Festival) to benefit from their knowledge and learnings in this area.

·                Case studies around community focussed initiatives were useful, but as each area is so unique it is essential to do trials before implementation to see if they are applicable to a new community.

·                Electric vehicles for car clubs and park-and-ride schemes were of particular interest, but ultimately a scheme that pays for itself is essential.

Officers echoed the need for effective consultation and engagement but highlighted that as they were time bound to spending the money from the Commission within the year, this would limit what they could realistically commit to.

The Chair and Monitoring Officer thanked Local Authority Members for voluntarily stepping down to accommodate the appointment of Welsh Government Members. It was stressed that this was in no way performance related and was essential to ensure all committees were quorate:

·                Planning Committee: Cllr Ed Jones to step down

·                Audit & Risk Committee: Cllr Andrew Davies to step down

·                Finance & Performance Committee: Cllr Peter Baldwin to step down

·                SDF Committee: Cllr Ed Jones & Cllr Jeremy Davies to step down

Self-nominations were taken from the four newly appointed Welsh Government Members.

RESOLVED: appointment of Craig Stephenson to the Audit & Risk Committee until the AGM

RESOLVED: appointment of Yvonne Howard-Bunt to the Audit & Risk Committee until the AGM

RESOLVED: appointment of Liz Bickerton to the Finance & Performance Committee until the AGM

RESOLVED: appointment of Craig Stephenson to the Planning Committee until the AGM

RESOLVED: appointment of Liz Bickerton to the Planning Committee until the AGM

RESOLVED: appointment of John Hunt to the Planning Committee until the AGM

RESOLVED: appointment of John Hunt to the SDF Committee until the AGM

RESOLVED: appointment of Yvonne Howard-Bunt to the SDF Committee until the AGM

The Section 151 Officer advised Members that the final Estimates would go to NPA for March.

Members were concerned that dipping into reserves was unsustainable and urged Officers to consider collaborating with our partners to create stronger bids for available funding. This was echoed by the Chief Executive who stressed that effective income diversification was key to the Park’s future success.

S151 Officer agreed that it was not a comfortable position to be in. Members were advised that this was only an estimate and that the outcome of this financial year (the actual amount of reserves we had used) would fully determine our position.

RESOLVED: to authorise officers to issue levy notices to the constituent Local Authorities under the National Park Authorities (Levies) Wales Order 1995.

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

notified to him in advance.

No other business was raised.

RECOMMENDATION: to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of item 9 in accordance with section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 14 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

RESOLVED: to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of item 10 in accordance with section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 14 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and in all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.