Agenda item

The Committee received a report presented by the Executive Board Member -Deputy Leader (with responsibility for Planning Services) on the Council’s proposals (as agreed at its meeting on the 9^th December 2020) to introduce Local Development Plans for Carmarthen and Ammanford Town Centres. The report detailed the potential role LDO’s could play as part of broader regeneration proposals within a Town Centre context, particularly in relation to Carmarthen and Ammanford, in both supporting the Vibrant Places Initiative and ensuring they were resilient to the economic effects of COVID-19. The proposals also had due regard to the Council’s Corporate Recovery Plan and the Welsh Government’s Planning Guidance – ‘Building Better Places’.

It was noted that a LDO provided a Local Planning Authority with an opportunity to streamline the planning process by removing the need for developers/applicants to make a planning application to the Authority and for development proposals to be submitted as an LDO application in lieu, thereby allowing an authority to act proactively in response to locally specific circumstances within its geographical area. However, should a formal planning application be necessary, that would have to be submitted as at present. It was further confirmed that works to listed buildings were excluded from the Orders. The proposal would now be subject to a 6 week consultation period and, thereafter, would be submitted to Council for its consideration of the responses received and on whether to procede with introduction of the Orders.

The following issues were raised on the report:-

·       Reference was made to the existing LDO for Llanelli Town Centre and to how effective that had been in regenerating the centre

The Executive Board Member advised that whilst that Order incorporated different aspects than those proposed for Carmarthen and Ammanford, one being the requirement for the preparation of a Flood Risk Assessment, the benefits were beginning to gather pace.  She advised that lessons learnt from its introduction were being applied to the proposed Carmarthen and Ammanford LDO’s

·       Reference was made to the Council’s regeneration proposals and a comment made that whilst they were welcomed, one element that needed to be addressed to promote regeneration was the level of the Business Rates and the impediment they could be to enhancing regeneration within the County.

·       Clarification was sought on the statement on page 17 of the report para A1.4 that Section 106 planning obligations could not be required under an LDO, and to whether that was releasing developers from making such contributions

The Forward Planning Manager advised that the purpose of a LDO was to provide a stimulus to encourage change and dynamism to promote development within its boundaries and the requirement for a Section 106 Agreement could act as a barrier to potential developers. However, the Order would be continually monitored to assess its effectiveness, as required under legislation and, should circumstances dictate, it could be amended within a period of 21-28 days.

·       Reference was made to the time the LDO had been in place within Llanelli Town Centre and to whether examples could be provided of developments undertaken and if they had been privately or publicly led.

The Executive Board Member confirmed they had been privately led and they were being assisted by the designation of the Town Centre as a Business Improvement District

The Forward Planning Manager advised that the scheme had taken some time to implement within Llanelli but that to date, 12 applications had been received under the Order’s parameters with two schemes having commenced. One of the applications involved the conversion of an upper floor of a property for residential usage and as more of those applications came to fruition the greater the impact would be on the town centre and meeting the Order’s aims of introducing a living environment into the centre coupled with a range and variety of activities.

It was noted that a monitoring report was being prepared on the Order’s first year which would be presented to the Council and the Scrutiny Committee in due course

·       In response to a question on the impact of the Covid pandemic on the economy, the Committee was advised that the LDO provided the authority with the ability to be more agile and responsive to changing circumstances and the same applied to developers. Whilst the impact from Covid may last for a significant period, the authority needed to be more flexible in its approach to regeneration as its understanding of changing circumstances evolved

·       In response to a question on the potential impact of an LDO on historic buildings, it was confirmed it only applied to internal arrangements and the external facades would remain.

·       It was confirmed that the initial period of the LDO’s for Carmarthen and Ammanford Town Centres would be for 18 months to tie in with the time scale for the adoption of the Revised Local Development Plan. However, that period may be reduced, or extended, according to the Plan’s progression to adoption in 2022

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report be received