Agenda and minutes

Venue: Fire Station, Llandrindod Wells

Contact: Email: steve.boyd@powys.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome and Apologies

To welcome attendees and receive any apologies.

 

 

Apologies received from:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed Siân Dulfer the newly appointed Chair of PAVO and Ben Wilson from NRW.

 

Apologies for absence were received from County Councillor Rowland Rees Evans, Superintendent Jon Cummins and Martin Cox NRW.

 

2.

Minutes and Matters Arising pdf icon PDF 152 KB

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held 13th September 2018

 and consider any matters arising.

Minutes:

Subject to an amendment to the minute on Step 7 correcting the number of homes the Welsh Government scheme aimed to decarbonise from 50,000 to 5,000, the Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the last meeting held on 13 September 2018 as a correct record.

 

3.

Update on Steps - Issues and Exceptions pdf icon PDF 160 KB

Minutes:

The PSB received updates on the steps and considered what value it was adding to the projects. It was noted that there were synergies between many of the projects and that without the PSB providing oversight there was a risk of working in isolation. PSB also discussed how Members discussed how they shared information about the work of the PSB with their organisations. It was agreed to include in the terms of reference a requirement for members to share information with their organisations.

 

Catherine Woodward pointed out that Steps 11 and 12 related to the North Powys project rather than being a pan Powys project but that there would be learning principles applicable to other projects.

4.

Production of Delivery Plans

To agree a timetable for the production of delivery plans for the steps.

 

Minutes:

In preparation for the meeting in March steps needed to be firmed up into actions. There was a need for consistency, co-ordination and a common template. It was agreed to organise a half day workshop at the end of January.

5.

Programme for producing the Annual Report

To scope out the timetable, format and content of the first Annual Report.

 

 

Minutes:

The PSB was required to publish its annual report by 2 July. HD suggested agreeing the broad content at the 28 March meeting and finalising it at the 6 June meeting. PSB was supportive of producing the report in a film format. This would be further considered at the workshop in January.

6.

Correspondence

6.1

Request from Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Town Council pdf icon PDF 568 KB

Minutes:

PSB considered the request from Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Town Council for PSB involvement in their Place Plan Stakeholder group. HD would pass on details of colleagues from the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, PAVO and NRW who had offered to help,  

7.

Growth Deal Presentation - David Powell

Minutes:

David Powell gave a presentation on the Mid Wales Growth Deal being developed jointly with Ceredigion County Council. The two councils saw the deal as a way of making Mid Wales sustainable by tackling low wages and depopulation.  The six themes agreed by the joint Cabinet are

      Business growth

      Skills

      Tourism & Events

   Infrastructure

   Agricultural / bio-security

   Low carbon energy.

 

NRW asked to be involved on the aspects involving forestry and sustainability and PAVO with regard to the 3rd sector. Prys Davies offered to make introductions to the power distribution networks.

 

 

8.

Decarbonisation Presentation - Prys Davies

Minutes:

Prys Davies gave a presentation on Step 7, Develop a carbon positive strategy that maximises green energy production. The National Assembly had agreed its own statutory targets to reduce CO² emissions by 80% by 2050 with interim targets every 5 years. Policies needed to be developed to meet these targets

 

This was an opportunity for Powys which had a number of factors in its favour:

 

·       the second highest level of renewable energy production in Wales;

·       89% of energy consumed in Powys is generated by renewables;

·       31.1% of carbon sequestration in Wales was in Powys;

·       Land use, land use change and forestry in Powys made a much higher positive contribution to greenhouse gas emissions than the Welsh average.

·       Lower per capita emissions than the Welsh average.

 

On the negative side fuel poverty was more acute in Powys because of the numbers of homes off the gas grid and the number of older properties which weren’t gas efficient.

 

The approach being taken was to:

 

Ødevelopa strategywhich reviewsatallemission sectors(power, buildings,transport,agricultureandlanduse,businessesand industry,waste)

 

ØEngageandinvolvedifferentemissionsectors

 

ØAssesstheroleofthePSBin relationto eachsector– delivering or influencingchange

ØAssessthechallengesandopportunitiesofincreasing

renewableenergygeneration

ØSetoutthevisionforPowys– whatmightitlooklikein 2040?

 

Ben Wilson from NRW suggested a joint approach with Ceredigion PSB: he would invite Prys to take part in the next meeting by Skype. 

 

9.

Safer Communities Presentation - Stephen Carr pdf icon PDF 3 MB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Stephen Carr gave a presentation on Safer Communities. He explained that the Cabinet Secretary was looking for agencies to take a collaborative approach with an initial focus on serious and organised crime and county lines.

Chief Inspector Andy Pitt highlighted the work of the Community Safety Partnership and made an appeal for all agencies to be involved and for better sharing of information. He advised the PSB of a successful police operation against county lines drug dealers in Powys as a result of shared information. Too often however, fear of falling foul of GDPR was preventing agencies from sharing information.

 

10.

Dates of Future PSB Meetings

28th March – County Hall, Llandrindod Wells

6th June – PAVO offices, Llandrindod Wells

19th September – Brecon Beacons National Park offices, Brecon

19th December – Llandrindod Fire Station

 

Minutes:

The dates of meetings in 2019 were noted.