Agenda item

Consideration was given to report of the Managing Director and Head of Regeneration.

The Head of Regeneration presented the report which provided the performance information of the Cardiff Capital

Region City Deal (CCRCD) during 2020/21 Quarter 1.  The report summarised and highlighted key programmes of work the Council was engaged in and was of interest to Blaenau Gwent, and these were highlighted at section 2.2 of the report.  The Officer then went through the report and highlighted progress made against some of the key projects.

A Member referred to page 59 of the report, namely the proposed 51% reduction in domestic heating and power, and asked how this would be achieved and whether the costs would fall to the homeowner and Registered Social Landlords.

The Officer said she did not have the details on this, however, she was aware that work had been undertaken on the Welsh Quality Housing Standards over the last 10 years, and RSL’s had been tasked with reducing domestic heat and power.  Welsh Government was pushing this agenda, and she confirmed that discussions would take place with partners in terms of resulting issues and funding.  She also reported that sustainability funding had recently been secured for some of the Council’s industrial properties.

The Member expressed concern that many of the houses within Blaenau Gwent were old and that the cost of the measures required to be taken would likely fall to the homeowner.  In relation to new housing he asked whether the provision of energy saving initiatives like solar panels etc. could become a planning requirement.

The Officer said the current housing standards for new builds ensured significantly reduced heat loss.  Reducing power emissions would be more difficult in the future, however, there were new building regulations emerging requiring sustainable energy in developments.

In response to a further question regarding the proposed availability of land for tree planting, the Officer said she was unaware of any regional proposals, however, work was being done locally with RSL’s and the Environment Section.

The Service Manager Development & Estates explained that developers were encouraged to incorporate sustainable homes during pre-application enquiries, and the main issue emerging is that this would be captured by buildings regulations which would provide a far better framework to push this agenda.

In relation to tree planting, the Team Manager Regeneration Opportunities referred to the Welsh Government Plant Cymru initiative launched a number of years ago, and said she would be happy to revisit any funding opportunities via this scheme.

A Member referred to the Metro Plus and said he felt that without the link to Newport, the proposed 4 trains per hour into Blaenau Gwent from Cardiff would be excessive, and said the Council should be actively pushing the link to Newport.  He also said there should be links to the Heads of the Valleys, particularly industrial estates, and questioned how the Abertillery link would bring economic benefits with 2 trains to Ebbw Vale and 2 to Abertillery.

The Member also referred to the Housing Catalyst Fund, and a previous report highlighting a number of sites, and expressed disappointment that none of those sites had met the criteria for funding, and questioned the viability of these sites being delivered in the future without this funding.

The Member expressed concern that the Sirhowy River had not been included in the proposals for hydro power; and that there was no mention of 5G connectivity in the report.

In relation to the Member’s comments regarding the train links, the Officer said in terms of what we want internally within Blaenau Gwent, more in depth discussions were needed to push this through strategically.  However, as far as our work with Transport for Wales was concerned, the work on the lines had likely gone as far as could be expected.  In relation to the Newport link, the Officer confirmed that this was still being pursued and Transport for Wales was considering options as to how this could be delivered.  

In relation to the Housing Catalyst Fund, the Officer explained that this particular site met the criteria and the timescales for submission of funding.  However, she confirmed that alternative funding was being explored for the other sites referred to by the Member. 

The Officer explained that the hydro power project was in conjunction with Natural Resources Wales, and the 5G project was stopped due to the fact that only 5 LA’s had expressed an interest.

A brief discussion ensued regarding the Western Gateway, and the Officer said it was important to the Council to take any opportunity available through the Western Gateway, but to also formulate its own opportunities through the HoV and connections to the Midlands, and work was being done in terms of business engagement.  She said she was pleased that Welsh Government had put out its Manufacturing Plan for consultation as this was key for the Valleys.

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the report be accepted and considered the overall progress and made comments on progress before the report goes to Council (Option 2).