Issue - meetings

To submit a report by the Interim Head of Highways, Waste and Property.

It was resolved –

·        That the statutory responsibilities of the SuDS Approving Body (SAB) will be prescribed to the Highways, Waste and Property Service.

·        That the responsibility and powers of the SAB under Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 be delegated to the Head of Highways, Waste and Property Services with the right to delegate further as appropriate.

·        That the right to establish a procedure for determining applications in accordance with the Legislation and Statutory Guidance be delegated to the Head of Highways, Waste and Property and the Head of Regulation and Economic Services.

·        That income produced from administrating the SAB be earmarked for implementing the duties of the SAB.

·        That the right to create a structure and fill posts in order to carry out the duties of the SAB be delegated to the Portfolio Holder and the Head of Highways, Waste and Property.

·        That the right to revise the Scheme of Delegation in the Constitution to reflect this decision be delegated to the Monitoring Officer.

The report of the Interim Head of Service (Highways, Waste and Property) setting out a procedure for dealing with the Council’s function as an Approving Body for Sustainable Drainage (National Standards) applications under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Highways, Waste and Property reported that Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act (FWMA) 2010 orders that surface water drainage systems for new developments should comply with National Standards for sustainable drainage (SuDS). Schedule 3 of the FWMA 2010 also places a duty on local authorities as SuDS Approving Bodies to approve, adopt and maintain systems that comply with section 17 of the Schedule. The Welsh Government has announced that the requirements of Schedule 3 will come into force in Wales on 7 January, 2019. From this date therefore, sustainable drainage systems will be required for every new development of more than 1 dwelling house or where the construction area is 100 square metres or more. Drainage systems must be designed and built in accordance with statutory SuDS standards published by the Welsh Ministers. However, development applications submitted prior to 7 January, 2019 date will not be required to comply.

The Portfolio Member said that although the formation of the SAB is a new statutory requirement on Local Authorities, there will be no extra funding from the Welsh Government to undertake this function. It is expected that the SAB should be self-supporting in the long-term with the fees attached to Sustainable Drainage applications paying for the running costs. Following a project manager report by Ymgynghoriaeth Gwynedd Consultancy (YGC) funded by Welsh Government to support the establishment of a SAB and to explore options for North Wales, internal discussions were held with the Regulation and Economic Service and YGC and a number of options for fulfilling the Council’s duties as a SuDS Approving Body were considered. For the reasons given in the report it was decided and it is recommended, that those duties should be undertaken internally with the Highways, Waste and Property Service using the arrangements of the Regulation and Economic Service for administration and YGC for resilience. This will require one administrative post to be filled immediately to deal with applications from 7 January, 2019. Otherwise until the income from SAB applications is sufficient to enable new posts to be created and filled, SAB duties will be combined with existing staff duties using YGC where the expertise and/or capacity does not exist at present.

The Interim Head of Highways, Waste and Property explained what a sustainable drainage system entails in ensuring that surface water run-off is made to drain away slowly via collection in ditches and water pools instead of draining away rapidly directly into the drainage system which in periods of heavy rainfall can be overwhelmed leading to flooding elsewhere in the system. From 7 January, 2019 as well as submitting an application under the normal planning process, developers  will also have to submit  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8