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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED That the report be noted.
RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme be approved.
RESOLVED That the report be noted.
RESOLVED That Cabinet approve the strategy.
RESOLVED That Councillor Alan Dennison be appointed to the Finance Panel.
RESOLVED That Councillor Claire George be appointed to the County Farms Working Group.
There were no non-committee members wishing to speak.
There were no declarations of interest.
Councillor Jordan Ryan Moved that the Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 January 2025 be approved as a correct record; Seconded by Councillor Mike James. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 January 2025 be approved as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the report be noted.
The Democratic Services & Scrutiny Officer highlighted that all the actions from the last meeting had been completed, and the report was for noting. The Recommendation was Moved by Councillor Jordan Ryan; Seconded by Councillor Maureen Bowen. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the report be noted.
There was no public correspondence.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme be approved.
The Committee considered the Forward Work Programme. In response to a question raised by Councillor Tomas regarding when the Committee would get sight of the budget report for 2026/27, it was confirmed that this would be received in the new year. The Recommendation was Moved by Councillor Bethan Price; Seconded by Councillor Aled Thomas. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, were carried. RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme be approved.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the report be noted.
The Committee considered a report by the Head of Planning on the Local Development Plan (LDP2). She highlighted key points from the report including the progress made and that consultations were being worked through so it could be presented back to Full Council and adopted in May 2026. Until LDP2 is adopted, the previous development plan will stay enforced. With regards to classifying under the new LDP2, Councillor Alan Dennison queried what someone should do if they classified under the new LDP for development works but did not for the old one. In response, the Head of Planning clarified that any planning developments proposed now would be based on LDP1and LDP2 would only be considered for developments when it is formally adopted. Following a supplementary from Councillor Dennison regarding social housing developments, the Head of Planning stated that she was not aware of any current planned developments, LDP1 should not be seen as a ‘barrier’ to these developments but she noted that it was ‘out of date’ and slightly ‘out of kilter’ with the national policy direction of planning. Councillor Jacob Williams, the relevant Cabinet Member for Planning, added that there would be no ‘phased’ transition between LDP1 and LDP2, and instead it would be a full replacement. He recommended that any applications that would be seen more favourably under LDP2 should wait for it be implemented before submitting their applications. Regarding the new Natural Resources Wales further guidance, Councillor Claire George queried whether this would undermine LDP2. In response, the Head of Planning noted that the main impact would be around water quality in Pembrokeshire as the quality in rivers was declining. Both catchments of the Cleddau had high pollution levels, especially with phosphates. She continued that Natural Resources Wales (NRW) issued guidance in 2021 around this which stated development proposals would have to be assessed to see whether they would increase phosphates being released into the rivers. NRW have implied that they have guidance relating to marine water environments, but this had not been released yet. The Head of Planning said that the 2021 guidance led to more assessments of planning applications, there were some solutions that allowed applications to progress, but this would be more difficult when the new guidance is released by NRW; as this would likely focus on other nutrients going into rivers and oceans. She concluded that they would have the make sure that the new NRW guidance does not counteract LDP2. Councillor George noted that investment was needed from Dwr Cymru for water infrastructure, especially with existing housing. Regarding quarries, Councillor Mike James questioned if there were any changes with them in LDP2. In response, the Head of Planning stated that there were policies in place in relations to minerals and waste. She agreed to check this with her team and organise a meeting with them with Councillor James. The Recommendation was Moved by Councillor Claire George; Seconded by Councillor Michele Wiggins. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the report be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That Cabinet approve the strategy.
Councillor Rhys Sinnett, Cabinet Member for Resident Services, presented a report on the new Environmental Strategy. He highlighted the key points in the report, including that Pembrokeshire’s recycling rates and good street cleanliness, Net Zero targets set by Welsh Government, and the four priorities set out in the new strategy. To add to this, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment emphasised the amount of work undertaken in the last two years regarding recycling and street scene. She went through the recommended changes as stated in the report, including costs, and highlighted Welsh Government’s plan to build a recycling centre that would accept plastic film. She concluded that community group cleanliness work was being carried out as well as climate change projects on wetlands. The Interim Chief Environmental Services Officer noted that they planned to remove lithium batteries from items as they were fire hazards for the new Eco Park as well as educational work around this. The Committee thanked refuse collectors and environmental officers for their work. Regarding the tourism sector, Councillor George queried what impact this had on the refuse workforce. In response, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment stated that street cleaning was impacted the most, especially as tourists visited throughout the year. After Welsh Government introduced workplace recycling regulations in April 2024, businesses had to segregate their recyclable waste. Therefore, officers had to educate businesses on how to do this and the website will be amended to make things clearer too. With regards to supermarkets, Councillor Michael Williams noted that they would excessively wrap their products in packaging, and this made recycling more difficult for residents. He also added that the four-week collection for refuse would not be acceptable and that recent storms left a lot of flotsams on Tenby north beach; he questioned if it could be cleared before Easter. In response to the point about supermarket packaging, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment stated that Welsh Government will introduce ‘extended producer responsibility’ which meant that package producers would have to pay for the disposal of their product’s packaging. If the packaging was non-recyclable, then they would have to pay more. Regarding the four-weekly cycle, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment said that this was planned to follow a reduction in staff capacity and that Conwy who had a similar population makeup to Pembrokeshire was already on a four-weekly cycle. With regards to Tenby north beach, she stated that a community litter pick with the refuse team could be organised. Councillor Alan Dennison expressed that he was not in favour of four-weekly collections due to the extra hassle this would create. He also added that some recycling boxes would get broken by refuse collectors throwing them about and the boxes were not recyclable. He concluded that there was a lot of rubbish between Steynton and Johnston and queried if collecting this would be the refuse team or highways. In response, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment said that roads over 30mph would need to have traffic safety measures in place for the rubbish to be collected. She agreed to investigate this. Regarding the boxes, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment said that they were aligned with the bags and they were looking at retraining staff on how the boxes were handled. With regards to the four-weekly collection, Councillor Dennison noted that black bag numbers would not decrease with more recycling and not all residents had areas that they could store black bags in. He suggested that paper recycling collection be reduced to three-weekly instead of one to manage staff workloads instead. In response, the Interim Chief Environmental Services Officer concurred that the amount of paper being recycled had reduced due to less usage so they were looking at changing the collections so paper and carboard would be collected together. She noted that 48% of black bag contents in Pembrokeshire was recyclable and 17% of this was food waste. Councillor Dennison queried if there could be a waste collection for batteries at schools who could then get part of a profit share or reduction on school collection charges. In response, the Interim Chief Environmental Services Officer confirmed that this would be rolled out later this year. Regarding education the public, Councillor James noted that not all residents were online so he queried whether there would be any offline education with refuse collection. He concurred that the four-weekly collection would be difficult for residents who could not store black bags. With regards to offline education, the Interim Chief Environmental Services Officer said that community events were planned as well as leaflet dropping. There was also an education centre which would be open to schools and community groups. She confirmed that town and community councils would be contacted too. Councillor Bowen also expressed her concern with a four-weekly collection for black bags as most of her residents didn’t have storage areas so they would leave them on the pavements early which attracted rodents and seagulls. She added that bins at beaches would often overflow, and she queried if extra collections of these should be done at peak holiday times. Regarding the beach bin collections, the Interim Chief Environmental Services Officer agreed to check how often it was collected and report back; she would liaise with the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park regarding this too. With regards to the four-weekly collection, she stated that they were advocating to get food waste out of black bags as this would stop the pest problems. Regarding deposit return schemes, Councillor Viv Stoddart noted that Scotland launched one, but it did not work. In response, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment stated that Scotland did not include glass in their return scheme, but Wales will, and glass bottles returned would go back to the factories to create a circular economy. Pembrokeshire already had a successful glass collection service with 96-98% of generated glass being collected. With regards to waste recycling centres, Councillor Stoddart said that her residents did not like the booking system as they had to remember to bring ID with them and they were not user friendly as they only had 15-to-30-minute slots. In response, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment said that a consultation on the booking system was carried out last year and they rolled out more booking slots across all sites. Regarding ID at the sites, she said that this was introduced because of abuse received by officers from those disposing commercial waste and non-Pembrokeshire residents using the sites. The booking system was made to be as simple as possible and ID was not required for those who used the ‘My Account’ system. Councillor Thomas noted that recycling performance had increased by 70-75% in Pembrokeshire, and he queried where the difference went. Additionally, he questioned why Pembrokeshire was aiming to recycle as much as possible while landfill was being brought into the county at Withyhedge. He noted that this created a negative view on recycling in the county. With regards to the performance change, the Interim Chief Environmental Services Officer stated that Pembrokeshire was recycling some materials that were now being incinerated for energy e.g. old sofas. Big hard plastics were now being collected at three recycling centres. It was confirmed that by legislation that materials that could not be recycled (like sofas and other persistent pollutants), had to be burned for energy production. This burning occurred in Cardiff, so the objects were transferred there. As waste was being transferred around the country to be disposed of, Councillor Thomas queried whether imports and exports of waste should be more monitored as Pembrokeshire would have high levels of imports and exports. In response, Councillor Sinnett noted that waste was a market following the UK Government’s introduction of compulsory competitive tendering in the late 1970s onwards. Support for in county burning was unlikely but recycling had to increase in county otherwise it would go to Cardiff. He noted that the Council got an input from recycling to which created a finance as well as carbon balance. Pembrokeshire did not send much waste to landfills, including Whithyhedge. He concluded that landfills were legal, and they would continue operating until the market for them ended. To add to this, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment said that carbon levels were much lower when recycled material was used instead of using raw material. Welsh Government’s new waste strategy would focus on minimising waste in counties to reduce transporting waste. Waste education would be a focus too as this would encourage residents and businesses to stop generating waste. Councillor Thomas questioned whether the refuse collection staff were happy with the new strategy too as waste on the street would negatively affect tourism. In response, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment confirmed that education engagement sessions were planned with staff when the strategy was approved. She noted that the investment in the sector, including the Eco Park, had improved their situation too. Regarding people dumping commercial waste under domestic waste on the booking system, Councillor Dennison said that only a small amount of commercial waste could be disposed of in a car boot. He queried if a camera could check registration plate numbers against addresses and whether external residents dumping waste in county would still be an issue. With regards to non-residents using the recycling centres, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment said that this was still and issues especially as Pembrokeshire was the only county that accepted trade waste at all sites. Other authorities started checking addresses after Pembrokeshire implemented it because non-residents started using their centres too. Regarding vehicle checks, she stated that someone needed to be on site to check whether the waste was legitimate as this was a requirement of the permit from NRW. In response to a question from Councillor Dennison regarding recycling centre usage, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment said that this was site dependent however, open days were reducing but days the centres were open would have longer hours. Councillor Dennison queried what would happen if a private company brought in a skip a couple of times a month to save money spent on recycling centres. Some private companies would accept all waste in one skip and sift through it themselves. In response, Councillor Sinnett said that a mobile WRC had been looked at before but due to the amount of waste that recycling centres collected, there would be a lot more vehicles moving around the county disposing of materials. He concluded that all capital investment in the recycling centres had been agreed. Regarding the booking system, Councillor Bethan Price suggested that all the different recycling centre open days be included on the waste calendar as not all residents knew when they were open. She also noted that she and neighbouring wards had issues with fly tipping on private land and whether this was the landowner’s responsibility to clear. With regards to the recycling centres open hours, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment said that ICT were looking at adding the recycling centres open hours to the calendar. She concurred that fly tipping was an issue, and the Council was only responsible for collecting it from public land. Residents who had fly tipping waste left on their land were technically responsible for it and had to try and prevent it from happening again. Councillor Williams said that in the future he would like it to be possible for second home owners in Tenby to be prosecuted for leaving household rubbish in public bins. A Motion was Moved by Councillor Michael Williams to the effect: That Cabinet approve the strategy. Seconded by Councillor Bethan Price. Regarding dog mess on pavements, Councillor Dennison queried if this would be focused on in the future. In response, the Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment said that the Council had a contract with an enviro-crime agency so any hotspot areas should be reported to her so she could pass this on. However, prosecuting the individuals who left the mess was difficult. The vote, undertaken by way of a roll-call, was carried. The votes were recorded as follows: For the Motion – Councillors Alan Dennison, Bethan Price, Aled Thomas, Viv Stoddart, Maureen Bowen, Mike James, Michele Wiggins, Claire George, Michael Williams, Anji Tinley and Jordan Ryan [11] There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED That Cabinet approve the strategy.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That Councillor Alan Dennison be appointed to the Finance Panel.
Councillor Aled Thomas Moved that Councillor Alan Dennison be appointed to the Panel. Seconded by Councillor Alan Dennison. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That Councillor Alan Dennison be appointed to the Finance Panel.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That Councillor Claire George be appointed to the County Farms Working Group.
Councillor Aled Thomas Moved that Councillor Claire George be appointed to the Group. Seconded by Councillor Alan Dennison. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That Councillor Claire George be appointed to the County Farms Working Group.
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