The North Wales CJC Strategic Planning Sub-committee met to discuss the Strategic Development Plan (SDP) for North Wales, including the Delivery Agreement and funding options. Councillor Nicola Roberts, Isle of Anglesey County Council, chaired the meeting. The committee was scheduled to discuss and make recommendations regarding the Delivery Agreement and funding for the SDP.

Strategic Development Plan Funding

The committee was scheduled to discuss issues and options for funding the production of the Strategic Development Plan. A briefing note included in the public reports pack estimated the overall cost of producing the SDP to be £3.276 million.

The report noted that the Welsh Government had not committed any specific funding to the SDP, unlike the Regional Transport Plan. The public reports pack stated that the CJC had budgeted £0.431 million for SDP work in 2025/26, but that a shortfall of approximately £1.1 million was projected over the five-year SDP programme.

The report outlined several options to mitigate the budget shortfall:

• Securing a one-off grant from the Welsh Government.
• Increasing the local authority levy for SDP in the 2026/27 financial year.
• Exploring the use of balances or reserves.
• Further dialogue with the Welsh Government.
• Collaborative working with local authorities to make salary savings.
• Maximising cost-effective consultancy support.
• Efficient interpretation of SDP Regulations to speed up plan production and reduce overall costs.

The committee was asked to consider the funding issues and options and recommend that the Corporate Joint Committee consider all options to fund the SDP, including further representations to the Welsh Government. The report noted that the CJC would not be able to formally submit the Delivery Agreement to the Welsh Government for approval until it could demonstrate how it would meet all SDP production costs.

Strategic Development Plan Delivery Agreement

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the Delivery Agreement (DA) for the Strategic Development Plan following a consultation. The public reports pack stated that the consultation ran from 18 July to 29 August 2025.

The report noted that the SDP Regulations specify types of stakeholders that the CJC should seek to engage with as part of the SDP process, defining them as either 'Specific Consultees' or 'General Consultees'. Specific Consultees include members from constituent CJC Local Authorities, all Town and Community Councils within the CJC area, statutory undertakers¹ such as Water and Power companies, Natural Resources Wales², Government departments and Local Authority officers. General Consultees include groups who provide voluntary services to communities, various religious groups, groups whose main function relates to language and culture, business groups, and those involved in construction and development.

According to the report, only three specific comments related directly to the Delivery Agreement were received during the consultation. These comments sought clarification on some key points but did not seek to amend the DA.

The committee was asked to confirm that the Delivery Agreement was ready for submission to the Welsh Government and to recommend this to the CJC at its next meeting, subject to the resolution of the funding of the SDP.

Previous Minutes

The committee was scheduled to approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 6 May 2025.