Agenda & Minutes of Meeting 28th August 2014

1. Confirmation of appointment of Chair
2. Welcome and Apologies
3. Minutes of the meeting held on 12 August 2014
4. Conwy County Borough Council representation
5. Recap (brief) on options considered for North Shore and why the current one was selected (this will bring all members up to speed) and an overview on suitable sand retention methods.
6. Feedback from the “wish list” exercise carried out at the end of the last meeting.
7. Setting up a “Data Room” so all forum members have access to the same research.
8. Identifying what additional information is initially required and putting in place a mechanism to get the data. Data on the Constable Bank has already been identified as one.
9. Date of next meeting – 11 September 2014 @ 6pm

 

Minutes

 

 

Thursday 28th August 2014

THOSE PRESENT

Mr Roy Haley – Chairman
Cllr Frank Bradfield – Conwy County Borough Council.

Cllr Dewi Miles – Conwy County Borough Council.
Mr Nigel Treacy – Destination Conwy.
Mr Gerry Sweeny – Friends of West Shore.
Mr Nathan Cousins – Llandudno Chamber of Trade.

Mr Berin Jones – Llandudno Hospitality Association.

Cllr Greg J.T. Robbins – Llandudno Town Council.

Mr Tony Lockett – Llandudno Sailing Club.

Ms Alison Shields – Restore Our Beach.

Mr John Farrell – Restore Our Beach.

Ms Debbie Wareham – Ships Timbers.

Mr Geriant Edwards – Environment, Roads & Facilities. Conwy County Borough Council.

Mr Ken Finch – Conwy County Borough Council.

APOLOGIES

Mr Edward Hiller – Mostyn Estates LTD.
Cllr Mike Priestley – Environment, Roads & Facilities. Conwy County Borough Council. RNLI.
IN ATTENDANCE
Mr Jez Hemmings – North Wales Weekly Newspaper.

 

1. ELECTION OF FORUM CHAIRMAN

IT WAS AGREED that Mr Roy Haley be elected as Chairman of The Llandudno Coastal Forum.

2. MINUTES

Two sets of minutes had been produced for the Forum meeting held on Tuesday 12th August 2014, one by Conwy County Borough Council and the other by Mr Glynne Davies.

IT WAS AGREED that the Forum adopt the minutes produced by Mr Glynne Davies. Following a discussion over the contents of the minutes by members.

IT WAS AGREED to accept the minutes as a true and correct record of the meeting held 12th August 2014.

 

3. GROUP REPRESENTATION

Correspondence had been recieved from Conwy County Borough Council regarding their representatives on the Forum.

IT WAS CONFIRMED that Cllr Frank Bradfield and Cllr Dewi Miles would act as the appointed representatives for Conwy County Borough Council.

At this time it was re emphasised that membership / participation in The Llandudno Coastal Forum was by invitation only, and that meetings were closed to the public.

Mr Jez Hemmings (North Wales Weekly News / press) agreed to publish a correction in his newspaper as it has previously been reported that Forum meetings were open to the public.

 

4. LLANDUDNO NORTH SHORE (brief recap on options considered & why current one was selected) and OVERVIEW ON SUITABLE SAND RETENTION METHODS.
The members were given a brief history of how the sea defences currently employed at Llandudno North Shore came into being, this included:

•   Basic details of the various reports commissioned by the former Aberconwy Borough Council (now Conwy County Borough Council) and Llandudno Town Council.
•   The different options for coast protection and sea defence and the individual schemes proposed.
•   Details of the Research and Modeling that took place.
•   The Names of the consultants who produced the reports, and which authority had commissioned them.
•   Timeline of events / reports.
•   Reasoning behind the decisions made.

IT WAS REQUESTED that Conwy County Borough Council supply data on the foreshore profile monitoring they have been carrying out on Llandudno North Shore 1977. (as recommended in The Scott Kirkpatrick Report 1977)

• Several members commented that what Llandudno has at present is 100% coast protection / Sea defence, and 0% amenity therefore not tourism friendly.

  There then followed a lengthy discussion among members regarding possible methods of sand retention that could be suitable for the North Shore.

  Numerous ideas were discussed regarding the feasible possibilities for Llandudno these included:

•  “Wooden style” beach groynes, which could extend further down the beach into the sea.
•  Large rock groynes, the use of which had been previously suggested in the 1990’s.
•  Offshore breakwater similar to the one at Rhos on Sea.
•  Various other options.It was suggested to members that they should look for beaches similar to The North Shore, not just in the UK but Worldwide, and investigate the solutions they have adopted.

  Members were reminded that what had been done elsewhere wouldn’t necessarily work for Llandudno, and that before deciding on any solution to the dilemma facing Llandudno that research / ground work must be done.

  Members were asked to remember that some schemes that might appear suitable for Llandudno, wouldn’t be feasible due to cost, as the issue of funding needs to be considered.

5. WISH LIST FEEDBACK

Following the exercise that had taken place at the previous Forum meeting to identify the issues members had with the North Shore at present, and the improvement and changes they would like to see, 47 points had been identified.

Mr Geriant Edwards (CCBC) informed members that they would be provided with a report on these at the next Forum meeting. These points had been broken down into a number of themes and it was decided to roll them out to members via themed meetings, this should take approximately 3 meetings. Members requested that it done in two if possible.

6. DATA ROOM

Cllr Greg JT Robbins (LLTC) informed The Forum that he was in process of setting up an online “Data Room” which would allow members to share research items and information. The “Data Room” would hopefully be up and running before the next forum meeting. It was agreed to look at providing public access to this data and mechanism for doing so at the next meeting.

7. IDENTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Following a discussion covering a broad range of subjects it was identified that members would like information on:

•   Constable Bank.
•   Data on sand acquistion and movement across Llandudno North Shore.
•   Tidal Patterns.
•   Predicted high tides for Llandudno along with historical data of previous high tides at Llandudno.
•   Historical data regarding sand loss with groynes in place, compared to now.
•   Expert opinion on what sea defence / coastal protection could be possible and feasible for Llandudno while still meeting The Forum’s “Terms of Reference”.

IT WAS AGREED that Mr Geriant Edwards (CCBC) would provide members with information on the “high tides” for Llandudno at the next meeting.

IT WAS DECIDED to contact NPOWER & Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and ask if they would supply The Forum with any data they have on Llandudno Bay and Constable Bank, and to contact Crown Estates to request, environmental monitoring data, the dredging impacts to The North Wales coast and wave monitoring data.

IT WAS REQUESTED that Mr Geriant Edwards (CCBC) contacts the teacher who came forward at ‘PUBLIC MEETING’ and request copies of the research she had carried out relating to The Constable Bank.8. MATTERS ARISING

A discussion took place concerning internal communication between members, as a result of which a timescale for production of minutes was decided upon. Members felt it was essential to have the minutes of the forum available to the public and press as soon as possible, so as to ensure transparency and engage with the public.

IT WAS AGREED that Mr Glynne Davies would act as Forum Secretary.

9. TIME & DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The time and date of the next meeting was confirmed as THURSDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2014 at 6pm in The Council Chamber, Town Hall, Llandudno.