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PEMBROKESHIRE ISLANDS CANDIDATE SPECIAL AREA OF CONSERVATION
MINUTES OF JOINT MEETING OF LIAISON FORUM
WEDNESDAY, 7 JUNE 2000, COUNTY HALL, HAVERFORDWEST
Present
Steve Taylor (SAT) Pembrokeshire County Council (Chair)
Sue Gilbert (SG) SAC Project Officer
Maureen Taylor (MT) Hyder (Welsh Water)
Julian Orchard (JO) Twr-y-Felin Centre (Recreation rep)
Jim Price (JP) Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce (Business & Commerce rep)
Blaise Bullimore (BB) Countryside Council for Wales
Mike Camplin (MC) Countryside Council for Wales
David Harries (DH) Texaco Ltd (Industry rep)
Jane Hodges (JH) Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority
Trevor Theobald (TT) Pembrokeshire County Council
Steve Thompson (ST) Estee Aqua (on behalf of the Milford Haven Waterway Users Association)
(Titles and honours omitted. Relevant authorities / members of the Relevant Authorities (RA) Group shown in italics).
1. Welcome & apologies.
The chairman welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies were recorded from Phil Coates (South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee) Mark Andrews (Milford Haven Port Authority), Paul Varallo (Environment Agency), Ian Wisby (The Joint Fishing Communities of South and West Wales), Cllr Anne Hughes (Milford Haven Town Council), Robin Crump (Orielton FSC) and later from John Everett (Elf Oil (UK) Ltd).
2. Minutes of Liaison Forum 27 March 2000 and matters arising.
The minutes were agreed.
Item 4a: SG reported that to date nothing had been received from representatives for inclusion in the SAC website. JP tabled an article that he had written for the Chamber of Commerce Newsletter - circulated with the minutes. SG said she would try to have it scanned and put on the Commerce & Business Interest Group's link on the website. The Chairman explained that the production of a professional leaflet is being delayed for the short-term for reasons that will become apparent later in the meeting. The 'stop-gap' leaflet, produced by SG, will however be made available to attendees at the public meeting.
Item 5: The Chairman apologised for the delay of Pembrokeshire County Council's document on statutory duties; it is in hand and will be forwarded to SG for circulation shortly.
Item 6: Dealt with in today's agenda Item 4c.
Item 7: The venue for the public meeting, as reported to members in recent correspondence, is now the Merlin Theatre, Pembrokeshire College and not the Kaleidoscope Centre in Milford Haven for which bookings are not being taken this summer.
3. Minutes of Relevant Authority Group (RAG) meeting 9 May 2000 and matters arising.
No matters were raised.
4. Project Officer update report.
a) Information provision
SG tabled the 'stop-gap' information sheet - an A4 size, 8-sided, bi-lingual colour production. This is largely a hard copy of the website. Information sheets have been added to the information packs in the main local libraries - Fishguard, Haverfordwest, Milford Haven, Neyland, Pembroke, Pembroke Dock and Tenby. Local secondary schools and Pembrokeshire College will also be provided with information. Copies will be sent out with the minutes to non-attendees. Representatives were asked to display the sheet where possible and/or circulate. Additional copies are available from SG, but note that Interest Group members will also be able to pick up a copy at the public meeting.
b) Project timetable
The document, PISAC Management Planning Tasks Timetable (10/05/00), along with a diagrammatic and simplified Management Scheme Timetable, was circulated with the agenda for today's meeting. SG pointed out that the stages and timings of the timetable were based on lessons learnt from Cardigan Bay. The timetable shows that the production of a management plan document is scheduled for late 2004 after considerable periods of consultation. Questions were invited.
c) Role of Interest Groups
SG, as indicated in letters to representatives, will ask specific questions of Groups once more data has been collated. It was thought that the asking of specific questions possibly targeted at gaps in the data would be more productive and encourage a better response than a very general questionnaire. In the meantime representatives are of course invited to forward anything that they feel is of relevance to the SAC. JO reported that no response had been received to date on the questionnaire he sent out to members of the Recreation Interest Group.
5. Public Meeting 2000.
This is booked for 7:30pm on Friday 23 June at the Merlin Theatre, Pembrokeshire College, Haverfordwest. A draft agenda for the meeting was circulated prior to today's meeting. The agenda for the public meeting was discussed and agreed upon. Tea/coffee will be available from 7pm and the bar will open by 9pm in time for informal discussions after the main proceedings.
Interest Group Representatives are invited to stand up, show their faces and say a few words about their group for literally a minute or few. This could be talk on membership, any progress that the Group has made and meetings held, views of the Group, lack of interest etc. An informal session after the main meeting will concentrate on recruiting new members and generate fresh interest in the Groups. Each Group will be given a table 'station' in the bar area where people can 'sign-up' and/or ask questions of the Group. Displays are also invited in order to stimulate interest in the Groups.
The Project Officer will contact non-attendees as soon as possible after today's Liaison Forum in order to establish representative's availability for the public meeting. ACTION: SG
Representatives should contact SG to confirm their presence and willingness to contribute to proceedings at the public meeting. Alternatively Representatives can nominate someone else to stand in. Notice should also be given to SG over displays and any requirements prior to the meeting.
ACTION: All representatives
JO, ST and JP all confirmed that they would be attending the public meeting and were willing to say a few words during proceedings and make themselves available afterwards for informal discussion. DH reported that he unfortunately would not be able to attend the meeting himself but would find a replacement. BB noted here the disappointment felt by members by the absence of so many Interest Group representatives at today's Liaison Forum.
Public notice of the meeting will be given in the Western Telegraph and a press release issued. Representatives were asked to spread word of the meeting as best they could, and specifically invite anyone who they felt would have particular interest in the SAC.
6. Other business
Welsh Yachting Association
Mr Rolfe John, area representative for the WYA, has recently expressed an interest in becoming involved in the recreational side of SAC management. SG has contacted Mr John with information and contact details for the Recreation Interest Group representatives, and asked JO if Mr John had contacted him. JO replied that he had not to date, but that he would get in touch with Mr John himself before the public meeting. ACTION: JO
The Moderation Process.
BB described the history behind the moderation process - the European Commission were basically dissatisfied with the list of SAC sites and site features submitted by the UK and other member states, and have insisted on a review with more sites and features being submitted. This will generally mean more sites and more features, with extensions to existing sites to cover additional features where necessary. The National Assembly for Wales will make a revised list of sites public in due course. This had been initially expected on 7 June. The delay is to ensure all UK consultation occurs simultaneously. BB was unable to comment on details at the moment, but was able to say that changes to the SAC were very likely to occur. He hoped very much that the announcement would be made before the public meeting. Members agreed wholeheartedly that more information was desired in time for the public meeting. It was agreed that even if specifics were not at hand, then the moderation process should still be introduced and members of the public warned that changes to the site were likely.
Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum
An overview of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum (PCF) set-up meeting on 6 May was given. The day went largely as planned. SAT commented that there was undeniably common interest between the PCF and the SAC and that inevitably there is likely to be some convergence of the two over time. In the meantime close links are held, and we must wait to see how the PCF will develop. It is unlikely that the PCF will have a 'single view' but possible convergence in 'Interest Groups' could occur.
Marine Information System for the Southern Irish Sea.
TT gave a brief overview of the system. This demonstrator gateway website (www.irishsea-mis.org) was launched in Wales at Pembrokeshire College on 26 May. It should prove to be a very useful resource as long as individuals/organisations use the system and add links to their data to it. A flyer for the website and a newsletter were tabled and will be circulated with the minutes.
7. Date and venue of next meeting
The next meeting of the Liaison Forum will be at 5:15pm on Wednesday 18 October at Pembrokeshire County Council (venue to be confirmed).
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