ENZO DEVELOPMENT, GLYNNEATH INFO

NPTC CORPORATE PLAN - LATEST VERSION 2019-22

2019-22 - CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS DOCUMENT ON THIS WEBSITE

2019-22 - CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS ON THE COUNCIL WEBSITE

(Extracts from this document............)

Our Purpose: Neath Port Talbot Council exists to serve and represent the interests of its citizens and communities. We strive to improve the economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being of all of our people.

Our Vision: We want our county borough to be a place where everyone has an equal chance to get on in life – a place where people want to live, learn and work and bring up their family.

We want our beautiful natural environment, and our rich cultural and industrial heritage to be appreciated and protected for many future generations to enjoy.

We also want to pursue new and existing opportunities for economic growth so we can sustain our diverse communities for many years to come.

Our Values: We will stand up for our citizens and our communities, advocating for the needs and aspirations of our people in every aspect of our work.

We will listen to our citizens, our workforce and our many partners and seek ways to meaningfully involve people in our work.

We will celebrate diversity in all of its forms and work tirelessly for greater equality in all of our communities.

We will conduct the work of the Council in an open and accessible way, ensuring we are properly accountable for the decisions we make.

We will make the best use of all resources available to us.

We will be open to challenge and will promote a culture of learning and innovation throughout our organisation.

We will further strengthen the bonds of collaboration, working with others – including the voluntary, statutory and private sectors to benefit our citizens and communities.

20200507R-DO-NPTC-corp-plan

(NPTC Corporate Plan 2019-22)

NPTC EMPLOYEE CODE OF CONDUCT - LATEST VERSION DATE UNKNOWN

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS DOCUMENT ON THIS WEBSITE

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS ON THE COUNCIL WEBSITE

(Extracts from this document............)

Any breach of the Council’s Employee Code of Conduct is a potential disciplinary offence, which will be dealt with in accordance with the Council’s Disciplinary Procedure, and which can lead to the dismissal of the employee(s) concerned. A breach of the Code may also constitute a criminal offence.

The public is entitled to expect the highest standards of conduct from all employees of Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. The role of such employees is to serve the Authority in providing advice, implementing its policies, and delivering services to the local community. In performing their duties, they must act with integrity, honesty, impartiality and objectivity.

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council’s reputation and the public’s trust and confidence in its integrity are of vital importance. It must be seen to discharge its day to day responsibilities with openness and probity. This document is presented as a framework to make clear the standards of conduct expected of all employees.

1.2 This Code of Conduct is applicable to all employees of the Authority, except those who are directly employed by School Governing Bodies, and forms part of each employee’s contract of employment.

1.3 Inevitably, some of the issues covered by the Code of Conduct affect senior, managerial and professional employees more than others, but the Code covers all employees.

1.4 Employees work for the Authority and serve the whole of that Authority. They are accountable to, and owe a duty to that authority.

They must act in accordance with the principles set out in this Code, recognising the duty of all public sector employees to discharge public functions reasonably and according to the law.
.
2. STANDARDS
2.1 All employees are expected to give the highest possible standard of service to the public and, where it is part of their duties, to provide appropriate advice to Councillors and fellow employees with impartiality. In the event that an employee becomes aware of activities which that employee believes to be illegal, improper, unethical or otherwise inconsistent with this Code, the employee should report the matter, acting in accordance with the employee’s rights under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, and with the Authority’s confidential reporting procedure, or any other procedure designed for this purpose.

. The whistleblowing procedure is set out in the Council’s Anti-Fraud, Corruption and Malpractice Strategy. Such reporting shall be without fear of recrimination. Employees must familiarise themselves with this procedure and should make relevant disclosure strictly in accordance with it.

20200507R-DO-NPTC-code-conduct

(NPTC Employee Code of Conduct)

related document...............

NPTC WHISTLEBLOWING POLICY - 31/8/2015

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS DOCUMENT ON THIS WEBSITE

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS ON THE COUNCIL WEBSITE

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (as amended 2013)

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) offers protection to workers from any detriment from their employer that arises from the worker making a ‘protected disclosure’.

To qualify as a ‘protected disclosure’ the disclosure must satisfy a number of requirements under PIDA: 1.

1. The worker must have made a ‘qualifying disclosure’. This is a disclosure of information which, in the reasonable belief of the worker, tends to show one or more of the following:

(a) That a criminal offence has been committed, is being committed, or is likely to be committed

(b) That a person has failed, is failing, or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation to which he is subject

(d) That the health and safety of any individual has been, is being, or is likely to be endangered

(e) That the environment has been, is being, or is likely to be damaged

(f) That information tending to show any matter falling within any of the preceding paragraphs has been, or is likely to be deliberately concealed

A disclosure of information is not a qualifying disclosure if the person making it commits a criminal offence in doing so.

NPT Council’s Anti-Fraud, Corruption and Malpractice Strategy - only able to find the schools version.

COMPLAINTS PROCESS

NPTC complaints process - https://www.npt.gov.uk/1454

send an email direct to contactus@npt.gov.uk

Complaints Policy Document - March 2016 - Council website

Complaints Policy Document - March 2016 - this website - ADD LINK

https://www.npt.gov.uk/media/4057/comments_compliments_complaints_policy_march2016.pdf

6.4
Comments on the Authority’s services, likewise, are not complaints under this procedure. Comments are statements by members of the public or service users about the service provided (or not provided) by the Authority. They may be compliments or suggestions as to how services could be improved. They may be views or representations, perhaps adverse, about the Authority’s policy and provision. In each case the employee receiving the comment will need to thank the member of the public for taking the trouble to express their views, describe how it will be dealt with if further action is required and then refer the comment on, if appropriate. As with requests for services, comments should not be regarded as complaints. It is important however, that comments are fed
back to the section or employee responsible as such feedback can be very useful.

Complaints Procedure 7.1
......However, the Ombudsman normally expects the complaint to have been raised with the body concerned and given them a reasonable opportunity to investigate and respond before contacting him.

15.1 All documentation, notes, letters, findings, reports and so on must be retained. These will be very important should the complaint be referred to the Ombudsman or if contact is made by the Ombudsman to supply information.

Ombudsman - Public Services Ombudsman for Wales - How to complain that a local authority member has broken the code of conduct. - 20210318R-DO-PSOW-complain-authority

Scrutiny Explained at NPTC

Good Councillors Guide - Wales - CLICK HERE - Code of conduct page 12

In 2011 The Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 gave the power of well-being to community councils enabling a council to “do anything which it considers likely to achieve the promotion or improvement of the economic, social or environmental wellbeing of their area.” This power is important because the range of activities permitted by this power is extensive providing a community or town council with considerable scope for action (although trading is not included). However spending under this power counts towards the council’s annual s137 limit. Further guidance on how to use this power comes from the Welsh Government and One Voice Wales. (One Voice Wales, Good Councillor's Guide, page 12)

" Remember, if you [a serving councillor] might have a personal interest in a council decision, you must declare that interest as soon as you are aware of it. The big question, if you have declared a personal interest in respect of a matter being considered at the meeting, is whether it is a prejudicial interest (prejudicing your judgement in the public interest). If so, you cannot speak or vote on the matter and must leave the meeting while the matter is being considered" (One Voice Wales, Good Councillor's Guide, page 20)

Page 25 in the chapter on Town and Country planning it states that a councillor's role in the planning process

Your personal feelings about the application, or the applicant, are irrelevant. It is the wider
public interest that is important.

20210407R-DO-OVWA-good-councillors

20231005S-WBIF-good-cllrs - images & extracts from this document

Role of the clerk:

The clerk provides advice and administrative support, and takes action to implement council decisions. The clerk may have to act as a project manager, personnel director, public relations officer
or finance administrator. The clerk is not just a secretary and is not at the beck and call of the chair or other councillors; the clerk is answerable only to the council as a whole. The clerk is the proper officer of the council in law. Legally councils can agree to delegate decisions to clerks because they are professional officers whose independence allows them to act on behalf of the council. (One Voice Wales, Good Councillor's Guide 2016, page 8 )

(the role of the clerk) whose job includes giving advice on the law to the community or town council. (p10)

NPT document for Councillors - representing your ward .doc - published in 2017

https://www.npt.gov.uk/media/7018/representing_your_ward.pdf - NPTC website

CLICK HERE FOR THIS DOCUMENT ON THIS WEBSITE - 20210516R-DO-councillor-info

MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEMBERS OF COUNTY, COUNTY BOROUGH AND COMMUNITY COUNCILS, FIRE AUTHORITIES AND NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITIES IN WALES

20221213R-DO-model-code-conduct - CLICK HERE

THE OMBUDSMAN WALES - CODE OF CONDUCT - CLICK HERE - WEB

CLICK HERE THIS WEBSITE - 20220528R-DO-OMBW-code-conduct

Twin Hatted members

If you are a member of both a community council and a county council you are not prevented from discussing the same matters at both. You may, for example, take part in a discussion about a planning application about which your Community Council has been consulted and still go on to participate in a decision about the application if you sit on the Planning Committee of your County Council.

If you do so, you would be well advised to state at the Community Council meeting that you would be looking at the matter afresh when you consider it at the County Council meeting, and that you would take into account all of the information and advice provided to you. At the Planning Committee, you should make it clear that you are not bound by the views of the Community Council. The advice about objective decision making in respect of paragraphs 8 and 10(2)(b)of the Code is also relevant here. Obviously, if the application was one submitted by the Community Council, then you would have both a personal and a prejudicial interest, and you would be required to declare it and withdraw in line with the guidance on “what to do if you have a prejudicial interest” below.

OPEN MIND AND OBJECTIVITY

(paragraph 8) When taking part in meetings of your authority, or when arriving at decisions relating to the authority’s business, you must do so with an open mind and objectively. During the decision-making process you must act fairly and take proper account of the public interest. In some decisions, such as those taken by planning committees or where you are participating in the consideration of a ward matter, you are required always to make your decisions on the basis of the facts in front of you, and not to have made your mind up in advance to such an extent that you are entirely unprepared to consider all of the evidence and advice you receive. Having a completely closed mind is known as pre-determination. You are entitled to hold a preliminary view about a particular matter in advance of a meeting (pre-disposition) as long as you keep an open mind and are prepared to consider the merits
of all the arguments and points made about the matter under consideration before reaching your decision.

The Neath Port Talbot Council Environment Strategy states that................

"Since 2001 all Local Authorities have had a duty to inspect, locate and ensure the remediation of all statutory designated Contaminated Land in their locality. Neath Port Talbot has a Contaminated Land Strategy which outlines a programme for identifying and inspecting contaminated land.

Whilst the Council leads on contaminated land, it works with other partners, notably the Environment Agency and the Welsh Assembly Government.

The Contaminated Land Officers based within the Local Authority have software that enables them to carry out risk based approach to contaminated land identification. This ensures that the most important sites are dealt with first.

Council owned and privately owned land are always treated in the same manner. Land identified outside the general approach to inspection is sometimes identified and are dealt with as they arise.

Polluter Pays Principle

The Polluter Pays Principle is a principle in environmental law where the polluting party pays for the damage done to the natural environment."

Neath Port Talbot Council Environment Strategy (page 63) - CLICK HERE

https://www.npt.gov.uk/media/7062/environment-strategy.pdf?v=20190807093745

Neath Port Talbot Council Contaminated Land Strategy October 2005 - CLICK HERE

EXTRACTS FROM THIS DOCUMENT

(page 1) Part IIA of the Environment Protection Act 1990, was introduced in Wales on July 1st 2001, until this time there had been no strategic approach to the identification of contaminated land. Land contamination had always been addressed during redevelopment or when the risk has manifested itself. Since 2001, all local authorities have a duty to inspect their areas, locate and ensure the remediation of all statutory designated contaminated land. One of the key objectives of the council's strategy (Key Objective 4:) is to ensure that during the redevelopment of new sites, land contamination issues are dealt with effectively and at an early stage of the planning process.

(page 15) Chapter 3: Strategy Aims, Priorities and Timescales

3.2 Interaction with other regimes

In addition to powers under Part IIA, Environmental Protection Act 1990 there are a number of other statutory regimes that can deal with contamination dependant upon the source of contamination and the current, proposed or historical use of the land. Neath Port Talbot Council will ensure that land contamination is dealt with under the most appropriate legislation. The other statutory regimes are summarised below:-

Planning
When considering development proposals, the planning authorities role is to ensure that all material planning considerations, which can include the actual or possible presence of contamination are satisfactorily addressed. When considering an application, where contaminated land is involved the planning authority will identify specific measures to be undertaken prior to redevelopment, these requirements will be imposed by a set of conditions attached to the planning permission. The main objective of the conditions is to ensure suitable investigation work is carried out and that the land is remediated to a standard that is suitable for the proposed end use.

(page 26) 5.11 To establish whether identified contaminants pose a significant risk to human health, results from the site investigation will be compared with generic guideline values.

DEFRA and EA have published Contaminated Land Reports (CLR 7 – 11) to provide generic assessment of human health risks from contaminated land. The reports include SGV’s (Soil guideline Values) derived from the CLEA (Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment) model. SGV’s can be used to assess the risks posed to human health from exposure to soil contamination resulting from land use. They represent ‘intervention values’ which indicate to an assessor that soil concentrations above this level could pose an unacceptable risk to the health of site users and further investigation involving and/or remediation is required.

Part IIA of the Environment Protection Act 1990, inserted by Section 57 of the Environment Act 1995 places a duty on Local Authorities to inspect their area for contaminated land.

(page 3) Section 78A(2) defines contaminated land for the purpose of Part IIA as:

“Any land which appears to the local authority in whose area it is situated to be in such a condition, by reason of substances in, on or under the land, that –

(a) significant harm is being caused or there is a significant possibility of such harm being caused;

The local authority is the principle regulator and is responsible for: -

Preparing and publishing inspection strategies for their areas, within 15 months of the date of implementation

Inspecting individual areas of land to determine whether any meet the statutory definition of contaminated land

Agreeing with the environment agency which areas of Contaminated Land should be designated as “special sites”

Enforcing remediation for those areas of Contaminated Land that are not designated as “Special Sites” and,

Maintaining public remediation registers

(page 14) It is commonly accepted that humans are the most sensitive environmental receptors, therefore in the highly populated urban areas where heavy industrial activity has taken place, the people who live and work here are considered to be the Borough's most sensitive risk group.

(page 4) Contaminated Land and The Planning Process

The objective of the policy regarding land contamination is to ensure that applications are conditioned to require remediation to a standard that is suitable for the proposed use.

The best way of minimising any associated risk is to ensure that any sites that may be contaminated are identified at the earliest stage of the planning process. The history of the site or nearby sites is the principle factor in determining whether a site is likely to be contaminated or not.

1.3 A question has been added onto the standard planning application form requesting developers to provide information on historical land use. This question is as follows:-
Are you aware if land has been subject to a contaminative use i.e. industrial use?
If yes then please specify a list of historical uses.

1.4 A list of planning applications is updated weekly and made available on the Neath Port Talbot Council intranet site, the Contaminated Land Officer will check the list against the contaminated land database to highlight any previous industrial use on the proposed developments, and therefore potentially contaminated land.

Where the information under 1.3/1.4 or any other information indicates a potential for contamination a scheme for dealing with contamination will be required and an assessment will be made as to whether the site can be developed in a safe manner subject to remediation. If this is the case, a condition will be imposed on any consent which will include an appropriate site investigation prior to the commencement of the development, and a remediation strategy and validation certificate prior to occupation of development. This will involve close liaison between the Contaminated Land Officer and the planning officer at an early stage of the planning process and throughout the development stage.

Under Part IIA the Environment Agency has a mainly supporting role, providing assistance and site specific guidance to local authorities, particularly with respect to cases of water pollution. The Agency acts as the enforcing authority for “special sites”.

	from EA publication	"Human health toxicological assessment of contaminants in soil" This document was published by the Environment Agency in January 2009. By the time the 2008 geo-technical survey reached the planning application stage in 2009, this document was current and the Environment Agency were the relevant authority for the contaminated land - CLICK HERE FOR THIS DOC ON THE WEB - CLICK HERE FOR THIS WEBSITE ( 20090100a-DO-EAGE-toxic-assmt ) includes HCV = Health Critreria Values GLOSSARY A - D GLOSSARY E - M GLOSSARY N - Z ABBREVIATIONS
		Arsenic is listed as a class one carcinogen (NRC, 2001; IARC, 2004), and is considered to be one of the most important toxicants of human health concern because of its ongoing potential threat to the health of hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide (Baig et al., 2009; Christen, 2001; Zavala and John, 2008). There is no evidence that As is essential for human health and its exposure has been linked to severe health complications such as hyperkeratosis, gangrene, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, melanosis, keratosis, bladder, and internal cancers, and also its carcinogenic consequences on skin and lungs (Fatmi et al., 2009; IARC, 2004; Ramadan and Al-Ashkar, 2007). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4833018/
		http://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2006/2989/contents/made contaminated land wales regulations 2006 Land required to be designated as a special site 2.—(1) Contaminated land of the following descriptions is prescribed for the purposes of section 78C(8) as land required to be designated as a special site— (a)land affecting controlled waters in the circumstances specified in regulation 3; (b)land which is contaminated land by reason of waste acid tars in, on or under the land; (c)land on which any of the following activities have been carried on at any time— (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), “waste acid tars” are tars which— (a)contain sulphuric acid; (b)were produced as a result of the refining of benzole, used lubricants or petroleum; and (c)are, or were, stored on land used as a retention basin for the disposal of such tars.
		Environment Agency report on Contaminated Land up to 2007 - CLICK HERE Dealing with contaminated land in England and Wales A review of progress from 2000-2007 with Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act published January 2009 - all Welsh council were aware of this document because all submitted a report. 20090100A-DO-EAGE-contam-review 20090100A-DO-EAGE-contam-review The waste management and energy industries were often reported as causing contaminated land sites in England. In Wales, other types of activities (for example the deposit of ash) was reported to cause contamination at the majority of contaminated land sites. For special sites, chemical and waste management industries are associated with causing contamination.- 20090100A-DO-EAGE-contam-review (page 12) Remediating contaminated land To remediate a contaminated land site, the significant pollutant linkages must be broken, so that no unacceptable risks remain. Remediation can, therefore, be achieved by: • removing or reducing the source of contamination • blocking the pathway (route) between the contamination and the receptor (person or thing affected) • reducing exposure to the contamination • removing the receptor altogether. Under Part 2A, remediating a site does not necessarily mean the source of contamination has to be removed. (for example, capping an old landfill). - 20090100A-DO-EAGE-contam-review (page 12) (Concluding comments) The planning system continues to be seen as the major route for dealing with land contamination. 20090100A-DO-EAGE-contam-review (page 26)

Collins law - environmental specialists

If you are exposed to PAH, call our litigation team for specialist PAH exposure advice.If you are exposed in the workplace, and your employer did not provide the proper equipment or take the proper steps to minimise the risk of your exposure, you may have a claim.
If you were exposed to PAH as a member of the public, then you may have a claim against whoever spilled or dumped the PAH you came into contact with.
If you are exposed to PAH on your property as a result of spillages from former industrial processes or are concerned about contaminated land or potentially contaminated land being a risk to your health, there may be a claim against those responsible for depositing the PAH on the land. Additionally, there may be a claim against those who failed to adequately identify and prevent harm to members of the public during the redevelopment of potentially contaminated land.

http://www.collinslaw.co.uk/environmental-law-pah

Recommendation.........

"When I worked in yorkshire we won a bitter long planning battle using Peter Village who loves going up against Councils. He may be worth talking to and try covering his fee from crowd funding"

CLICK HERE

Private prosecutions specialists "Environmental crime.

Edmonds Marshall & McMahon Solicitors

https://www.emmlegal.com/prosecution-areas/general-crime/

20240227R-DO-NRWA-dev-contam		Development of Land Affected by Contamination Developers Guide September 2023 A Welsh Government publication published by Natural Resources Wales. Guidance that has been prepared by the Welsh Land Contamination Working Group.
20240227R-DO-GEOS-env-risk		Environment and Human Health: The Challenge of Uncertainty in Risk Assessment A Geosciences published scientific paper by Alex G Stewart and Andrew S Hursthouse