July 2008

Minutes of Monthly Meeting of Llangunnor Community Council held in 'Yr Aelwyd', on Thursday 17th July 2008 at 7.00pm

PRESENT: Councillor Clifford Merlin Jones (Chair), D I Davies, Sarah Howells, Alun West, D Elwyn Williams, Geraint P Bevan, Selwyn H Thomas, L Keith Carmody, Robin O Griffiths, Richard S Thomas and Anthony Green, Doreen Valentine (not recorded but reported at the meeting)

APOLOGIES: Councillor E Audrey Jones

Police had consulted with Members before the meeting. Incidences of anti-social behaviour were reported and the police action taken to deal with them were noted

Chairman thanked Cllr D Valentine, Vice Chair, for chairing the June Council meeting in his absence. He said that he had conveyed the Council's good wishes to Cllr E A Jones who recently had been in hospital. He had attended the Carnival Queen selection event and the Summer Fayre in Ysgol Llangynnwr and made a Chairman's financial donation to both. Members were reminded to declare any pecuniary interests and appropriately record in the attendance register

RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the following meetings as a correct record:
i) The Monthly Council meeting held on 19th June 2008
ii) The Planning Committee meeting held on 19th June 2008

i) Minute 3i. Cllr D Valentine reported that Mr Batt, the newly appointed Area Housing Officer, would be prepared to attend a Council meeting to give his views on holding part-time Neighbourhood Police 'surgeries' in Yr Aelwyd. RESOLVED: Clerk to invite Mr Batt to attend the September Council meeting.
ii) Minute 3ii referring to a previous minute 8. Clerk reported that he had not heard further from the County Countryside Recreation and Access Officer with regard to possible European funding for the Llwybrau Llangynnwr/Llangunnor Trails project. RESOLVED: Clerk to establish the funding position.
iii) Minute 3iii Cllr RS Thomas sought assurance that the statement he had presented to Council would remain on record. Clerk confirmed that Cllr Thomas' statement was part of the Llangunnor Park file.
iv) Minute 4: Clerk reported that he had been advised that the decision on the highway land would be taken in September

Clerk reported that The Local Authorities (Model Code of Conduct) (Wales) Order 2008 - SI 2008 No 788' ("the 2008 Order") issues a new model code of conduct for members and co-opted members of relevant authorities - county and community councils, fire and rescue authorities and national park authorities in Wales. The 2008 Order revokes and replaces the model code of conduct introduced by Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru/Welsh Assembly Government in 2001

Under section 51(2) of the Local Government Act 2000, relevant authorities must pass a resolution adopting a code of conduct based on the new model code (all parts are regarded as mandatory) before 20 September 2008. If unable to do so the model code would apply until the Council adopts a code

Members had been supplied with an overview of the Model Code of Conduct and a version of the Code suitably adapted for adoption by the Community Council. Clerk reminded members that Council needs to set the value above which Members must register all gifts and hospitality received. He also suggested that Members may wish to receive training on the Code.RESOLVED:

i) To adopt the new model Code of Conduct as defined in the above Order, and in compliance with section 51(2) of the Local Government Act 2000, as the code of conduct for Members of Llangunnor Community Council.
ii) Members must register all gifts and hospitality received above the value of £25.
iii) Publish a statement in the local press confirming that a code of conduct has been adopted
iv) Provide a copy to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, a copy for public inspection at Carmarthen Library and include under the Council section in the Llangunnor Community website.
v) Receive the pro-forma produced by the Clerk for the registration of Members' interests and offer of gifts and hospitality.
vi) Clerk to arrange a training seminar given by the County Monitoring Officer for Members on the model Code of Conduct

Cllr D I Davies spoke of the difficulties encountered in Nantycaws because of traffic speed in the village and presented a petition to the Chairman signed by all the residents, appealing for the introduction of a 40mph speed limit in the village. RESOLVED:
i) To receive the petition and formally register Council support for the appeal.
ii) To request the County Council to insert a central island in the former A48 in the centre of the village as a means of facilitating pedestrians crossing the road.
ii) Submit the petition to the County Head of Transportation and copy to the constituency Assembly Member

THIS Council Promotes a Public Petition in Support of Establishing a Neighbourhood Police Base that is Easily Accessible to all Within the Llangunnor Community

The motion was proposed by Cllr R O Griffiths and seconded by Cllr A West. Points raised in discussion related to the 'non-central' location of the current police part-time 'surgery' held in a retail store in Pensarn, the significance of the Police view and the support of the Housing Officer for the use of Yr Aelwyd as a suitable base. Following a lengthy discussion the motion was carried

It was further RESOLVED:
i) Invite Mr R Batt, Area Housing Officer to attend a Council meeting.
ii) Clerk to produce petition signature sheets and distribute to all members and the sheets to be returned to the Chairman at the September Council meeting

Un Llais Cymru/One Voice Wales provided details of a modularly based National Training programme available to all community councils in Wales, charged at £25 per member, per module. Members identified appropriate training modules offered in the Un Llais Cymru/One Voice Wales questionnaire. RESOLVED: Submit requirement of 7 training modules

Clerk reported on a meeting held with the County Public Lighting Officer offering the opportunity of reducing energy costs by individually switching off identified street lamps between 12.30am and 5.30am. [The meeting was held at Ysgol Llangynnwr on 1st July and attended by Cllrs DV, SH, KC, ST, AG and the Clerk]. For trialling, the control switches cost £10 per lamp, yielding a potential energy saving of £5.80 per lamp per year at current energy costs. Also the high wattage of certain lamps in the Council's lighting network was reviewed at the meeting

The following recommendations were presented to Council:
i) Unit 724/41- reduce wattage to 42watt; Unit 724/35- reduce wattage to 26watts;
ii) Trial 5 part night units;
iii) Heol Capel Dewi lights to be adopted by the County Council

RESOLVED:
i) Adopt the recommendations above.
ii) Council to identify at its September meeting five lamps for trialling the part night light units.
iii) Reduce the wattage of the lamp outside Capel Philadelphia, Nantycaws to 26 watts

The Clerk as the Council's Responsible Financial Officer presented the financial out-turn statement for the year ended 31st March 2008, which had been checked and verified by the Internal Auditor. RESOLVED: accept and approve the statement as a correct record for the year ended 31st March 2008

The report confirmed that the Council's financial records for the year ended 31st March 2008 were accurate and correct but noted the absence of evidence that Council had conducted a risk assessment during the year 2007/8. The Clerk issued a statement underpinning the current internal control process that Council duly exercises, but accepted that the formal requirement imposed by Regulation 4 in 'The Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2005', requiring a statement on the internal control process to be issued with the financial statements, needs to be satisfied

RESOLVED:
i) To receive and accept the Internal Auditor's report;
ii) to up-grade Council's financial regulations to include the assessment and management of risks faced by the Council and publish a statement annually;
iii) To pay the Internal Auditor's fee;
iv) To congratulate the Clerk on the successful audit of the Council's financial accounts

RESOLVED: to certify Section 1 - the Statement of Accounts and to approve Section 2 - the Annual Governance Statement in the Annual Return. It was further RESOLVED: append to the Annual Return the positional statement produced by the Clerk in relation to the absence of the formal statement on internal control highlighted by the Internal Auditor

RESOLVED: the Annual Return be submitted to the External Auditor duly signed by the Chairman and Clerk

The Clerk presented a budget statement detailing the current financial position to 30th June 2008. RESOLVED to receive the statement

i) Taf-Myrddin Network
Cllr D Valentine reported on the recent meeting held by the Network
ii) Carmarthen Forum
Cllr Griffiths reported that the County Council proposed to place a wooden feature on the Parc Pensarn roundabout. He had voiced his reservation, expressing preference for metal rather than wood, because future maintenance obligations may fall on the community. He had also appealed for the feature to convey Pensarn's historical links with the railway. RESOLVED: Invite P Snaith, County Strategic Projects Officer to attend a future Council meeting.
iii) Riverside Committee
Cllr DE Williams reported the committee meeting had focused mainly on the sewerage that had flowed into the river and caused the last minute cancellation of the annual river festival. Stong reactions were voiced at the meeting when it was explained the matter was being fully explored but obtaining a permanent solution may be difficult and will take time. RESOLVED: Convey the Council's concern on the matter to the County's Head of Public Protection, the Environment Agency and the constituency Assembly Member and demand an urgent solution to this unacceptable situation

RESOLVED: approve the monthly income and expenditure schedule presented by the Clerk:

A) Council is requested to consider and approve the following items of expenditure:

RESOLVED: receive the monthly schedule of correspondence and action agreed as follows:

Refer to County Council:
Cllr Griffiths requested an update on the safety reassessment promised by the County Council on the pupil route from Llangunnor to QE High School, Johnstown. He asked for the matter to be included on the September Council meeting agenda and subject to the response of the County Council, will request Council to refer the matter to the Minister of State for Women and Equality. RESOLVED: Clerk to seek a positional statement on the matter from the County Council

RESOLVED to suspend Council's Standing Orders for the period between the July and the September monthly meetings and grant powers to the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Chairman of Planning to deal with Council matters, in conjunction with the Clerk

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