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February 2011

Minutes of Monthly Meeting of Llangunnor Community Council held in 'Yr Aelwyd', Tregynnwr at 6.30pm on Thursday 17th February 2011.

PRESENT: Councillor S Howells (Chair), A West, DE Williams, S Howells, RO Griffiths, GP Bevan, P Totterdale, CM Jones, G Lloyd, S Thomas, LK Carmody, DI Davies, EA Jones.

APOLOGIES: None received

113. Chair's Announcements.

Chair referred to the Members' New Year dinner and thanked the Clerk for the arrangements. She reported on the Open Day at Ysgol Llangynnwr on Saturday 29th January and the tree planting in Llangunnor Park the following Saturday, both events in conjunction with the Carbon Zero Project and thanked all for their support and contributions.

She informed Council that the Clerk had conveyed in writing his intention to step down from the post of Clerk to the Council and she would lead discussion on appointing a replacement later in the meeting.

114. Minutes

RESOLVED to approve as a correct record the minutes of the monthly Council meeting held on 20th January 2011 subject to the following amendment to minute 101 replace might be reduced to 30 mph to is still under consideration and awaiting confirmation and The Planning Committee meeting held on 20th January 2011.

In considering the minutes the following points were raised:

i) Minute 101 - Site meeting regarding car parking on pavements in Pensarn arranged for 12.00 noon 22nd February.
ii) Minute 103i - Portable public address system: Clerk and Cllr Griffiths to obtain costs.
iii) Minute 106 - Public Lighting Plan: awaiting response from County Lighting Officer - Report at March meeting
iv) Minute 112 - Awaiting County Director of Regeneration report on property ownership in Pensarn: Clerk to pursue.

115. Clerk Vacancy

The Chair and Members expressed their regret on learning of the Clerk's decision.

The Clerk responded stating that in May he will have served the Council for eight years and very reluctantly had come to this decision and that there is no one specific reason other than his wish to have more time in retirement and with the extending family.
He added that he had thoroughly enjoyed serving the Council and thereby, the community of Llangunnor and particularly he valued the friendship and the professional support of the present Members of Council and those that have retired, or sadly have passed away.

Though serving Council as an Officer he could with pleasure say that relationships with Members have always been cordial and objective and together as a team, so much has been achieved during his time.

He thanked the Chair, the previous Chairs and all the Members, for the experience he had had during his term as Clerk and hopefully together have brought much improvement to the living conditions in Llangunnor. For the efficient and effective working of the Council the Clerk emphasised that as the only employee, Council needs to address continuity implications when appointing the new Clerk.

The Clerk tabled a draft job specification and the skills requirement for the post.

RESOLVED:
i) Receive the resignation and record thanks to the Clerk for his support and leadership since taking up the post in 2003;
ii) Advertise the post on the County Council website and the Carmarthen Journal with the closing date 17th March;
iii) Approve the job specification subject to stating that a Welsh fluency is a requirement.
iv) Specify that the new Clerk commences on 1st June with the current Clerk providing handover support until 31st August;
v) Subject to the number of applications consider method of short listing and appointment at the March Council meeting.

116. Motion by Councillor R Griffiths

That Llangunnor Community Council has a discussion on the appointment procedure of the election of Councillors in the future, for the Llangunnor Community Council area.

Councillor Griffiths introduced the motion and questioned the need for two Council Wards and the confusion arising when the community is notified of casual vacancies.

As the motion was not seconded it was not moved.

117. Review of the Council's Procedures for exercising its powers to allocate grants

The allocation of grant aid under Section 137 powers to requesting organisations that did not provide a statement of accounts was questioned by Cllr Griffiths.

He reminded Council that some years ago Council had introduced the requirement for applicants to provide statements but this was not currently practiced.

The Clerk reported on the current steps exercised in the allocation process.
RESOLVED: No change to the current arrangements.

118. Zero Carbon Project RESOLVED

Cllr Bevan described the Carbon Zero Open Day/Exhibition held at Ysgol Llangynnwr on Saturday 29th January as a highly successful and rewarding event.

Many attended and via research for the event by Trysor [event organiser], old photographs of the building and operation of Pensarn Creamery had been found via the internet and could be purchased for the price paid by Trysor.

The tree planting in the Park on Saturday 5th February was also very successful and the 500 trees were planted with the help of numerous volunteers. Pupils will be planting 200 trees in the school on March 2nd and would complete the tree planting element of the project.
The interpretation boards should be available during March for completion of the project. He was thanked for the report. RESOLVED: Clerk to obtain the price for purchasing the old photographs.

119. Llangunnor Park RESOLVED

Clerk reported that the fencing for the tree plantation had been erected and the entry gate padlocked. Thanks were recorded to Mr WG Howells, 19 Bron y Dre for donating a chain to secure the gate.

120. Reports from Members Representing the Council on other Bodies

Riverside Association - Cllr Griffiths stated that very little progress had been made and all the development seems to focus on the Carmarthen town side of the river. The River Festival is planned for the week-end 10th July.
Un Llais Cymru/One Voice Wales - Cllr Howells gave a verbal report on the area meeting and that the new Chief Executive, Mr Lyn Cadwallader attended the meeting.
Llangunnor PACT meeting - Cllr West reported on the meeting and mentioned that dog fouling of pavements and footpaths featured strongly in the meeting. RESOLVED: Clerk to reaffirm the dog fouling complaints to the County Public Protection Department.

121. Approve Schedule of Accounts

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:

Payee	Info	(£) Amount
E Williams	Bus Shelters (Jan 11)	57.00
	Playing Field (Jan 11)	70.00
	Removal of Xmas tree	90.00
IW Davies	Salary - Feb 2011	480.38
	Office Allowance - Feb 2011	80.00
	IT Allowance - Feb 2011	20.00
	Office Support - Feb 2011	160.12
	Reimbursement: Postage	0.96
	Reimbursement: AGM Dinner gratuity	10.00
	Reimbursement: Lock for Park plantation gate	12.99
Bowen & Weaving	Stationery	8.99
R George Fencing	Fencing (Carbon Zero Project)	1685.61
Sylvan Landscapes	Planting (Carbon Zero Project)	2386.05
Sylvan Landscapes	Planting (Carbon Zero Project)	535.00
Trysor	(Carbon Zero Project)	2500.00
Carmarthenshire CC	Grass & hedge cutting	890.13
Quayside Brasserie	Members & guests Dinner & Chairman's reception	271.04
Cllr S Howells	Travelling costs to One Voice Wales AGM	41.08

Payee	Info	(£) Amount
Councillors	Reimbursement for annual dinner	206.75

123. Any Other Matter: RESOLVED

(i) Refer to County Council:
• Request the arrangements and frequency of cleaning County Council bus shelters
• Report damaged 'No through Road' sign on former A48 at Nantycaws.
• Request relocation of litter bin in Penymorfa Lane to the glass recycling site.
• Difficulty in entering and alighting from service buses at 'Yr Aelwyd' bus shelter.
• Refer the continuing water pooling on Login Road and Penymorfa Lane
• Request consideration to switch off overnight the public lighting towards Ysgol Bro Myrddin from Pibwrlwyd as far as the community boundary.
ii) Agenda items for the March Council meeting:
• Request from Ysgol Llangynnwr Parent Teachers Association for financial contribution towards providing commemorative mugs to celebrate the school's 50th birthday.
iii)Nantycaws BT Telephone Kiosk: Remind BT that Council is awaiting a response regarding usage of the kiosk.
iv)Parking on Llangunnor Road outside Dyfed Powys Police HQ: refer to the Police.

122. Correspondence

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

Item	From	Nature of Correspondence
i	Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru/Welsh Assembly Government	Noted appropriate sum under Section 137 expenditure - £6.44 per elector
ii	Un Llais Cymru/One Voice Wales	Noted Carmarthenshire area meeting 31 January - Chair notified Request for volunteer responders to sector policy consultations. RESOLVED: distribute sector list to Members.
iii	Carmarthenshire County Council	Notification of providing anti skid surface under Pont Pensarn. Confirmation of agreement on positions of 3 bus shelters Agreement to renew Roman Road with new signs Proposal to extend Llangunnor 40mph speed restriction to Login - No objection to Community Council providing street lighting. Confirmation of site meeting regarding cars parking on pavements in Pensarn.
iv	Financial appeals: CRUSE Bereavement Care, Heart of Wales Railway Line Forum.	RESOLVED: refer to the April 2011 meeting
v	Clerk of Council: letter declaring intention to step down from the post	see Agenda Item 113.
vi	Carmarthen Town Council	Dates of River Festival Meetings. RESOLVED: Cllr Totterdale volunteered to attend with Cllr Carmody as substitute.
vii	Tregynnwr Social Club, Tŷ Hapus Family Centre and Tŷ Hafan	Noted thanks for donations
viii	The Electoral Commission	Posters for display regarding the Referendum to be held on 3rd March - Displayed on Notice boards.
ix	Capel Dewi Community Association	Copy of County Council response to the temporary traffic lights, Heol Capel Dewi. RESOLVED: Appeal to the Assembly Member and County Council to rectify the highway problem.
x	Menter Cwm Gwendraeth	Noted 24 hour sustainability event at Trinity Saint Davids University, Carmarthen on 18th February
xi		Noted all other correspondence

11. To consider any other urgent matters: (Minute 0212 - 11)

i) Local Elections - There had been an issue at the last election with regard to providing candidates with register of voters Resolved (minute 0212 - 11(i)) that Clerk write to Carmarthenshire County Council electoral services seeking assurances that this will not be an issue this time.
ii) Videoing Meetings - Following the recent publicity surrounding this matter it was RESOLVED (minute 0212 - 11(ii)) that the Clerk look into how this could affect the Community Council and bring a report to the next meeting.
iii) The Park - It was mentioned that the park was looking rather "untidy", the Clerk to contact Carmarthenshire County Council to see if a) the hedgerows could be cut and tidied up, b) whether there any plans to update the equipment.
iv) Roman Park - Some of the residents had complained that some of the manholes were "sinking" due to the heavy traffic entering the new site. Clerk to bring this to the attention of Carmarthenshire County Council.

13. Date of next meeting

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 17th March 2011

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