November 2014

Minutes of Monthly Meeting of Llangunnor Community Council held in 'Yr Aelwyd', Tregynnwr at 7.30pm on Thursday 20th November 2014.

PRESENT: Cllr Glenda Lloyd (Chair), Elwyn Williams, Robin O Griffiths, Geraint Bevan, Lee Whatley, Paul Totterdale, Dafydd Williams, David Watson. Selwyn Thomas, Alun West and Sandra Thomas. ** Councillors Whatley and Griffiths left the meeting after item 9**

The Chair reported that she had attended:

• Two events at the school, the Harvest and Remembrance Services.
• The Remembrance Service at Llangunnor Church.
• The Mayor's reception and 'switching on' of Christmas Lights in Town. Clerk asked to write to Town Council thanking them for the invitation and congratulating the Town on the quality of its lights.
• A Craft Fair at Yr Aelwyd.
• The Chair also reminded the meeting that a Table Top Fair was to be held on the 28th November.

It was moved by Cllr Dafydd Williams and seconded by Cllr Totterdale (minute 1114-2) and RESOLVED to approve as a correct record the minutes of the monthly Council meeting and Planning Sub-Committee held on October 16th 2014.

Matters raised/resolved outside meetings: October/November 2014

i) Sat.Nav Sign Nantycaws - Response Carmarthenshire County Council "Please advise if a member of the Technician Team can visit site to assess the feasibility (forward sight lines, roadside verge width to accommodate the sign and leave 400mm clearance etc) of erecting such a sign on the junction".
ii) Carmarthenshire County Council building (opposite ATS) - Awaiting update.
iii) Parking Bays - Bron y Dre - No response to date.
iv) Railing at Sticle Path, Penymorfa - Chasing up response
v) Traffic Survey in Pensarn - Information received on agenda of next meeting. Hopefully surveys from Penymorfa Lane and Roman Road would also be to hand.
vi) Tree planting in Pensarn - Clerk had met Farmyard Nurseries and the matter was in hand. It was agreed that something be placed adjacent to the tree, possibly a verse, Clerk to make enquiries.
vii) Drains in Llangunnor - Carmarthenshire County Council have been out to inspect and clear where necessary.
viii) Yellow Lines in Llangunnor - Carmarthenshire County Council "The variation to the Carmarthen town prohibition of waiting consolidation order is published once each financial year. The Traffic Engineer and I visited these sites in the past three months.
The provision of double yellow lines at the junction on Llangunnor Road (at the Llangunnor Village name sign, leading into Ken Williams recovery yard), and the junction of Haulfryn with Babell Hill may be explained by the need to keep the junction clear of parked vehicles.

The placement of double yellow lines on Pensarn Road leading to the over pass will need parking surveys (with evidence of parking) to justify the placement of double yellow lines, in the event that objections are received. I have not observed vehicles stopped on this route in the dozens of occasions that I have travelled the route. We will undertake parking surveys at this location.
I understand (hopefully correctly) that the fourth location was along Stephens Way to extend the extend the existing markings to a point in front of the post box. The Engineer and I reflected on the merit of providing double yellow lines in front of the post box given that a motorists may stop (lawfully) on double yellow lines for the purposes of loading and unloading (passengers, goods, etc). In this regard the provision of double yellow lines would not prohibit motorists from stopping in front of the Post Box. Please advise.
Clerk to write to Carmarthenshire County Council that this is an issue and members to take photographs of vehicles when parked near the overpass.
ix) Cranc Cycle Shop - Carmarthenshire County Council "I went here Friday. Mr Rowlands has marked out the parking bays and put no exit markings on the main road access, with markings internally directing people to the Penymorfa access. Stuart & I feel this is adequate and an improvement on how it was when first opened. He has also whitelined the boundary between his land and highway land. The coffee bar is ancilllary to the cycle shop and not a breach of the permission. Therefore the file is closed". Clerk to write to Carmarthenshire County Council stating that there were still issues with cars parking over white lines and making visibility difficult at the junction.
x) Elder Grove - Carmarthenshire County Council "I'm not entirely sure if we can help in this instance, the problem is certainly a build up of 'ground water' which as you can imagine is very difficult to contain especially on a naturally sloping site such as Elder Grove. Nevertheless and as a minimum measure we'll excavate a trench in the road to see if we can cut off the spring that is discharging the flows up onto the surface and then connect it into our road drainage system. However I'm not overly confident that it will work, obviously because the depth or the point where the spring has developed underground may be a lot deeper than the depth of our existing drainage system. Just to let you know that we intend to carry out the works at the same time as the proposed footpath maintenance works in Elder Grove, hopefully within a couple of weeks". Clerk to thank Mr Ian Thomas for his assistance, further updates at appropriate time.

The Clerk reported that the Park Sub-Committee were recommending that the work of placing the Gym Equipment at the Park be given to Fresh-Air Fitness (lowest quote).

He also reported that further quotes will now be sought for extending the path and the bins/picnic tables/benches and hopefully by February/March the sub-committee would be in a position to decide what else could be done within the budget.

Response from Carmarthenshire County Council "Re a bus timetable at or opposite Police HQ, this could prove to be more complicated than you might imagine. If this was a relative easy job we would have done it ourselves by now. When we started putting up bus timetables we installed a large number on poles, at locations at which there was no suitable shelter.

However over the years it became apparent that this was not such a good idea. Aside from the fact that the cases on poles were easily prone to vandalism (people seemed to like swinging on them and trying to twist them off, which I'm sure wouldn't happen at this location), they are very exposed to the elements if they are not in or on a bus shelter. They get damp inside very quickly which ruins the display and corrodes the cases and more importantly the bolts holding the doors closed. Many of those we'd initially put up on poles have had to be removed as they have seized up and can't be opened, and we are currently in the process of putting cases within shelters in order to replace the pole mounted cases, where this is possible. Where there is no suitable shelter, the pole mounted cases will stay up until they become unusable or dangerous at which point they will have to be removed. The last batch we put up was in 2010, and even some of these have had to come down recently.

If you wish to purchase your own case and put this up, then you will need to consider how it will be fitted. There is I think a pole at the bus stop opposite the HQ, so you would need permission from the Traffic Management team to use this, although I doubt if that would be a problem. The pole needs to be reasonably thick in order to hold the buckles, we have found from experience that a thin pole doesn't seem to hold the case as well. Also, as the pole seems to be close to the hedge, it is likely that the case would quickly become obscured by leaves and branches, and would need regular cleaning as it is likely that the Perspex would become green and mouldy quite quickly.

We haven't purchased pole mounted cases for many years (the ones we put up in 2010 were stock from a few years before that) so I couldn't give you an accurate cost, but we are aware of the following companies who could supply such cases (there may be others):

Cllr Griffiths reported that Carmarthenshire County Council had received funding from Welsh Gov. Sustainable Travel Centres of £4588.50, Clerk to make enquiries whether this would have included a post/timetable. Also Clerk to write to Carmarthenshire County Council to ask that when new bus shelter at Penymorfa is completed could post/timetable currently at that spot be moved opposite Police HQ.

During the discussion Cllr Whatley suggested that improving the noticeboards should also be considered. Following a proposal by Cllr Watson and seconded by Cllr Dafydd Williams it was Resolved that (Minute 1114-6a) that two further banners be purchased (For 5, Against 4, and 1 Abstention).

Cllr Watson also proposed that the existing noticeboards be renewed, Cllr Whatley suggested an amendment that the noticeboard by the shop remain and that when the park improvements are completed that a new noticeboard be placed at the park entrance, this amendment was accepted and it Resolved that (minute 1114-6b), and unanimously approved that the noticeboards in Llangunnor Road/Nantycaws be replaced and that when the park improvements are complete that a new noticeboard be placed at the entrance to the park.

Clerk to make enquiries as to cost and report back.

A letter from Cyril Phillips (Churchwarden) had been previously circulated, it referred to issue with the lack of burial plots at Llangunnor Church. Cllrs Griffiths, Whatley, West and Sandra Thomas declared an interest and as agreed by the Standard's Committee were permitted to take part in the debate but not in any voting.

Cllr Griffiths gave a brief background to the issues and following a discussion the Clerk was instructed to write to Mr Phillips informing the church that:
a) Before the Council can consider any financial support it will need to see an up to date copy of the Church's accounts
b) It was concerned that there was no finite cost for the works being carried out at the church. It was mentioned that as a lot of this work could be carried out by volunteers would this provide savings on the figures mentioned.
c) There was some worry about the lack of support from the Church in Wales, members wondered why this was the case.
d) The Council would not be in a position to approve an annual grant for maintenance purposes. The Church would have to make an individual application each year.

The meeting concluded that once this information was provided then officers of the church and the archdeacon be invited to one of our meetings to discuss the issues further.

Following attendance at Code of Conduct Training, Cllr Watson and Dafydd Williams circulated handouts received at event.

Cllr Griffiths expressed concern that meetings were being arranged without going through the Clerk, this had been discussed previously and it had been agreed that even if the Clerk was not able to attend that he should be informed and agree that it was required.

There had been an instance recently when Cllr Dafydd Williams had requested a meeting with the police to discuss arrangements for the evening of turning on the lights.

The Chair explained that there had been some phone calls and an exchange of emails and she had looked into it, it appeared that there had been a misunderstanding and she apologised to the meeting for any confusion.

She reminded councillors that they were there to represent the community and not for any individual gain. Several councillors supported this stance and reminded colleagues that being the Chair was a difficult role and that all support should be given to the person holding that office.

At this stage the Chair said that the discussion on this matter was closed and hoped that in future members would bear these points in mind, Cllr Whatley asked to speak but the Chair stated that the discussion was closed.

At this stage Cllr Whatley informed the meeting that he was leaving as he had been prevented from speaking, Cllr Griffiths also left.

On their departure the Chair stated that both members had taken part in the discussion and that she was satisfied that all members who wished to contribute had been given the opportunity, there was agreement from the remaining members

None reported

It was Resolved (minute 1114-11) proposed Cllr West and seconded Cllr Elwyn Williams that the following be approved (unanimous).

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

B) Council to note receipt of income: None

It was RESOLVED (minute 0114-12) that the following correspondence be noted/action taken.

i) Remind Carmarthenshire County Council about power washing bridges and dog fouling signs on Sticle path.
ii) Repairs/Improvements to pavements in Elder Grove, Clerk to thank Ian Thomas (Carmarthenshire County Council) and his workmen for their efforts.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 11th December at 6.30pm at Yr Aelwyd.

Every effort has been made to check the above for accuracy however if you find a mistake please contact us.