July 2017

Minutes of Monthly Meeting of Llangunnor Community Council held in 'Yr Aelwyd', Tregynnwr at 6.30pm on Tuesday 18th July 2017.

PRESENT: Councillor Lee Whatley (Chair), Geraint Bevan, Robin Griffiths, Paul Totterdale, Alun West, Elwyn Williams, Michael Maynard and Vivian Davies

APOLOGIES: Councillors Sandra Thomas, Adrienne Mackintosh, Alexandra Trowbridge-Mathews and Dafydd Williams

2 members of public in attendance

None

Mr P Ingram from Penymorfa thanked the council for improving the paths from Penymorfa down to Llangunnor Road. He did however raise an issue with the safety at the bottom where it meets Llangunnor Road, some sort of guarding would improve the area. The Chair stated that he would raise this issue under AOB

Again another busy month it started with attendance at the coffee event held by Mrs Jones (Babell Hill), speaking to her the event was very well supported and it appeared that she had raised more this year than in previous years. A cheque for £100 had been presented from the Chairman's Fund to support this event.

The Chair had asked the Vice-Chair, Councillor Thomas to attend the Carmarthen River Festival on the 8th July on his behalf but was able to attend and represent the Council during the latter part of the evening. The event was well supported by residents from both sides of the river.

He offered Councillor Davies a warm welcome to the council and give him the opportunity to tell us a little about himself - Cllr Davies gave a brief summary of his upbringing, his education and had spent his working life as a plumber

It was moved by Cllr Totterdale and seconded by Cllr Elwyn Williams (minute 0717-4) and RESOLVED to approve as a correct record the minutes of the monthly Council meeting and Planning Sub-Committee held on 22nd June 2017.

Matters raised / resolved outside meetings

i) Bus Stop / Bin (Nantycaws) - Completed. Clerk to make enquiries about bin on opposite side of the road and also cleaning of bus stop
ii) Speeding Traffic Nantycaws - See correspondence
iii) Public Lighting Issues - Email received from resident in respect of lighting to Penymorfa Path, Clerk to consult with residents
iv) Litter in verges between Llangunnor and Nantycaws - This was still an issue, Clerk to check on contract that litter should be collected before grass cutting, also road through Nantycaws is one of the gateways to Carmarthen surely this should be treated as such
v) Entrance to Towy View - Site visit has taken place Carmarthenshire County Council will now have to consult with Western Power in respect of any new lighting, this will take time and a report will be brought to our September meeting
vi) Dyfed Powys Police attending meetings - Have received apology from Insp. Rhys Williams, Dyfed Powys Police should now be attending our meetings
vii) Meeting with Andrew Russ (Carmarthenshire County Council Access Officer) - Satisfied with access into park, did suggest a slight improvement at access from Blaengwastod Road, that is now in hand
viii) Pavement bottom of Babell Hill - Following email consultation with members it was agreed that this scheme be supported, it was unanimously agreed (minute0717-5viii) that this decision be confirmed - Cost to Council £3,500
ix) Path from Haulfyn down to the school - Completed
x) Clerk to enquire with Carmarthenshire County Council in respect of safety issues in respect of cladding recently placed on Council owned properties - Carmarthenshire County Council response "Carmarthenshire County Council has moved to reassure its tenants about fire safety and risk as part of its response to the Grenfell Tower fire. It has confirmed that no cladding has been added to blocks of council-owned flats in the county, and that cladding added to other homes in its stock is of a different variety to that used on Grenfell Tower". Clerk to seek confirmation that cladding is safe
xi) Sticle Path on the maintenance programme with Carmarthenshire County Council - Work in progress
xii) Dyfed Powys Police to be contacted in relation to parking issues in Elder Grove - Dyfed Powys Police will monitor the situation

Clerk reported that a) gullies in front have park had been cleaned, b) unlikely that any trees could be planted in entrance due to the presence of utilities - Park sub-committee to consider in September, c) awaiting information from Carmarthenshire County Council on tree reported by Richard Thomas.

Cllr Griffiths raised some issues that had been raised on face book, it was agreed that the Clerk enquire about the general maintenance in the park, as far as upgrading any of the areas or equipment members were advised that any such suggestions should be made to the Clerk and they would then be placed in front of Finance sub-committee to be included in any business plan

No meeting had taken place

:: The press / public were excluded in accordance with Standing Orders for this item ::

Clerk gave a report of sub-committee held that evening - (draft minutes will be placed on the website). In respect of the Clerk's remuneration the sub-committee were recommending that
a) the Clerks salary be increased in line with 2016-2018 National Salary Awards for Clerks
b) the Clerk's hours be increased by 5% (2.5 hours a month) to reflect the increased work load
c) the Clerk's allowances remain the same for 2017/18

These recommendations were unanimously approved (minute 0717-8)

:: The press / public were re-admitted at the end of the discussion ::

i) Carmarthenshire County Council would be able to provide safety barriers for parents attending the 'turning on' of the lights.
ii) Town Council would be able to place lights on tree with their cherry picker
iii) main issue is in respect of power, it would need to be underground and Carmarthenshire County Council checking whether there are any H&S issues in respect of taking onto private property
iv) the Council would have to invest in longer strings of light. Clerk to make further enquiries and a report brought to sub-committee prior to September meeting

details were discussed and it was agreed that members provide details of any projects which they think applicable to the Clerk by the beginning of September

this has been discussed previously, a 'hard' surface (tarmac / concrete) would lead to surface water issues for residents, it is being suggested "Improving 65m of the surface by adding additional quarried stone (granulated sub-base) rolling on completion" - Cost approx. £500 from S106 monies. It was unanimously agreed (minute 0717 - 11) that the Council pay for this work to be carried out

Riverside Association - Cllr Whatley had stood in for Cllr Trowbridge-Mathews. The group held a meeting prior to the festival to discuss final arrangements for the event. It was decided to hold an awards evening, planned for September to present the prizes to the winning teams. There was an issue with trophies for the raft races as many of them had been misplaced over the years

One Voice Wales - Cllr Whatley had attended the Larger Councils Conference at Builth Wells. The Key Note Speech Good Practice in Community/Place Planning 'Shape my Town or Community' by Jen Heal, Design Commission for Wales who spoke about ways to shape the places/community. They have a toolkit which can be found online at Shapemytown.org which has useful resources. That was followed by a presentation on Devolution of Services and Asset Transfers Support for Community and Town Councils Richard Baker, Welsh Government. He then got to attend a practical workshops - He selected to attend the one on community delivery which was presented by the mayor of Newtown who explained that the council had begun restructuring in 2012 to make the council more robust and ready for the future. He handed out a "Health Checklist for Community Council" and ask that Councillor's look at them (it would be placed on agenda of September meeting). One Voice Wales awards were held, very few Councils had entered but the standards of those that had were high and the winners well deserved. He hoped that next year Llangunnor will have put in a few nominations. He also spoke to a number of businesses who were at the event regards bins, playground equipment and refurbishment of equipment.

School Governors - It was reported by Cllr Griffiths that it had been agreed that English Stream Classes would be as follows: One mixed class for years 1,2 and 3; One mixed class for years 4,5 and 6; Class sizes for the English stream from Sept 2017 would be Year 1,2 and 3 - 22 pupils; Year 4,5 and 6 - 29 pupils. Any parent with any queries should contact the headmaster

Training - The following Councillors had attended code of conduct training at County Hall, Cllr Griffiths, Thomas, Mackintosh, Davies and Whatley. Cllr Maynard had attended New Councillor Induction

It was Resolved (minute 0717-13) proposed Cllr Griffiths and seconded Cllr Elwyn Williams (unanimous) that the accounts submitted be approved.

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 0717-14) that the following correspondence be noted/action taken.

i) Cllr Griffiths expressed his dismay that the seat had still not been provided in Pensarn
ii) Cllr Griffiths expressed his dismay that the report on the A48 had still not been presented and he was particularly concerned that lorries leaving the tip were now using Nantycaws as a place to turn round to go towards Cross Hands
iii) Clerk to check on progress of the adoption of Gwynfan, Nantycaws
iv) The Chair to organise the next litter pick for the community, Cllr Maynard volunteered to pick up any necessary equipment from Carmarthenshire County Council
v) Cllr Maynard stated that public footpath closed during the pipeline repairs remained closed, details of path reference to be provided so Clerk can chase up
vi) At the close of the meeting Mr Ingram expressed his frustration that the item he had mentioned to Council had not been brought up as promised by the Chair, he also mentioned difficulties he had experienced in accessing the meeting venue. The Chair apologised for forgetting to bring it up as he had stated earlier that he would. He also assured Mr Ingram that the Council encouraged members of the public to attend and that the Council would solve the issue he had experienced accessing the venue. With full agreement of the Council the Chair brought up the issue discussed earlier. Penymorfa Paths - as raised by Mr P.Ingram, it was unanimously agreed (minute 0717-15v) that Clerk meets Carmarthenshire County Council at location to discuss what improvements can be carried out

It was unanimously agreed (minute 0717 - 16) that Standing Order's be suspended for the summer recess

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 14th September 2017 at 6.30pm at Yr Aelwyd

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