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October 2018

Minutes of Monthly Meeting of Llangunnor Community Council held in 'Yr Aelwyd', Tregynnwr at 6.30pm on Thursday 25th October 2018

PRESENT: Councillor Sandra Thomas (Chair), Geraint Bevan, Robin Griffiths, Paul Totterdale, Alun West, Elwyn Williams, Lee Whatley, Alexandra Trowbridge-Matthews, Vivian Davies, John Porter, Dafydd Williams and Jennifer Slate (from item 4)

APOLOGIES: None

Declaration of Interest

None

2. Police Report

Apologies sent along with email reporting 2 shoplifting and 2 further anti-social behavior calls

Date	Type	Call	Resolution
19/09/2018	Anti-social Behaviour	A group of youths in the bus stop opposite Llangunnor park had intimidated a male walking passed by shouting and swering	Youths located and given strong words of advice and moved on from the area. The male was updated and appropriate advice and reassurance was given
10/10/2018		Approx 20 caravans parked in Carmarthen train station	Joint meeting held with Carmarthenshire county council and a direction to leave order was served on the persons responsible. Regular patrols conducted in the area and all parties had moved on
13/10/2018	Flooding	Flooding in the Pensarn area of Carmarthen	Officers attended all stores in the Pensarn area, assisting vehicles and residents to safety. Road closures put in place and reassurance given to those affected

3. Chair's Announcements

• Cllr Sandra Thomas gave her and the Council's condolences to the Clerk on the sad loss of his mother.
• She also welcomed Cllr John Porter to the meeting and wished him well in his new role; Cllr Porter thanked the Council for showing confidence in him and would endeavor to do his best for the community of Llangunnor.
• The Chair asked that a letter of thanks be sent to Cllr C Smith and Cllr A Mackintosh for their contribution to the Council and the community now that they had both left the Council
• She, the vice-Chair and the local member had attended the School's Thanksgiving Service - it was very well received by all that attended and all the children had taken part
• In conjunction with the school council, the headmaster and a couple of volunteers a litter pick had taken place earlier that day - they managed to collect 14 bags of litter in an hour, members of the public had approached them to thank them for their work. On this matter it was highlighted that bins in the area were full and that domestic blue bags were being placed next to the bins - Clerk to contact Carmarthenshire County Council

4. Public Questions::Cllr Slate arrived for this item::

Ms Arwen Davies addressed the Council, she highlighted issues that she and other property owners had encountered during the recent flooding in Old Llangunnor Road. Although some of the emergency services were more helpful than others she stated that considerable damage had been done. Cllr Elwyn Williams explained the situation from Carmarthenshire County Council view and what he knew of the responsibilities of Natral Resources Wales - it was unanimously agreed that the flooding and its impact on Llangunnor be placed on the agenda of the next meeting

5. Minutes.

It was moved by Cllr Totterdale and seconded by Cllr Griffiths (minute 1018-5) and RESOLVED to approve as a correct record the minutes of the monthly Council meeting and Planning Sub-Committee held on September 19th 2018

6. The Park / Environment Sub-Committee

The minutes of previous meeting were reported to be on the web. Consideration was given to the proposed improvements at the park, Cllr Whatley pointed out that the amount of expenditure should have been included for clarity and transparency, the Clerk advised that this was correct.

It was unanimously agreed (minute 1018-6) that an extraordinary meeting be called for 1st November at 6.30pm., the agenda to include details of expenditure in
i) The park;
ii) On the newsletter;
iii) The memorial stone

7. Web / Media Committee

Cllr Slate gave an update on the newsletter, decision on moving this forward to be deferred to the extraordinary meeting

8. Finance Sub-Committee

No meeting had taken place, meeting to be arranged

9. Christmas Decoration Sub-Committee

No meeting had taken place, meeting to be arranged

10. Valero Monies

No meeting had taken place, to be arranged in the near future

11. Vacancy on the Council

The Clerk reported that there had not been a request for an election and that the Council could now move to co-opt another member. Following a discussion it was agreed that the closing date for submission of interest and form would be the 30th November 2018. It was agreed (minute 1018-11) that the Clerk liaise with the Chair on this (and any other matters affecting the Council) For 11 Against 1. Members to be informed of any applicants when monthly paperwork is circulated

12. Defibrillators

No update, Clerk had reminded Welsh Hearts that Council wished to advertise when training was taking place so that it could be advertised

13. Motion submitted by Cllr Whatley

Llangunnor Community Council having recently invested in the health and well-being of the community with the purchase of a number of defibrillators will, to show its commitment to the community of Llangunnor provide vital emergency and lifesaving skills, including training on how to safely use a defibrillator

The motion was seconded by Cllr Bevan. The motion was put to the meeting and was unanimously agreed (minute1018-13)

14. Reports from Members Representing Council on other Bodies

Riverside Association - No report

One Voice Wales - Report received from Cllr Whatley (appendix 1)

School Governors - Cllr Griffiths had given his apologies to the last meeting

Carmarthen Town Regeneration Forum - Clerk reported that unfortunately due to objection from Network Rail there would be no link between the two retail areas of Pensarn

Training -

15. County Councillor's Report

Cllr E Williams reported that much of last week was spent on the flood damage. Carmarthenshire County Council had agreed to make a payment of £100 to each person affected, and those with no insurance would be able to apply for a further £1,000

16. Approve the Schedule of Accounts

It was Resolved (minute 1018-16) proposed Cllr Griffiths and seconded Cllr Elwyn Williams For 11 Against 1 that the following payments be authorised.

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

Payee	Info	(£) Amount
E Williams	Playing Field (30/09/18)	97.00
CJ Thomas	Salary - Oct 2018	597.32
	Office Allowance - Oct 2018	100.00
	IT Allowance - Oct 2018	40.00
	Licence for Windows 365 (confirmed at meeting)(£112.80 + VAT)	135.36
Carmarthen Town Council	Plant troughs & brackets (£599.00 + VAT)	718.00
Vision ICT	Hosting / Support for website (£163.00 + VAT)	195.60
Sandra Thomas	Items for grotto	24.71
Councillor L Whatley	Travelling: Builth Wells Conference Newcastle Emlyn One Voice Wales Area Committee	65.70

Applications to Chair

Organisation	Details	(£) Amount
Llangunnor School	£200 to purchase a 25 piece set of instruments	200.00
Babell Zion Newydd	£100 to buy new appliances when they have their new kitchen	100.00
Sugarcraft Guild	£100 to help with the hire of a minibus to Cardiff where they are exhibiting items	100.00
Llangunnor Church Flower Guild		75.00
Art, Craft and Chat Group		150.00
St Cynnwr WI		75.00
Yr Aelwyd Tenant Association		100.00

B) Council to note receipt of income:

Payee	Info	(£) Amount
Carmarthenshire County Council	S106 - Painting at the Park	800.00

17. Correspondence

The following correspondence be noted/action taken.

No	Nature of Correspondence	Agreed Action
1	Adam Price - Response to query in respect pf lights to underpass. Also confirmation from minister that it has been taken up with Highways Agency	Noted
2	Independent Renumeration Panel - Annual Report 2019 for consultation (27th Nov 2018)	Noted
3	Carmarthenshire County Council: Speed of traffic Llangunnor Road - I can appreciate that the Community Council may be concerned regarding traffic speeds along this length of road. At present the number of requests we have for improvements such as speed limits, traffic calming, junction improvements etc far outstrip the budget we have available. The current budget we have for 2018/19 is already committed to a full programme of schemes but I can put the request for the introduction of a reduced speed limit along this road forward as a candidate for possible inclusion within the 2019/20 programme, subject to a full assessment and support of the Speed Limit Working Group. Decisions on schemes to be taken forward in 2019/20 will be undertaken in early 2019 and I will of course provide feedback to you at that stage as to whether or not the scheme can be taken forward. I regret that this is going to be a disappointing reply but I sincerely hope that you will understand the financial restrictions we are working under. If the Community Council are concerned that some traffic is travelling at inappropriate or even excessive speeds through the village then an approach to the local policing (NPT) team or GoSafe may be a possible way forward	Noted
4	Carmarthenshire County Council: Parking in Haulfryn - "The lines were painted for safety reasons, unfortunately we have no suggestions regarding alternative parking". Enquiry also made with regard to 'taxi/bus' being parked there, the licensing department responded that where a vehicle is parked does not form part of taxi hire licence, it is more to do with the condition of the vehicle and the vetting of the owner/driver	Noted

18. Councillor's Report

• Bridge in the park - Clerk to ask handyman to investigate the issues
• Land around electricity sub-station - to be placed on agenda of next meeting
• Lights on Towy Bridge - Clerk informed members that this had been highlighted at a recent meeting of the Regeneration Forum, Carmarthenshire County Council being chased up
• Electricity in Brithdir - it was reported that there had been issues recently, Western Power were commended for their response
• It was highlighted that following recent flooding it would be important for the Council to take this into consideration when looking at new planning applications, particularly large scale ones
• Following response from Carmarthenshire County Council on traffic speeds in Llangunnor Road, could Council ask Dyfed Powys Police to place camera van in area to see the extent of any problems
• Improvements to path between Talar / Penymorfa still not carried out
• Carmarthenshire County Council to be reminded of need to brush Llangunnor Road
• Sticle Path - Dark in areas, leaves making it slippery, Clerk to contact Carmarthenshire County Council
• An event (not organised by the Community Council) taking place at the Morrisons Store on Friday 30th - more details to be provided for website
• Chair stated that any repairs to chain would have to be deferred to January as she had a number of events to attend
• Following an unfortunate incident when avoiding a mechanical wheelchair could the Clerk write to Dyfed Powys Police highlighting the issue

19. Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Thursday November 15th 2018 at 6.30pm

Meeting closed 8.15pm

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Appendix 1 - One Voice Wales Report (Councillor Whatley) AGM

• Alun Davies AM the cabinet secretary for Local Government and Public Services was due to be the key note speaker but was unable to attend - at short notice a presentation on insurance was given by Came and Company and highlighted a number of areas one thing that was brought up was the need for councillors to have a council email address to be used for council business only (people write/speak in a different way depending on whether it is business or personal)

• Presentation from the Independent Review Panel on Community and Town Councils in Wales who had published their outline findings and recommendations they went through the recommendations generally positively received and seen as going in the right direction but he got the impression that councils fell into one of two categories
i) Those that want more powers to be able to do more in their communities and
ii) the smaller councils that don't want change and don't want to do more.
Again he felt there was opposition to the recommendation that all Clerks MUST be CILCA qualified and about getting rid of dual-hatted councillors. They have now submitted their final recommendations to Welsh Government.

• All motions were passed, one was withdrawn (Peterston Ely Community Council) again some debate regarding the motion from One Voice Wales on membership fees - eventually it was settled on a 5% increase - it was requested that One Voice Wales come up with a business plan of where it wants to be and actually asks for the increase it needs so that member councils are in a better position to make a decision

Area committee meeting - Newcastle Emlyn

Presentation by Came and Company - Important to have up to date asset register with a column for value for insurance purposes (New for Old)
- How many councillors know any details regarding the council insurance policy - how much is the excess, how much are we covered for - what might have been right for the council a few years ago might not be suitable today
- When was civic regalia last valued, are we covered if they are stolen or damaged while with the Chair. How often are they inspected for damage and by whom

One Voice Wales membership is increasing. Area committees are going paperless to cut down on postage costs - at the moment papers for the meetings are sent to the Clerk and the council representative. The meeting thought that in future papers could be printed by individual councils for representatives. One Voice Wales are looking to do a council health check to look at light touch audits The draft recommendations from the Independent review Panel for Wales had been published should have no effect for us but big change is that they are instructing that all councils need to make payments to councillors. One Voice Wales had heard back from HMRC regarding how these payments are treated and it appears that they are treated as earnings - could we clarify with One Voice Wales and look at what we need to have in place to make these payments and the payments for last year

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