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A meeting of Llangunnor Community Council will be held Remotely on Thursday 21st July at 6:30p.m. To transact the following agenda:
1. To receive apologies for absence.
2. To record all declarations of interest.
3. To receive and welcome five new members of the Council
4. Chair’s Announcements.
5. 12 minutes for any questions from public
6. To approve the minutes of the Monthly meeting of Council held on the 16th of June 2022.
7. To receive an update from the Clerk
8. Council Committees - a) Park & environment meeting next meeting being arranged for later this month. b) Finance Committee next meeting being arranged for later this month. c) Web / Media Committee- no meeting. d) Christmas Committee – no meeting.
9. Mentoring of new Councillors.
10. Motion from Cllr Lee Whatley - Council Five-Year Plan "Llangunnor Community Council should develop a plan for the next five years of this council, which should set out its aims and objectives. This plan can then be referred to by the council when making decisions and more importantly will give a clear vision to the residents of Llangunnor as to what can be expected over the next five years plus. This plan could also be useful when it comes to setting budgets and preparing the annual report"
11. Motion from Cllr Lee Whatley - Staff Appraisals/Work-Life Balance "Llangunnor Community Council, as an employer has a duty of care to its employee (clerk). We as councillors, do not have a clear understanding of the role of the clerk and the demands on their time, which makes it difficult for us to understand why certain work cannot be done. The council should conduct regular appraisals with the clerk to identify any issues early so that these can be dealt with to ensure a good work/life balance for the clerk and the smooth running of the council. Council should also consider obtaining information from the clerk as to how their work is made up"
12. Motion from Cllr Lee Whatley - Council Training Plan "Llangunnor Community Council needs to develop and publish a training plan for councillors and council staff setting out its proposals in relation to the provision of training
13. Motion from Cllr Jenny Slate “That Llangunnor Community Council consider the feasibility of providing premises (portacabin type building with toilet, kitchen area and meeting room) within the park that could be used for meetings, children's parties, changing rooms, etc. There are currently no such premises within Llangunnor that can be used by the community for small events/meetings etc. We could apply for grants, lottery funding etc, and we could fund-raise in the community by putting on additional event”
14. To receive County Councillors Report (Cllr Elwyn Williams)
15. To receive reports from Members representing Council on other: Bodies / Training. a) One Voice Wales b) School Governors c) anything else.
16. To approve the schedule of accounts for July 2022
17. To receive correspondence and agree responses.
18. Councillor’s Report
19. Any other important business:
20. Following advice from 1VW Council do not need to suspend S.O. over the summer recess, instead we need to agree that – “The council resolves to grant the clerk delegated powers until the next monthly meeting in September, where necessary, the Clerk will consult with the Chair on any important matters and be authorised to pay essential payments up to the value of £1000.00.”
21. Date of next meeting – Thursday September 15th, 2022

July 2022

Minutes of Monthly Meeting of Llangunnor Community Council held Remotely at 6.30pm on Thursday 21st July 2022

PRESENT: Councillor Geraint Bevan (Chair), Elwyn Williams, Paul Totterdale, Lee Whatley, Sandra Thomas, Jennifer Slate, Graham Slate, Ally Wadeward, Joan Evans and Matthew Williams

APOLOGIES: Councillor Charlie Evans and Emma Reynolds

Also present Howard Davies (Clerk) and one member of the public present Robin Griffiths

Declaration of Interest

To be recorded during agenda items

3. To receive and welcome five new members of the Council

The Chair took the opportunity of warmly welcoming all newly co-opted Councillors to their first Full Council meeting. 4. Chair's Announcements

• The Chair advised that he had recently attended several functions, namely The Riverside Festival, Mayors Service at The Methodist Chapel, and an open day held by Kidwelly C C at Meinciau Hall to support the Ukrainian refugees that had been accommodated locally.
• He had also received several compliments on how lovely the floral displays provided by the Council, located at various locations across the community looked.
• He was also keen for the Council to work on and be part of several bio diversity projects notably the “Pollinator project” being run by Carmarthen C C, and asked the Clerk to write to Aled Vaughan Owen Cabinet Member for Climate Change, at the Council to obtain further information. Action point: Clerk to write to Aled Vaughan Owen.

5. Public Questions

Robin Griffiths wished to welcome the new Councillors, then proceeded to ask asked one questions and paid one compliment. 1. He was unhappy that the school children of Llangunnor had not received a personal copy of the “Queen’s Jubilee Handbook” that had been made available to every child attending school in England and wanted an official response from the Council as to why this had not happened. The Chair again pointed that the Community Council had no input into this matter, as it had been devolved to the Senedd in Cardiff Bay, and as such we were not in a position to provide a letter. Cllr Sandra Thomas advised that she had recently spoken to the Headmaster at Llangunnor School, who had agreed to investigate matters further, and would update her further once he had news. Robin Griffiths was still not happy, but as the Chair stressed regrettably it was outside our area of jurisdiction, and as such we could merely pass on his concerns and observations to the local Headmaster which Cllr Thomas had actioned. Robin Griffiths also wished to share that he had noticed that Carmarthen Town Council were including within their Agenda details of their Zoom connection facility for members of public wishing to attend virtually. The Clerk advised that if virtual meetings were to continue, then he would incorporate this within future agenda notices.

6. Minutes

It was agreed and RESOLVED to approve as a correct record the minutes of the monthly Council meeting held on the 16th of June 2022. Cllr Whatley abstained as he felt they were not an accurate representation of the meeting, a view not shared by his fellow Councillors. (Minute 0722-6)

7. Receive an update from the Clerk

The Clerk provided full updates to the Council on the following matters:

1. ICO Complaint

The complaint made by a then member of the public Lee Whatley to The Information Commissioner’s Office over the Council’s refusal to release details to him of the clerk’s mileage claims. The clerk was extremely pleased to advise that the Council’s decision had been upheld by the ICO’s Office and that the member of the public concerned had been advised accordingly.
The clerk wished to place on record his personal thanks to Paul Egan of One Voice Wales who had guided the Council throughout the complaint’s procedures and supported their stance. Again, much of the clerk’s time had been spent researching and responding to this complaint, which had no substance or relevance to the workings of the Council.

2. Committees

For the benefit of our newly co-opted Councillor’s the clerk wished to advise that the following vacancies remain and asked if anyone was interested to let him know: Finance Committee There is still one vacancy to join Cllrs E Williams Chair, Sandra Thomas, Chair and V Chair of the Council. Web & Media There remain two vacancies to join Cllrs Charlie Evans, Chair and V Chair of the Council. Christmas Committee There remains one vacancy to join Cllrs E Williams, P Totterdale. Chair and Vice Chair of the Council. Cllr Joan Evans subsequently put her name forward to join which was accepted and will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.

3. The Financial Governance Toolkit.

The clerk advised that he had circulated a copy of this to every Councillor, this having been jointly developed by One Voice Wales, The Society of Council Clerks (SLCC) AND Welsh Government. Furthermore, he suggested that all Councillors have a read over the summer recess and would be placing the item on the agenda for our September meeting

8. Committees

i) Finance

Next meeting scheduled to take place on the 27th of July

ii) Park & Environment

Next meeting scheduled to take place on the 27th of July

iii) Web & Media

No meeting had taken place

iv) Christmas Lights

No meeting had taken place

9. Mentoring of new Councillors

Following on from Cllrs Williams suggestion last month that a mentoring framework to support new Councillors be put in place (Minute 0622–7) it was agreed for everyone to consider the best way for this to be delivered to help support our new Councillors, and to report back to our September meeting with their proposals.

In the interim it was suggested by Cllr Whatley that if any new Councillors needed any questions answered or sought any clarification on any aspect of Council work or policy, that they pick up the phone to the Clerk or any elected Councillor who would be more than happy to assist. The Clerk also suggested that they would benefit from the Induction and Code of Conduct courses being run virtually by One Voice Wales, and to have a read through the information that he had recently circulated to our newly co-opted Councillors. Some suggestions to take away entered around a buddying up system, and pairing up a newbie Councillor, with an experienced Councillor

10. Council Five-Year Plan Cllr Lee Whatley introduced his motion

"Llangunnor Community Council should develop a plan for the next five years of this council, which should set out its aims and objectives. This plan can then be referred to by the council when making decisions and more importantly will give a clear vision to the residents of Llangunnor as to what can be expected over the next five years plus. This plan could also be useful when it comes to setting budgets and preparing the annual report"

The motion was seconded by Cllr Jenny Slate.
Following a brief discussion all Councillors thought it would be a good idea to have a forward planning document in place for the next five years setting out what the Council was looking to achieve for the resident of Llangunnor and how it would be funded. Action Point: Cllr Whatley to develop this plan with the assistance of his fellow Councillors after seeking their input. This document to be a work in progress document, that will have to be flexible as our priorities could well change during this period. (Minute 0722–10)

11. Staff Appraisals/Work-Life Balance Cllr Lee Whatley introduced his second motion

"Llangunnor Community Council, as an employer has a duty of care to its employee (clerk). We as councillors, do not have a clear understanding of the role of the clerk and the demands on their time, which makes it difficult for us to understand why certain work cannot be done.
The council should conduct regular appraisals with the clerk to identify any issues early so that these can be dealt with to ensure a good work/life balance for the clerk and the smooth running of the council. Council should also consider obtaining information from the clerk as to how their work is made up"

Regrettably this motion did not gain a seconder and therefore did not proceed as proposed.

Given that this motion was proposed to benefit the well being of the clerk, with the permission of the Chair the Clerk was allowed to respond and his detailed response is appended to these minutes under Appendix 1.

12. Council Training Plan Cllr Lee Whatley introduced his third motion

"Llangunnor Community Council needs to develop and publish a training plan for councillors and council staff setting out its proposals in relation to the provision of training"

. Regrettably this motion did not gain a seconder and therefore did not proceed as proposed.

13. That Llangunnor Community Council consider the feasibility of providing premises (portacabin type building with toilet, kitchen area and meeting room) within the park that could be used for meetings, children's parties, changing rooms, etc. There are currently no such premises within Llangunnor that can be used by the community for small events/meetings etc. We could apply for grants, lottery funding etc, and we could fund-raise in the community by putting on additional event Cllr Jenny Slate introduced her motion

“That Llangunnor Community Council consider the feasibility of providing premises (portacabin type building with toilet, kitchen area and meeting room) within the park that could be used for meetings, children’s parties, changing rooms, etc. There are currently no such premises within Llangunnor that can be used by the community for small events, meetings etc. We could apply for grants, lottery funding etc, and we could fund raise in the community by putting on additional events”

The motion was seconded by Cllr Joan Evans

A general discussion ensued where everyone was prepared to support the motion in principle, where it was acknowledged that a building is required to bring the community together. Cllr Woodward pointed out that local community groups were being forced to hire local halls at Bronwydd and Llangain to hold functions due the lack of suitable facilities being available for hire locally. Cllr Totterdale would prefer to see a brick building being built under a tiled roof, due to the previous problems with wooden structures being set alight by teenagers frequenting the park. Cllr Elwyn Williams advised that the Community Council would find it very difficult if not impossible to attract and source funding in their own name for such a project. However, if an arm’s length Independent Charitable Organisation was set up, with independents as well as some community Councillors being invited to form a Committee/Board it would open far more opportunities to seek out and obtain funding. The obvious ones being the National Lottery but there were others that could be approached. These grants would assist with the capital costs, and the Community Council could help fund the annual running costs.

A public meeting to gauge residents’ opinion, along with a feasibility study were considered to be a good starting point to facilitate further discussion where Cllr Slate be asked to develop these suggestions further prior to our September meeting. The clerk was asked to write in the first instance to Carmarthen C C to see if there are any restrictions/covenants which would prevent the placing of a portable or permanent building on the park itself. Action point: Clerk to write to Carmarthen C C To move matters forward it was agreed for all Councillors to have a think on how best to progress matters, and to bring their thoughts and suggestions to our September meeting (Minute 0722–13)

15. Reports from Members Representing Council on other Bodies

Riverside Association -

One Voice Wales - Cllr Whatley advises that he had only been able to attend the latter part of One Voice Wales’s area meeting and would provide a fuller report following his attendance at the next meeting CHECK THIS

School Governors - Cllr Thomas advised that all the school pupils and staff would be focusing on completing the School Autistic Awareness training upon their return to school in September, to gain their Autistic Awareness Certification. Cllr Elwyn Williams advised that he had sat in on the recent interview panel, to interview candidates for teaching vacancies to provide maternity cover and following a thorough interview process two high calibre applicants had been appointed on a temporary basis.

Training?? - Cllr Charlie Evans had emailed the Clerk in his absence to say that there was a full programme of events planned and he would update the Council shortly. No reports were received from other bodies, due to no meetings having taken place.

14. County Councillor Report

Cllr Williams advised that much of the Councillors time had been spent undertaking training courses. He stated that he had referred the lack of contact from Mr Pillner, Head of Transport & Engineering Carmarthen C C re Charlie’s exit proposal to Cllr Edward Thomas Cabinet Member for Transport,Waste,and Infrastructure, who will investigate matters following Mr Pillners return to work from annual leave, with a view of getting him to speak with Cllr Elwyn Williams, and to start a dialogue on this important issue affecting our community.

He further advised that at the recent AGM of the Fire Authority he had been re-elected as Chair. For further information he advised that it had been discovered that the London based company associated with buying up farmland locally for forestry was partly owned by The Welsh Government. He had nothing further to impart

16. Approve the Schedule of Accounts

:: Cllr Elwyn Williams declared an interest at this point and took no further part in the discussions as the handyman was his brother ::

It was unanimous that the accounts submitted be approved.

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

Payee	Info	(£) Amount
E Williams	Playing Field	97.00
	Cleaning up Basketball and skateboard area	32.00
	Litter picking following Jubilee party	32.00
Howard Davies	Salary -	667.18
	Office Allowance -	100.00
	IT Allowance -	40.00
	Zoom Monthly Payment	14.39
	Postage	10.06
J R B Enterprise Ltd	Dog Gloves for park	42.84
Wrenvale Nurseries	Replanting of planters at entrance to park	60.00
Bargoed Town Council	New Councillor Induction Training - Lee Whatley	16.00
Plant Scape	Purchase of two new planters to go beneath Road signs at Heol Blaengwastad and Pibwerlwyd, as previously agreed Minute 0422 P11	753.90

B) Council to note receipt of income: None

17. Correspondence

The following correspondence be noted/action taken:

No	Nature of Correspondence	Agreed Action
1	Response from Mike Jacob Crams C C re installations of bollards at the entrance to Llangunnor park	Circulated
2	Model Financial Regulations 2019	Circulated
3	Llangunnor Playground Reports for equipment at Llangunnor Park	Circulated
4	Age Matters Summer newsletter from Age Cymru	Circulated
5	Finance and Governance Tool Kit for Community and Town Councils -June 2022	Circulated
6	Final letter from Minister for Finance and Local Government to CTC’S re The Finance Governance Tool Kit	Circulated
7	Introductory letter from Rachael Carter Local Places for Nature Officer	Circulated
8	Wales Nature Week Briefing pack	Circulated
9	Police and Crime Panel Annual report	Circulated
10	Community and Town Councils published allowances
11	1VW: Training Courses July
12	Response from Welsh Government re our concerns over the exit from Nant Y Caws Landfill site	Circulated
13	PCC Bulletin	Circulated
14	IVW Training Courses for July	Circulated
15	Planning Consultation PL/04089	Circulated
16	1vw: Innovative Practice Conference - 14.9.22	Circulated

18. Councillor's Report

• Cllr Whatley advised that he had recently walked Roman Road, and it was pleasing to see that the reinstatement works following removal of a section of hedge had been completed to a high standard.
• Cllr Mathew Williams advised that the bin at the Maes Lewis Morris, had been dislodged, and needed to be re affixed to its base. Action point: Clerk to ask handyman to repair.
:: Due to a power cut Cllrs Elwyn Williams, Lee Whatley and G Bevan became disconnected losing connectivity, however Cllr Bevan was able to re-join soon after when his power supply returned :: • Cllr Jenny Slate wanted to bring to the attention of the Council that during the recent water burst certain areas of Llangunnor had been left without water for several hours. She took it upon herself to escalate matters to Welsh Water, and in fairness they dispatched a bottled supply to the effected areas, and to advertise the availability of this bottled supply via our Facebook page. The Chair commended her for her prompt actions.
• Cllr Graham Slate wished to thank the clerk for his prompt action in getting the walls of Babell fly over pressure washed and the pigeon droppings removed. Clerk responded that SWTA had taken this action as a short-term fix of this annoying problem and were working on a long-term solution here.

19.

Clerk advised he is in the process of writing to all the businesses on the Pensarn and Stephens Way Retail parks asking them for letter of support for our proposal to ask the Council to always provide a pedestrian access, and a vehicular exit during emergency situations such as flooding at the top end of Charlie’s car park. He intends to deliver theses letters personally, and to speak to the respective management at these businesses.

20. Summer Recess

It was resolved that the following proposal be adopted to cover payments that required to be made during August. “The council resolves to grant the clerk, delegated powers until the next monthly meeting in September, where necessary, the Clerk will consult with the Chair on any important matters and be authorised to pay essential payments up to the value of £1000” (Minute 0722–20)

21. Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on 15th format and location to be agreed. Clerk to confirm in advance Thursday 2022

Meeting closed 8.55pm Appendix 1

Clerk’s response to Lee Whatley’s motion. Chair with your permission I would like to address the Council about this motion.

I am surprised and disappointed to find this motion being put forward without the courtesy of a discussion or the matter being raised with the chair or myself. Upon receiving the proposal, it certainly did not feel as if I was worthy of being given the common courtesy of being considered a valued team member. This motion comes from a Councillor, who has served two terms of Office, and has held most of the principal Offices of the Council, one of which being Chair of the Council which requires a close working relationship with the clerk. He has been supported by two clerks, and I am astounded that he professes that he does not know what the clerk does, or the makeup of his workload. He is obsessed with what the clerk does, despite a job description being in place, and this obsession has spread to the duties of the handyman, and the general workings and procedures of the Council. Having canvassed the opinion of his fellow Councillors not one has any issues, with the way that I work, the research that I undertake, the support provided, the way that I manage my workload, and they felt the same for the support provided by my predecessor Clive.

This is simply one Councillors viewpoint which he is entitled to, which is thankfully not shared by others.

The job is both challenging and diverse with no two days being the same dealing with a wide range of enquires/queries and regular/ongoing Council business, which requires you to be flexible, knowledgeable, efficient and to possess good time management and interpersonal skills as well as being bilingual. Much time is spent looking into and researching matters, dealing with various Council departments, outside organisations/contractors, dealing with financial and regulatory requirements, general correspondence both by letter, phone, and email, and to a large extent you are the face of the Council. Bearing in mind that I come from a Commercial Banking Background, I am still learning the job, and learning quickly both by experience and from making the occasional mistake but learning from it. The skill set required to be a successful clerk is extensive, and I would challenge anybody new to the role of clerk as having all of these in place on day one but looking to build and develop them over time as you grow into the role.

Currently I regularly work more than my 55 monthly paid hours on Council business due to workload and complexity, but have no issue with is, as I will get quicker as my knowledge and experience builds, and I would like to point out that when the Council agreed to increase my hours last year, they were then returned to the level agreed for the former clerk during Covid i.e. there was no increase in hours purely a realignment.

As Clerk I have become aware of comments posted on a towncouncillor.com website. It’s a website for councillors and former councillors to ask questions and raise issues of concern regarding issues which concern them. It can be a useful resource and I’ve been surprised upon reading posts by one contributor who identifies themselves as White Knight. The contributions seem to mirror the events and issues of Llangunnor Community Council even to the extent that reference is made to the Clerk who is new to the post and has been in post for the same amount of time as myself. Regular questions have been asked about the handyman and the general workings of the Council, I’d urge members to read the posts by White Knight for themselves which they can do purely by putting White Knight into a search engine together with town and community. You can then make up your own minds. That said the posts seem to refer to Llangunnor Community Council and myself and could be construed as bringing the Council and the Clerk into disrepute. This could be a breach of the Code of Conduct for members. If there are issues, then frankly they are not going to get solved by posting them on websites. The problems need to be brought out into the open and addressed in an open and transparent way and members feel confident enough to raise their concerns if any through the appropriate channels. I would therefore respectfully ask that if theses posts have been made by a member of this Council, they put them in writing and forward them to the Chair or Vice Chair so that they can be dealt with formally. .

This person is perfectly entitled to do this; however, my attention has been drawn to questions that they have asked seemingly specifically about me, the makeup of my travelling claims and concerns they have about the clerk. They say that they do not know what the clerk does, seemingly spending time researching matters that have not been authorised and attending meetings which again have not been agreed by the council and insinuating that I am not using my paid time effectively and efficiently. Additionally, they say that I have been deflecting work back to them as my workload could not accommodate for reasons duly advised to full Council and minuted accordingly. They only see what is not being done in their eyes. I find these observations made in these posts to be deeply hurtful that a Councillor could think so little of their clerk, who gives of his best all the time to support the council and its councillors, disrespectful, and a slight on my character and integrity, so much so that I am currently considering my position and will be investigating the grievance procedure Enough is enough and I am now calling out this behaviour. In Conclusion. The Council is my employer and far as I can see undertakes its duties and responsibilities in a fair and responsible manner. If members or members have concerns, then I hope that they would have the common courtesy of raising them with me and allowing me the respect of awaiting a response. To do otherwise does not chime with ethos of the Council and employer I have worked for over the past year and a half. As Clerk I feel I have an absolute respect for my employers and am committed to working with members for the benefit of the community and will strive to make a difference.

Thank you Chair for allowing me to give my background and thoughts to this motion being presented here tonight. Howard Davies Clerk Llangunnor Community Council. 21.7.2022

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