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A meeting of Llangunnor Community Council will be held at Babell Zion Newydd on Thursday 15th February 2024 at 6:30p.m. To transact the following agenda:
1. To receive apologies for absence.
2. To record all declarations of interest.
3. Chair’s Announcements.
4. 12 minutes for any questions from public.
5. To approve the minutes of the Monthly meeting of Council held on 18th January 2024
6. To approve the schedule of accounts for February 2024
7. Short presentation from Rhys Jones, Director of Dyfed Alarms on the CCTV system to be installed shortly at Llangunnor Park followed by an opportunity for Q & A.
8. Council Committees – a) Park & Environment- Next meeting 14.2.24 The following proposals are recommended for approval by the Council: i. To do away with the Christmas Tree at Towy Garage Roundabout Pensarn. Given issues with the power supply this year due to a problem with Carms CC underground electricity cabling, which resulted in the tree being unlit for the majority of the Christmas period. Complaints received regarding the outage were minimal, and the placement of a new tree at the entrance of Llangunnor Park had received many compliments. Given the decision taken at the recent Finance meeting to make savings rather than increase the precept further, it was therefore recommended that two trees be purchased this Christmas to be placed at Nantycaws village, and at the entrance to Llangunnor Park thereby saving an estimated £500 in cost, based on last years costs. ii. To request a working Budget of £800 with a 10% contingency to initially fund The Fun Run which will take place on Sunday 19th May 2024. b) Finance Committee. Meeting took place on the 10th of January where have circulated. c) Web / Media Committee – Next Meeting to take on the 27th March d) Events Committee. Meeting took place on the 7th of February where minutes have been circulated.
9. To appoint new Governor representative to Llangunnor School following the recent resignation of Cllr A Wadeward.
10. To appoint a representative to Carmarthen Town Forum, following the resignation of Cllr C Evans. 11. To Review Clerk’s allowances for this current Financial Year 12. To review and to update Terms of Reference for the following sub committees as necessary: a) Park And Environment b) Finance c) Events d) Web 13. To receive County Councillors Report.
14. To receive feedback from Cllr Whatley Chair of the Task and Finish Group on the 2023 Model Standing Orders and discuss if approved adopt their recommendations.
15 To receive reports from Members representing Council on other Boies/Training. a) One Voice Wales b) School Governors
16.To receive correspondence and agree responses.
17. Councillors Report
18. Date of next Meeting. Thursday 21st March 2024

February 2024

Minutes of Monthly Hybrid Meeting of Llangunnor Community Council held at Babell Zion Newydd at 6.30pm on Thursday 15th February 2024

PRESENT: Councillor Jennifer Slate (Chair), Paul Totterdale, Elwyn Williams, Stewart Bowen(R), Matthew Williams and Graham Slate >

APOLOGIES: Councillor Geraint Bevan, Joan Evans and Lee Whatley

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

Declaration of Interest

None

3. Chair's Announcements

• i) Reference was made to Carmarthen C C Primary Rising 4’s Policy 2025/26 consultation period, which is live until 1st March 2024, where it was proposed that infants would have to attain the age of 4 during the previous school term, before being admitted to school
• ii Councillors were reminded that the annual litter pick in conjunction with Llangunnor School which normally takes place in early Spring is due, and will ask Cllr Bevan will liaise with the school to agree a convenient date
• iii) Councillors were also reminded that the consultation on “the cost-of-living crisis” was closing shortly, and to send their responses to the clerk who will collate them and respond
• iv) Due to work commitments, she had not been able to present our cheques to the two local food banks but would be doing so shortly
• v) Councillors were also reminded of the consultation regarding the Pylons proposed for the new power lines which would be a contentious issue for our community. Cllr Matthew Williams was asked to collate a response on behalf of the Council
• vi) Chair advised that Cllr Graham Slate had been added to our Facebook page as an additional administrator to be able to make posts following the resignations of Cllrs Evans and Wadeward
•

4. Public Questions

None

5. Minutes

It was agreed and RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the monthly Council Meeting held on the 18th of January 2024 (Minute 02/24-5)

6. Approve the Schedule of Accounts - Cllr Elwyn Williams declared and interest and took no further part in discussions

It was Resolved that the undermentioned accounts be paid as indicated below: (Minute 02/24–6)

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

Howard Davies Clerical Duties –Gross new salary £995.77, 2 meeting £100. Backpay as calculated by Clay Shaw Butler £833.36 re increase by 2 spines. Total Gross £1929.13, Net Salary £1455.22 £1610.81

Payee	Info	(£) Amount
E Williams	Playing Field	97.00
Howard Davies	Salary - February 2024
	Office Allowance - February 2024	100.00
	IT Allowance - February 2024	40.00
	Zoom Monthly Payment £15.59
Carmarthen Town Council	Purchase of 3 Christmas Trees £720, delivery, and erection costs £750, labour £50 plus Vat- £304	1824.00
Barclaycard via Direct Debit	Magnets for Notice Boards -packet 10 From Ryman	4.49
Bowen & Weaving	Ring Binder plus Dividers	4.80
St Cynnwr WI	Donation agreed by Chair from our Community fund to assist with the cost of taking 28 members on a trip to St Fagans. Est total cost £217 where they will fund remainder	60.00
Babell Zion Newydd	Hire of Babell Chapel Nov 16th, 22nd, December 6th, and 14th. 4 Meetings at £30each	120.00

Extra Meetings
Events Committee - 7th February 2024
Parks Committee - 14th February 2024

2 X £50 = £100 this equates to £40.00 after tax. (Extra meetings - @ £50 meeting – salary includes 11 meetings + AGM, all others treated as extra meetings over 4 hours will be paid at £100. (Minute 0920-F4)

B) Council to note receipt of income: None

7. Short presentation from Rhys Jones, Director of Dyfed Alarms

Steve Thomas from Dyfed Alarms gave a short informative presentation on the CCTV camera system that would be shortly installed at Llangunnor park to improve security and safety of park users. The presentation was well received and was followed by a Q&A session. The Chair thanked him for attending.

8. Council Committees

i) Finance

Meeting took place on the 10th of January, where the minutes are being circulated. Next meeting 10th April

ii) Parks and Environment

Noted the minutes of the meeting which took place on the 7th of November have been circulated electronically and uploaded to our web page. Regrettably the meeting arranged for February 14th had to be rescheduled due to unforeseen circumstances and will now be rescheduled for next Wednesday 21st February virtually over Zoom

iii) Web & Media

Last meeting took place on the 7th of June. No recent meetings. Meeting to be arranged March 2024

iv) Events

Noted the minutes of the meeting of which took place on the 7th of February have been circulated electronically and uploaded to our webpage. Next meeting 3rd April

Two recommendations were received from the Events Committee and following discussion it was resolved to proceed as follows:
i) Due to the lights on the Christmas tree at Towy roundabout being out of action for the Christmas period and no guarantee that the electrical supply will work in future, it was resolved that we would not place a tree at Towy roundabout going forward and to retain the two Christmas trees at Llangunnor Park and Nanytcaws which will save an estimated £500 per year.(Minute 02/24-8i)
ii) Resolved to agree a working budget of £800 with a 10% contingency to support the initial set up costs for the second Community Fun Run which will take place on Sunday 19th May. Chair will produce a spread sheet to monitor. (Minute 02/24-08ii) 9. Appointment of Representative to Llangunnor School

It was decided to move this point onto next month’s agenda given that 3 Councillors were unable to attend this month’s meeting and had tendered their apologies.

10. Appointment of Representative to Carmarthen Town Forum

Cllr Elwyn Williams was unanimously elected to fill the current vacancy to represent the Council on Carmarthen Town Forum. (Minute 02/24–10)

11. Review Clerks Allowances

To review Clerks Allowances, the clerk, and a member of the Public were asked to leave the room whilst the discussion took place.

Following a robust discussion the clerk was re admitted and advised that the Council were happy to retain the “working from home allowance” at £100 and an “IT allowance” at £40 which was acceptable to the clerk. The Chair suggested that these terms be revisited at the time a new clerk was sought. The clerk did mention that he continues to work more than the paid hours and would be monitoring this position over the coming months. If this pattern of workload continues then he would be approaching the Council for an increase in his paid hours. (Minute 11/24–11)

:: The Member of the Public was re admitted :: 12. Update Terms of Reference

To review an update Terms of Reference for the following committees as necessary: a) Park and Environment b) Finance c) Events d) Web The existing terms of reference had been circulated to all Councillors electronically. It was decided to move this point onto next months agenda given that 3 Councillors were unable to attend this month’s meeting and had tendered their apologies. In the interim the Chair asked all councillors to review the terms of reference ahead of next month’s meeting to enable a thorough review to be undertaken. (Minute 02/24–12)

13. County Councillor Report

Cllr Elwyn Williams advised much of his time of late had been taken up with discussing the County Council’s budget for the next financial year. Cuts to services would be inevitable, with some tough decisions having to made to protect front line services. They are striving to keep the increase to Council Tax increases to around 7%, but this was dependent of finding another 100k insavings. He will keep us advised of the position. Several residents had approached him expressing their concern about the proposals for the new overhead power lines for the Tywi-Teifi project and urged everyone to attend the webinar, and to read the documentation available. Finally, he advised that the County Council had agreed to transfer 1M from reserves to repair “pot holes”

14. Feedback on the 2023 Model Standing Orders

Due to Cllr Whatley’s inability to attend it was decided to receive his report on the Work of The Task and Finish Group at next month’s Council meeting. (Minute 02/24–14)

15. Reports from Members Representing Council on other Bodies

One Voice Wales - No report

School Governors - No Representative

Town Forum - Cllr Elwyn Williams was tonight elected to be our new representative

16. Correspondence

The following correspondence be noted/action taken:

Circulated . . .

No	Nature of Correspondence	Agreed Action
1	Revised Carmarthen Local Development Plan (LDP) 2018-2033	Circulated
2	Newsletter from Kids Cancer Charity	Circulated
3	Temp Road Closure Llangunnor C2070	Circulated
4	Polling Place and Policy District review -Draft Consultation	Circulated
5	Consultation launch on new overhead power lines for Tywi-Teifi	Circulated
6	Strategic Development Plans	Circulated
7	IVW Website and Social Media Training	Circulated
8	Pared Gwyl Dewi 2.3.24	Circulated
9	Agreement to Co Option	Circulated
10	IVW National Awards Conference 27.3.24	Circulated
11	Leaflet re Consultation Tywi-Teifi overhead power lines	Circulated
12	Older Peoples experience of digital exclusion in Wales	Circulated
13	Enforcement Appeal Consultation ENF/00996-AP-7259	Circulated
14	One Voice Wales National Awards Conference 27 March 24	Circulated
15	Joint Event to be held remotely- IVW and Planning Aid Wales – 7.3.24	Circulated
16	Green Gen Cymru Towy Teifi Webinar invite	Circulated
17	OPCC Communication	Circulated
18	Invoice Carmarthen T C re purchase and erection of Xmas Trees	Circulated
19	Carmarthenshire Area Committee meeting IVW draft minutes	Circulated
20	Planning Application PL/07203	Circulated
21	Draft response to residents re Oak Trees on boundary	Circulated
22	Park Operational Reports for Dec – Jan 24	Circulated
23	Rising 4’s Consultation letter	Circulated
24	Ways into work event	Circulated

17. Councillor's Report

• Cllr G Slate advised that several residents had approached him to see if the current speed limit on the stretch of Babell Road, from the Haulfryn turning could be restored to 30mph and asked if we could appeal this. Action point: Clerk to write to the appropriate department expressing our views.
Cllr G Slate wished to point out that pigeon droppings were again accumulating under Babell flyover and the spikes were not working. Action point: Clerk to again report to SWTRA. He further advised that after this week the park toilet will be open at weekends only in the run up to the Easter holidays.
• Cllr Paul Totterdale wished to thank Cllr M Williams for his help during the recent Icy conditions.

18. Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 21st March 2024 at Babell Zion Newydd

Meeting closed at 8.05pm

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