A meeting of the Community Council took place on Thursday 1st October 2020 at 7.30pm via electronic media
Present:
Ms Jackie Williams JW Mr Ray Powell RP
Mr Ian Matthews (Chairman)Mr Jason Palmer JP
Mr Charles de Winton CdeWMrs Barbara Smith BS
In attendance:
Cllr Liam Fitzpatrick and spoke at times as a resident, 5 other residents.
Ms Sue Dale (Clerk) SD
1.Welcome All. Thanks to all for coming and welcome.
2.Apologies: Mr Steve Prothero
3.Declarations of Interest None
4.Public Participation See item 17.
5.Minutes of the last meeting The minutes of the meeting which took place on Thursday 9th July were approved and will be signed when circumstances allow.
6.Matters Arising None
7.Llanfrynach and Cantref Community Hall & Ty Bach Still closed, nothing to report. Volunteers are cleaning the public toilets.
8.Groesffordd Village Hall Management – There was concern over the application for a Powys County Council grant, the County Councillor will talk to the treasurer of the Hall, when it has been arranged by JP.
9.Newsletter update-setting a date for the next edition. Only 3 items have been forthcoming despite the efforts of the Councillors to gather more. It was decided to try, for a final time, to gather enough material for an issue and decide on November 12th whether or not to publish by Christmas.
10.Powys County Council Matters Coronavirus – The County Councillor asked Councillors for a list of those who are helping neighbours so that the authorities recognise their need to be out and about. There has been a lack of policing in rural areas, although it did improve after the County Council raised the matter. The Highways budget is being cut by £2.6 million to help pay for Coronavirus .. There appears to be a 100% concentration on Covid 19. Powys is not locked down again but in 2 weeks or so it may be. The elderly particularly are frightened.
11.Additional CCTV for the Police, an update – none available, adjourn.
12. Biodiversity Report. The statement was approved.
13. Flood management progress including a report from the site meeting in September. The site meeting had to be scheduled for October 15th The flood management group wish to meet councillors beforehand.
14.Cheques for approval
- Jamie Clinton Grass Cutting at Groesffordd (0.5*season) £545.00
- 1/10/2020 Clerks wage & stationery allowance £421.40
- 1/10/2020 Cheque for deposit for website. £594.00
- 1/10/2020 Cheque for equipment1 £3309.60
15.Update on website progress. The files have bee re-formatted to comply with accessibility requirements. They need checking before putting on the website.
16.Confirmations of decisions taken electronically.
To approve or not the accessibility statement , the deadline is 4pm, Wednesday 23rd September. The vote was quorate and supported the publication of the document. Confirmation pending.
To approve or not the recommendation for Purple and Green, the deadline is 6pm, Thursday 20th August. DECISION – the vote was quorate and supported the choice of Purple and Green for the new website. Confirmation pending.
Please vote for your choice of 2 Llanfrynach councillors to represent the Community Council in dealings over the “White Swan”. One of your votes can be for yourself. The issue is urgent because of the closure of the consultation period (10th March) and the representatives will need the time to consider the any comments they may wish to make. The deadline is 6pm Friday 28th February 2020. The vote was quorate and for IM and CDeW to be the representatives, confirmation pending.
There will be a decision for or against comments on a planning application 19/18153/FUL for Cynrig Hatchery, a proposed roof for some equipment. The deadline for councillors to give their opinion is Friday 14th February 2020. DECISION – the vote was quorate, confirmation pending.
There will be a decision for or against a cork board for Llanfrynach bus stop. The deadline for email votes from Councillors is 12 noon Tuesday 4th February 2020. DECISION – the vote was quorate, confirmation pending.
There will be a decision on choice of notice board for Cantref. The deadline for email votes from Councillors is 12 noon Tuesday 4th February 2020. DECISION – the vote was quorate, confirmation pending.
There will be a decision for or against a cork board for Llanfrynach bus stop. The deadline for email votes from Councillors is 12 noon Tuesday 4th February 2020. DECISION – the vote was quorate, confirmation pending.
There will be a decision on choice of notice board for Lechfaen. The deadline for email votes from Councillors is 12 noon Tuesday 4th February 2020. DECISION – the vote was quorate, confirmation pending.
1Original cheque (part payment due to error in ordering) was too old to be accepted by bank, having been kept back through the lockdown, so the entire sum including VAT comes to £3309.60. This includes £321.60 (including VAT) which was due to the wrong sign being quoted for. The total was still less than the competitor.
There will be a decision on choice of bench for Cantref and Llanfrynach. The deadline for email votes from councillors is 12 noon Wednesday the 29th January 2020. DECISION the votes were quorate, confirmation pending.
All decisions were confirmed.
17.The White Swan application for development has been refused by Welsh Government what are the community's feelings about this important village establishment now? A resident has pointed out the sad appearance of the White Swan being boarded up – can anything be done about this? The decision will be raw with the owner and the Chairman asked that no letters be sent to him yet. The residents, those of whom were present, felt that the time could be used to investigate if there are viable community options. The boarding was brought up, could it be put on the inside of the windows, rather than the outside, improving the appearance of the pub? IM will bring the subject up at an appropriate time, not now. In the meantime, attendees are free to explore what could be done with a view to discuss any findings at the next meeting. Clerk to put the item on the agenda for the next meeting. IM, SD
18.Correspondence-
–Thank you from Brecon Advice Centre – they are now open 2 days a week for enquiries.
19.Any Other Business (to be used to pass on information only).
The Human Resources Committee will meet Thursday 12th November 7pm via electronic media.
Wicksteed inspected the playground. The Community Council intends to apply for lottery funding to renew and develop the playground at the end of October.
The noticeboard at Lechfaen has been replaced.
No parking signs in Groesffordd are to be taken down. The County Councillor notes that they are illegal and would have been taken down but for covid.
Powys County Council checks the Groesffordd trees every year.
20.Date of next meeting is Thursday 12 th November 2020 by electronic media or otherwise.
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 8.42pm
