A meeting of the Community Council took place on Thursday 17th December 2020 at 7.30pm via electronic media.
Present:
Ms Jackie Williams JW Mr Ray Powell RP
Mr Ian Matthews (Chairman) Mr Jason Palmer JP (technical difficulties)
Mr Charles de Winton CdeW Ms Kate Coton Wright KCW
In attendance:Three members of the public.
County Councillor Liam Fitzpatrick LF
PCSO Alex Daniels
Ms Sue Dale (Clerk) SD
1. Welcome All. Thanks to all for coming and welcome.
2. Apologies: None
3. Declarations of Interest Item 23, “White Swan” IM.
4. Public Participation PCSO Alex Daniels gave a summary of recent police activity in the area. 4 calls, 2 administration and 2 abandoned calls. In Cantref there was one suspicious activity (watch out for quad bikes). In Groesffordd there was an abandoned 999. There are several scams active at the moment, associated with the Royal Mail or Amazon.The PCSO will email leaflets for putting up on the website. His advice for any banking scams by phone is to put the phone down and go to see your bank. Emails that appear to be inconsistent can be tested by hovering the cursor over the email address and if it is different it may be a scam.
Anyone needing guidance about covid policing issues should call in.
5. Minutes of the last meeting The minutes of the meeting which took place on Thursday 12th November were approved and will be signed when circumstances allow. Proposed by CdeW and seconded by RP.
6. Matters Arising Are on the agenda.
7. Llanfrynach and Cantref Community Hall & Ty Bach Llanfrynach Village is festive and still a week to go before the decorated windows are revealed.
Llanfrynach and Cantref Community Hall has some rotten sofits and quotes to
replace them will be sought in the New Year.
The Ty bach will be closed for 2 weeks over the holidays, until 4/1/2021.
The Hall has received £3000 from the Welsh Government (administered by Powys
County Council). The grant will be used to keep the hall running while no-one can
use it and to start a contingency fund for a new roof.
The large Oak tree has been trimmed, permission having been granted by Brecon
Beacon National Park.
8. Groesffordd Village Hall Management – Has had some success in applying for grant aid. £1500 has been awarded. Making links with the trustees of the hall will be task for the new councillor KCW – to meet with JW, GW, JP and the current trustees.
9. Planning – 20/19277/CON, Caerau Farm various technical issues, no objections.
10. Newsletter. The latest edition of the newsletter is to be published mid-December. For next edition, would Councillors consider publishing their phone numbers in the newsletter?
11. Powys County Council (PCC) Matters. County Councillor Fitzpatrick queried the accounting protocols for the 2 halls, but was assured that both halls report annually.
An environmental health issue may have arisen in Llanfrynach Village, this will be
reported to PCC.
There is widespread concern about the boards covering the windows of the “White
Swan”.
The police have been a great help to people over the covid pandemic.
PCC are considering 5-7% rise in Council Tax, LF feels it should be 0%.
Covid pandemic- Llanfrynach is worryingly close to Merthyr and North Powys.
LF offered to arrange training for the new councillors and others who might feel the
need for a refresher course.
Business Rates have been frozen for this year, but Council tax is another matter.
12. To consider applications for the casual vacancies in Llanhamlach and Cantref wards – Andrew Phillips was unanimously approved for a Cantref casual vacancy and Gary Waktins was unanimously approved for the Llanhamlach casual vacancy. All three new councillors (KCW, AP and GW) should receive training in the code of conduct. SD to arrange with LF and the Head of Democratic Services at PCC.
13. Additional CCTV for the Police update. Nothing to report.
14. Applying for funding for the playground initiative Three quotes are required to proceed.
15. Flood Management update. Awaiting replies from Natural Resources Wales. CdeW will write an update for the next newsletter. CdeW.
16. To approve a gift for the Newsletter Editor £30.00. Approved with many thanks to the Editor.
17. Cheques and finance statement for approval
- 1/12/2020 Clerks wage & stationery allowance £421.40so
- 1/1/2021 Clerks wage & stationery allowance £432.60so
- 1/12/2020 SD reimbursement for item 16. £30.00
- 17/12/2020 DMC Phillips fitting noticeboard. £100.00
- 17/12/2020 Final Payment for the website. £1146.00
- 17/12/2020 Newsletter printing via JW £120.00
Approved.
18. To approve the Risk assessment and management document. Approved.
19. To approve the asset register. Approved with a correction to the number of noticeboards. SD
20. To approve the Reserve Assessment. Approved.
21. To consider and approve the 4 year Plan, budget for 21-22 and the precept for 2021. All approved, the precept was set at £13,000 (same as 2019-20)
22. Update on the website. KCW has provided two photographs for the website and will contact the web developer about community engagement, she may also be able to help with the photograph resolution problem. KCW. SD to supply the address of the test platform (website). KCW, SD.
23. The “White Swan” and any community action. To be discussed and action agreed. IM declared an interest and took no further part in the discussion. Council approved the development of a just in case plan by the date of the next meeting (4/2/21).
24. To consider changing the email address of the clerk. Approved.
25. Correspondence-
Request for NHS dental provision in Powys from Llandrindod Wells Town Council.
TAN 15 revision – to send to the flood management group.SD
26. Any Other Business (to be used to pass on information only).
None
27. Date of next meeting is Thursday 4th February 2020 by electronic media or otherwise.
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.45pm
