sign in sign up
<<
Home , Bwlch, Fan Brycheiniog, Fan Hir, Fan Llia, Fan Nedd, Glyntawe

FINAL PROPOSALS

Community No. B05 - CRAY

Community No. B25 -

Community No. B26 -

Introduction

1. The present communities of Cray, Llywel and Maescar are shaped by the confluence of several streams and rivers, including the Senni, Crai, Hydfer, Usk, Gwydderig and Cilhenni, which come together to form the upper Usk valley. The northern watershed of Mynydd Bwlchygroes and Mynydd Epynt forms the northern boundaries of Llywel and Maescar, while the southern watershed of the - Beacons, ranging from , through , Fan Gynhirych, Fan Chwyth, , and to , provides the southern boundary of the three communities. This is with one small exception: the upper Tawe valley, with some 50 resident electors, forms the southern part of the Traianglas ward of the Llywel community, an area to which we shall return.

2. The area has an important network of communications, including the A40, A4067 and A4215, which follow the narrowing valleys and the high passes. Habitation is scattered through the valleys, with a dearth of habitation over the extensive in the north and south of these communities. In the community of Cray settlement comprises the 3rd tier settlement of Crai. In the community of Llywel settlement is concentrated in the 2nd tier settlement of and the unclassified settlement of Llywel, while over the in the Tawe valley it comprises the 3rd tier settlement of Heol Callwen in . In the community of Maescar there is the 1st tier settlement of and the closely adjoining 2nd tier settlement of Defynog, together with the unclassified settlement of and the rural settlements of 'r Fan, Pentrebach and Pentrefelin. Taken together, the three communities form a coherent community in itself that looks to the 1st tier settlement of Sennybridge for many of its services, leisure and cultural activities.

3. With the exception of most of the Ysclydach ward of the community of Maescar and the northern half of the Traianmawr ward of the community of Llywel, these three communities lie within the Brecon Beacons National Park.

3. Cray has a population of 264, an electorate of 201 (2005) and a council of 7 members. The precept required for 2005 is £2,000, representing a Council Tax Band D equivalent of £15.83.

4. Llywel has a population of 524, an electorate of 408 (2005) and a council of 10 members. The community is warded: Traianglas with 51 electors electing three councillors and Traianmawr with 357 electors electing seven councillors. The

Final Proposals – – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar precept required for 2005 is £4,500, representing a Council Tax Band D equivalent of £21.01.

5. Maescar has a population of 998, an electorate of 796 (2005) and a council of 11 members. The community is warded: Pontsenni with 565 electors electing eight councillors, Senni with 66 electors electing one councillor and Ysclydach with 165 electors electing two councillors. The precept required for 2005 is £9,000, representing a Council Tax Band D equivalent of £21.29.

6. In the 1985 Review, the draft proposals of the Local Government Boundary Commission for were for the merger of the then communities of Llandeilo'r Fan, Ysclydach and Maescar to form a new community of Sennybridge, which it was proposed would be divided into two wards: Ysclydach and Pontsenni. A joint meeting of the three community councils made representations for the name of the new community to be "Maescar", representations which the Commission accepted. The Commission also proposed the merger of the then communities of Cray and Senny into a new community of Cray, which it was proposed would be divided into two wards: Cray and Senny. These proposals would have retained the river Senni as the east-west boundary between the Senny ward of the new community of Cray and the Pontsenni ward of the new community of Maescar. This would have led to an unacceptable situation whereby the village of Defynog was split between two communities, with the Glannau Senni estate on the western side of the river Senni passing to the community of Cray. This matter was resolved by the Decision Letter of the Secretary of State for Wales, dated 10 October 1983, who noted that the proposals "had attracted strong local opposition. The Secretary of State has considered the widely supported preference for the inclusion of the whole of Senny in the proposed Community of Maescar and has concluded that the strongest geographical, social and educational links lie in that direction. He has accordingly decided that the Senny ward of the proposed Community of Cray should form part of the proposed Community of Maescar." Thereby, Cray became an unwarded community with a council of seven members, and Maescar became a warded community of three wards with a council of eleven members.

7. The Commission also made proposals for a new community of Llywel to comprise the former community of Traianmawr and the northern part of the community of Traianglas. It was initially proposed that those parts of the upper Tawe valley that were located in the then communities of Traianglas and Glyntawe, would more appropriately be placed in the new community of Tawe-Uchaf: the new community that it was intended should embrace the whole of the upper Tawe valley. At first, there was considerable consensus that the transfer of this area would be appropriate, and the Commission's draft proposals were for the whole of the upper Tawe valley to fall within the new community of Tawe-Uchaf. However, during consultations on these draft proposals, the former Glyntawe community council stated "that it was the wish of the people of Glyntawe that the Draft Proposals be rejected and that the community of Glyntawe be merged with the communities of Traianglas and Traianmawr to form the Community of Llywel. They claimed that the community of Glyntawe was essentially rural and had more in common with the rural communities of Traianglas and Traianmawr than the more urban community of Higher." They proposed that the southern boundary of the Llywel community should be the then Adelina Patti Hospital, Craig-y-nos. This view was

Final Proposals – Brecknockshire – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar supported by a subsequent joint meeting of the then Traianglas and Traianmawr community councils and by other individual representations. The Commission responded, "We have considered the strong representations that have been made to us by and on behalf of the residents of the present Community of Glyntawe against the inclusion of what is a rural area in an urban community - the proposed Community of Tawe-Uchaf - and see no good reason why the wishes of the local inhabitants should not be respected in this instance." This matter was considered further in the Decision Letter of the Secretary of State for Wales, dated 10 October 1983, "The Commission's proposal… has had the incidental effect of including the Dan-yr-Ogof Cave complex in the proposed Llywel Community", a matter that was opposed by several parties. "The Secretary of State accepts that the links of the Caves are with the urban areas to the south rather than with the rural north and has decided to place the Cave complex in the new Community of Tawe-Uchaf." Thereby, Llywel became a warded community with a council of ten members.

Summary of representations received prior to preparation of Draft Proposals

8. No representations have been received for these communities.

Assessment

9. We have given careful consideration to the boundaries of these three communities, and we consider that these were largely resolved in the 1985 Review with one probable exception. The southern part of the Traianglas ward of the Llywel community comprises some 50 resident electors who live in Glyntawe in the upper reaches of the Tawe valley. Their dwellings are closely connected to the A4067; they look naturally to the villages and towns to their south for their services, indeed, they currently vote in elections at the County Primary School, Penycae with the electors of the Penycae ward of the community of Tawe-Uchaf. In the 1985 Review, it was argued that Glyntawe was a more rural area and somehow different to Tawe- Uchaf. However, this more rural nature has more to do with the natural thinning of habitation as it reaches the upper valley than with any more agrarian attributes that this area might have. It is difficult for us to comprehend that it is in the interests of effective and convenient local government for the 50 or so electors of this area to be part of a community - Llywel - with which its communications are not good and which has its main focus in the upper reaches of the Usk valley. We therefore consider that the southern part of the Traianglas ward of the community of Llywel, south of the ridgeline between Fan Brycheiniog and Fan Gynhirych, should be transferred to the Penycae ward of the community of Tawe-Uchaf.

10. We proceed to give consideration to councillor allocations in the three communities. The electorate of Cray has declined from an estimate of 263 in 1979 to 201 in 2005. The National Park Unitary Development Plan designates Cray as a 3rd tier settlement in which development will be primarily for locally derived housing need. While additional dwellings may be provided for agriculture or forestry in accordance with policy ES12 of the Plan and by conversions, renovations, demolition and replacement and the enabling of affordable housing in accordance with policies ES24-30 of the Plan, we note that this community's electorate will

Final Proposals – Brecknockshire – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar probably continue at about 200 electors, suggesting a continued entitlement in accordance with Table 7 - Guide to Allocation of Councillors to Community Councils above to seven councillors.

11. The electorate of Llywel has increased from 386 in 1979 to 408 in 2005. While the National Park Unitary Development Plan designates Trecastle as a 2nd tier settlement, no allocation of land for the development of housing has been allocated in this settlement. Heol Callwen is designated as a 3rd tier settlement in which development will be primarily for locally derived housing need. While additional dwellings may be provided for agriculture or forestry in accordance with policy ES12 of the Plan and by conversions, renovations, demolition and replacement and the enabling of affordable housing in accordance with policies ES24-30 of the Plan, we note that this community's electorate, with the transfer from it of the southern part of the Traianglas ward, will probably continue at about 350 electors, suggesting an entitlement in accordance with Table 7 - Guide to Allocation of Councillors to Community Councils above to seven councillors.

12. The electorate of Maescar has increased from about 690 in 1979 to 796 in 2005. The National Park Unitary Development Plan designates Sennybridge as a 1st tier settlement and allocates land for the provision of six dwellings. is designated as a 2nd tier settlement, and land has been allocated here for the provision of 20 dwellings. Additional dwellings may be provided for agriculture or forestry in accordance with policy ES12 of the Plan and by conversions, renovations, demolition and replacement and the enabling of affordable housing in accordance with policies ES24-30 of the Plan. Furthermore, there may also be opportunities for affordable housing development in the rural settlements of Llandeilo'r Fan, Pentrebach and Pentrefelin in accordance with Policy HP9 of the Unitary Development Plan. Therefore, we note that this community's electorate will probably rise to about 840 electors, suggesting an entitlement in accordance with Table 7 - Guide to Allocation of Councillors to Community Councils above to ten councillors.

13. We proceed to give consideration to the warding arrangement in the community of Llywel. In our consideration, we are required to apply the criteria in the 1972 Act that (a) the number or distribution of the local government electors for the community is such as to make a single election of community councillors impracticable or inconvenient; and (b) it is desirable that areas of the community should be separately represented on the community council. We consider that the proposed community of Llywel (which will comprise the present Traianmawr ward and the northern part of the Traianglas ward) will be well-focused on the valleys of the upper Usk and the tributary rivers and streams that fall from Fan Brycheiniog and Mynydd Bwlch y Groes, with the 2nd tier settlement of Trecastle as the main focus of the community. We do not therefore consider that a warding arrangement is necessary in this community.

14. For similar reasons, we do not consider that a warding arrangement is required in the presently unwarded community of Cray.

15. We turn to the warding arrangement of the community of Maescar. This is a large geographical community, extending some 14 miles from its northern to its southern boundaries, and at first sight it might be considered desirable for areas of

Final Proposals – Brecknockshire – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar this large community to be separately represented on the community council. However, the community is generally only about two miles wide, and its topography is defined by the northward flowing river Senni and the southward flowing river Cilhenni, so that routes of communication converge at the settlements of Sennybridge and Defynog at the centre of the community, in its more populated area. We consider that the current warding arrangement is unsatisfactory, not least because both the 1st tier settlement of Sennybridge and the nearby 2nd tier settlement of Defynog are split by the current ward boundaries. In our Practice and Policy Document, we stated our view that ward boundaries should be clearly understood by the electorate; they should represent the most appropriate parting of local attachments within a community that comprises different parts, and they should reflect clear physical and social differences within a community. We have considered whether a more appropriate warding arrangement for this community might be feasible. Both northwards in this community towards Mynydd yr Epynt and southwards towards the Bannau habitation diminishes. Any north or south wards, following the redefining of a central Sennybridge - Defynog ward, would have very small electorates, separate elections for which would probably not contribute to effective and convenient local government in the community and which would be largely meritless. On balance, therefore, we consider that it would be most appropriate to dispense with a warding arrangement altogether for this community. We have noted above that this community's electorate suggests an entitlement to ten councillors, a reduction from the current eleven that its warded status has supported. As this community will remain one of the larger geographical communities in Powys, and as representation is required to meet the challenges of population sparsity, we consider that it would be appropriate in this instance to retain the current allocation of eleven councillors.

Draft Proposals

16. Cray

There should be a Community of Cray comprising the present community of that name;

The community should have a council of seven members.

(Ward) Electorate No of Councillors Electors per Councillor

201 7 29

17. Llywel

There should be a Community of Llywel comprising the present community of that name less the southern part of the current Traianglas ward which we propose should be transferred to the Tawe-Uchaf community;

The community should have a council of 7 members.

Final Proposals – Brecknockshire – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar (Ward) Projected No of Councillors Electors per Electorate Councillor

350 7 50

18. Maescar

There should be a Community of Maescar comprising the present community of that name;

The community should have a council of 11 members.

(Ward) Electorate No of Councillors Electors per Councillor

796 11 72

Responses to the Council’s Draft Proposals

19. A letter, a form of submissions and a survey of local residents has been received from Llywel Community Council. With regard to our proposed area changes for the Glyn Tawe area of this community, the council states, “The residents have no affinity with the lower area of the . This is mainly a farming area with links to Trecastle via common grazing on the .” The council states that the nearest facilities to this area are at Sennybridge and not in Tawe Uchaf. “The Community Council also holds some meetings at the old Callwen School (now the Dulwich College and Field Centre) to allow Glyntawe residents to attend if they so wish,” and the current chairman and clerk of the community council live in the Glyntawe area. The council has enclosed a survey that it has conducted of the 49 electors that are presently on the electoral register for the Traianglas ward of the community of Llywel. This survey has shown that 29 of the responding electors wish to remain within the community of Llywel, three wish to join the community of Tawe Uchaf and eight have no preference. The community council concludes, “Quite simply, the electors for this area have no affinity with Tawe Uchaf and wish to remain within Llywel Community.”

20. The council proceeds to state that “the present warding of Traianmawr and Traianglas works perfectly well and should be left as at present”. It continues, considering the appropriate allocation of councillors to the community: “A fairer representation would be to remove one councillor from Traianglas and one from Traianmawr. It would be undesirable for the ward of Traianglas to only have one person representing them. There is a feeling that Traianglas should have two and not one councillor.”

21. A letter has been received from Maescar Community Council concerning our Draft Proposals for the removal of the current warding arrangement in this

Final Proposals – Brecknockshire – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar community. The council states that the number and distribution of the local government electors for the community is such as to make a single election of parish or community councillors impracticable and inconvenient.

Assessment

22. In the 1985 Review, the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales gave consideration to the Glyntawe area, and we have given a synopsis of their considerations in paragraph 7 above. Despite all their reasoning to the contrary, they conceded that the residents of this area did not wish to join with the neighbouring community of Tawe Uchaf, and they “saw no good reason why the wishes of the local inhabitants should not be respected in this instance”. Much to our frustration, maybe, we find that the same resolve not to join with the residents of Tawe Uchaf continues to exist in Glyntawe, some twenty years later, and we must respect that resolve. In our Final Proposals for the community of Llywel, therefore, we drop our proposals for boundary alterations for the community.

23. The community of Llywel will therefore have 408 electors, and, as we noted in paragraph 11 above, that electorate will remain stable for many years to come, giving the community an entitlement in accordance with our Table 7 – Guide to Allocation of Councillors to Community Councils to an allocation of eight councillors. It appears to us that the community council accepts that this would be a fair allocation, and the council suggests that the most appropriate ways of reducing councillor numbers in this community would be to remove one councillor from each of the two wards. We have been anxious throughout the current review to avoid retaining very small wards for which an election is either likely to dissuade people from participating or is likely to be considered an inappropriate use of public funds. However, we agree with the community council and do not consider that it would be appropriate to merge the two wards of this community, even though the Traianglas ward has only 51 electors. The distance between Trecastle and Penycae, at some 15 miles, is considerable, and we continue in our view that this community comprises two very distinctive parts, in the upper Tawe and the upper Usk valleys. Likewise, we concur with the community council that an allocation of one councillor to a ward of a community is not a satisfactory arrangement. Our Final Proposals involve the retention of the Traianglas ward, with an allocation of two councillors, each representing 26 electors. This ward will, therefore and of necessity, form the one notable exception to all our policies in this review, because of anxiety to respect the clearly stated views of the local residents.

24. Turning to the community of Maescar, we consider that the present warding arrangement of this community is unacceptable. The present ward boundary between the central Pontsenni ward and the northern Ysclydach ward is the ; the boundary partitions the 1st tier settlement of Sennybridge, and the warding arrangement here must be incomprehensible to the electors of the area. About 110 electors of the 1st tier settlement together with electors registered at the Sennybridge Army Camp are numbered among the Ysclydach ward’s 165 electors. These 110 electors already vote with the electors of the Pontsenni ward at the same polling station, which is County Primary School, Sennybridge, adding further confusion for the electorate. The present ward boundary between the Pontsenni

Final Proposals – Brecknockshire – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar ward and the southern Senni ward is the river Senni to The Neuadd, from where the boundary follows field boundaries and the unclassified county road to the west of the Glannau Senni housing estate. Once again, the ward boundary must be very confusing to the electorate, particularly to those properties on the southern outskirts of the 2nd tier settlement of Defynnog.

25. As we have mentioned in paragraph 15 above, we have considered whether the ward boundaries for the Pontsenni ward could be redrawn to remove the present unfortunate position whereby ward boundaries are partitioning the two near adjoining settlements of Sennybridge and Defynnog, but we have concluded that any resultant north or south wards would have very small electorates of some 55 electors to the north and some 60 to the south. We therefore reiterate our view that the most appropriate approach in this community would be to remove the warding arrangement entirely. We note the comments of the community council on our Draft Proposals. To the south there will be a small number of electors at Heol Senni and beyond that will be three miles or more from a polling place at Sennybridge; likewise, to the north there will be a small number of electors at Llandeilo’r Fan and beyond that will be four or more miles from Sennybridge. However, in an area of pronounced population sparsity, we consider that this is inevitable, and, furthermore, it should not prevent the holding of a single election of community councillors in this community. Even so, we have been concerned in this large community – the ninth largest in Powys – to ensure a level of representation that is adequate to meet the challenges of population sparsity, and for that reason we have increased our allocation of councillors to the community beyond our scale in Table 7 – Allocation of Councillors to Community Councillors to eleven.

Interim Final Proposals

26. Cray

There should be a Community of Cray comprising the present community of that name;

The community should have a council of seven members.

(Ward) Electorate No of Councillors Electors per Councillor

201 7 29

27. Llywel

There should be a Community of Llywel comprising the present community of that name;

The community should have a council of 8 members;

The community should be warded as follows:

Final Proposals – Brecknockshire – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar (Ward) Electorate No of Councillors Electors per Councillor

Traianglas 51 2 26

Traianmawr 357 6 60

28. Maescar

There should be a Community of Maescar comprising the present community of that name;

The community should have a council of 11 members.

(Ward) Electorate No of Councillors Electors per Councillor

796 11 72

Further Assessment

29. These Interim Final Proposals were considered by the Board of at its meeting of 27th June 2006. The Board noted the concerns expressed by Maescar Community Council over proposals in the Interim Final Proposals to remove the warding arrangement in that community (the council having been supplied with a copy of the Board’s agenda for this meeting), and requested the Head of Legal, Scrutiny and Democratic Services to negotiate further with the present council on the outstanding matters.

30. Representatives of the Head of Legal, Scrutiny and Democratic Services met Maescar Community Council in a formally constituted meeting at Sennybridge on the evening of 3 July 2006. A useful exchange of views was had, with the representatives of the Head of Legal, Scrutiny and Democratic Services justifying the present recommendations for removing the warding arrangement in this community as outlined in paragraphs 15, 24-25 above, and with the present community council urging the ‘individual community spirit and uniqueness’ in each part of its community as grounds for retaining the three wards. The council was mindful that the present ward boundaries split the 1st tier settlement of Sennybridge and came very close to the closely adjoining 2nd tier settlement of Defynog, and the council accepted that adjustments needed to be made to the current ward boundaries. We now consider that such adjustments will serve to make the existing warding arrangement more readily understood by the electorate of the community and will also serve to raise the electorate of the smaller ward to a level at which the holding of separate ward elections would not appear to be so meritless as at present. The warding arrangement of this community already meets the first test in the 1972 Act, that the distribution of local government electors is such as to make a

Final Proposals – Brecknockshire – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar single election of community councillors inconvenient to many electors. We are now persuaded that the second test in the Act is also met; in such an extensive community – ranging some 14 mile north to south – it will be desirable for different parts of the community to be separately represented on the community council.

31. A more appropriate boundary has been proposed between the Ysclydach and Pontsenni wards; this would transfer the following properties to the Pontsenni ward: Beli Bedw, Rhydbriw House, Ynysbont, Sennybridge HQ and Llwyncyntefin Close, Glynderi Pottery, Llwyncyntefin House, Bronallt, Cefnrhosan Fawr and Cwmwysg Ganol. This adjustment would transfer some 25 electors to the Ysclydach ward. A new boundary has also been proposed between the Pontsenni and Senni wards, transferring the following properties: Rhyddings villa, Tyleabychan, Foxen, Foxen Barn, Blaen Pant Einon, Llwynstyfelin, Cefnbrynich, Cwmbrynich, Glwyd Fawr, Gwernlatai, Tylegarw, to the Senni ward. This adjustment would transfer some 26 electors to the Senni ward. The projected electorates of the three wards would, if these ward boundary adjustments were made and if the development allocated in the Unitary Development Plan occurs, be as follows: Pontsenni – 560; Senni – 95; Ysclydach – 190.

32. It remains for us to allocate eleven councillors to the three wards of this community, and the following table will assist us in this allocation.

Pontsenni Senni Ysclydach Projected 560 95 190 Electorate Percentage of 66.3 11.2 22.5 total electorate Councillor 7.29 1.23 2.48 entitlement (11)

We consider that the allocation of councillors to the Pontsenni ward should be six; this will be a very compact ward mainly comprising the nearly adjoining settlements of Sennybridge and Defynog. Furthermore, our projection of the electorate of this ward has included development allocated in the Unitary Development Plan that may take some time to complete. This will leave five councillors to be allocated between the two very extensive wards where representation will be required to meet the challenges of population sparsity. We have been anxious in this Review to avoid single-member wards; the whole reasoning for the warding arrangement would fall if the single ward representative were absent because of illness, a declarable interest, or for other reasons. Although the representation between the wards will not be ideal, we therefore allocate two councillors to the Senni ward and three to the Ysclydach ward.

33. The meeting with Maescar Community Council also gave consideration to a property known as Blaenbrynich in the community of Glyn Tarrell community. The access to this property is to the north-west, and it was questioned whether it would be more appropriate for this to property to be in the community of Maescar. This property lies mid-way between the settlements of Sennybridge and Libanus – Tai’r Bull and is able to access both settlements using unclassified county roads. This proposal has been made at a very late point in this Review by a neighbouring

Final Proposals – Brecknockshire – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar community council; it has not been possible to consult either the affected community council or the affected residents, and there may be little merit in making such a change from the standpoint of the interests of effective and convenient local government. It is for these reasons that we do not intend to pursue this proposal.

Final Proposals

34. Cray

There should be a Community of Cray comprising the present community of that name;

The community should have a council of seven members.

Final Proposals – Brecknockshire – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar (Ward) Electorate No of Councillors Electors per Councillor

201 7 29

35. Llywel

There should be a Community of Llywel comprising the present community of that name;

The community should have a council of 8 members;

The community should be warded as follows:

(Ward) Electorate No of Councillors Electors per Councillor

Traianglas 51 2 26

Traianmawr 357 6 60

36. Maescar

There should be a Community of Maescar comprising the present community of that name;

The community should have a council of 11 members;

The community should be warded as follows:

(Ward) Electorate No of Councillors Electors per (Projected) Councillor

Pontsenni 560 6 93

Senni 95 2 48

Ysclydach 190 3 63

Final Proposals – Brecknockshire – Community B05 25 26 – Cray, Llywel and Maescar