CYNGOR CYMUNED LLANFAIR DYFFRYN CLWYD COUNCIL www.llanfaircommunitycouncil.co.uk Minutes of the Annual Meeting and an Ordinary Meeting of the Council held using a Zoom video/telephone conferencing platform on Monday 14 June 2021 at 7 pm. PRESENT – Councillors Jayne Mayers [Chair], Keith Moulsdale [Vice-Chair], Wini Davies, Owen Evans, Tim Faire, D Eilir Jones, Osian Owen, Ceri Ranson, Steve Whipp and Eirwen Godden, Clerk. IN ATTENDANCE 3 members of the public together with County Councillor Hugh Evans [from 7.30 pm] and Mr Tim Towers, DCC’s Risk & Asset Manager from Highways, Facilities & Environmental Services. The Chair reminded everyone that the session would be recorded [destroyed when minutes are approved] and anyone wishing to receive more information on items discussed to email the Clerk. APOLOGIES – Councillor David Baker [work commitments] PART 1 787 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Councillor Keith Moulsdale as a trustee of Neuadd Eleanor’s Management Committee. 788 MINUTES – RESOLVED The minutes of the Annual/Ordinary Meeting held on 10 May 2021 were approved.

789 COMMUNITY MATTERS 789.1 Former School Site and Playing Field Llanfair DC [779.1] Submitted – Progress reports – the group has met virtually six times and continues to progress matters to identify a sustainable community serving function for the school, its playground and playing field. Contact has been made with Llandrillo Community Council which is undergoing a similar Community Asset Transfer [CAT] process. The Llanfair steering group had met virtually with the Llandrillo steering group on 20/05/21. It was felt that Llandrillo’s experience would be of assistance to Llanfair in developing its proposals. The Llandrillo group forwarded copies of the following documents after the meeting – Feasibility study invitation to quote, the Heads of Terms and their April 2018 progress report setting out the team’s consultation approach. Councillor Whipp commented that there are remarkable similarities between the two areas in developing ideas. The site at Llandrillo is to be transferred from the County Council at a cost of £1. Should Llandrillo Community Council seek to dispose of part or the whole of the freehold of the former school (or long leasehold) within 20 years, DCC will receive a percentage of the value of any such disposal, based on a sliding scale (below). Any disposal must be at not less than full market value (in the case of dispute the District Valuer will confirm the market value). The scale reduces from 100% in year 1 to 0% in year 20 at 5% reduction per year.

The Llanfair group met again on 10/06/21 when County Councillor Huw Hilditch Roberts was invited to join the meeting. He advised contact with DCC’s Economic Development Team for assistance regarding the building on advertising the opportunities to potential businesses and start-ups in the area. The group felt strongly that the Community Asset Transfer for the playing field should be progressed. The group further discussed the outcome of enquiries with Spar about establishing a shop. A suggestion has been made that the Community Council could seek Heritage Restorations buildings grant funding 1

2021Minutes14June.docx that could be used to offset the £200k costs that Spar had estimated for the building. The group has agreed that the planned drop-in event for 10/07/21 at the school site should go ahead outdoors with possible tours inside if Covid restrictions permitted. The group also agreed the need to develop a prospectus for the site – Councillor Steve Whipp agreed to draft an initial prospectus for input by others. The next meeting is to be held on 01/07/21 at 7 pm.

DCC’s Asset Manager has been approached, in the meantime, to see if he is agreeable for a local farmer to cut the field. Also, as part of the consultation with the residents in the villages a drop-in event is planned, to be held on the playground if that was agreeable on Saturday 10 July from 3 to 5 pm. Access to the playground would, of course, be required also.

It was also reported that the Clerk had approached One Voice to arrange a bespoke CAT course so that Members understand the process. She was also asked to contact Mr Robin Evans at DCC with a view to opening a dialogue.

789.2 Housing Needs Survey [779.2] Submitted – final report prepared by the Rural Housing Enabler Service. There are errors but the report still highlights the need for homes.

The Clerk reported that Grwp Cynefin is seeking legal opinion regarding the future of the almshouses in Llanfair. They are not habitable in their current condition.

790 CORRESPONDENCE 790.1 Sustrans/ Active Travel Consultation 2: walking and cycling in your community – email dated 20/05/21 – draft map https://denbighshire2.commonplace.is/ Ideas and comments to: ATNM- [email protected] RESOLVED that [a] the following response be submitted – The Community Council welcomes the opportunity to respond to the plan. As what are largely unserved villages, other than for schools, residents from the area must travel to or beyond for essential services such as health and shopping. Public transport is patchy at best for most residents and for Graigfechan and there are no longer regular buses. The need for good links that enable walking or cycling are thus essential. Residents enjoy good local footpaths around the area and have had constructive and beneficial relationship with Denbighshire County Council’s [DCC] footpaths teams. The footpaths have been critical for people to be able to exercise during the pandemic and will continue beyond as well as in supporting tourism in the area.

The main issues with walking and cycling in the area are the conflict with traffic. The Community Council has liaised with DCC over the last several years to discuss the issue but without identifying solutions. The A525 and A494 are busy roads. The footpaths where they do exist are inadequate and people feel vulnerable either walking or cycling. Doing so with children would be reckless. It is good to see that the plan includes strategic links along these routes to address the current unsatisfactory situation. The Community Council is keen to play its part in helping with these solution developments.

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2021Minutes14June.docx [b] a working group be formed to develop a footpath/cycling scheme for the section of the A525 between Llanfair and Ruthin involving Councillors Jayne Mayers, Eilir Jones, Osian Owen and local landowners. It was suggested that DCC be requested to consider upgrading the footpath under the active travel scheme.

790.2 Shaping DCC’s future Priorities – a new Corporate Plan – email dated 02/06/21. To complete the online survey and/or sign up for the online focus groups visit https://countyconversation.denbighshire.gov.uk/project/596 RESOLVED that the link be posted on the Community Council website and a copy of the Neighbourhood Plan be sent to DCC.

791 Feedback/Report[s] on Conferences/Training/Meetings 791.1 The Clerk reported that she attended the Joint SLCC & OVW Conference held virtually on 13/05/21. There were some interesting presentations on Insurance, Financial Risk, General Power of Competence [GPOC] and Devolved Assets; Training & Development – Developing Clerks & Councillors; Reviewing the remuneration of Community & Town Councils; registration of all Public Sector Owned Land by 2025; Managing Financial Risk and Ensuring Effective Governance and Accountablity; a Self- Assessment process for Community & Town Councils. In brief, from April 2022 Councils will have a duty to publish an annual report; by May 2022, a duty to consider training for Councillors and staff and to publish a training plan by November 2022. There will also be a duty to publish draft Council minutes within seven working days of a meeting. There were a high number of complaints about the basic Councillor allowance of £150 being taxable and questions asked why it could not be regarded as a tax free working from home allowance instead.

A discussion took place on the need for all documents to be translated to meet the Welsh Language Standards. The Community Council is gradually working towards compliance. Ideally, the local free newsletter, Dyffryn Clwyd Chronicle, should be bilingual, but space and cost are problematic. The Community Council is a sponsor, but other sponsorship is also needed.

791.2 Training Plan for Members & the Clerk [781.2] Submitted – draft paper for consideration. It was noted that the document is still work in progress to meet new requirements next year.

792 PLANNING www.denbighshire.gov.uk/planning 792.1 Pre-application Consultation re Proposed Development of Land Adjacent to Paradwys, Graigfechan [782.1] It was confirmed that the Community Council had submitted a response to the agent by the required deadline. There has been no further communication since that date.

792.3 Planning Briefing [782.3, 774.2] The Clerk reported that she had contacted Sarah Stubbs, DCC Principal Planning Officer, about the possibility of an officer joining a Community Council meeting to brief/bring members up to date with dealing and responding to planning applications. A response is still awaited from the department’s Development Manager. The Clerk will contact the department again.

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2021Minutes14June.docx 792.4 Planning Developments in the Community Council Area Councillor Wini Davies drew attention to queries she had received from residents about various developments on a couple of properties and whether planning permission had been sought. The Clerk was asked to contact DCC Planning for an update.

793 HIGHWAYS & ENVIRONMENT - General Update on Ongoing Highway and Other Matters – 793.1 Guest Speaker – Mr Tim Towers, DCC’s Risk & Asset Manager, Highways, Facilities & Environmental Services Mr Towers provided an up to date overview of his department's work, priorities and constraints encountered in trying to deliver services within the County. DCC’s capital works resurfacing programme for 2021/22 amounts to £2.54m but indicative funding is not known until December each year. Unfortunately, funding falls short of what needs to be spent. His presentation showed a list of schemes in priority order for the County. Surface dressing work on a stretch of the A525 is due to start at the beginning of July, but there are few rural roads on the ‘red priority list’ which can be funded. He has, however, asked for more funding from DCC towards road repairs. A question and answer session followed his presentation on several different issues. Tim Towers will be asked for a copy of his presentation including financial background information. A five year funding programme is planned in future. Mr Towers was thanked for joining the meeting.

793.2 Request for a Road Safety Mirror near Eyarth Bridge [783.1, 771.2] The request had been referred to DCC, but the Clerk was informed that this was a Trunk Road Agency matter. In this instance the enquiry is considered as being operational in nature requiring a detailed response and has therefore been forwarded to a Trunk Road Agent who will respond to the Community Council directly in due course. An email was received on 20/05/21 [ref OC-00559-21] from Welsh Government’s Transport – Network Management Division stating that under current guidance, Welsh Government would not provide a traffic mirror for a pedestrian crossing point onto the trunk road. They are not a reliable means of providing additional visibility for pedestrians or traffic emerging onto a major road and can also affect the ability to judge an oncoming vehicle's speed. Furthermore mirrors can often become dirty and freeze over making them impractical.

The Welsh Government will contact the North & Mid Wales Trunk Road Agent [NMWTRA] to request any foliage within the boundary of the highway be considered for removal to help improve visibility of all road users.

793.3 Blocked Bridleways and Footpaths [783.2, 771.4] The Chair and Councillors Owen Evans and Osian Owen had requested a site meeting with Llysfasi’s Farm Manager to talk about footpaths over college land and ways of making them more accessible and of benefit for both users and landowner. A date has yet to be agreed as the Farm Manager has indicated that the next few weeks are extremely busy on the farm and especially as the weather is now set to improve they have a lot of catching up to do. He suggests moving this meeting to early Autumn and that more than 30 minutes will be needed to make progress, that is, a start before 4:30 pm.

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2021Minutes14June.docx 793.4 Other General Highway Matters The Clerk confirmed that she had contacted Ben Wilcox-Jones about an update on the 40 mph limit on the Nant y Garth Pass. A response is awaited. Councillor Whipp voiced concerns about racing motorbikes, the noise distracting from the peace of the area, and the need to find a solution. It was suggested that there should be a collective approach to Assembly Members – the Clerk to make contact.

793.5 Update/Progress regarding the Community Spaces/Garden at Graigfechan RESOLVED that due to the sensitive issues involved the matter be moved to Part 2 of the meeting.

793.6 Flood Prevention Schemes [761.1, 751.2, 741.2] The Clerk was asked to write to Alex Bebbington for an update.

794 FINANCIAL MATTERS 794.1 Submitted – Completed Annual Return for the year ended 31 March 2021 together with a copy of the internal auditor’s report and amendments/recommendations. It was confirmed that the risk assessment had been updated and approved at the Council meeting on 10 May 2021 [784.4] to include supplier [procurement] fraud including the adequacy of supplier onboarding controls The annual return had been amended to include member allowances under total other payments - £40,694; staff costs stated as £4,620. RESOLVED that the accounting statements and annual governance statement be approved as presented and signed by the Chair before submission to the external auditor by 30 June 2021.

794.2 Payment of Accounts/Invoices Agreed as follows: £368.94 AVOW [Clerk’s June salary inc payroll fee] SO payment £661.52 Zurich [Insurance]* £30.00 OVW [Councillor Training] £150.00 DoodleIT [Website Hosting] *The Clerk was asked to query Mr John Pugh about the availability of papers documenting the Community Council’s responsibility for maintaining a section of the church wall.

794.3 Requests for Financial Aid RESOLVED that a donation be made as follows: £50 Mencap [providing support for people with learning disabilities in the community] £250 Llanfair Church [grass cutting]

794.4 Review of the Council’s Standing Orders [784.5] RESOLVED that para 6.5.3 regarding any other businesses be deleted/revoked.

795 DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS [Venues TBC, Councils have the option of holding remote meetings beyond May 2021 - LG & Elections (Wales) Act 2021] 12/07/21, 13/09/21,11/10/21, 08/11/21, 13/12/21, 10/01/22,14/02/22, 14/03/22

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2021Minutes14June.docx Councillor Wini Davies suggested that the use of Llysfasi’s new community hub should be available free of charge for local groups. This was always custom and practice in the past before the merger with Cambria. RESOLVED that the Clerk writes to Elin Roberts at Llysfasi on the matter.

PART 2 796 RESOLVED that the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting due to the confidential nature of the following items: 796.1 Community Spaces/Garden at Graigfechan Submitted – a plan and costings put together by local resident Heather McBain to develop a small garden area owned by DCC near the bungalows at Graigfechan. DCC’s Greenspace Development Officer has explained that the original scheme she drew up for the community garden area was too much, the other tenants do not really want to get involved as they have enough to do with their own gardens and wanted some work done instead to the space by the bus stop. It was agreed that DCC would be asked to replace and extend the fence near the bus shelter and install a new bench. There is some confusion about what residents require and the project is currently on hold. It was agreed that the Community Council should not have any further involvement with the issue until such time as the residents are clear about what is needed.

796.2 Request from Mr David Hislop He would like to hold a celebration of his late wife Rose’s life on Sept 18th - it would have been her 70th birthday and is hoping to hold it in Llanfair Village Hall but has not booked it yet as he is trying to solve the problem of parking for what is expected will be a large gathering in number. He is hoping to use the playground and possibly the field of the former Ysgol Llanfair site. It was agreed that Mr Hislop’s request be referred to DCC’s Asset Manager and Mr Hislop advised to contact the headteacher of Ysgol Llanfair.

The meeting ended at 9 pm CHAIR DATE

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