MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE POLICY AND FINANCE COMMITTEE OF THE BAY OF COLWYN TOWN COUNCIL, HELD IN THE COMMITTEE ROOM, TOWN HALL, RHIW ROAD, AT 6.30 P.M. ON MONDAY RD 23 SEPTEMBER 2013

PRESENT: Cllr Mrs H Meredith, Chairman Cllrs: J Davies, C Hughes, A Khan, T Pearson, Mrs V Perry, J Reaney, S Taylor

OFFICER: Mrs C J Earley, Town Clerk

IN ATENDANCE: Teresa Carnell, Chamber of Trade

176/13 Apologies for Absence:

Apologies for absence were received from the Mayor, Cllr C Perry, the Deputy Mayor, Cllrs Mrs Val Smith J.P., Mrs M Burrows & Cllr D Griffiths and Mrs Ingrid Lewis, Town Manager.

177/13 Declarations of Interest:

Members were reminded that they must declare the existence and nature of any personal and/or prejudicial interests. The following interests were declared: a. Cllr C Hughes – item 11(a) Town Hall – see Min.185/13(a) b. Cllr C Hughes – item 3 Chamber of Trade– see Min.178/13 c. Cllr A Khan – item 3 Chamber of Trade – see Min.178/13 d. Mrs C J Earley – item 11(c) - Welsh Classes – see Min.185/13(c)

178/13 Christmas Event/Activities:

a. The Chairman welcomed Teresa Carnell, on behalf of Colwyn Bay Chamber of Trade, to provide information about the proposed Christmas event/activities to be funded by the Town Council grant of £6,000.

Teresa began by thanking the Town Council for providing the grant each year. This had recently been used for a Christmas parade involving local schoolchildren, but had been affected by bad weather for the past two years. A decision was therefore taken by the CoT earlier this year to cease the parade and consider alternative events/activities to bring people into the town during the festive season. Enquiries were made with a land train provider, with the intention of offering a land train service to cover Rhos on Sea, Colwyn Bay and , however, this was already booked to be elsewhere. Teresa therefore outlined the two remaining options and confirmed that a final decision would be made in the next week or so.

i. Plan A – Christmas Food Festival: A one-day event to be held in the town centre (Sea View Road and/or Ivy Street car park – depending on level of interest and activities involved), to include a food demonstration marquee with a professional kitchen (with help from Llandrillo College and possibly Bryn Williams) and affordable gifts / fun activities, plus street entertainment. This is the preferred option, but confirmation is awaited from the College regarding their participation. Activities would be under- cover and are not therefore weather dependent.

ii. Plan B – Street Theatre: If the above is not possible, the full funding will be used to provide street entertainment for a one-day festive event, possibly to coincide with Small Business Saturday (7th December) – see (c) below.

Marketing for whichever event goes ahead will be done through local organisations (ROSTA, CCBC, Communities First, Cartrefi , CVSC etc) and by the use of social media, to concentrate the funding on the activities being provided. Evaluation questionnaires will be used to provide information for future years.

A brief question and answer session followed, with questions regarding: location of marquee and impact on local shops; consideration of land train for 2014; possibility of visiting chefs from local cafes/restaurants; promoting local food suppliers (the college would be left to organise the food demonstration element, as the CoT does not have the time or expertise to do this); popularity of santa’s grotto; Rotary float?

Teresa advised members that the CoT would also be running a Christmas Window competition for shoppers.

The Chairman thanked Teresa for her presentation and she was invited to remain for the following two additional agenda items, linked to Christmas events/activities. b) Christmas Parking: The Clerk advised members that the General Purpose & Planning Committee would be considering the option of providing additional free Christmas parking (over and above any provision by CCBC) at its next meeting and members had a brief discussion about the costs/benefits of providing free parking in four CCBC owned car parks on two Saturdays prior to Christmas (7th and 14th December). Some concern was expressed that several of the car parks were still very quiet last year, despite being free. It was queried whether the CoT could give any feedback on whether the free parking provision helps the local traders. No data was available, but Teresa confirmed that even if the free parking could not be proven to bring additional footfall into the town, it would probably encourage people to stay a little longer.

Resolved to recommend that local volunteers (e.g. CAIS) and/or town councillors assist with questionnaires on the day(s) of events or free parking, to seek to measure the benefits these bring. c) Small Business Saturday: The Clerk tabled a letter from CCBC regarding a new national initiative to encourage communities to support local businesses and shop locally. Activities planned by CCBC include a ‘Shop Local’ campaign, shopper competition in local press and a retain training/workshop to help independent retailers.

The Town Council was being asked to solicit prizes from up to five independent retailers (minimum £20 value) and provide funding of £250 to help fund the campaign in the local press. It was queried whether the campaign could/would promote ‘the Bay of Colwyn’ or the individual retail centres of Colwyn Bay, Rhos on Sea and Old Colwyn separately.

Resolved to recommend that funding of £250 be approved towards the campaign, providing that the CoT/ROSTA can seek the support (by way of prizes) from up to five independent retailers from the Bay of Colwyn area. If there was sufficient interest, then separate entries for Rhos on Sea and Old Colwyn would be considered/requested.

179/13 Minutes:

a. Resolved to receive, approve and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the last meeting, held on 7th August 2013. b. Resolved to receive, approve and sign as a correct record the Special Minutes of the Committee, held on 17th September 2013.

180/13 Matters Arising from Previous Minutes:

a. Min. 110/13 – 1940’s Event:

It was noted that a request had been made at the last meeting for a grant of £15,000 towards the April 2014 weekend event. The Clerk informed members that £11,750 had been committed to date from the £34,000 events budget.

Resolved to recommend that £15,000 be awarded to the Bay of Colwyn Business Network towards the 1940’s event in April 2014.

b. Min. 112/13(d) – Student Advisors:

The Clerk gave a brief verbal update, advising that she was awaiting details of appointments from Ysgol Bryn Elian and Ysgol Eirias and that Llandrillo College has replied proposing two students residing in Llysfaen and Llanelian, just outside the Town Council’s boundary. The Clerk queried if these nominations were acceptable, confirming that they would meet the criteria for election to the Town Council. It was noted that no reply had been received, to date, from Ysgol y Creuddyn.

Resolved to recommend that the two nominations from Llandrillo College be accepted and that the policy for appointments for Student Advisors be updated, to reflect the same qualifications as apply to members seeking election (i.e. only/principal place of work is within the area and/or home residence for past 12 months has been within 4.8km (3 miles) of the boundary of the Bay of Colwyn Town Council area).

c. Min. 123/13(d) – Gwynedd Pensions Meeting for Pooled Employers:

It was noted that the Clerk had received a written report from another local Clerk and had not, therefore, attended the meeting on 19th September. The written report was tabled by the Clerk and it was noted that the current pooling of smaller employers (to share the risk of early retirements) would be replaced by insurance protection from April 2014. There was not expected to be any net cost implication and further information would be sent by post in due course.

Resolved to note the report and await further information.

181/13 Finance:

Resolved to: a. Authorise payments made on behalf of the Council for the period 1st August – 13th September, as detailed on Schedule ‘A’ attached, plus an additional payment of £378.39 for replacement green baize for the main chamber desks. b. Receive and sign a copy of the latest bank reconciliation (August 2013).

182/13 Welsh Government:

The Clerk submitted a summary of current consultations, for information, and members were asked to consider the following consultation documents:

a. A letter from Lesley Griffiths, AM, together with the WG consultation document on the Designated Persons Order (Number 1), which specifies which public service providers should initially be designated as being subject to scrutiny by Local Authorities, under the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011. The Clerk informed members that should Town & Community Councils be included in this list, we may be obliged to provide evidence, on request, to CCBCs Scrutiny Committees. The consultation document queries the need to include Town & Community Councils in the first phase of designated bodies and asks “whether and how they could contribute to local collaborative scrutiny”. It also proposed including Registered Social Landlords and Third Sector organisations that are delivering services to the public.

Resolved to submit a response to the consultation, as detailed in Schedule ‘B’ attached.

b. A summary of the consultation on proposed additional permitted development rights for Electronic Communications Code Operators (to facilitate broadband and 4G roll-out).

Resolved to refer this to the GP&P Committee for consideration and response, as it relates to a Planning matter.

183/13 Town Hall:

a. The Clerk requested the assistance of a member with the annual inventory check. Resolved to appoint Cllr H Meredith to assist the Clerk with the annual inventory check.

b. The Clerk submitted a report to seek approval for increases in room hire charges, applicable from 1/1/2014.

Resolved to accept the proposed increased charges for room hire, to apply from 1st January 2014, as detailed on Schedule ‘C’ attached.

184/13 CCTV:

The Clerk submitted an e-mail from CCBC regarding contributing towards CCTV revenue costs.

Resolved to invite the CCTV Team Leader to the next meeting of the Policy & Finance Committee, to be held on 6th November 2013. Further resolved to request a visit to the Control Room for any member who has not had the opportunity to see it.

185/13 Grants & Donations:

a. The Clerk submitted a report/evaluation form from Colwyn Bay FC, following receipt of funding of £750 for a junior football tournament.

Resolved to receive and note the report.

b. The Clerk submitted a deferred application from Relate for funding of £1,600 towards 2013/14 service provision. It was noted that £4,400 remained available from the Large Grant budget of £25,000.

Resolved to recommend: i. That a grant of £1,600 is approved for 2013/14 ii. That Relate be informed that room(s) are available to hire free of charge at the Town Hall for local counselling sessions and iii. That grants should also be sought from other local councils whose residents benefit from Relate’s services (ideally with a listing in the annual accounts of those that have provided funding).

c. The Clerk submitted a request from Cllr Philip Edwards, CCBC, for a donation towards the ‘Welsh Memorial in Flanders Campaign’.

Resolved to recommend that a donation of £500 be made towards the appeal.

d. The Clerk submitted the following Small Grant Applications, for consideration:

i. Colwyn Bay Floral Art Club - £500 for the annual open evening event. ii. Colwyn Bay Horticultural Society- £180 for Autumn Gardening event.

Resolved to recommend grants of the requested amounts are awarded to both organisations.

- Cllr John Davies retired from the meeting at this juncture.

185/13 Confidential Business:

Resolved to exclude members of the public/press during the consideration of the following item(s), which are considered to contain confidential/restricted information:

a. Town Hall:

The Clerk submitted a written report on the proposed transfer of the freehold of the adjoining buildings (former Police Station) from CCBC to the Town Council.

Members were reminded that the transfer had been instigated by a member of the Town Council, following a meeting with representatives from NW Police and CCBC earlier this year to discuss proposed leases to CVSC and Conwy Connect and complications caused by the complex nature of the building and ‘flying freeholds’.

Members were asked to consider the benefits and risks associated with the proposed transfer and to agree the recommendation to be put to the Council.

Resolved to recommend that the Town Council proceeds with the transfer of freehold from CCBC, subject to the outcome of a survey on the condition of the building.

Further resolved to recommend that the Council appoints a local solicitor to undertake the required legal work connected with the transfer of title and leases.

b. Banking Arrangements:

The Clerk submitted a written report on the appointment of bank signatories and registration for on-line payment authorisation.

Resolved to recommend that the following be appointed as bank signatories, for review after each election or upon a member leaving post prior to the next election: The Clerk, Cllrs: HM, VP, TP, JR, VS, ST and that each be authorised for on-line banking, with three signatories required for on-line payments (including one to set up the payments).

c. Welsh Classes:

The Clerk submitted a written report, requesting the Committee to consider the on-going support required from the Council for her to continue attending Welsh classes on Friday mornings.

Having declared a personal and prejudicial interest, the Clerk retired from the meeting during consideration of this matter.

Resolved that the Clerk should continue attending Welsh classes for the next 12 months, with a further review at that point.

Further resolved to convene a meeting of the Staffing Sub-Committee to consider staffing requirements at the Town Hall.

The Meeting Closed at 8.50 p.m.

……..……………… Chairman