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LLANDRINDOD WELLS TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of a meeting held on Monday 19th September 2017 in Committee Room A, County Hall

Present: Cllr J Williams, G Price, J Hawker, W Curzon, D Walton, B Makusha, B Williams, K Nicholls, S Meredudd, S Deeks-D’Silva, D Hartley, G Davis

Apologies: Cllr W Francis, E Worgan

Absent: Cllr K Martin

TC 105/17 Declarations Cllr J Williams – TC 109/17f, TC 110/17 a,b,c Cllr J Hawker – TC 111/17a

TC 106/17 Minutes The minutes of the meeting held on 7th August 2017 were confirmed and signed.

TC 107/17 Clerk’s Report/Information from Meeting: Ken Richards Commemorative Vintage Vehicle Display The event took place on Saturday 26th August 2017 and was extremely successful. 66 vehicles registered for the event, 3 were withdrawn due to technical failures, 14 did not attend which left 49 vehicles sited in Middleton Street and the Market Site. The feedback I received was very good and everyone asked to be invited to come back to next year’s event. This event took an awful lot of planning and considerable time.

My thanks go to Ben for preparing all the posters and display materials and for sourcing the Vintage Coach. This was very popular and the company, Boultons of Shropshire provided a really friendly and professional service.

Thanks to Sheila Richards for sponsoring the coach for the trip to the Elan Valley on Sunday.

Finally thanks to all members of the Council, friends and families for helping out at the event.

The Chair informed members that £120 had been collected on the Vintage Bus which he made up to £200 which will be donated to the Llandrindod Wells Hospital League of Friends.

Induction Training This took place for new members on 5th September. 8 members of the Town Council attended and the remaining places were purchased by Presteigne & Norton Town Council, Llangunllo Community Council, Disserth & Trecoed & Nantmel Community Councils. This was a good informative event and we hope to run further modules for all members of the Council in the near future.

RVS We have received a lovely card from RVS thanking the Town Council for its grant towards the Assisted Shopping Bus.

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TC 108/17 Chairman’s Announcements 22nd July – Judging at Rhayader Carnival. The vice chair and myself were invited to judge the carnival floats and costumes. Another great event for Rhayader and my thanks to them for welcoming us back again this year.

25th July – Recycling group cheque presentation. I was invited to speak at this sad but happy evening. Over the years the group, ran by former Mayor the late Ken Richards, had raised a huge amount of money with it all going back into our community. This was the last of that money to be handed out to the many worthy causes around our town. The cheques were presented by former Mayor Sheila Richards, Kens wife, who continues to support our town and community. The achievement of the group over the years is something they can all be proud of.

28th July – New life church. Asked to attend a photo shoot to announce the donation of grant money from the Town Council to kick start the fundraising for a defibrillator. When they have raised enough money, the defibrillator will be place at the front of the building for emergency use. I am very pleased to see these life saving devices being placed around our town.

31st July – Meeting at the pavilion to discuss the future of the youth market. It was great to see many Town Councillors at the meeting.

1st Aug – Meeting at County hall. Meeting with the regeneration team leader.

1st Aug – Meeting with Town Council members around future projects.

2nd Aug – Town twinning meeting.

5th Aug – Poppy picnic Temple gardens. Even with the weather there was a good turnout for this the second poppy picnic. Disappointing that more Councillors did not attend this great fundraising event. Very well done to Dave and Dom and all of the other helpers for their hard work throughout the day.

5th Aug – Visit of scouts from Germany. An evening at the rock park with a group of scouts that were visiting from our twin town of Bad Rappenau. This was a return invitation from our local scouts who visited Germany 2 years ago. A fun filled evening with food provided by the twinning association and a competitive game of skittles. The local scout leaders put on a packed week of events for the group which was well received. Very well done all for your hard work, I hope that the friendships made will continue the close connection we have with our twin town.

6th Aug – Memory walk. Along with my wife, Jo, I was asked to start and take part in the annual memory walk at the lakeside. The event was again well attended and helps to raise funds for research and awareness of dementia. Well done David for organising this event and watch this space as I have spoken to him about doing another event in the new year.

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7th Aug – Town Council planning meeting.

21st Aug – Rhayader male voice choir concert at the Albert Hall. I was asked to give a vote of thanks to the choir and Mr Paul Dark for their fantastic evening of entertainment. The event was to raise much needed funds for the hall. Very well done to Mrs Hazel Bird for organising this very successful event.

22nd Aug – Gerald Dickens evening at the Albert Hall. Attended with my family and it was nice to meet up with many friends we made at last year’s Victorian festival. My family had fun and laughter afterwards with Queen Victoria, alias Rita, and entourage. Where do you find modern photographic technology in a Victorian outfit?

25th Aug – Picked up cones and road signs for the vintage car show.

26th Aug – The Ken Richards commemorative vintage car show. Starting at 6.45am, Jane, kelvin, Jo, Ben, Elin and myself set up the road closed signs, cones, barriers, bus stops and signs ready for the start of the show. The first entrant turned up around 7.45am followed by a steady stream of vehicles. It was fantastic to see Middleton street full once again with cars and people enjoying the day. The market site was equally busy with people traveling between the two sites. The free vintage bus rides were busy throughout the day, with so many people coming back with smiles on their faces. It was an honour to escort Mrs Shelia Richards around the display and to hear exhibitors comment that they had changed their plans so they could come and support the show because it was in memory of Ken. Former Mayor Ken Richards was the instigator of the original vintage car display and ran it, along with Sheila, so successfully. It was a real pleasure to bring back the show in his memory and I hope, Ken, we did you proud. Feedback from the town has been amazing, the residents and visitors really enjoyed it and were pleased to see it return. The traders have said it was their busiest day and had an increase in sales. It really did do what it was meant to do, bring something good back to the centre of town for everybody. A huge thank you to everyone who turned up to help throughout the day, we couldn’t have done it without you. But most of all I would like to thank Jane for the huge amount of work she did for this show. It wasn’t an easy job and I know she had many sleepless nights over it but at the end of the day it was fantastic, thank you.

4th Sept – Christmas lights meeting. First meeting to plan for this Christmas.

5th Sept – Called to office for meeting morning and afternoon.

5th Sept – Town Council induction training at County hall. Attended as an observer.

6th Sept – 105th birthday. Visit to Christchurch to celebrate Vera Vaughan’s 105th birthday. Presented her with a bouquet of flowers and card followed by music and entertainment by local singer Felicity and visitors the Charleston Charlies. Well done to Mr Jimmy Layton for again working so hard for the blind and visually impaired group to put on such a show.

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10th Sept – Slimming world race for life. Asked to start the slimming world race for life fund raiser at the lake. It was heart-warming to hear individual’s stories about how they have been touched by slimming world and by cancer. A good turnout considering the weather with all abilities taking part. What a great job Sam is doing for the community with slimming world and well done for putting on this event.

10th Sept – Junior international bowling competition. Attended the international bowling competition at the outdoor bowling club. I was unable to attend the opening ceremony but was pleased to go and support them the following day. The weather had not been kind but the competition was in full swing with a brave fight going on. This is a huge draw for our town with such outstanding facilities and is something we really need to promote and support in the future. TC 109/17 Correspondence a) Royal British Legion – Invitation to South-East Wales Poppy Launch This will take place on Saturday 28th October 2017. The Chair asked members of the Council to join him in the parade and hoped to see as many members as possible present.

Cllr Price asked the Chair about arrangements for the TRO (Traffic Order.) The Chair had spoken with PCC and had negotiated a TRO free of charge for this specific event, due to its high profile. Cllr Price thanked the Chair for this.

b) PCC Electoral Services – Request for Boundary Change Response from Sandra Matthews as follows: “Electoral boundaries can only be changed by a formal review and this is something that Powys County Council would have to approve. Without looking into it in greater detail, I do not know why changes at Cefnllys were opposed last time, however if those arguments were still relevant then it is unlikely that we would initiate a new review.

You are aware also that the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales is currently conducting a review of the Powys electoral areas. Whilst the change at Cefnllys may not effect current County electoral areas, the Commission will be using the community wards as building blocks and we do not know what is being proposed for the Llandrindod area at the moment.

I would suggest that it may be best to hold this request until we get sight of the draft proposals from the Commission. Or, if there is no urgency until all Community areas are reviewed, which I understand, will follow the conclusion of the review of the County Council areas across Wales.”

Members noted this response.

c) PCC Street Naming – Response to Suggestion Response from Rebecca Witcomb with regard to the Council’s suggestion to use the word Hynt in place of Treigl:

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“‘Hynt’ means way, path, course, journey etc. We would never use ‘treigl’ in this context. E.g. in the course of time – treigl amser”.

Members noted this response.

d) PCC Chair of PSB – Powys Well-Being Plan Notification of Community Engagement opportunity via the link below:

http://www.powys.gov.uk/en/community-development/sustainability-and-the- council/

Members had been circulated this link previously and encourage to take part in the consultation individually.

e) PCC Members Support – Local Business Information Request from Powys County Council for a list of businesses operating in Llandrindod Wells.

Members were surprised to receive this request. Cllr Price suggested that PCC already had this information available to them via the Business Rates database. Resolved: to respond suggesting that they obtain the information as above.

f) Llandrindod Wells Business Group – Response to Request for Representation Cllr J Williams declared an interest in this item and left the room whilst discussions took place.

Cllr Price took the Chair for this item. “Thank you for your recent e mail concerning Town Council representation on the Business Group. We were able to discuss this at our Business Group meeting alongside the more general issue of representation on our group.

The Business Group comprises local people with an interest in or knowledge of economic regeneration in Llandrindod and membership is by invitation. Our members act as individuals and do not represent organisations, groups or their own businesses. I believe that Jon Williams has separately clarified the position regarding his personal membership of the group rather than as a Councillor. The one exception to this is for the duration of the current Arwain funded project where Powys County Council have representation because they are project partners. It would therefore not be appropriate for the Town Council to have representation on the group.

Having said that, we are very happy to work with the Town Council and provide updates on the work that we are doing and to specifically invite members of the Town Council to take part in our work where it is appropriate. One example of this is our recent invitation to Jon Williams as Chair of the Town Council / Mayor to attend a meeting of the Powys ‘Wells towns’ and tourism business leaders in September to discuss a joint marketing strategy for this area under the Wellness banner.”

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Members were disappointed with this response, however it was noted. Resolved: to acknowledge receipt of this response and to suggest that if the Business Group wishes to engage in future this should be done via the Town Council as a body.

g) Llandrindod Wells Project Officer – Website Analytics & Non-Disclosure Agreement Detailed clarification was received from the Llandrindod Wells Project Officer with regard to the proposed use of the analytical information received from the Town website. The Clerk had also drafted a non-disclosure form for consideration by members.

Lengthy discussions took place on this matter. Resolved: Clerk to release the Analytical Report on a monthly basis to the Llandrindod Wells Project Officer. To issue the Non-Disclosure form to her to be signed on the basis of use of data by the Llandrindod Wells Project Officer and Llandrindod Wells Business Group solely. No administrative access would be permitted to the website, other than to the Clerk.

h) Ysgol Trefonen Community Manager – Town Council Surgeries Letter from Community Manager as follows: “As a Community Focused School part of our remit is to try to make a positive impact on the quality of life of our local community and through this make a positive impact on the quality of life of our pupils and their families.

This feature of our school is unique to us in the Llandrindod area although it is an increasingly more popular style of school across Wales and the rest of the UK.

As a part of this Community Focused approach we have many community partners based in our community offices and we host many local community groups - including CAB, Mid Powys MIND, Cuppa with a Copper, Red Kite Savings, Action for Children and many others.

The aim of hosting these groups in our community rooms is to provide everybody in our local community with the opportunity to access these facilities easily and without fuss.

I was wondering whether the Town Councillors hold regular surgeries for your constituents and if so whether you would be interested in holding them here in our community rooms at Ysgol Trefonnen. As this would be a service for the benefit to our local community, I would be looking to offer the space free of charge. If you were interested in this we could run a trial for a few months to see how much demand there was.

Although we are based in the 'North' of the town, as the only Community Focused school in town we operate across the whole of Llandrindod and the whole community of Llandrindod is represented here. I will also be contacting your County Councillor colleagues Jon Williams, Gary Price and Pete Roberts to extend the same offer. Perhaps all the Town and County Councillors could offer a surgery from here at the same time.

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This matter was discussed and the Chair informed members of similar activities which had been undertaken in the past.

Members felt this was a positive step and also to look at the possibility of having a presence at community events. Resolved: to discuss this matter at the November/December Business Development Meeting and to thank Mr Coleman for his kind offer on behalf of the school.

Cllr Price informed members that he would be holding Surgeries as County Councillor in the North Ward at the school and offered for one North Ward Town Council representative member to attend one of his surgeries. This was welcomed.

i) Llandrindod Wells Project Manager – Wellness Hub Meeting The Chair is unable to attend this meeting on 27th September at 2pm. Resolved: Cllr Curzon or Cllr Meredudd to attend this event.

TC 110/17 Planning Applications Cllr Williams declared an interest in all planning applications and took no part in the discussions. a) P/2017/0898 – Section 73 application to vary condition 2 of planning approval RAD/2007/0520 in regards to the approved plans for Household Waste Recycling Centre, Waterloo Road. No comment.

b) P/2017/0993 – Full: Change of use of former police station into 3 residential units and associated works at The Old Police Station, High Street. Cllr Benjamin Williams had discussed this with local residents who all welcome this. No objection.

c) HEDG/2017/0004 – Notice to remove Hedgerows as required at the Old Parish Churchyard, Golf Links Road. Cllr Deeks- D’Silva had visited the site and felt that this would cause significant disturbance to local wildlife. Object – with regard the implications for wildlife and the landscape.

TC 111/17 Application for Financial Assistance a) Pavilion Mid Wales – Grant application for Tables Cllr Hawker declared an interest in this application and left the room whilst discussions took place. Members discussed this matter at length with several options being brought forward. The Chair felt that in view of the current circumstances with regard to the transfer of the Pavilion, if the Town Council were to donate or fund this purchase, the items funded should remain under the ownership of the Town Council. It was also suggested that tables could be loaned out to community groups within Llandrindod Wells at a reasonable rate.

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Resolved: Town Council to purchase 15 tables to be placed on loan to the Grand Pavilion Events CIC on the proviso that if the Pavilion returns to the management of PCC or other outside body they would be returned to the Town Council. Also that the Pavilion agrees to loan the tables out to Llandrindod Wells community organisations at a reasonable rate when not required.

TC 112/17 Accounts a) To approve the payments for August 2017 The accounts for July were approved and signed.

TC 113/17 Mid Wales Tourism Bedroom Browser The Clerk provided details on the opportunity to advertise Llandrindod Wells in the Bedroom Browser for 2018. The cost of including a full A4 two sided leaflet would be £883. Resolved: to place the full A4 two sided Llandrindod Wells leaflet within the browser.

TC 114/17 Community Speed Watch Cllr Deeks-D’Silva mentioned the ongoing problem of speeding on the main trunk road which has been raised previously. He purchased two 30mph stickers to put on his Wheelie Bin and on collection day put a photo on the local social media to raise awareness. This provoked interest and a link was provided to the new Police Community Speedwatch scheme. Having contacted the Police he and a local group of residents have set up a Community Speedwatch Group for Wellington Road and training has been provided for the volunteers on Friday 15th September.

The Chair congratulated Cllr Deeks-D’Silva on this initiative and informed members that this has sparked off a lot of interest and other groups look like being set up in other areas of the town. A further training session will be held shortly and Cllr Deeks- D’Silva agreed to notify the Clerk of any free spaces which may be available.

TC 115/17 Powys County Council – LDP Notification of Consultation period. Cllr Francis had prepared a detailed response with regard to the LDP which was presented to the Council. Resolved: in view of Cllr Francis’ absence from the meeting and the closing date for the consultation, this matter will be deferred to the October Full Council meeting.

TC 116/17 Victorian Festival Liaison Meeting The Chairman informed members that a Liaison meeting will take place on Monday 25th September at 7pm in County Hall which will be attended by members of the Victorian Festival Committee, Friends Committee and Town Councillors.

TC 117/17 Presentation to High School Cllr Davis approached the Council with the following proposal: “that we arrange a school assembly in order to discuss the role of Llandrindod Town Council in the community, and to teach students at Llandrindod about local democracy. I would be willing to organise the assembly and deliver it, although people are more than welcome to help out if they would like to.”

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Some members felt that the Town Council should not have any political bias and Cllr Davis confirmed that there would be no party political content within her produced address.

Cllr Price congratulated Cllr Davis on her idea and offered to support her with this process.

The Chair felt that Cllr Davis should approach the Head Teacher to begin with addressing the School Council, and he also agreed to support Cllr Davis with this. Resolved: Cllr Davis to approach the Head Teacher of Llandrindod Wells High School with regard to addressing the School Council and to feedback to the Town Council the outcome of her discussions.

TC 118/17 Social Media Policy During the Summer recess, the Clerk had drafted a Social Media Policy for discussion by the Council. Resolved: to adopt this policy immediately and upload it on the Town Council website.

TC 119/17 Putting Green The Chair announced that the Town Council had recently taken over the Putting Green on Princes Avenue via Community Asset Transfer after a two year process. This matter will be discussed at the next Business Development meeting and it is hoped that the community will get involved when an official clean up event is organised. Cllr Curzon & Cllr Hawker agreed to design a poster for the event following the Business Development Meeting.

Cllr Price proposed that the Town Council purchase a banner to be placed at the Putting Green to advise residents and visitors that it had been transferred to the Town Council. Resolved: to purchase a banner.

Confidential Minutes

TC 120/17 a) Festive Lighting A quote had been received from Millennium Quest for the purchase of new lighting for trees within the town centre. Resolved: to give the Festive Lighting Committee delegated powers to make purchases in future within the budget allocated on an annual basis.