RHOSSILI COMMUNITY COUNCIL Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 13 December 2011 1. Attendance : Steve Walmsley (SW) (Chair), Anne Morse-Jones (AMJ) (Vice Chair), Steve Campbell Kelly (SCK), Nicola Rees (NR), Roger Button (RB), David Cann (DC), Caroline Johnson (CJ) (Clerk) 2. Apologies : None 3. Declaration of interests: None 4. Minutes of the last meeting : Approved 5. Matters arising : B/Fwd - Swansea Council notification of new grant scheme to community/voluntary groups in eight rural Swansea wards: this is for community environmental improvement projects, e.g. transport, footpaths, renewable energy; typical grant size £5k from pot of £275k before end December 2013. EOI form available. Clerk to remind Council at 3-month intervals in 2012. 6. National Trust: - Endurance Race in November was not notified to Village or Commoners in advance so no precautions could be taken. Clerk to request Shane Logan to give notice of forthcoming events to RCC and Chairman of Rhossili Commoners. - Access signage on the road to Rhossili NT Shop and Coastguard Station to be handled by NT, no further action required from RCC at this time. 7. Footpaths : FP14 and FP43 repaired following the survey. More work is scheduled by Steve Parry’s team. 8. Highways: - Bus Service was amended from 21 November. AMJ reported that several buses ran late or not per the timetable. Clerk to advise Swansea Transport office. - Sunday bus service stopped without notice for Winter. Evening Post contacted Clerk for comment. Clerk to write to Swansea Transport office expressing disappointment that Sunday service has been curtailed since the demise of the Gower Explorer, and that it will adversely affect local businesses, social and student travel. - Following the accident on Pitton Hill in November, Audrey Frank, Middleton resident, has asked RCC to consider asking for 30mph speed limit to come into force at the top of the hill instead of the bottom. Council debated and concluded that as the speed limit is often ignored, a ‘pedestrians in road’ sign before the hill would be the most appropriate. Clerk to request the new sign and remind Highways that a ‘settlement’ sign at Pilton Green and a ‘pedestrians’ sign opposite Chestnuts have not been replaced. 9. Village Hall: Notice will be posted in January of new gates to improve parking for Hall and Bunkhouse visitors. A reminder that room hire prices are discounted for residents. RVH will close for maintenance in January. 10. Defibrillator: It has been reported by Richard Lewis that the First Responder team on Gower will be restored. DC to send details to Clerk to include in RCC newsletter. The Defibrillator units will be installed at NT shop in December and in the VH in January. Outstanding course certificates and cards can be collected from The Gallery. 11. Atlantic Array Offshore Wind Farm: Copies of RCC letter to RWE were sent to MPs and Councils. Reply from Edwina Hart outlining the IPC consent process for Atlantic Array. Reply from John Hague advising Swansea’s role in the consent process. Reply from Wales Office (for Cheryl Gillan) outlining IPC consent process. Response from Ilston Council: fully supportive and will stand by to take action when we update them. NT’s interim position on AA was published. Monthly items about AA are published in the Gower Magazine (www.gowermagazine.com). Email from Morthoe Parish Council (Devon) wishing to join forces in opposition. Email from Sally-Ann Kingham (Devon) advising details of her website opposing AA. Action: Clerk to copy letters to the action group, and agree any follow-up. RCC (Clerk) to reply to John Hague letter and respond to Devon. Council agreed to allocate £100 running costs for the action group from RCC budget. 12. Village Security : Letter approved to go to Andy Reed, police inspector for Gower and Townhill (deferred from last meeting). 13. Underground cabling: DC reported that, according to Mike Scott, Western Power had £1m budget for 5 years of which £800k had been allocated and spent on iconic views. The Regulator insisted they spend it. BT has no money to spend on this. Mike Scott has a meeting in January. DC to report to RCC in February. Poles in the car park are redundant and could be removed; DC kindly agreed to put photos of them on record. 14. RCC Newsletter: Council approved newsletter for printing and publication. Clerk to arrange with printer. Councillors to distribute. Discussion about the congeniality of RCC meetings for attending residents concluded that chairs should always be set out in advance for visitors and extra copies of Minutes will be available. 15. One Voice Wales: - Notification of European Antibiotics Awareness Day 18 November. - Request for additional Council venues for training and (welsh speaking) trainers for One Voice. - Updates to Model Standing Orders re breaches to Code of Conduct for Councillors; reminder to appoint a training champion in the Council. - Summary of responses to WAG Walker Review consultation (charging for household water and sewerage). - Request for completion of a survey into the use by Councils of OS maps from map licences. - Request for completion of a mental health survey. - Invitation to national meeting of Sustainable Futures Practitioners Networks on 5 December. - Notification of ‘Green Futures’ training programme about Sustainable Futures, starts Jan 2012. - WAG Fire & Rescue National Framework 2012 Onwards – consultation document, respond by 17 Feb 2012 - Invitation to Chairman to Buckingham Palace Garden Party 2012. Clerk to decline for Chairman. 16. Planning: 2011/1528 Sluxton Farm Rhossili – construction of agricultural building: RCC no comment. 2011/1550 Coastguard Cottages Rhossili – installation of 24 ground-mounted solar/PV panels: RCC does not approve siting within this sensitive area. It would detract from Worm’s Head iconic views and is not in keeping with the character and setting of the landscape in this part of Gower AONB. Suggest that there are alternative NT properties that could be more appropriate for meeting sustainability targets. - Enforcement Orders update: Rear of Poplars – Swansea proceeding to prosecution. Rear of Middleton Hall – Swansea site visit done, occupancy has been removed. 17. Finance: Latest statement presented. End of Year accounts outstanding – minor comments, Mazars have sent feedback to SW. Council approved final accounts. Must be sent off before end of 2011. SCK to handle. - Letter from CCS re Community Council precepts 2012/2013: notification of payment dates, calculation of tax base, form for RCC to notify Swansea of actual precept. Precept form signed. - Clerk has been paid £266.67 and 177.76. - Council approved additional payment outstanding to Selina Taylor for £13.66. 18. Correspondence: Miscellaneous requests for financial contributions, to support charities, marketing and sales literature – held on file, available on request. - Localism Bill has been enacted to empower local communities and councils. - CCS Community Regeneration Unit consultation until 2 December on proposed clustering of the most deprived Swansea areas in the Communities First Programme to better target support. None on Gower. NFA - Copy of letter from Tourism Swansea Bay requesting feedback on MCA Modernising Proposals (email). - Copy of letter from MCGA advising Secretary Of State’s final decision on Coastguard Proposals, and confirmation of the closure of Swansea Coastguard by 2015. - Invitation to Lord Mayor’s Christmas Evening Sunday 11 December 7pm Mansion House Swansea. - Invitation to City Carol Service 15 December St Mary’s Church Swansea, RSVP (declined). - Email from Paul Kirk, Pitton resident, asking RCC to look into a problem of fires being lit to burn garden and commercial rubbish near the crossroad. Clerk to reply that the matter is an environmental health issue and not for RCC. Suggest talking to owners directly or taking it up with Swansea Council. - Mid & West Wales Fire and Rescue Authority Annual Action Plan 2012-2013. - Invitation to event ‘The Future Outlook for Adult Social Care Services’ March 2012. - Notification that the December issue of Gower Magazine is now available. - CCS Rural Business Plan 2 2011-2013 received. 19. Items for the next meeting: 20. Next meeting: Tuesday 10 January 2012 Rhossili Village Hall 7.15pm.