Cymdeithas Parc Bannau Brycheiniog
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Cymdeithas Parc Bannau Brycheiniog The Brecon Beacons Park Society Minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting held at The Bear Hotel, Crickhowell, on Tuesday, 22nd November, 2016 at 5.00pm. Present: Jim Wilson (Chairman), Ben Sladen, David Thomas, Anthea Scott, Wally James, Elizabeth Gibbs, William Gibbs, Richard Chandler (Minutes Secretary). 1. Apologies: Chris Barber, Ceridwen Coulson, Charles Henderson. 2. The Minutes of the Last Meeting (on 11th October, 2016) were approved (subject to a correction in 4.8 to read, ‘William has undertaken to write a History of the Walls of Llangynidr, which will be published on the website.’), and were signed. 3. Matters arising: (i) 3.i CRiC has been persuaded to purchase a portable PA system, which we will be able to hire. (ii) 3.viii Lost/missing envelopes – Ben thinks that it was a one-off – no action to be taken at present. (iii) 4.3 This is being arranged. (iv) 4.5 Not done, as yet. (v) 4.9 This has been dropped. (vi) 4.10 i and ii In process. Jim will ask Chris Playford to file an Incident Report. ACTION: Jim. (vii) 4.13 Done. (viii) 4.16 Done – not to be pursued. (ix) 4.18 Done. 4. Reports: 4.1 Financial and Membership – See Ben’s report, circulated previously. Membership is now 815 (631 households). We should review the Charity Commission Annual Return, at some stage. ACTION: Jim, memo for future agenda. 4.2 Secretarial Matters – Ceridwen has produced draft contact details for Exec members and helpers. 4.3 Guided Walks and Events Programmes – The next programme has been produced and published, though there are six dates which have not, so far, been filled. The website will be updated if walks are subsequently offered for those dates. It was noted that, whereas thirty leaders led walks last winter, eleven of them are not leading, this winter. During the past eleven months, a total of 49,474 miles has been walked in 196 walks. The topic of First Aid training and certification for Walks Leaders was discussed again, as there was continuing concern that this might impact upon our leaders being willing to continue or for potential leaders to come on board. The Minutes of 24th November, 2015 state: “It was agreed that, henceforth, it will be a compulsory requirement that walk leaders shall hold a current First Aid Certificate; that if they do not, another leader, who does hold this certificate, shall be required to accompany the walk; and that the leader shall undertake to obtain the certificate at the next training session.” It was, again, agreed that Walks Leaders should hold an Outside Emergency First Aid Certificate but that if there were to be a reason why a new leader, or an existing leader who is due to renew the training and certification, would not be able to take the next course, then they would commit to taking the one following. 1 4.3 cont. In the meantime, it will be the responsibility of the leader of a walk, who does not hold such a current certificate, to ensure that another leader, whose certificate is current, will accompany the walk. There was some concern that the Walks Secretaries would need to ensure that this was, in fact, done. It was suggested that any leader who refuses to undertake the training and certificate should cease to be a Walks Leader. Frank Scott has the name of a member who might take on the Navigation Courses and he will be asked to pursue this. 4.4 The Beacon – No report. 4.5 Website - Nothing to report. 4.6 Beacons Way Steering Group – Nothing to report. 4.7 Planning and Development Control – See report by Liz, circulated previously. A site meeting is to be held with regard to the Mountain Bike Track application at Great Llwygy and a decision will be made at the next PAROW meeting. Liz has put in an objection to a reserved matters application for 8 houses in Langynidr. Liz and Jim have put in a response to the Powys LDP Further Focussed Changes in relation to Local Search Areas for wind and solar developments. [See emails, recently circulated by Jim, relating to this.] The local branch of CPRW, in conjunction with that of Montgomeryshire, have also submitted a highly detailed response. 4.8 Walls of Llangynidr – Nothing to report. 4.9 Brecon Beacons Trust – Nothing to report. 4.10 Rights of Way – See David Dixon’s report, circulated previously. It was agreed that the walks leaders and the members should be aware of RoW problems. David will liaise with David Dickson to ask him to maintain the information on the website, as previously agreed. ACTION: David. 4.11 Communications/Publicity/Press Releases – No report. 4.12 Geopark Management Group – See report by Dilys (direct communication to Jim and emailed). 4.13/14/15 Alliance for National Parks Cymru/Welsh Government’s Legislation Programme, etc. – Charles attended the Park Societies Conference in Norfolk, on our behalf, this year, and also the meeting of the Chairs and Chief Executives of the Park Societies. Ian Rowat is now a Trustee of CNP. Anne Robinson has stepped down as Chair of CNP at the expiry of her term of office. Janette Ward is the new Chair. Jim and Liz have worked to provide input to a study by CNP and CPRE into major developments in or near National Parks. The recent NRW Bulletin has been circulated. Jim gave an explanation of the NRW’s "State of Natural Resources Report”. The Alliance has been busy looking at the “Future Landscapes Wales” report, the details and personal notes to which, Jim has previously circulated. Several important organisations, which have been involved with it, are extremely dissatisfied. As mentioned in item 4.7, Jim and Liz have been working with CPRW on the Powys LDP. Our relationship with the Park Authority has continued be very good and collaboration with various projects has gone very well. The Chair of the Park Authority Scrutiny Committee, Professor Alan Lovell, is keen to involve our Society in a study of ‘Partnerships’ within the Authority’s remit. Jim has invited him to the next Exec meeting, in January. 4.16 Dark Sky – It is hoped that funding might be secured from the Brecon Beacons Trust for an analysis of the impact of the International Dark Sky Reserve status. 2 4.17 Fundraising & Business Planning – Nothing on-going, at present. It appears that the Authority has no money available for involvement in this, at the present time. Anthea will contact Jim about ‘Sport Wales’, which is a grant-giving organisation, and Jim will look into that. ACTION: Anthea and Jim. 4.18 The Gunpowder Works Project – This is still held back, somewhat, and it is hoped that a decision on further funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund will be forthcoming in March. 4.19 Potential Projects – There are no other projects in the pipeline. 4.20 25th Anniversary – It was agreed that Richard should make a firm booking with the Castle Hotel in Brecon for the Celebratory Dinner next September. ACTION: Richard. It was also agreed that Roy Noble should be invited to be our guest speaker . David offered to ask Julia Gruffydd if she will sound him out and then, if he agrees, Jim will formally invite him. ACTION: David and Jim. 5. Brecon Cultural Hub – William spoke to this. Brecon Cultural Hub is a Powys County Council and Brecon Town Council community project, supported by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, to develop a closely co-ordinated museum, art gallery, library, TIC, education and community facilities based on Brecknock Museum. Unfortunately, there are not sufficient funds to fully develop the project, as originally envisioned, and Captain’s Walk will not be developed. William has suggested that we become involved as a partner to the project. He suggested that we could devise three or four special walks from Captain’s Walk and could use our fund-seeking abilities to support the project. These would both help the project and raise our Society’s profile widely. It was agreed that he should suggest to the Council Officer responsible for the project that they should formally invite us to be a partner and that Jim should, subsequently, accept on our behalf. This was proposed and accepted. ACTION: William and Jim. 6. Any Other Business – (i) It was reported that John Sansom’s Memorial stone is almost illegible now and that there is some ignorance amongst new local members about John and his role in the development of the Beacons Way. It was agreed that, in the anniversary year, Chris should be asked to write an article or articles in The Beacon on how the Society was set up and how the Beacons Way came about, with particular emphasis given to John Sansom’s part in this. ACTION: Jim. Anthea said that it is planned that special walks related to this will be arranged for September of next year. William will speak to Richard Renshaw to ask if anything can be done to restore the legibility of the stone. ACTION: William. (ii) Jim will speak to John Cook about the possibility of an addendum to the Authority’s booklet, ‘Easy Access’, to include access for mobility vehicles for the disabled. ACTION: Jim. (iii) It was agreed that we should have a debate about what the Society does, the over- preponderance of work which Jim does for the Society, and Exec member succession planning. Jim will make this an agenda item for the February meeting. ACTION: Jim. 7.