Minutes of the meeting of Bronwydd Council held at Bronwydd Village Hall Tuesday 25th June 2013 at 7.15 pm

In the Chair - Cllr A. Roberts

Present: Cllr A. A. B. Conti, Cllr M. G. Morgan, , Cllr J. Homer, Cllr R.C. Carpenter, Cllr O.G. Evans, Cllr H. I. Jones In attendance: Neil John

18. Apologies were received from Cllr P Giles

19. Declarations of Interest

20. Minutes

RESOLVED the minutes for the meeting of the Council held on 21st May to be signed as a correct record.

21. Matters Arising

a) The clerk confirmed that no election would now be held as he had been informed by the county council that they had not received the required number of electorate votes to schedule an election. The clerk informed the councillors that they could now co-opt someone onto the council and two individuals had offered their services. The clerk read out the letters received from the two candidates and the councillors then discussed both candidates and felt both were very capable but unanimously decided to ask Mrs J. Scarrott to join the council as a co-opted member.

b) The clerk informed the councillors that he had received the annual financial returns back from the external auditors and they were satisfied and had no issues. The council then approved the annual returns and these were then signed off by the chairman and clerk.

The chairman had requested an updated financial statement from the clerk so these were handed out to the councillors for discussion. The councillors identified a couple of areas where costs may be cut and they would monitor these over the coming months. The councillors agreed that it would be useful to have an updated statement or the October meeting.

c) Councillor R. Carpenter had been approached about the potential of improved broadband reception in the village and asked whether the council should allow the company offering this to address the council in the next meeting. After some discussion the councillors agreed to this and the clerk would contact the company to ask them to give a short presentation at the next meeting on what was available.

d) Councillor R. Carpenter attained a Code of Conduct meeting at county hall and informed the councillors that he had given the clerk the documentation that had been handed out and discussed at the meeting. The clerk said he would pass these on to any councillor that wished to read them.

e) The clerk had received a letter from the tourist board informing the council that they were no longer supporting the community websites after this year. They had offered some support in finding alternatives but the council asked the clerk to look into what alternatives there were. The clerk would report back to the council once he had looked at the alternatives.

f) Bill i) clerk’s expenses £201.99 ii) HMRC £114.77 iii) SLCC membership £75 iv) Hire of Bronwydd hall £72 v) BDO £156 vi) M. Evans (Flowers for boxes) £64.72

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Resolved to pay the bills above

22. Planning Applications

a) The clerk had received replies from four of the local councils but none wished to take up the offer of attending the planning training course so it was unlikely that the council would go ahead with the meeting. The clerk had however received an offer of attending the planning meeting at Pontarddulais so the council decided they would like to book three places. b) Planning application had been received for a new dormer bungalow on land at 1 Bro Celynin after some discussion it was decided there was no objection..

23. Correspondence 1. AON – renewal policy 2. Bank Statement Balances as at 29 May 2013 Community account balance £1055.36 Business Money Manager £5382.82 3.One Voice Notice of conference & AGM – Royal Welsh showground £75 05/10/13 4.BDO – Notice of Audit fees £130 plus vat 5. County Council Consultation re ‘Access to Social Housing Policy’ 6.Western Power Distribution Consultation re Brechfa Forest Connection project 7.BDO – Annual financial return signed off by the auditors 8.Natural Resources Wales – Carmarthenshire partnership grant funding criteria and application 9.SLCC – membership renewal £75

Emails

10.SLCC – course summary 11.One Voice Wales Report on crossing the border: road and rail links between England and Wales Public consultation on private water supply pipes Training courses available Funding Fair – Swansea 1 July natural resource Wales Email re available funding for community councils wanting a wesite 12.Rebecca Evans AM’s monthly newsletter 13. – Consultation on Communities & Community councils http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/localgovernment/lg-measure-2011-part-7/?lang=en Consultation re welfare reforms 14.Carmarthenshire County Council Re councillor vacancy 15.SLCC – newsletter 16.Cllr Ralph Carpenter re Broadband issues in village 17.Parish online newsletter 18.Welsh /government – advertising for members of Residential Property Tribunal Consultation on TAN23 Economic development Collaborative communities newsletter 19.Pontarddulais town council – planning meeting 25 July £20 per head. 20. not interested in attending a planning seminar 21.Welsh Government – consultation on better way to rent homes Commission on public service governance – invitation to give evidence 22.Code of conduct meeting slides available to email to councillors 23.Commission on devolution in Wales http://commissionondevolutioninwales.independent.gov.uk/get-involved 24.Natural Resources Wales – reply to issues with river 25.SLCC – newsletter 26. community council – not interested in attending the planning seminar

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24. Strategic Vision Items

a) Health & well-being

The memorial plaque – The Bronwydd Hall committee had agreed to the siting of the plaque and Cllr O.G. Evans and Cllr H. I. Jones went out and looked at where the plaque would be located on the building.

Environment

i) Surface water at Glenydd – Still not resolved. iii) Surface water by Fron Fras – no update iv) The footpaths ad still not been sorted so the clerk would send a reminder to the county council. v) Cllr O.G. Evans informed the members that the flower boxes had now been planted and a bill would be submitted at the next meeting. vi) The county council have said they are unable to do much regarding the safety barriers along the stretch of the A484 but as a minimum measure arrange for the traffic baulks to be pressure washed asap and would arrange for some more hazard marker posts to be installed. vii) No reply had been received from the director of Technical Services about the flooding and the broken culvert. viii) Natural Resources Wales had replied regarding the debris in the rivers by saying that on inspection they were unable to locate any blockages that caused concern. ix) A resident had informed a councillor that there was an issue with the gate and overflow pipe on the footpath between Cwmdwyfran and the village and asked if something could be done. The clerk would write to the county council to ask them to investigate.

25. Highway matters

a) The telegraph pole in Pentremorgan – no update. b) The council had been informed of a hole opposite Bron Y Glyn (Old Manse) but the clerk was awaiting a reply. c) The county council confirmed they would clear the gutters when resources became available. d) community council had written to the council regarding the railings by Fron Fras which were falling over. The clerk would write to the council to ask them to look into this.

26. Date time and place of next meeting

RESOLVED the next meeting would be held on the 23rd July at Bronwydd village hall at 7.00 p.m.

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