Council Llanharan Recreation Ground Trust Chairman's Report October 2018

Hi All

Remembrance Day The Community Council has agreed to fund the purchase of large poppy emblems from the British Legion. Each one will be dedicated to a hero whose name appears on either of the two memorials within our community. Each Poppy will be fastened onto individual lampposts through the community by volunteers. This is thought to be a fitting tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and to those who currently serve and are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of our nation and people.

War Memorial The Community Council appointed a contractor to replace the rather dilapidated grass verge to the side of the memorial with low-maintenance, artificial grass. This work will be completed by Remembrance Day.

Christmas Lights The Christmas lights will be erected during November ready to be switched on on the 1st December. There will be 3 community Christmas trees as per last year, one located at the junction of Road and Bridgend Road, one located next to the War Memorial on Hillside Avenue and one located at Hillcrest. There will be an opportunity for members of the public to hang a decoration in memory of a loved one.

Christmas Dinners It was agreed to hold the Community Council’s annual Christmas dinners for our senior citizens on 5th December for those citizens who reside in Llanharan and Ynysmaerdy and 12th December for those citizens who reside in . Details of how to book your place will be in the next edition of the Diary.

Open Spaces It is pleasing to note that benches and picnic tables have been put in place at Brynna Community Centre and Brynna Gwynion play areas. Benches and picnic tables have now been purchased for installation at Oakbrook park and Harold Street play area. It is hoped that these can put in place by the end of October. Requests are being considered for benches to be placed alongside Brynna football field and Bryncae Football field. These considerations will feed into next year’s budget. Some dead trees in Meadow Rise/Hillcrest open space have now been cut down and others trimmed to make them safe and pathways more accessible.

Bridleway 44 The part of this bridleway which used to cross the railway line just west of the railway station has been closed since the construction of the railway station by many temporary closure notices issued by RCT, who in turn were awaiting a formal application from Network Rail for a permanent closure. Matters have now come to a head and a meeting between the Community Council, RCT officers, Network Rail management and interested members of the public was held to try and find a way forward to provide a suitable bridleway crossing that would link the south side of our community to northern part. It was quickly identified that the footpath level crossing at Trenos, Bryncae, which joins the bridleway that runs east – west through Brynna Woods, would be the best location to be upgraded. A positive discussion followed regarding the practicalities of such a project and the outcome was that a further meeting was desirable, that would include representatives of Persimmon Homes, given that they are the owners of the land on the south side of the railway line in that vicinity, and they would be able to contribute to a discussion about the likelihood of creating a bridleway in the form of a public right of way from the level crossing to Duffryn Crescent and or the Community Centre at Bryncae.

Public Access Defibrillators Currently there 3 of these within the community. One located at the Corner Shop, Llanharan, one at Bryncae Stores and one at the Rugby Club. In conjunction with the Welsh ambulance service, the Community Council will fund the immediate purchase of approved storage boxes so that these vital, lifesaving pieces of equipment can be accessed 24/7. The equipment containers will be located at the entrance to Dolau School, the entrance to Brynna School and within the red telephone kiosk that is on the Square in Llanharan. The equipment at the Corner Shop will be transferred to the telephone box and the equipment at Bryncae Stores will be transferred to Brynna School. New equipment has been provided to Dolau school, and staff have undergone basic training on how to use the defibrillator. In conjunction with the Welsh ambulance service the Community Council will shortly be organising training/familiarisation sessions for members of the public. The Community Council also undertook, firstly, to survey the community to see how many more units would be required so that every residential property, where practical, was within 500 metres of a unit and, secondly, to insist that all new housing developments have this facility as an integral part of the plan.

Dolau School The Community Council has appointed Cllr. Sarah Liney as the minor authority community governor to the school’s governing body. Also, with the advent of the housing development now progressing, the statutory process and consultation for the building of a new school (by the developer) will commence on 1st October. It is intended that the new building, which will accommodate 540 pupils including nursery children, will be regarded as an extension to Ysgol Dolau and will fall under the current governing body and headmaster’s control. This gives the headmaster a great deal of flexibility on how to manage the expected, but very uneven, influx of children who will reside within the new development.

Llanharan Primary School The Community Council was pleased to note that RCT CBC are investing £600,000 to create two new permanent classrooms in response to the demand for places at the school.

Future Meetings The next allotments, footpaths and open spaces committee meeting will be on 4th October 2018, the next Ordinary Council meeting will be on Thursday 18th October 2018 and the next CIG meeting will be on 13th November 2018, all at Llanharan Miner’s Welfare Hall starting at 7:00pm A reminder that the Minutes of the Community Council’s and its committee’s meetings can be found at the office in the Drop-in Centre, at the local Post Offices and on the Community Council’s web site www.llanharancc.co.uk Any compliments or complaints please contact me (07737 682633) or Peter Davies, Clerk to Llanharan Community Council 01443 231430 Email: [email protected]

Cllr Chris Parker Chairman of Llanharan Community Council Tel: 01443 237243 Mobile: 07737 682633 Email: [email protected]