MAELOR SOUTH COMMUNITY COUNCIL Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, 5thJanuary 2021 via Zoom. Present: Cllr. J. Griffiths, Cllr. J. Blanchard, Cllr. Mrs. W. Sime, Cllr. Mrs. H. Dearling, Cllr. Mrs. S. Rodenhurst, Cllr. S. Hill, Cllr. R. Toms, Cllr. J. McCusker, Mrs. L. Houston, Clerk. 1. Apologies: Cllr. Mrs. B. Coupe – incapacitated 2. Declarations of Interest: There were none. 3. Minutes of the last meeting: There was one correction – Item replace ‘many trees’ with ‘some trees’ and two omissions – Cllr. Mrs. Sime was present at the November meeting and Mr. Ray Toms attended the December meeting as a guest. 4. Matters arising from the minutes: • Freedom of information request – a reply has been received from WCBC stating that all of the £50,000 allocation has been spent on the junction at the entrance to Penmere Park. Clerk to write to ask for a detailed breakdown of what this has been spent on. • Community Garden – the Maelor School Governing Body meeting at which this was to be discussed has been postponed until this January. If this meeting goes ahead, Cllr. Mrs. Coupe will feed back at the February meeting. • Defibrilator – Matthews Electricals are hoping to move the unit to The Rainbow Centre on 13th January. Clerk to notify Penley Stores and The Rainbow Centre of this date. • The Chair welcomed Mr. Ray Toms as new councillor for the Penley ward. 5. County Council update. Cllr. McCusker reported the following: Spending on roads in Wales is less than it was 14 years ago, with inflation having gone up by 54%. More traffic and larger vehicles combined with this lack of investment have led to roads being in a terrible state. Covid cases – Wrexham now has the second highest number of cases out of 22 local authorities in Wales. Cllr. McCusker will support the Community Council in addressing issues with the Morris Homes Estate and with road safety measures outside the Madras School. Councillors asked for Cllr. McCusker’s support with the following issues: The Penley to Overton road gets very icy near to the woodyard and is dangerous early in the morning. It is not always gritted. The canal bridge into Bettisfield needs to be well gritted but is only given a thin covering. This is the only way in and out of the village at the moment as the road in the other direction is flooded. Cllr. Griffiths will check the grit bins along Ellesmere Lane and report to Cllr. McCusker if they need re-filling. 6. Correspondence. From Subject Action North Wales Police Insp. Darren Whibberley has Clerk will send him a copy of moved on and Gavin outlining MSCC’s concerns Gilmore is the new about road safety outside Inspector for Rural Policing. Madras School. Rainbow Centre Community Agent meeting, Cllr. Rodenhurst unable to 20th January 2021 attend due to work commitments. LH will attend. Welsh Government Discretionary spending limit for 20-21 is £8.71 per elector. Audit Wales Cycle 3 year of audits MSCC 20/21 Full 21/22 Basic 22/23 Basic PCSO Catherine Griffiths Speed checks in Penley Hughes 9/12/20 12.45 9/30 cars speeding. Top speed 25mph 7. Finance Bills to be paid Payee Amount For Cheque Number J. Bell 85.00 Grasscutting, 1053 Bettisfield L. Houston 43.01 Clerk expenses: 1054 Zoom 14.39 Printer ink 19.50 Postage stamps 9.12 J. Williams 108.00 Maintenance, litter 1055 picking and bin emptying, Penley Wales Audit Office 373.25 External audit 1056 Cllr. Mrs. Dearling proposed and Cllr. Mrs. Rodenhurst seconded that these bills should be paid. The audit bill last year was £ 277.78. Clerk to enquire why there is this increase. Income and Expenditure Date/Current Debits Credits Description Balance Account 29.11.20 8,256.29 1.12.20 20.95 Steven Morris, 8,235.34 Bettisfield Planter 1.12.20 107.77 WCBC Street 8,127.57 light insp. + maint 1.12.20 26.62 WCBC Street 8,100.95 light repair 1.12.20 878.09 Clerk salary 7,222.86 1.12.20 330.33 Clerk expenses 6,892.53 9.12.20 6,066.68 WCBC Precept 12,959.21 Deposit Account 28.20.20 5,590.37 10.11.20 3.08 Interest 5,593.45 Total available funds: 18,552.66 Budget Plan A budget plan prepared by the Chair had been circulated before the meeting. A sum of £470.16 set aside for street lights was questioned. This was a contingency in case any units need to be replaced. It was suggested that a contingency should also be held for the VAS in case of breakdown. It was suggested that £500 also be set aside for unplanned maintenance and miscellaneous items. All agreed. Charitable donations – will need to be discussed at the next meeting. The sum of £11,234 to be held in reserve for fixed expenditure plus £2,370 committed for a new gate for Penley Playground. The balance available to spend will be re-calculated and circulated Priorities for projects for 21/22 were discussed. Precept WCBC has informed that the tax base for 21/22 is 708. Clerk to enquire whether this is correct as last year was 711, but there are more houses now. It was agreed that under current economic circumstances, the Community Council should not request an increase to the Precept for the next financial year. Audit The audit has been completed. The only request in the report is that more detailed minutes of discussions regarding the audit recommendations are made, which was not the case for 2017-18. Internet banking The process to set up is ongoing, but a slow process. 8. Planning New applications P/2020/0871 Lane End, Penley – Erection of one detached 3- bedroom bungalow with detached garage. OBJECT on grounds that access is very narrow, loss of garden environment, loss of natural habitat, lack of village facilities and space in the schools. P/2020/0827 8, Oakwood Park, Penley – amendment to P/2020/0555 – change of window and door openings. (original application for garage conversion -GRANTED) NO OBJECTIONS P/2020/0801 – Park Lane Farm – from Iris Cottage to Lion Lane – outline application for one dwelling. NO OBJECTIONS Decisions P/2020/0748 – Land west of Tudor Drive – 17 dwellings – PENDING P/2020/0705 – Bettisfield Bridge – one residential mooring and one holiday let – PENDING P/2020/0698 – Taits Farm Cottage – change of use of land to residential garden – GRANTED P/2020/0668 – 8, Hillcrest – Single storey front extension – PENDING P/2020/0162- Big Green Farm – Elevations - GRANTED P/2020/0606- Big Green Farm -Dust management, site layout, traffic management -NO DECISION P/2020/0509 – Big Green Farm – Landscaping and Materials – GRANTED Appeal APP/H6955/A/20/3262100 Glenmore Cottage, Higher Penley (P/2020/0235) Letter sent to the Planning Inspectorate Wales as per the draft circulated before the meeting. 9. Village projects Road Safety outside Madras School – provision of zebra crossing. Picnic benches for the Office Field, Bettisfield. Additional piece of play equipment for Penley Playground. Community garden, Penley Bike shelter at Madras to encourage children to cycle to school. Planters containing trees and bulbs outside Park Villas, Penley. It was agreed to purchase 5 reflective posts for Cadney Lane, Bettisfield. J. Bell will be asked to cut the hedges surrounding the Office Field. 10. Streetscene. Flashing speed sign at entry to Penley from Overton is not working. Clerk to contact G. Lloyd, WCBC. Light deflector needed outside Church View, Penley. Section of road at the bridge on Ellesmere Lane to be reported – surface condition extremely poor. Road surface through Penley in extremely poor condition. Clerk to report, but councillors advised to report as individuals also. The previously repaired Canal bridge at Bettisfield is beginning to wear again. 11. Any Other Business. It was suggested that residents could be consulted about future projects. There being no further business, the meeting closed at 10.06p.m. Date of next meeting: Tuesday, 2nd February 2021, via Zoom. .