Minutes Minutes of the meeting held on – Monday 13th May 2019, Bedlinog Community Centre, at 7.00 pm. PRESENT: Cllr Helen Thomas (Chair) Cllr Ian Thomas Cllr Jeff Beard Cllr Richard Searl Cllr Gillian Preston Cllr Sherelle Jago Cllr Vanessa Matthews Cllr Elizabeth Evans IN ATTENDANCE: Ryan James (Clerk to the Community Council). Item Discussion Action No. 1 Welcome and Apologies The Chair, Cllr Helen Thomas, welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were received from Cllr Ann Mills. 2 AGM: Nomination of Chair and Vice-Chair Cllr Helen Thomas stood for position of Chair of Council and was unanimously voted for by all Cllrs. Cllr Sherelle Jago stood for position of Vice-Chair of Council and was unanimously voted for by all Cllrs. Both Cllrs will serve as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Council respectively, until May 2020. 3 Declarations of Interest 1 Version v0.1 Author: Ryan James There were no declarations of interest. 4 Police Report RJ to publish the Police The Police were unable to attend the meeting Report on the Community due to attendance at the Treharris PACT meeting Council Facebook page and at the same time, but provided the following encourage residents to email report: report any incidents that they witness to 101. Police Crime Report – 01/04/2019 - 10/05/2019 Bedlinog Crime None reported Bedlinog Anti-social behaviour 12/04/19 and 15/04/19 ASB issues at Craig Y Hendre involving a resident and local youths causing issues within the complex. Police have intervened and contacted Hafod Housing. There have been no calls since. 17th, 18th and 19th April- Successive calls from a resident at Hylton Terrace about youths congregating in an old shed to the rear of the basketball court, smoking cannabis and causing damage. We have attended and youths no longer gather there. The shed has also been secured. We are continuing to monitor this on patrols. 23/04/19- Youth annoyance at the fishing pond at the end of Coly Row. Same youths as mentioned in above occurrence were reported swimming in the pond, damaging a sign and trying to light fires in the area. No further calls to police since this incident. Trelewis Crime None reported Trelewis Anti-social behaviour 18/04/19- Off road bike ASB on old quarry. Reported by a resident of Maen Ganol, however, no one was there upon police arrival. 28/04/19 ASB- One youth attempting to light fires with aerosol can in a small den near 2 Version v0.1 Author: Ryan James Bontnewydd Terrace. Youth located by police and dealt with. Cllr Jago advised that she would be meeting with a South Wales Police Inspector w/c 20th May as the Inspector wanted to understand what crime was taking place in the local communities. Cllr Jago asked if there were any issues to raise From a Community Council perspective - Cllr Searl asked that the drugs issues in both Bedlinog and Trelewis be raised and the need to have a Police presence to help with the issue. It was noted that Hylton Terrace is a hotspot in Bedlinog and the Lakes area in Trelewis. Cllr Preston advised the Council that there are two tents at Graig Cemetery. Cllr Preston reported this to South Wales Police via 101 and email – police have attended and will continue to patrol the area but cannot move the individuals on as it is a common road. Cllr Jago advised that PC Barry Cradle has left the area and we now have a new Police Officer, Gareth Perry continues to be the PCSO for the area. Cllr Jago also advised Council that she has raised issues regarding waiting times when residents call 101 with the South Sales Crime and Commissioner Panel – residents are hanging up because they must sometimes wait up to 15 minutes for an answer. Cllr Jago has been invited to visit the call centre in action to get an understanding of how it works before then being able to scrutinise the Commissioner. 5 Minutes of the Previous Meeting RJ to upload minutes to the Council resolved that the minutes were a true Bedlinog Community record of the last meeting. Council website. 6 Matters Arising The @gov.wales email address has been purchased for the Clerk – the new contact email address is [email protected] 3 Version v0.1 Author: Ryan James Awaiting confirmation from MTCBC on the outcome of the 28-day period where residents of Manor View, Trelewis, could object to MTCBC adopting their highways. Awaiting confirmation from MTCBC on an exact date as to when the repairs will take place on the wall along Taff Road. The support group for dementia carers will be utilising Bedlinog Community Centre during term time, Tuesday’s, 1-3pm. The group starts Tuesday 14th May. RJ contacted One Voice Wales (OVW) for advice on charging for community assets – OVW advised that this is an individual’s Council’s choice and provided examples of other RJ to publish charging plan Community Council’s charging plans. RJ for Bedlinog Community presented a draft charging plan for Bedlinog Centre on the Council’s Community Centre which Council resolved to website. adopt. The Crafters Club have provided a bank statement and the grant of £625 has been officially awarded to the club. The BrightPay licence has been purchased for the Clerk to run Payroll at a cost of £49. 7 County Councillors Report Cllr Ian Thomas advised the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales has published its draft report – it is out for consultation until 14th July and they expect new arrangements to be in place before the 2022 elections. The main proposals are a reduction in County Councillors from 33 to 30, specifically, the Gurnos Ward is reduced from 3 to 4 Cllrs, Dowlais Ward reduced from 4 to 3 and Park Ward reduced from 3 to 2. There are no proposed changes to the Bedlinog RJ to draft Community Ward within the draft report. Cllr Jeff Beard Council response to the asked if the Community Council could provide a consultation. response to the consultation to request Trelewis is included within the Ward name to make them feel inclusive – there are only two villages in the ward and residents have always raised that they 4 Version v0.1 Author: Ryan James feel excluded and do not always know within which Ward they sit. Cllr Sherelle Jago made a proposal to change the RJ to liaise with Ann Taylor, Community Council name to Bedlinog and MTCBC on Full Council Trelewis Community Council. RJ advised that Report. Section 76 of the Local Government Act 1972 states that, at the request of a Community Council, the principal Council in which the Community was situated may change the name of the Community. Council resolved to proceed with submitting a report to MTCBC to request the name change to the Community Council. Cllr Ian Thomas also advised that there was a meeting of the Full Council on 17th April with the main agenda item being that the Council had to sit as a planning authority. The proposal was to build 10 houses on land near a cancer care facility in Dowlais, Planning Officers recommended approval, but the Cllrs refused. If this goes to appeal, instead of the officers representing the Council, the Cllrs themselves who refused the officers recommendation will be the representatives. Cllr Sherelle Jago stated that on the 15th May, the new Mayor will be elected and inaugurated. Currently the Deputy Mayor is Cllr Howard Barrett of the Vaynor Ward - the proposal is for Cllr Barrett to be elected as Mayor, and Cllr Jago is going to be making a proposal for the Deputy Mayor to be Cllr Malcolm Colbran. 8 Planning Applications RJ to advice MTCBC Council considered the following planning Planning Department of applications: Council’s decision on the planning applications. P/19/0092 & P/19/0115. Council did not raise any concerns with the planning applications. 9 Correspondence Bedlinog Community Centre is being used by MTCBC, Thursday 23rd May, for the European Elections. The Community Council will receive a 5 Version v0.1 Author: Ryan James payment of £350 from MTCBC for use of the centre. The guide produced by One Voice Wales in relation to proposed payments to Community Councillors for financial year 19/20 was provided to Cllrs. No Council decision is required for the mandated payment of £150 to Cllrs, however, Cllrs can opt-out to receive the payment. No committees exist on the Council, so there is no requirement to award up to a maximum of five Cllrs with a £500 senior role payment. A Council decision must be made on the following: • To adopt travel costs for Cllrs in the course of their duty – for training at fair distances • To award the Chair a payment of up to £1500 • To award the Vice-Chair a payment of up to £500 Those opting-out of receiving the payment of £150 completed an opt-out form and provided this to the Clerk. Council resolved NOT to pay mileage expenses as this is an optional payment. The Chair and Vice-Chair opted out of receiving the payments of up to £1500 and £500 respectively. The One Voice Wales Newsletter has been shared electronically with Cllrs. Planning Aid presented at the One Voice Wales Area Committee 10-04-19, and the presentation has been shared electronically with Cllrs. The One Voice Wales training schedule up until July 2019 has been shared with Cllrs. Notice of Independent Examination (LDP Regulation 23) for the REPLACEMENT MERTHYR RJ to publicise the locations TYDFIL LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2016-2031 and dates of the public has been received.