Minutes of a Council Meeting held in the Village Hall
on Tuesday 30th July 2019 at 7.30pm.
Public participation (other public comments have been listed with the relevant
agenda items).
The owner of the Greenman Festival and her Director of Operations spoke to the
meeting. They outlined the scope of the Greenman business - that it is a welsh
company and festival. The posters for it in London locate the festival in the Brecon
Beacons. And these posters give the festival a media reach of 1.9 billion. This is
what the Greenman gives us, and £10 million into the local economy.
The festival also employs local people for the duration, it's food vendors sell local
food (welsh ingredients) and it has won lots of prizes. All this adds up to a positive
brand which helps to attract and hold visitors.
They went on to describe their interests in the community, such as Cwm Du and now
Llangynidr. The Friends of Llangynidr School have the opportunity to run a tea and
coffee stall at the festival this year.
Regarding the traffic last year, emergencies would always take priority over festival
traffic. This year the back road will be closed between 10.30am and 4pm to allow
festival goers to leave the area quickly. The Greenman festival is paying for the link
taxis up to Bwlch and back.
In sum the Greenman is some disruption for a weekend but it brings a lot into the
economy and puts us on the map!
Present: Mrs Margaret Price (Chair), Mr David Mantle, Mr David Williams, Mrs
Elizabeth Gibbs, Mr Alan James, Mr Paul Lindoewood and County Councillor
Rosemarie Harris.
In attendance: 5 Members of the public and S.Dale (Clerk).
1. Absent: Mr George Moretta, Mr David Filsell and Mr Gene Taylor.
2. Declaration of interest in items of business listed below: None
3. Signing of the minutes:
Of the meeting held on the 25th June 2019 were approved.
Proposed by AJ and seconded by DW.
Of the meeting held on the 3rd July 2019 were approved.
Proposed by MB and seconded by EG.
4. Correspondence to be circulated:
a. Invitation for the council to be represented at a Local
Development Plan Meeting on the 6th August 2019, dated
18/7/2019. EG to attend, Clerk to arrange.
b. A new Community Connector with Powys Association of
Volunary Organisations (PAVO) working within the Crickhowell
area, and will be based within the Health Centre in Crickhowell.
She would be keen to arrange a meeting to discuss further as she
is trying to meet and identify as many community members and
groups as possible to help deliver the best service. Contact via the
clerk. Invite the Community Connector to the September meeting,
Clerk to arrange.
c. Invitation to Powys PSB Engagement with Town and
Community Councils. An opportunity for Powys Town and
Community Councils to engage with the PSB, better understand
the work it is doing and contribute to the objectives in Towards
2040 in Town and Community Council’s own plans.Venue: Celf
O Gwmpas, Llandrindod Wells, LD1 5EB Date: Thursday 19th
September Time: 14.00-16.00 If councillors would like to attend,
please contact the Clerk. MB to attend, clerk to arrange.
5. Clerk's Report
We have had news from Powys County Council (PCC) about the
bus service AFTER the Green Man Festival. The road through
Llangynidr will be closed on Monday 19th August from about 10.30
till 4 to allow the festival goers to leave the site. PCC has arranged a
taxi link between Llangynidr and Bwlch for that day. A poster with
details (supplied by PCC) has been put on the noticeboard.
One Voice Wales - Innovation Conference 10th July 2019 - I
wanted to go primarily to hear the keynote address by
Deputy Director of Transformations in Partnership, Welsh
Government. “The Future of Town and Community Councils
in Wales”. She reaffrmed that Town and Community
Councils will be supported through change – to help them
take on an expanded role (not specifed). Government is
considering legislation to allow the power of competence,
which has no limit, to be used in Wales. Other measures
include; a mentoring for clerks; involvement with the Public
Service Board and formalizing the relationship between
unitary authorities and town and community councils.
There was another speech which was really good by about the
Environment Wales Act 2016. Section 6 of the Act specifes
the duty that applies to ALL local authorities and links in to
the Well Being of Future Generations Act 2015.
The act states that “A public authority must seek to maintain
and enhance biodiversity in relation to it's functions in
relation to Wales, and in doings promote the resilience of
ecosystems, so far as consistent with the proper exercise of
those functions.” Town and community councils must each
prepare and publish a plan setting out it's intentions to
comply with the Act.
Actions from the meeting of the 25th June have been
completed.
6. Finance:
a. Statement of Accounts and Bank reconciliation for June
2019 Approved.
b. Cheques to be approved in July 2019. Approved
Reimbursement for consultation day goods £75.17
Cleaning the car park (July) £37.50
Cleaning the public conveniences (July) £114.50
Rentokil Initial UK Ltd (hygiene) £191.52
Clerks wages and stationery allowance(July so) £333.21
c. Cheques approved in June 2019.
Cleaning the car park (Jun) £37.50
Cleaning the public conveniences (Jun) £114.50
Clerks wages and stationery allowance(Jun so) £333.21
Chairperson's Allowance 2018-2019 £150.00
British Gas (electricity for the public toilets) £61.29
Hedge trimming in the car park (2018) £186.00
Viking (Offce international, toilet supplies) £21.92
Enviroshred (document disposal) £36.00
Purple and Green Ltd (website designers) £129.60
Newland Rennie Surveyors (land valuation) £300.00
Young persons award £50.001
Dwr Cymru (services for the public toilets) £218.992
7. Report from the County Councillor.
The owners of the hedge in top village are happy to have it cut but
ask if DM will remove the clippings. The matter is in hand.
The Architect of the village hall has said that there was never any
discussion about the ownership of the village hall. He still has all
the minutes of the early meetings, but there is nothing to help there.
The issue still needs to be resolved. (See also item 20).
The bridge lights were situated as they are in accordance with
CADW instructions, as the bridge is listed as grade 1. The Head of
Traffic Management and the Area Engineer are in discussion with
the sign manufacturers to improve the situation, the technology is
still in it's infancy. (See also item 14)
RH also suggested a meeting with the Road Manager for our area to
discuss the Beaufort Road corner (by Llywyn Celyn) and other
traffic issues (See item 15).
The By Election will be over and the result announced by Friday
morning. Powys County Council are running the election and staff
are working hard.
The budget round has started. The aim is to restrict the increase in
Council Tax to under 5% this year.
8. Planning Applications : 19/17611/FUL Glan-yr-afon retention
of porch and roof terrace. It was observed that the porch and
roof terrace are not visible to the public. No Comment.
9. The role of the planning committee and the Local
Development Plan. (See item 15)
10. Request for the NHS to use the riverbank in a series of training
exercises on :- Wednesday 11th September 2019
- Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th October 2019
- Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th October 2019
- Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th October 2019
- Wednesday 30th and Thursday 31st October 2019
- Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th November 2019
- Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th November 2019
- Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st November 2019.To be
discussed and action agreed. Approved provided the NHS show the
indemnity insurance certificate to the Clerk.
11.The withdrawn path at Pentwyn has been closed for some time.
A resident has requested the circumstances be reviewed. To be
discussed and action agreed. A resident who has challenged
the Community Council over this matter was present and was
invited to speak to the meeting. She stated that the withdrawn
path has not been closed every Christmas and she knew this
because she had walked it with her family before lunch on
Christmas Day on many occasions. The resident wished to
know from the Community Council, what about future
generations? The walk is a lovely one, too lovely to lose.
“Keep it open forever”. The Clerk was instructed to contact
the Rights of Ways Officer at Brecon Beacons National Park
inviting him to a meeting of the Community Council to discuss
the options.
12. The housing development at Cae Castell is nearing completion.
The developers would like to place one or two small signs to the
site on the boundary of the car park. To be discussed and action
agreed. Approved on the condition that the signs are small and
taken away as soon as possible. Clerk to arrange permission.
13. The telephone kiosks in the village are to be removed by BT.
To be discussed and action agreed. Two kiosks are planned to
be removed; Dyffryn Crawnon and Coed-yr-Ynys (also known
as the canal bridge kiosk). Residents interested in retaining
these facilities, either intact as working telephone boxes or as
housing for some other purpose please contact the Clerk very
soon.
14. The lights on Llangynidr Bridge have been in place for some
weeks. A councillor and residents have asked for a review. To
be discussed and action agreed. (See item 7)
15. To receive a report on the Local Development Plan
Consultation Day (16/7/2019) held in the village hall. To be
discussed and action agreed. Some issues raised by the
comments collected in the course of the day were; speed and
density of traffic on Forge Road and on Cwm Crawnon Road
(particularly crossing between the village hall and car park);
green waste bins, last on the agenda in April to be put on the
agenda for discussion and action in October; dog waste bins;
Transport (particularly more buses); Broadband (including
'phone signal and wi-fi); Bridge lights (on the agenda for July),
Sewers and issues for other bodies. The Community Council
agrees with the preferred strategy whereby any new housing
development that is required, is to be located in the four main
towns as the most sustainable places for growth within the
National Park .(5.9)
Our community consultation indicated that there was a concern
that the vitality of the village should not be compromised and
we therefore welcome the intention that the community should
have the opportunity to prepare and review a place plan to
identify and plan for community-led growth and opportunities
to improve active travel. (5.11)
This would mean that if there was evidenced need for
affordable housing for local families this could be facilitated.
However, the Community Council considers that the village of
Llangynidr does not have the environmental capacity for
further open market development. This is particularly because
of the problems of road access, including the historic listed
bridge across the Usk and the unfenced road across Llangynidr
Mountain to the A465 and beyond. The community
consultation showed that there are strong concerns about the
increase in traffic in the village, including people from outside
the village using it as a “rat run” in their daily commute.
The community consultation also indicated that it valued the
built heritage of the older parts of the village and its distinctive
rural character and we therefore support 5.35.
Candidate sites – The Community Council approves that the
sites put forward for development in the village failed to be
accepted.
The Community Council approved the report and the statement
to be sent together to the Brecon Beacons National Park.
16. The sharp right hand turn near the village end of the Beaufort
Road is very slippery after rain. To be discussed and action
agreed. (See item 7)
17. A letter from Morgan's Solicitors concerning land on the
riverbank has been received. To be discussed and action
agreed. The Chairman moved the item to the end of the agenda to
enable the members of the public to stay until the other business was
complete, the resident was invited by the Chairman, to make a
statement before the item was discussed. The issue concerns a
stretch of the Usk riverbank where the ownership is disputed. On
one hand the Community Council owns deeds to the land that date
back to 1978 and on the other the resident has deeds dating back to
1985.
The resident stated that the issue had been a huge upset, and that
she had sought legal advice which suggested that proper processes
had been followed and she would go with that advice and defend.
She stated that she used the disputed area and pointed out that the
public had access, as a right of way runs through the land.
The council resolves that the public is to be excluded from the
meeting on the grounds that publicity would be prejudicial to the
public interest by reason of the confdential nature of the business to
be transacted or from other special reasons stated in the resolution
and arising from the nature of that business or of the proceedings.
(Public Bodies (Admission to meetings) Act 1960, s1).
The public were excluded from the meeting as per the 1960 Act.
It was resolved to seek to establish the true ownership of the land.
It was resolved to seek legal advice if covered by the Community
Council's Insurers.
It was further resolved to hold an extraordinary meeting on the
subject soon.
18. It is reported that camper vans are parking in the car park
overnight. To be discussed and action agreed.
Clerk to put up a sign in the car park to encourage a donation, also
the Community Council will monitor usage.
19. Public toilets may attract rates relief in Wales. Noted. Powys
County Council have not been charging rates on public toilets for
some years.
20. The village hall and recreation ground charity should be
invited to a meeting with the Community Council to discuss
their shared responsibilities. Clerk to invite the Village Hall
Committee and the Architect of the village hall to a meeting with the
Community Council over the summer.
21. The little gate to and from the recreation ground on to Cwm
Crawnon Road is not very visible from the road. To be
discussed and action agreed. MP agreed to arrange any
necessary hedge trimming.
22. The tennis coach is asking if could the Community Council
sponsor an annual tennis competition? It could be good for
the community. Clerk to ask for some details, in writing, from the
coach.
23. Arrange a date for a litter pick. 31st August 2019, 10.30am.
24. Reports from meetings attended: MP attended a Village Hall
Committee meeting on Monday 29th July 2019. The Army are said
to have a fund for improvements to play ground facilities.
Burial Ground Trust held their AGM in June, EG stood down as
Chairperson. MB volunteered to be a trustee.
25. Any agenda items for the next meeting from Councillors. None
Date of next full meeting: 24t h September 2019. There
being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting
at 9.40pm
Signed by the Chairman...........................
Dated..............................
