MINUTES OF A COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT THE COUNCIL CHAMBER ON MONDAY 26th OCTOBER2015 AT 7.00 PM

PRESENT:Cllr P. Davies (Mayor)

“ E.J. Breeze

“ Mrs J. Crisp

“ Mrs L. Evans

“ Mrs A.M. Jones

“ Mrs A. Morgan

“ G. Morgan

“ G. Rowlands

“ Mrs P. Smith

Town Clerk

3 members of the Public

398/01APOLOGIES Apologies were received from CllrsLady Hooson, Mrs C. Edwardes, Mrs S. Mills, P. Rees & J. Whittal Williams

398/02TO ACCEPT PERSONAL AND PECUNIARY INTERESTS IN ITEMS OF BUSINESS

Declaration of Interest Forms were distributed and filed with the minutes. Cllr G. Morgan declared a personal interest as an elected member of Powys County Council in matters concerning PCC. Cllr Smith declared an interest in item 7, Community Delivery as an employee of PCC Museum services. Cllr Angela Morgan declared an interest in item 6, allocation of s137 donations to Brownies, as she is Guiding Ambassador.

398/03MINUTES The following minutes were read and confirmed:-

Minutes of Council Meeting held on 28.09.15 True Record Unanimously agreed

Environment/Planning Panel meeting held on 12.010.15 True Record, unanimously agreed

Town Hall/Finance Panel meeting held on 12.10.15 True Record, unanimously agreed

Site meeting with Ms Sue Bolter PCC held on 13.10.15 Clerk stated disappointment at a poor turnout of Councillors for the site meeting. True Record

398/04TO RECEIVE CORRESPONDENCE:-

a)Letter from residents at Maesydre re Parking Concerns – It was agreed that the resident had taken the report which was published in the County Times, out of context and the Mayor had spoken to Mr Ellis to explain.

b)Letter from Planning Inspectorate re Application by Mynydd y Gwynt wind farm - Received

c)Request for funding from Kelly Hawkins at Red Lion Hotel for Music Festival- it was agreed not to fund as this is a private business venture

d)Request for funding from Citizens Advice Bureau – discuss at item 6

e)Request for funding from Llangollen International Eisteddfod – It was agreed not to fund as this is outside our area

f)Request for funding from 1st Llanidloes Brownies – discuss at item 6

g)Request for funding from Crocodocodile Playgroup – discuss at item 6

h)Letter from Wales Audit Office re External Audit arrangements 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2018-19 - Received

i)Letter from PCC Re Powys Pension Fund Annual Employers Meeting - Received

398/05TO RECEIVE BANK RECONCILIATION FOR JULY – SEPTEMBER 2015 Received

398/06TO ALLOCATE S137 DONATIONS. Cllr Breeze opened the discussion and explained that monies had been included into the Precept for the Community Centre but a request letter had not been received. The majority of Councillors were in favour of giving £5000 to Community Centre fund once a letter of request is received. It was unanimously agreed to donate£1,200 between the following organisations:-

Citizens Advice Bureau£160.00

Crocodocodile Playgroup£250.00

1st Llanidloes Brownies£240.00

Llanidloes Cricket Club£250.00

Llanidloes Scout Group£200.00

Ponthafren Association£100.00

Total £1,200.00

398/07TO DISCUSS LETTER FROM PCC RE COMMUNITY DELIVERY AND TO DISCUSS POSSIBLE TRANSER OF ALLOTMENTS AND LAND FROM PCC FURTHER TO SITE MEETING ON 13th OCTOBER

It was agreed that a meeting with Allotment holders will be set up. The following questions will be put to PCC

  • If we don’t take them on what will happen? Cllr Jones thought that PCC were legally obligated to provide allotments
  • How much extra will Public liability cost us?
  • Provide us with a list of names and addresses of allotment holders so that we can set up a meeting

398/08TO DISCUSS LETTER FROM PCC REGARDING CONCURRENT FUNCTIONS AND VILLAGE HALL GRANTS – FUTURE FUNDING Clerk explained that instead of having an amount of money to cover concurrent functions, we will then have to apply for grant funding for each project we have as we have done recently for the Playground. This matter will be discussed further at the Precept setting meeting in November

398/09TORECEIVE MINUTES AND BANK STATEMENTS FROM BURIAL BOARD Received. Clerk informed Council that a new Clerk, Mrs Shirley Owen, has now taken over from Mr Dalis Davies.

398/10TO RECEIVE LETTER FROM LLANIDLOES REFUGEE SUPPORT GROUP AND TO RECEIVE A 5 MINUTE PRESENTATION Marg Munyard and Gwen Prince were introduced to Council and explained that 30 people turned up to a recent meeting which was held at the Community Centre. The aim was to raise funding for the refugee crisis in Europe, collect clothing and adult shoes which would to be taken to Calais. It is hoped that Llanidloes will join with other towns in Montgomeryshire although there is no infrastructure in place in Powys as yet with the nearest Town being Aberystwyth.The first fund raising event was held last Saturday and raised £290. Collection points for clothing are in Natural Foods and the Old Mill, where they have a full list of items which are required.

CllrMargot Jones congratulated Marg and Gwen on starting up the group. All Councillors voted in favour of giving support to the group. It was agreed to pass on to the press also.

398/11TO DISCUSS PCC DEVOLUTION OF SERVICES AS DISCUSSED ON MONDAY 14th SEPTEMBER AND TO ARRANGE DATE FOR SITE VISITS

Library – Clerk stated that PCC will be coming to discuss merger between Library and Museum at the next full Council meeting on 23rd November at 6.30 pm. Council agreed that there would be no reduction in rent. Refurbishment of the Museum was discussed, Clerk stated that she would not be happy to project manage the refurbishment on behalf of PCC, Cllr Morgan said that he would be happy to do it.

Allotments - As 398/07. It was agreed that the allotment at the rear of the Town Hall could be beneficial to Council. Cllr Jones said that Council should be careful about spending public monies by taking on more grass and hedge cutting as our operative is unable to cope with more work and the extra work would have to be contracted out. Cllr Rowlands agreed, stating that Council could expect to pay approx £16 per hour for a contractor.

Old Market Hall - We are still waiting for information regarding signage from Cllr Brown at PCC

Playgrounds - Still waiting to hear about PCC Grant in relation to the Rec playground. It was agreed that up to date Rospa reports are required from PCC on all other playgrounds.

Areas of land near Long Bridge and Church - Clerk was asked to obtain the cost of felling the 4 trees on the right hand side of the Long Bridge with a view to selling the land on to residents in the future.

Clerk warned that she knows of a Council who took over assets and land transfers and ended up paying £10,000 in Solicitors fees.

398/12TO RECEIVE UPDATE ON BIOMASS BOILER Clerk explained that an independent inspector (Mick Walmsley) arranged by Heatas will be giving a quotation and then coming in to look at the system by the end of this week.Mr Walmsley is a qualified inspector and has been suggested through the Centre for Alternative Technology at Machynlleth.

398/13TO OPEN AND DISCUSS QUOTATIONS FOR DECORATION OF THE TOWN HALLClerk explained that 10 specifications were sent out and only 2 were received back. The two quotations were opened and discussed and it was agreed that Michael Edwards quotation of £2,740for the 3 phases would be accepted.

398/14TO RECEIVE EXTERNAL AUDIT AND DISCUSS ISSUES ARISING REPORT All Councillors had read the report and discussed it at length. The Mayor stated that report was very good considering the large budget Council now had to deal with.

398/15TO DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING PLANNING APPLICATION AND ANY PLANNING APPLICATIONS RECIEVED BEFORE THE MEETING

P2015/0951 Display of fascia & hanging sign (non illuminated) and a barber pole (internally illuminated) retrospective at 12 Longbridge Street Llanidloes Powys - Councillors Unanimously Objected as it is contradicting the Article 4 condition regarding a conservation area. 2 Councillors also wished to express that if a fresh application was made for a hanging sign and a traditional barbers’ pole they would have no objection.

Full Planning Permission is granted to Proposed change of use of Snooker room, reading room (retrospective) and meeting room to office accommodation and proposed change of use of stables/store into office accommodation (D1 & D2 to B1) The Town Hall Great Oak Street Llanidloes

398/16 THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNTS WERE CONFIRMED

SEPTEMBER

Chq No

100275Burial Board17,338.21

100276PCC (Pension Aug) 512.10

100277Wynnstay 72.02

100278W Henry Price 99.99

100279R.A. Owen & Son 907.20

100280J.K. Morgan 92.00

100281PC Q 18.37

100282Inland Revenue 833.24

100283Carpet Right (Coach House) 535.96

100284Carpet Right (fitting) 180.00

100285Sonia Pritchard (travel exp) 22.50

100286Petty Cash 88.65

100287Inland Revenue 833.64

100288PCC (Pension Sept) 512.10

Total£ 22,045.98

398/17COUNCILLORS QUESTIONS - Answers to be found by the next meeting if possible

Cllr Smith asked if a request could be made to the owner of a hedge at Hafren Terrace for the height of the hedge to be cut back. The Mayor will approach the owners of the hedge and report back to the next meeting.

Request from Hazel Maddocks for Both Coed/Tir Coed event at Allt Goch - Councillors had been sent Risk Assessment and method statement via e mail and unanimously agreed that the event could take place at the forest school in December 2015

Youth Club –It was agreed that an officer from PCC would be invited to a meeting to discuss Youth Club services

398/18TO CONFIRM DATES FOR NOVEMBER MEETINGS

8th November-Remembrance Sunday – Mayor gave his apologies

9th November-Panel Meeting

23rd November -Full Council Meeting

Meeting closed at 9.00 pm

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