MINUTES OF MEETING
LANGSTONE COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Date: 11th March 2013
Time: 7.50pm
Present: Cllr A Henderson (in Chair)
Cllr T Jeffery
Cllr D Barradell
Cllr T Haycock
Cllr C Pike
Cllr G Hancock
Cllr K Dew
Cllr Y Edwards
Cllr C Bryant
In Attendance: Cllr R Mogford (NCC) A member of the Public
160 Declarations of Interests
None
161 Previous Minutes
(i) Subject to the renumbering of the page numbers 48 – 50 the minutes of meeting held on Monday 11th February 2013 were accepted as a true record and signed by the chair.
(ii) Cllr Pike noted that the highway issue regarding street lighting in Tregarn Court had now been resolved.
162 Clerk’s Report
The Clerk’s report dated 11th March 2013 was received and accepted for appending to the minutes.
163 LCC Committees
The minutes of the Planning and Finance and Amenities & Events Committee Meetings held on 11th February 2013 were received and accepted for appending to the minutes.
164 Councillor Vacancy
An application received from a member of the public who wished to join the council as a co-opted member was discussed. As the applicant currently lived in Newport and there was some debate as to whether his current address fell within 3 miles of the community boundary it was agreed that the Clerk should seek clarification from the electoral registrations manager in regard to this matter before the application was proceeded with. It was however noted that the individual concerned would be moving to Langstone in April and could apply to be included on the electoral register for Langstone which would fulfill the eligibility criteria for becoming a Cllr as he would be a local elector.
Action SH
165 Recruitment of new Clerk
The Clerk advised members that following a paper sift 5 applicant’s had been shortlisted for interview. Following some discussion it was agreed that the interview panel would consist of Cllr Henderson, Jeffery and the Clerk, and approval was given for the interview panel to have delegated authority to proceed with the interviews and make a recommendation to the council in regard to the most suitable applicant for the post. It was resolved that this council authorises the Clerk to arrange an interview room at the Hilton Hotel and approves all expenditure in relation to the conducting of the interviews including room hire and refreshments.
Action AH/TJ/SH
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166 Gwent Police
(i) The content of Langstone Ward Police Report for February 2013 was noted.
(ii) PCSO 93 Mallett from Ringland was in attendance, he advised members that the local neighbourhood team were on rest day and he had been requested to attend, but had very little local knowledge so would need to refer any questions or concerns to the NPT. He then went on to give an over view of motorcycle related problem in the area.
167 City Councillors
Cllr Mogford gave an update on the recent Langstone Community Action Group meeting and the discussions that had taken place, informing members that the minutes could be found on the Langstone Village website. He further advised that whilst he had been informed that the road sign in Miller Close would be replaced there was currently no funding available for the work.
Cllr Hancock informed Cllr Mogford that a complaint had been received regarding refuse collections in Abernant Road where it was reported that NCC were refusing to supply wheelie bins to residents, as the refuse vehicles could not be used in the area. It was agreed that the Clerk would forward the details of the complaint and he would take the matter up with NCC.
Action SH
168 Public Participation
None
169 Oak Court
The Clerk informed members that she had been informed by Mr Williams that whilst there were no specific developments to report his clients had on-going concerns in regard to the costs associated with the submitting of a planning application where there was no guarantee of success. They had however confirmed that they were willing to contribute £1500 towards the costs of LCC’s consultation with residents over the development as they felt this would provide a clear indication of whether the development had the support of local residents or not.
Cllr Henderson informed members that at the LCAG meeting concerns had been raised in regard to the fact that the developer was paying for the consultation and he had agreed to raise their concerns with the council. These concerns were discussed at some length by members who reiterated that as the developer was to have no input into the Village survey in which the consultation would be included there was no conflict of interest. The developer would only have the same access to the results of the survey as other interested parties, and that as the consultation on the Oak Court development was only included due to the need to seek residents views on the proposed development it was fair that these costs were borne by the developer not residents.
170 Local Development Plan
The Clerk informed members that she had received official confirmation from NCC that the focussed changes to the LDP would now go before full council for approval in June, a 6 week consultation period would then follow during which residents would have the opportunity to make representations on the changes.
NCC had indicated that they were willing to give a presentation to Community Councils and residents on the LDP and the focussed changes during the early part of June, but that any such presentation would need to take place at Civic Centre. It was agreed that the Clerk should make the necessary arrangements for LCC to hold a one Agenda Item meeting at the Civic Centre which residents would be invited to attend.
Action SH
171 Village Plan
Cllr Hancock provided an update on the progress made, circulating a draft version of the Village Survey questionnaire for members to see. He informed members that at the recent LCAG meeting he had been pushed to give details in regard to the questions that would be asked in relation to the Oak Court development but had refused as he did not think it was appropriate to do so.
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A discussion took place in regard to the nature of the questions that were included and how the data in relation to the Oak Court consultation would be abstracted; the use of the data provided and the formation of a Village Plan. It was noted that whilst the initial costs had been estimated at being around £1500, this would only cover the production and distribution of the survey with more funding being required to develop the information obtained into a useable Village Plan. It was hoped that the initial results would be available for the May meeting of the council, but this would all be subject to printing, delivery and analysis taking place without any delays.
Action KD/TJ/GH/SH
172 Reports
(a) GAVO – No report
(b) LVH – Cllr Edwards reported that whilst there had been no further meeting of LVH she had sent an email to the Village Hall Trustees regarding LCC’s observations in regard to the suggested wording of the Rental Agreement for the LCC office.
(c) Langstone Primary School Governors – Cllr Bryant advised that the next meeting of the Governors was to be held the following week, but in the interim a meeting regarding the setting up of a Breakfast Club had taken place and it had been agreed that this would be progressed further with a view to it being started sometime in June.
(d) Cllr Hancock reminded members that the Shared Charter between NCC and Community Councils was to be reviewed at the next meeting, and he would put forward the points raised by members in the earlier discussions. He then went on to comment that he felt that NCC had shown a great deal of disrespect to LCC and the other Community Councils that almost bordered on contempt. Following discussions members resolved that Cllr Hancock should be given delegated authority to vote on any amendments to the Charter and ensure that NCC were left in no doubt of LCC’s dissatisfaction with the way the Charter was being implemented and the lack of respect being shown towards the Community Councils.
Action GH/SH
173 Correspondence
(i) Solar Photovoltaic Farm at Hazel Farm Langstone - the response received from NCC Planning Department regarding concerns raised by LCC that the proposals contained in the Planning Application Design Statement for the solar farm had not been met was read out.
In essence NCC stated that
· the provision of free solar panels and the setting up of a trust included (community benefit), in the original application were no more than a sweetener for an application that was already acceptable in planning terms
· the development was not subject to s106 obligations and therefore the community benefits promised are not enforceable as they are not essential in planning terms
· Technical advice Note 8 on renewable Energy did not apply
· with the benefit of hindsight it would have been more helpful to encourage the preparation of a formal agreement between the applicant and the Community Council
A discussion in regard to the content of the letter took place and it was noted that at the public meeting held by the developer, the community benefits had been promised and they had been included in the design statement accompanying the planning application. The NCC planning officer dealing with the application had highlighted these community benefits both in his written advice to the planning committee and again at the meeting itself, when planning permission was granted it was on condition that the content of the design and access statement were met.
Members noted their dissatisfaction with the way this application had been dealt with by NCC especially in light of the fact that LCC had specifically asked NCC for assurances that the community benefits as set out in the design statement would be delivered when providing its comments as part of the Statutory Consultation process. It was resolved that this Council instructs the Clerk to:
· write to the developer asking them to make good on the promised community benefit as set out in the design statement
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· write to NCC making a formal complaint regarding the way the matter had been dealt with by both the planning officer concerned and NCC Planning Department as a whole.
Action SH
(ii) A request for Clerk & LCC Chair to attend a meeting with General Manager of the Caldicot and Wentlooge Levels Internal Drainage Board was considered and it was agreed that LCC should be represented at any meeting to establish any potential impact on Langstone.
Action SH
(iii) The contents of a Letter from HMRC concerning changes to the payroll reporting system from 6th April 2013 was considered and it was agreed LCC would use the HMRC online tools to run ‘Real time PAYE’ initially and the new Clerk could assess the systems suitability and report any problems back to the council for consideration. The Clerk advised that she currently completed payroll using ‘IRIS’ but would look at the HMRC software package and use this for the April payroll
Action SH
174 Recognition of Councillors Service Boards
The Clerk informed Members that the boards had been returned to have the plates pinned.
175 Community First Magazine/ Langstone Village website/LCC Website
No update
176 Matters of Interest/Items for inclusion in next Agenda
(i) Cllr Haycock noted that one of the signs referring to the new road layout had been removed but the one near Park End was still there. It was agreed that the Clerk would follow this up with NCC.
Action SH
(ii) The Clerk advised that following attendance at the recent Information commissioners Workshop she had been informed that LCC must be registered as a Data User and as such she had completed an interim registration pending the arrival of the full registration pack.
(iii) Cllr Henderson noted that he would be unable to attend the Annual meeting in May as he would be away. Following discussion it was agreed that as this was the meeting when the LCC Chair was elected the meeting should be brought forward but as the preceding Monday was a Bank Holiday It was resolved that this council approves the re- scheduling of the Annual Meeting of the Council to Tuesday 7th May 2013, followed by an Ordinary Meeting of the council.
Action SH
There being no other business the meeting concluded at 21.35 pm with the date of the next ordinary meeting of the council being confirmed as Monday 8th April 2013.
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LCC Meeting 11th March 2013