MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF TALGARTH TOWN COUNCIL HELD ON WEDNESDAY,

9 OCTOBER 2013, IN THE TOWN HALL, TALGARTH AT 7PM

PRESENT:– Cllr A Lord (Mayor) (In the Chair), Cllr A Bufton (Deputy Mayor), Cllr Z Argent, Cllr N Bally, Cllr M Dodds, Cllr G Jones, Cllr J Lilly, Cllr R Reid, Cllr Pip Turner, Cllr J Wilding, Cllr William Powell (Town & Powys County Councillor) – for latter part of the meeting.

APOLOGIES: Cllr J Hopkins

IN ATTENDANCE: Mrs Josephine Rumsey, Town Clerk

1. Planning Application 13/10009/FUL - Andrew Bevan, Planning Consultant, Tony James (neighbour), Stephen Groves (neighbour), B W L George, G M George (applicants)

2. Planning Application 13/09976/FUL – Jan Shivel (local resident)

3. PCC Highway/Trunk Road Agency - Richard Walker (local resident)

4. CREW Regeneration Wales – Regeneration Officer – Jemma Bere

13/233 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST - Planning Application 13/09976/FUL –2-3 Bell Street, Talgarth - Cllr A Lord, Mayor, declared an interest and took no part in the discussion or decision making.Cllr A Bufton, Deputy Mayor, chaired this item.

13/234 ANDREW BEVAN, ARCHITECT TO PRESENT THE FOLLOWING 2 PLANNING

APPLICATIONS:

Planning Application 13/10009/FUL – “Erection of 2 no Detached dwellings at land to the rear of W George the Butchers, High Street, Talgarth”– Andrew Bevan outlined the current position, stating thattwo houses was not what the developer /owner wanted - he wanted one but the BBNPA said that the site was too big for one house and the application would have to include 2 houses.

Since the current application has been out for consultation, he has had further discussions with the BBNPA and he brought along some amended plans which had now been submitted to the BBNPA thataddress the need not to adversely impact on the root structure of the tree located at the frontage of the site. This adjustment and re-orientation of plot 1 has also caused the removal of the second house that had been included at the request of the BBNPA. Officers of the BBNPA now accept the need to ensure the long term, interests of the tree and the adverse impacts the tarmac at the public car park has upon it and the need to accommodate its route structure within the site – notwithstanding the tree is not in the application site.

Tony James expressed concerns – neighbours not being consulted by the applicant, these executive type properties are not in keeping with the Conservation area and old part of the town, bad visibility from the proposed new houses onto the car park, the already sewage problems in Talgarth, the power lines feeding High Street come across this proposed area of land

Stephen Groves expressed concerns and that he, as an adjoining neighbour living in a Grade II property had not been consulted by either the applicant or the BBNPA and that the majority of the residents only knew about the application when they received the BBNPA standard consultee correspondence dated 25thSept. He felt, in the circumstances, that the application should be withdrawn and re-started. He also asked if the re-cycling centre was remaining in its present position.

Cllr A Bufton had concerns that if there was going to be a possible change to this application, should we wait and discuss the amended option as this may also help with the concerns from local residents and Town Councillors.Also why couldn't this plan be withdrawn if there was going to be a change from two dwellings to one?

Cllr A Lord has concerns with the suggestion to discharge surface water into the main sewer.

Andrew Bevan clarified that the proposal is now to be a single dwelling, the sewage and drainage areresolvable, as Welsh Water who have now got its schedule in place for upgrading in 2014 and Welsh Water and Western Power have been consulted. Also he was not aware of any plan for the re-cycling centre to be re-located.

Proposed by Cllr A Bufton and seconded by Cllr G Jones, all in favour, in the light of what we have heard this evening that the proposal is now going to be for one house, that we discuss this Planning

Application further at a Special Meeting - 7pm Wed 23 Oct.

(b)Planning Application 13/09976/FUL –Proposal: Change of use of vacant ground floor retail units to provide 2 No x 2 bed residential flats (including reinstatement of traditional frontage to street) and the provision of a laundry room/bin store outbuilding to the rear courtyard.” –2-3 Bell Street, Talgarth –Noted Cllr A Lord, Mayor, declared an interest and took no part in the discussion or decision making.Cllr A Bufton, Deputy Mayor, chaired this item.

Andrew Bevan, Planning Consultant gave an outline on this Planning Application, stating that the properties have been marketed for 18 months with no interest.

Town Councillors were very disappointed at this proposal stating that 1,2 and3 Bell Streetare primary retail locations and were designated as that in our submission to the BBNPA LDP. Town Councillors generally felt that efforts to lease these commercial premises have been very minimal, pointing out, for instance, that the electronic advert has not been updated for sometime. Councillors again stated that these 2 properties are in key locations to the town centre and should be retained as commercial – these were “protected” for commercial use. It was felt that the loss of any further commercial/retail outlets could severely impact on the future development of Talgarth, which is on the upward trend.

Jan Shivel reported that in the Summer of 2012 she wanted to run a business in Talgarth and could not find any premises to rent.

Bryan Craven, on behalf of the Talgarth & District Regeneration Group and Barbara Christopher, Talgarth Information and Resource Centre, have both written in against this Planning Application for reasons as above. We also received copy of a letter from a person Mr Hywel ap Owain who has also written into the BBNPA against this application.

Proposed by Cllr M Dodds and seconded by Cllr J Wilding, all in favour, that we also discuss this Planning Application further at a Special Meeting - 7pm Wed 23 Oct.

13/235 VISIT BY RICHARD WALKER RE: A479 BRONLLYS ROAD – Richard Walker was in attendance at the meeting and gave an outline of the meeting he had attended on 25 September, on behalf of the Town Council, at WAG with Edwina Hart, Minister for Transport, a representative of the Trunk Road Agency for South Wales, Kirsty Williams AM and William Powell AM. He said that the meeting lasted just under half an hour, and he would judge it to have been very positive.

Richard’s full report of the meeting is attached to these Minutes.

Cllr A Lord, Mayor, thanked Richard for attending the 25 Sept meeting at WAG, on behalf of the Town Council and for giving us such an informed update.

It is noted that on 30 Sept - Colin Jones of Welsh Government Transport Directorate attending a series of site visits on the A479, which included Bronllys Road, Talgarth, at which both Cllr William Powell and Cllr M Dodds were present.

13/236 VISIT BY JEMMA BERE, CREW REGENERATION WALES OFFICER – Cllr A Lord, Mayor, welcomed Jemma to the meeting.

Jemma Bere reported that CREW Regeneration Wales is in the process of writing up a case study on Talgarth which applauds the work of the Town Council and the methodology and process used by the Talgarth & District Regeneration Group which has served as a catalyst for regeneration in the town. Originally, the case study was going to look at just the Mill development but it became clear that the town had a greater story to tell and the pro-active nature of the Town Council is believed to have played a major part in the upwards trend that the town is now experiencing.

CREW is also organizing a site seminar to explore the Town’s story with a provisional date of 14 November, that is, if she can arrange it in time, otherwise it would be in the New Year. This will be targeted at an audience from their networks, primarily the RSCW, and those with a specific interest in local governance or heritage led regeneration, but local agencies will also be invited and it is hoped that there will be interest from other town councils across Wales. This will not necessarily be an ‘open/public event’ for the community but a targeted discussion which will look at the themes of the Town’s developments and examine the upwards turn in the town centre.

CREW would value the input of the members of the Town Council for both of these and is also seeking contributions from members of the TRG and BBNPA.

Cllr A Bufton, Deputy Mayor, agreed to speak on behalf of the Town Council at an event.

Suggested Groups/Speakers – Chris Green, Talgarth TIRC, Carol Williams, Talgarth Rural Alliances and Trish Doree, Talgarth Walkers are Welcome.

Cllr A Lord, Mayor thanked Jemma for her update and for attending the meeting.

13/237 MINUTES: The Minutes of the meeting held on 11 September, previously circulated to all Councillors, Cllr A Lord, Mayor, sought their adoption.

Proposed by Cllr M Dodds and seconded by Cllr A Bufton, all in favour, that the Minutes of the meeting held on 11 September be signed as a correct record.

13/238 CORRESPONDENCE FOR ACTION/UPDATE LIST – NOT ON THE AGENDA:

BBNPA - Workshop on the future development of the Brecon Beacons Sustainable Destination Partnership to be held at 10am - 1pm on Wed 23rd October at the Visitor Centre – Note Cllr Malcolm Dodds will be attending both the Brecon Beacons Sustainable Destination Partnership Workshop to be held 10am – 1pm on Wednesday 23rd October at the Visitor Centre Libanus and the meeting in the afternoon 2 – 4pm.

Twinning Town Project – Noted Cllr A Lord, Mayor, agreed to meet on Sat 11 Oct with Eugenio Ciccarelli from London,who was born in Pizzoferrato a small town in central Italy, on behalf of his friend Palmerino Fagnilli, Mayor of Pizzoferrato, regarding the many similarities between Pizzoferrato and Talgarth, re a possible a Twinning Town project.

13/239 PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND PLANNING ISSUES –

(a) Planning Application 13/09929/FUL – “Demolition of conservatory extension demolition of double garage, store and woodshed. Construction of two storey extension. Construction of single storey lean-to extension construction of domestic double garage”. – Address: Pontnichol Crossing, Tredustan, Talgarth. Town Council comments – Proposed by Cllr Pip Turner and seconded by Cllr J Wilding, all in favour except Cllr J Wilding, to support this Application.

Noted Cllr J Wilding took no part in the discussion or decision making as she had not seen the

Application.

(b) Planning Application 13/09942/FUL – “Conversion of redundant church to residential accommodation and construction of burial ground access road” – Address: Bethania United Reformed Church, Talgarth. Town Council comments – Proposed by Cllr Pip Turner and seconded by Cllr M Dodds, all in favour except Cllr J Wilding, to support this Application. Noted Cllr J Wilding took no part in the discussion or decision making as she had not seen the Application.

(c) Planning Application 13/09962/FUL – “A micro hydroelectric generating scheme and turbine house – Address: Rhyd y bont, Hospital Road, Talgarth. Town Council comments – Proposed by Cllr Pip Turner and seconded by Cllr G Jones, all in favour except Cllr J Wilding, to support this Planning Application. Noted Cllr J Wilding took no part in the discussion or decision making as she had not seen the Planning Application.

(d) Planning Application 13/10054/FUL – “Demolition of ground floor bathroom and shed and erection of single and two-storey extensions” – Lower Hospital Villas, Talgarth. Town Council comments – Proposed by Cllr M Dodds and seconded by Cllr R Reid, all in favour except Cllr J Wilding, to support this Application. Noted Cllr J Wilding took no part in the discussion or decision making as she had not seen the Application.

(e) BBNPA - Local List Criteria – Update received from Rosie Burton on 4 Oct, stating that although the report regarding the Mid Wales Hospital site was planned to go to NPA on 30th September 2013, due to pressure on the committee it was postponed and she does not think it will now go to committee until the December meeting and was a little disappointed but felt it necessary so that full consideration time could be given to the subject.

(f) BBNPA LDP – Cllr Bally reported that there were no new developments with the LDP process and it was expected thatthe final copy will be available by 2 Nov. However, he reported that the last stages of the hearings were being scrutinised by members of the community and it would appear that there were a number of procedural failings.

This could give grounds for a Judicial Review. Cllr Bally suggested that the Town Council, should write to the Minister as the Inspectornot acceptingany morerepresentations. This was agreed.

Cllr Bally reported that WAG Petitions Committee is visiting the old hospital site on Sun 10 Nov and SAVE British Heritage will be present with the owner to discuss the future of the buildings.

(g) BBNPA Eastern Advisory Forum – 2pm 11 Oct at BBNPA Offices – Note Cllr N Bally,

Cllr J Hopkins and Cllr Pip Turner are Town Council reps but unfortunately no one able to attend.

(h) BBNPA Town & Community Council liaison meeting 27th Nov in Guild Hall, Brecon 6.30pm to 8pm – Noted Cllr A Lord, Mayor, agreed to attend on behalf of the Town Council.

BBNPA - REFUSAL OF PERMISSION FOR DEVELOPMENT

(a) 13/09741/FUL - "Installation of a single micro wind turbine (12.03m Hub height, 4.05m rotor diameter, Tip height 14.32m) – Address: Wern Frank, Talgarth LD3 0EB.