RESOLVEN COMMUNITY COUNCIL
The Monthly Meeting of the Council was held on Thursday 5th December 2019 at 6pm in the Community Centre.
Present/ Presennol
Mr A. Morgan – Chairman/Cadeirydd
Councillors/Cynghorwyr
T. Jones, Mr. A Jones, Mr N. Francis, Mr N. Place, Mr. I Ace, Mr. G Evans, Ms K. Kulik, Mr R. Roberts.
County Member/Aelod o’r Cyngor Sir
Mr Dean Lewis
Clerk/Clerc
Mrs C. Payne.
115/19 Apologies for Absence/Ymddiheuriadau am absenoldeb
Mr. K. Sims, Mrs D Stroud
116/19 Declarations of Interest/Datganiad o ddiddordeb personol
No declarations received
117/19 County Councillor/Cynghorydd Sirol – Report and Matters Arising
Excess water running down Waterfall Road which is need of a culvert to be installed – feasability study in the New Year
Speeding traffic through Abergarwed – Discussions ongoing and feasibility study through Resolven, Clyne and Abergarwed
Bench on B4242 – ongoing – A bench has also been ordered for Melin Court
3 Pelican crossings have been ordered for the village to assist safe crossing for the school children
Redundant bus stops are to be removed.
Issues raised by Councillors
Trees have fallen into the canal on the left hand side and need to be cut
The adoption of lanes was discussed and it was agreed to contact NPT for their policy on this issue
118/19 Minutes of the previous Meeting/Cofnodion y Cyfarfod Diwethaf
The Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday 7th November 2019 were accepted as a true record.
119/19 Clerk’s report and Council Matters Arising/Materion yn codi o’r cofnodion ac adroddiad
y Clerc.
The Clerks report was presented and approved.
120/19 Donation of £75.85 to canal project to cover cost of insurance for volunteer group
Following discussion this was agreed and commendations to Mrs Yun Yun Herbert and all the volunteers for their hard work on the canal
Resolven to give donation
121/19 Reserve finances at end of financial year
The suggestion to put all account balances into the reserve account at the end of the financial year was discussed. It was agreed to put all balances into the reserve account when the first precept of the new financial year has been received.
122/19 Inspection form for Abergarwed Park/Resolven Park
Following discussion it was agreed to purchase a log book to record regular inspections of the parks.
123/19 Correspondence Received
Boundary Commission consultation
Planning Inspectorate Appeal – Farmers Arms
Forest Operations in Glyncastle
124/19 Sub-Committee Reports
Parks/Environment/Hall committee – The minutes of the last meeting on 13th November 2019 were accepted as a true record –
The suggestion to set up a ‘Friends of the Parks Group’ was discussed and it was proposed to advertise on the web site, face book and RDN to see if there was any interest. The purpose of the group would be to involve the community in the forward planning of the parks in Resolven and Abergarwed, and further enable the obtaining of grants.
The next meeting TBA in February 2020
Finance/Funding – The minutes of last meeting on 14th November 2019 were accepted as a true record. The next meeting TBA in February 2020
125/19 Chairman’s Report
The Chairman as Trustee of the Resolven Library advised that a grant application for new frontage has been successful and work will begin shortly.
126/19 Councillors Reports
The notice board at the hall is in disrepair and will be removed, and the notice board near Sardis is also in need of repair. Clerk to contact manufacturer.
A Report on the Digital Inclusion Working group of Neath Port Talbot PSB
This was a very interesting and quite well attended meeting at the Civic Centre in Port Talbot. A notable trend is the carousel of key staff who are either retiring or moving on which tends to affect the continuity of the group.
- Reports from key partners:
- a) Third Sector – a steering group had been developed with the Digital Ambassador in order to develop an action plan.
- b) Cyber Security Project – the Police and the Community Safety Team gave a report regarding cyber-crime. Over 5000 hits had been achieved on social media and 7 talks on cyber security had been held in schools and colleges. It was also reported, that involving the private sector in initiatives was proving rather unproductive since businesses were less likely to give up time to attend events.
The Police reported that cyber-crime – fraud, sexting, financial and other scams were an increasing problem. The ‘county lines ‘, drugs problem had monopolized police time and it was proving difficult to reach the elderly and vulnerable. A wide ranging discussion ensued regarding the increased sophistication and nature of the scams, though the problem stays the same.
- c) Public Services Board – in the absence of Karen Jones, a report was included outlining the 8 steps to fit in with the well- being goals This will be published in May at the next full meeting of the PSB.
- d) Other partner updates :
- i) Digital Communities Wales – outlined developments in Health.
ii) NPT College – two reports ensued including up skilling teachers and students in digital technology and education in cyber bullying and online security.
iii) NPTCBC – a very important report was given by the Transport director regarding the fact that ALL concessionary bus passes will be out of date from the end of September 2019. There will be a media campaign that everyone will need to renew online from the Welsh government as against from the local authority as of now. Crucially, this will be online and will obviously be a challenge to reach the digitally included, who will most likely fall into this category. (POSSIBLY TO BE INCLUDED ON OUR NEXT AGENDA ?).
- Presentation 21st Technology – a very interesting presentation was given on the future totem interactive technology in bus stations encouraging the use of public transport. It is GDPR compliant, and will be available bilingually. It will also be accessible to the visually impaired and physically/ mentally handicapped.
A report on the Neath Port Talbot meeting of One Voice Wales, held at Bethania Community Centre Glynneath on Wedneday 4th December.
Once again the attendance at these meetings was poor with less than half the Community and Town councils sending a representative. The information gleaned from the excellent Paul Egan is well worth two hours of a Council’s time every three months.
The meeting began on a sombre note, owing to the sad passing of Allan Carter of Neath Town Council who was Vice Chair of the group and a delegate to the NEC. A minute’s silence was held in his memory.
- Presentation by South Wales Police on Cyber Crime – an excellent presentation was given on the prevalence of cyber-crime both locally and nationally. More details are available from www.getsafeonline.org.
- One Voice Wales Awards – OVW presents an annual award for good practice by a community or Town Council. It would be worth considering this after the completion of a major project?
- Annual Audit – Paul gave some guidance on the probable changes in the annual audit which are on the horizon. It is likely that the Council will be asked to provide an explanation of how payments were made by the Council.
- 4. Annual Biodiversity report – this has been a statutory requirement since 2016 and becomes compulsory this month! Little was known about this but the Council should bear this in mind as being included in the annual report which is also becoming a statutory requirement.
General Power of Competence – Town and community councils may in future ( if they wish) assume this general power in order to act independently should they wish. The Clerk would need to be qualified professionally (though it is unclear which qualification).
6.The right of the Public in addressing the Council at meetings – new guidelines will be appearing shortly.
