RESOLVEN COMMUNITY COUNCIL
The Monthly Meeting of the Council was held on Thursday 2nd February 2023 at 6pm at the Community Centre
Present/ Presennol
Mr. T. Jones – Chair/Cadeirydd
Councillors/Cynghorwyr
Mr A. Jones, Mr P. Thomas, Mr N. Place
Clerk/Clerc
Mrs. C. Payne.
County Member/Aelod o’r Cyngor Sir – Mr Dean Lewis
09/23 Apologies for Absence/Ymddiheuriadau am absenoldeb
Mr N. Francis, Mr K. Sims, Mr I. Ace, Mr P. Martin, Mrs R. Parfitt, Mr R. Coulter,
Mrs J. Llewellyn
10/23 Declarations of Interest/Datganiad o ddiddordeb personol – None
11/23 Minutes of the previous Meeting/Cofnodion y Cyfarfod Diwethaf
The Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday 5th January 2023 were accepted as a true record.
12/23 Clerk’s report and Council Matters Arising/Materion yn codi o’r cofnodion
ac adroddiad y Clerc.
The Clerk’s report was presented and approved.
13/23 Correspondence
NPT – The role of Town and Community Councils under the well-being act.
16/23 Sub-Committee Reports
Parks/Environment/Hall committee – No meeting last month
Planning application P2023/0020 – Clydach Brook Aqueduct – Exploratory works to the brook aqueduct.
There were no objections to the application as the community council fully supports any action taken to protect this historic site.
Finance Committee.
The minutes of the meeting held on 12th January 2023 were accepted as a true record.
15/23 Chairman’s Report.
The Chair brought three reports to the notice of the Council:
- One Voice Wales – the NPT meeting for December was not quorate. Therefore a Teams meeting which was well attended had been arranged for Tuesday , 24th January.
Main points: –
- a) Gill Francis of Clyne Community Council had been elected as deputy representative on the Standards Committee. For some reason Councillor Aylwin Jones did not appear as a candidate and the Chair was asked to pursues the matter with Paul Egan.
- b) Liaison Meeting – Tuesday 6th February at Port Talbot Civic Centre when the budget and the future black bin bag collections, would be discussed.
- c) Toolkit – many of the activities of the Council would become a statutory duty in future and the toolkit would help in this matter. The Future Generations Act was one area in which the Council had a duty to make an annual report.
Summary Reports on meetings of NPT PSB
- Green Infra structure project 25/1/23
The meeting was hosted on Teams by statutory partner NRW, and consisted mainly of a distillation of the half day conference held in December prior to the submission of the final version of the well- being plan.
Prior to the main meeting a presentation was given on the Restoration of peatlands by Professor Victoria Jenkins of the Law faculty of Swansea University. The study seemed to surround the legal aspects of the subject and questions as to whether you can actually “restore” peat, when it forms on the rate of 1mm per annum in ideal anaerobic conditions. It appears that when WG refers to peat restoration they mean re-watering of dry peat and conservation of the rest. Why they assume that the public will not ask the obvious is a mystery akin to Rumpelstiltskin’s gold.
The presentation was rather brought to a halt that a typo put Net Zero at 2023 as against 2030 , both seem improbable but the first would challenge Extinction rebellion’s urgency!
- PSB Full Meeting via Teams 31/1/23
Some 20 attendees were present. The main points of relevance to town and community councils were.
- Armed Forces Covenant – this became enshrines in law in September 2022. It pertains to all those who have served or are bereaved in the armed forces. While not giving ex service personnel an advantage it will be a consideration in any future decisions made by an authority,
- Freeport Bid Presentation – Port Talbot and Milford Haven have made a bid to become free ports. The decision will be made in March and could well be the making of the industrial future in Wales. Particularly, in green hydrogen , safeguarding jobs in TATA steel and floating wind power manufacture. Karen Jones gave a presentation in support of the bid.
- Levelling up and Shared Prosperity Fund – £17.7 million pounds in grant aid has been gained for the setting up of a Vale of Neath Park incorporating Waterfall Country. This will obviously have prospects for Town and Community councils .
- Healthy Weight Wales Strategy – SBUHB , had a presentation regarding the dire state of public health. Systematic mapping showed that 60% of the population were either overweight or obese. Neath Port Talbot was slightly worse than the Welsh average, with a close correlation with poverty and deprivation. The complex mapping showed that the cause and effect were not simple and that the problem was a massive one for the future.
- Poverty Prevention Group –CVS have been proactive in in various schemes in alleviating problems caused by the energy crisis including warm spaces.
Trefor Jones
16/23 Councillors Reports
A proposal to use the Resolven community hall as a warm hub was discussed and will be investigated.
