RESOLVEN COMMUNITY COUNCIL
The Monthly Meeting of the Council was held on Thursday 7th November 2019 at 5.30pm in the Community Centre.
Present/ Presennol
Mr A. Morgan – Chairman/Cadeirydd
Councillors/Cynghorwyr
Mr. T. Jones, Mr I. Ace, Mr N. Francis, Mr N. Place, Ms K. Kulik, Mr K. Sims
County Member/Aelod o’r Cyngor Sir – Mr Dean Lewis
Clerk/Clerc
Mrs C. Payne.
Prior to the meeting members informally met with Mr Carl Hendy of ASW Scaffolding to discuss the ongoing building on the line of the canal in Abergarwed. The matter was discussed at length, with Mr Hendy outlining his plans for the area which includes building industrial units. He is well aware of the canal line and stated he is working closely with the planning department at NPT Council. Members were supportive of the project whilst maintaining their concern for any future reinstalling of the canal.
102/19 Apologies for Absence/Ymddiheuriadau am absenoldeb
Mr A. Jones, Mr B. Roberts, Mrs D. Stroud, Mr R. Roberts
103/19 Declarations of Interest/Datganiad o diddordeb personol
Cllr. K. Sims declared an interest in item 108/19
104/19 County Councillor/Cynghorydd Sirol – Report and Matters Arising
Benches in Abergarwed – Cllr Lewis explained that it would be difficult to reinstall the bench that has been removed from Edwards Terrace, but will see that the damaged bench near the canal basin will be repaired.
Excess water running down Waterfall Road which is need of a culvert to be installed – the site will be visited in due course to survey the area for a new culvert
Residential parking in Thomas Terrace – The residents of the Terrace will need to make enquiries to NPT to see if this can be arranged.
Speeding traffic through Abergarwed – matters are in hand to see what can be done
The lane between the Church hall and Lyons Place – The lane has been cleaned however items left by residents are their responsibility
Many of the yellow and white lines in the village need repainting – this is being arranged
Lane in Glyncastle in need of cleaning – this has been done
105/19 Minutes of the previous Meeting/Cofnodion y Cyfarfod Diwethaf
The Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday 3rd October 2019 were accepted as a true record.
106/19 Clerk’s report and Council Matters Arising/Materion yn codi o’r cofnodion ac adroddiad y Clerc.
The Clerks report was presented and approved.
107/19 Planning Appeal – Farmers Arms
The members again discussed the planning appeal of the Farmers Arms in Abergarwed and will write to the Planning Inspectorate to ask that the appeal be refused on the grounds already stated to NPT planning committee, along with further information regarding the closure of the Vaughan’s public house.
108/19 Budget forecast and precept for next financial year 20/21
The budget forecast for the next financial year 20/21 drawn up by the finance committee was presented to members for approval. The precept was raised by 5% to cover increased staff and maintenance costs. The precept was agreed at £59,933 and following discussion was approved by the members.
Resolved to approve next financial years precept of £59.933
109/19 Consider pay rise for caretaker
A review was taken of the salary of the Caretaker/Cleaner by the finance committee, and due to the increased work load a recommendation of a salary increase of 5% was approved by the full council
110/19 Consider plaques and pictures from health centre.
Several paintings and plaques have been received from the old health centre for the Community Council to hold or use. It as agreed to donate the paintings of Jerusalem and Melin Court Church to the members of Jerusalem Church, and place the photos and other items around the community hall
111/19 Correspondence Received
Planning App. P2019/5499 – 3 bed dwelling with garage – Land off Heol Herbert, Resolven
No objections recorded
112/19 Sub-Committee Reports
Parks/Environment/Hall committee – The minutes of the last meeting on 9th October 2019 were accepted as a true record – The next meeting 13th November 2019 at 6pm
Finance/Funding – The minutes of last meeting on 10th October 2019 were accepted as a true record. The next meeting 14th November 2019 at 6pm
113/19 Chairman’s Report
The Chair Cllr Alun Morgan and Vice Chair Cllr Neil Francis reported that they had attended the official opening of the new Vale of Neath Health Centre and were very impressed with the facilities now available. There is some concern about the slow uptake of the D.A.N.S.A. bus service and more needs to be done to advertise this service.
114/19 Councillors Reports
A request to leave the Christmas lighting on until 1am was agreed
A Report by Councillor Trefor Jones on the Biodiversity Forum for West Wales, hosted ny National Resources Wales on Wednesday 9th October at Baglan Community Centre.
Councillor Jones had been invited to attend the Forum in accordance with his role as member of the Public Services Board, representing the Town and Community Councils of Neath Port Talbot.
The Forum was well attended and included representation from various public bodies, environmental groups and other voluntary organizations.
Following a general welcome and scene setting the delegates were split into groups in order to discuss the various issues concerning the increasing problem of biodiversity decline. It is apt to point out that few of those present had any expertise in the subject and there was little in-depth knowledge forthcoming as to the extent of biodiversity loss in South West Wales.
Topics covered included how to identify the problem on a local scale and how to plan to tackle its challenges in the near future, with most discussions returning to the importance of enhancing both tree cover and numbers of species.
Despite being an enjoyable day, it would have benefited immensely from some objectivity in having at least some speakers who were experts in the field of biodiversity It also lacked a degree of positivity in that no one made the obvious point that we are indeed lucky to live in what is a an extremely bio-diverse part of Wales.
