Aberystwyth Council

 

CYNGOR TREF ABERYSTWYTH TOWN COUNCIL

 

J O GRIFFITHS   11 BAKER STREET

TOWN CLERK   ABERYSTWYTH

  

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF FULL COUNCIL HELD IN THE MEETING ROOM, 11 BAKER STREET ABERYSTWYTH ON TUESDAY 28TH MAY  2013  AT 6.30PM

 

Present::Councillor Wendy Morris-Twiddy

Councillor Dylan Lewis

Councillor J Aled Davies

Councillor Jeff Smith

Councillor Endaf Edwards

Councillor Brenda Haines

Councillor Sarah Bowen

Councillor Steve Davies

Councillor Ceredig Wyn Davies

Councillor Mererid Jones

Councillor Brian Davies

Councillor Kevin Price

Councillor Alun Williams

Councillor Carys Morgan

 

Apologies:Councillor Mair Benjamin

Councillor Mark Strong

Councillor Sue Jones-Davies

 

 

6.Declarations of Interest for matters arising from agenda items

Councillor C Davies- Accounts

Councillor J A Davies- Accounts

 

7.Personal References

The Mayor welcomed Councillor Benjamin back to Council after her recent operation.

 

8.Mayoral Activity Report 

The Mayor had prepared a full list of events undertaken on behalf of the council during the last month.

 

9.Minutes of a meeting of Council held on 22nd April 2013 

Following reading for clarity and accuracy the minutes of a meeting held on 22nd  April 2013 were RESOLVED to be accepted and adopted with one gender change in Minute 2.

 

10.Minutes of a meeting of Council held on 10th May 2013 

Following reading for clarity and accuracy the minutes of an installation meeting held on 10th May 2013 were RESOLVED to be accepted and adopted.

 

 

 

11.Minutes of the General Management Committee held on 14th May 2013 

Following reading for clarity and accuracy the minutes of a meeting held on 14th May 2013 were RESOLVED to be accepted and adopted.

It was noted that the date should read Tuesday 14th and not as printed on the minute.

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT COMMITEE HELD IN THE MEETING ROOM, 11 BAKER STREET, ABERYSTWYTH ON MONDAY 13TH MAY 2013 AT 6.30PM

 

Present:Councillor Ceredig Wyn Davies

Councillor J Aled Davies

Councillor Kevin Price

Councillor Steve Davies

Councillor Endaf Edwards

Councillor Mererid Jones

Councillor Jeff Smith

Councillor Brian Davies

Councillor Brenda Haines

Councillor Martin Shewring

 

Apologies:                Councillor Dylan Lewis

Councillor Wendy Morris-Twiddy

Councillor Sue Jones-Davies

Councillor Mair Benjamin

Councillor Mark Strong

 

  1. Declarations of Interest

There were none recorded.

 

  1. Correspondence
  1. Llanbadarn Fawr CC-A meeting to discuss shared storage would take place in the near future.
  2. Chess- Mr Allan Lewis of Ceredigion County Council asked for Aberystwyth Town Council to consider the possibility of the Town hosting the GB chess championships in 2014.

Members were fully supportive in principle and suggested further discussion in the forthcoming finance meeting.

 

  1. Air Display

An e mail asking for Aberystwyth Town Council to consider the introduction of an air display in Aberystwyth was discussed.

The Town Clerk was asked to seek potential dates and costs for this event and report back.

 

 

  1. Community Toilet Scheme

A letter discussing the above was received. It was agreed to circulate the letter for members information and action.

 

  1. Report on new council accommodation 

This matter was discussed and following the comprehensive discussion it was decided to invite Mr Huw Bates to a meeting of full council to discuss any issues that members might have with parts of the lease before a final decision was made. Members were aware that the matter was stating to drag on..

 

  1. Updates on Resolutions.

The Town Clerk reported that he was still waiting for the database to be delivered from Cllrs Price and Strong.

The list of updates was up to date and this list was scrutinised in detail with many being deleted as completed. The Town Clerk gave verbal details of many of the points and progress relating to others.  The revised list would be produced for inspection by the next meeting.

 

  1. Crossing in Gt Darkgate Street, Aberystwyth

Councillor Davies reported that the crossing lights had been removed and there was no date for replacement. Following discussion it was RESOLVED to write to the Trunk Roads Agency and voice concern at the current situation and to ask for immediate replacement.

 

  1. Cleaning services and Probation service

The Town Clerk was shortly to have a meeting with the probation team and was given permission to spend on equipment to progress the issue of cleaning the local bus shelters.

 

  1. Festive Lighting Infrastructure

It was reported that the new breakout boxes would now be fitted in June. Members expressed concern at the slippage in this matter and stated that should there be any more slippage in the replacement contract then an external provider would be employed and the cost sent to the original contractor.

 

  1. Recycling facilities in Aberystwyth

The Town Clerk was still waiting for an update on costs in this matter. The request for CCTV coverage had not yet been resolved.

It was RESOLVED to chase the matter and to report back at the earliest opportunity as this matter was now dragging on.

 

  1. Council Furniture

The Town Clerk gave a verbal report on a recent visit to a local storage facility where 68 leather chairs, 12 leather topped desks and a large oak table were in storage for the Town Council.

He explained that Ceredigion County Council were paying the storage charge and were keen to cease the contract.  

Members were keen to return the furniture to Town Council use and this could only happen when the lease negotiations had taken place.

 

  1. Promenade Management

This matter was deferred to a future meeting.

 

12.Minutes of a Finance Committee meeting held on 20th May 2013 

Following reading for clarity and accuracy the minutes of a meeting held on 20th May 2013 were RESOLVED to be accepted and adopted.

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE FINANCE AND ESTABLISHMENT COMMITTEE HELD IN THE MEETING ROOM, 11 BAKER STREET, ABERYSTWYTH ON MONDAY 20th May 2013 AT 6.30PM

 

Present:Councillor M Jones

Councillor W Morris-Twiddy

Councillor J A Davies

Councillor E Edwards

Councillor C Davies

Councillor B Haines

 

Apologies:          Councillor M Benjamin

Councillor S Jones-Davies

Councillor M Strong

Councillor C Morgan

Councillor B Davies 

Councillor D Lewis

 

 

 

  1. Declarations of Interest

There were none recorded.

 

  1. Presentations by External Providers (Peninsula, Ellis Whittam and One Voice Wales)

Presentations were given by representatives of the three bodies invited.

Following the presentations it was decided to recommend to Full Council that Peninsula be  contracted to provide the small business advisory service.

Councillor Aled Davies asked for it to be recorded that he objected to One Voice Wales being invited to present as they had not been discussed at the meeting where the shortlisting of presenters was discussed.

The Town Clerk reported that when One Voice Wales had learned that other providers were invited to present they had asked to be invited as they offered a similar bespoke service. The Town Clerk had discussed this with the chairman and had been given permission to include them in the presentation.

Councillor Davies also asked for it to be noted that he felt it inappropriate that the Town Clerk should be sat in on the presentations from HR consultants as this could compromise any future issues that may arise between staff and the Council.

The Town Clerk stated that the advice given by any chosen consultancy company would be for the benefit of the council corporate and as a key member of that “team” it was entirely appropriate that he be present. The chairman agreed.

 

 

  1. Update on discussions with insurance providers

The Chairman reported that she and the Town Clerk had recently met with the insurance broker and had had constructive discussions relating to the cover provided by the insurance company.

It was discussed that the physical equipment of the MUGA and Adizone in Penparcau were not covered for replacement cost as it would be very difficult to steal either and they were built of steel.. But the play area in the castle was covered for replacement cost in case of damage by fire etc. The third party liability was in place for all council equipment.

It was recommended that the WPS brokerage service be continued with for the remainder of the long term agreement (one year remaining).

 

 

  1. Update on key partnerships (Night Time Economy Officer/ Beach Cleaning response)

Ceredigion County Council were invited to the meeting to discuss the future of the partnership relationship. It was noted that the had mentioned in the Night Time Economy Group that they would come to the Town Council. The meeting was disappointed that the County Council had not contacted regarding this.

 

It was agreed that if Ceredigion County Council want to continue to work in partnership on the NTE project, they must come and see us to progress the matter.

On the beach cleaning issue, further detail was requested of the 10 week summer beach cleaning programme. Details to be sent to members before agreeing to work in partnership on this matter.

 

  1. County Council partnership in connection with the Chess Championship

The news that Ceredigion County Council was asking for help in drawing the Great Britain chess championship to Aberystwyth was supported in principle.

 

It was agreed that if the bid to get the tournament to Aberystwyth in 2014 was successful then £3000 would be made available to help with staging the event. If the bid was not successful then no funds would be made available.

 

  1. Correspondence
  1. Applications and accounts were received from the three twinning associations in Aberystwyth.

Following discussion it was recommended to release the funds budgeted for in the accounts to the three organizations and ask for regular reports and accounts from the designated representatives.

 

  1. Questions relating to financial matters
  1. It was reported that links in the Mayoral chain had broken due to wear and tear and the Town Clerk advised returning the chain to the original manufacturer for a quote for repair. Following discussion it was recommended that a local goldsmith be asked to quote for the repair first.

 

  1. Staffing matters

It was reported that the staffing panel was investigating an issue for Carole Prime who had written to them.

Following a brief discussion it was recommended that following ratification of the contract with Peninsula the matter would be referred to them for consideration.

 

 

 

13.Planning applications- to consider those applications not covered in the monthly planning meeting and are time sensitive.

  A full list of pending applications was noted and the mayor asked that everyone who was on the committee attended the next planning meeting to ensure it was quorate.

It was considered appropriate to defer any discussions regarding planning to the following meeting.

     

14.Clerks Report

a) It was reported that a meeting to discuss the storage of Christmas lights had been held with the Clerk and new chairman of Llanbadarn Fawr CC and they had agreed to pay £120 per annum to share the storage used by Aberystwyth Town Council. It was RESOLVED to accept this and to invoice them accordingly.

 

15.Correspondence.

a)Penparcau.

Two letters had been received from Ceredigion County Councillor Lorrae Jones-Southgate relating to signage and bus shelters in Penparcau.

It was reported by Penparcau members that Councillor Jones-Southgate had been invited to talks regarding the bus shelters and had not attended an on site meeting where it had been decided that the shelters mentioned were not an issue that Aberystwyth Town Council would consider and this matter was left to Ceredigion County Council to resolve. It was however decided to look into costing the removal of the big shelter from Mill Street and relocating it on Penparcau road as Councillor Jones-Southgate had asked.

It was however pointed out that as this was on a trunk road the process could be drawn out and protracted.

On her second point of replacing the “SOUTHGATE” signs in Penparcau it was pointed out that this matter was already under investigation and progress being made.

It was RESOLVED to write to Councillor Jones-Southgate and explain what Aberystwyth Town Council was doing in relation to points raised in her letters.

 

  1. NTE Letter

A letter from Mr Huw Williams of Ceredigion County Council asking for funding of the Night Time Economy project was referred to the Finance committee for consideration.

 

  1. Summer beach cleaning 

A fuller reply to questions relating to the above was received. It was RESOLVED to copy the reply to all members for information. The matter of wethewr to proceed with the funding was referred to the Finance committee.

 

  1. Request for community grant support.

It was agreed to support a request for a community grant application support letter for the Ceredigion WI choir.

 

  1. Lease on Park

Confirmation of the deed transfer payment was received. 

 

  1. Notice of meeting

Notice of a meeting to be held on 12th June at 6.30pm to discuss the new LDP had been circulated to all for information.

 

g)BDO Audit

Notice of audit fees was received and referred to the Finance committee.

 

16.Questions relating only to matters in this Councils remit

There were no questions 

 

17.To consider expenditure  

Following discussion it was RESOLVED to make the following payments (except for VISION ICT) in the sum of £23070.96.

NAME

DESCRIPTION

Amount £

 

 

 

Carwyn Tywyn

Mayoral Harpist duties

£100.00

House of Flags

Flag stuuf for repairs

£129.60

Rick Lloyd

Hornettes for Mayoral duties

£200.00

Mona Lisa

Small Flags for cylce race

£420.00

Merann Caterers

Mayors Innauguration catering

£2,250.00

Abba Logging

Work on Maze- North Road

£1,405.00

Vision ICT

Website Hosting to June 2014

£366.00

Menter Aberystwyth

Annual Grant

£12,000.00

Carm CC

Salaries April 2013

£5,238.73

J A Davies

Maze Construction equip

£571.31

Morlan

Hire of hall

£90.00

Purchase Power

Postage and rental costs

£300.32

 

 

 

TOTAL

 

£23,070.96

 

18.Review of representation to outside bodies

Following discussion it was RESOLVED to make the following appointments to outside bodies.

Representation to Outside Bodies 2013 (revised May 2013)

 

  1. Friends of Cardigan Bay-  Kevin Price + Sue Jones-Davies ®
  2. Citizens Advice Bureau- No representation allowed
  3. Joseph and Jane Downie Bequest Trust-  Brenda Haines + Ceredig Davies ®
  4. Aberystwyth Silver Band-  Mair Benjamin + Ceredig Davies ®
  5. Aberystwyth Arts Centre-  Sue Jones-Davies + Wendy Morris-Twiddy ®
  6. One Voice Wales-  Chris Griffiths + Mererid Jones ® 
  7. Shrew/ Aber Rail Users Liaison Committee- Dylan Lewis + Martin Shewring ®  
  8. UWA Court of Governors –  Mark Strong + Endaf Edwards ®
  9. Parc Natur Penglais-  Alun Williams  + Kevin Price ®
  10. Kaya Friendship-  Sue Jones-Davies 
  11. SBPPA-  Kevin Price + Carys Morgan ®
  12. AKPPA-   Dylan Lewis  + Wendy Morris-Twiddy  ®
  13. CCTV Committee –  Martin Shewring 
  14. Esquel Twinning-  Sue Jones-Davies + Endaf Edwards ®
  15. Constitution Hill Board of Trustees- Mark Strong + Wendy Morris-Twiddy ®
  16. Prom Forum-  Mair Benjamin + Sarah Bowen®
  17. Menter Aberystwyth-  Mark Strong 
  18. SARPA- Jeff Smith + Ceredig Davies  ®
  19. Fairtrade (Aberystwyth)-  Mererid Jones 
  20. Young Peoples Partnership- Endaf Edwards + Mair Benjamin ®
  21. Harbour Users Committee-  Steve Davies + Martin Shewring ®
  22. GAG-  Jeff Smith + Endaf Edwards ®
  23. War Memorial Trust-  Ceredig Davies + Brenda Haines ® 
  24. Ceredigion Traffic Management Committee-  Martin Shewring + Mair Benjamin+       Wendy Morris-Twiddy + Endaf Edwards
  25. Late Night Econ Forum)- Mair Benjamin 
  26. St Padarns School Governors-  Martin Shewring
  27. Llwyn yr Eos School Governors-  Brenda Haines
  28. Plasgrug School Governors – Wendy Morris-Twiddy
  29. Ysgol Gymraeg- Mererid Jones

® = Reserve member to attend in absence of nominated member

 

19.Review of committee membership

Following discussion it was RESOLVED to make the following appointments to Aberystwyth Town Council committees.

Committee Allocations 2013- Revised May 2013

  

Name 

Ward

General Management

F&E

Planning

Dylan Lewis

Penparcau

 X

 X

 

Mererid Jones

Penparcau

                           

 X

 

Brenda Haines

Penparcau

EO-X

EO-X

EO-X

Kevin Roy Price

Penparcau

 X

 

 X

Steve  Davies

Penparcau

 X

 

 X

Sarah Lucy Bowen

Central

 

 

X

Brendan Somers

Central

 

 

 

Ceredig Davies

Central

X

X

 

Lucy Huws

Bronglais

 

 

X

Sue Jones-Davies

Bronglais

X

 

X

Endaf Edwards

Bronglais

 

X

X

Alun Williams

Bronglais

X

X

 

Mair Benjamin

Rheidol

X

X

X

Martin Shewring

Rheidol

X

 

X

Wendy Morris-Twiddy

Rheidol

EO- X

EO-X

EO-X

Brian Davies

Rheidol

 

X

X

Jeff Smith

North

X

 

X

J. Aled Davies

North

 

X

X

Mark A. Strong

North

X

X

 

 

 

20.Verbal Reports from Ceredigion County Councillors only on matters pertaining to this Council

a)Councillor Ceredig Davies gave an update on the crossing in Gt Darkgate St and the change in policy from the Trunk Roads agency.

It was suggested that the Traffic management committee be used to get some action on the matter.

b)Councillor Steve Davies gave an update on the bus stops and signs for “SOUTHGATE” in Penparcau

c)It was reported that the recent Cyclefest held in Aberystwyth was a great success.

 

21.Written reports from representatives to outside bodies 

There were none received.

 

22.RA Board Report- Councillor Alun Williams

Councillor Alun Williams gave an update and how the WG Minister had changed the focus of expenditure for RA projects. He assured members that current approved projects would be unaffected by this matter. There were two years left to go on this project.

 

23.Council Accommodation- An update.

Discussion took place regarding the potential new premises.

It was RESOLVED to write to the landlord and to state that Aberystwyth Town Council would only sign the agreed lease if the consideration of a break clause was added.

Other pre agreed small changes would be added and a copy of the new draft lease was need for scrutiny before agreement.

 

24.Reserved parking place usage at the request of Councillor Sue Jones Davies

Councillor Sue Jones-Davies asked for consideration that the reserved spaces for Doctors in the town be allowed to be used by visitors on a Sunday. Some of the reserved spaces were outside premises that were no longer doctor’s surgeries.

County Councillor’s present gave an update on how the whole parking regime was being revised and that this matter should be noted and included in future annual reviews.

 

25.CPO’s in Aberystwyth at the request of Councillor Mair Benjamin

Councillor’s JA and C Davies left the meeting at this juncture and took no part in the discussion.

Councillor Benjamin asked that Aberystwyth Town Council write to Ceredigion County Council and other interested parties and condemns the use of CPO’s in the development of the town which in principle she supported.

Following discussion it was agreed that Councillor Benjamin needed to refine her resolution and in the meantime this matter would be sent to Planning committee for discussion. It was noted by the chairman of the planning committee that Aberystwyth Town Council did not have a policy on the use of CPO’s so it would be difficult to form a blanket opinion.

Following further discussion Councillor Benjamin agreed that the letter should state that Aberystwyth Town Council writes to Ceredigion County Council and asks for the reconsideration of the use of CPO’s in the development of commercial premises.

Following a vote it was RESOLVED to write to Ceredigion County Council and state the above.

Councillor Alun Williams abstained from this matter

 

26.Dog Fouling at the request of Councillors Mair Benjamin & Martin Shewring

Councillor Mair Benjamin told members that the CPSO’s in Aberystwyth had recently been given the powers to issue fixed penalty tickets for such things as littering and dg fouling.

She asked for backing to ask Aberystwyth Town Council write and confirm that the patrols would take the officers into areas of problem fouling and to encourage the issuance of the tickets.

It was questioned if the information given was correct and that the matter be passed to the next meeting of the General Management committee for consideration.