Minutes of the Full Council – Thursday 21 January 2021
BRACKLA COMMUNITY COUNCIL
THE NEXT MEETING OF BRACKLA COMMUNITY COUNCIL
FULL COUNCIL MEETING
Thursday 21st January 2021 at 6.30pm
Via Video Link
Members Present
Cllr T Giffard – Chairperson
Cllr D Aston
Cllr E Caparros
Cllr J Chohan
Cllr I Hibble
Cllr K Hughes
Cllr A Pucella
Cllr K Rowlands
Cllr J Spanswick
Mrs R Keepins – Clerk of the Council
Mr P Ley – Assistant Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer
Miss H May – Admin Officer
136 Public Address to Council (10 minutes only)
137 Apologies for Absence
Cllr C Jackson
Cllr T Walsh
138 To receive Declarations of Interest in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct (and section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992)
Cllr I Hibble declared a personal interest throughout, as he is a Civil Servant working for Welsh Government.
Cllr T Giffard declared a personal interest in relation to item 158, Planning, as he is a Member of Bridgend County Borough Council
Cllr A Pucella declared a personal interest in relation to item 158, Planning, as he is a Member of Bridgend County Borough Council
Cllr K Rowlands declared a personal interest in relation to item 158, Planning, as she is a Member of Bridgend County Borough Council
Cllr J Spanswick declared a prejudicial interest in relation to item 158, Planning, as he is a Member of Bridgend County Borough Council and of Bridgend BCB Development Control Committee. He agreed to therefore to leave the meeting for this item.
139 Ratification of Minutes of the Finance Committee Meeting 14 December 2020
Resolved:
The minutes were approved, proposed by Cllr K Hughes and seconded by Cllr K Rowlands.
140 Ratification of Minutes of the Full Council 17 December 2020
Resolved:
The minutes were approved, with the following amendments. Proposed by Cllr I Hibble and seconded by Cllr T Giffard.
Cllr E Caparros asked that the spelling of his surname be amended.
Cllr I Hibble requested that the minutes be amended under item 118 to express the full extent of Cllr D Aston’s comments to Members and that the Point of Order he raised also be added to the minutes.
The following amendments were made to Item 118 and after Item 128 respectively:
Cllr D Aston expressed his absolute disgust that no other Councillors helped to deliver the Newsletters. He thanked the Clerk and Admin Officer and their families as well as Cllr K Hughes for delivering newsletters.
Point of Order
Reacting to Cllr D Aston’s comments under item 118, Cllr I Hibble raised a point of order to the Chair highlighting that Cllr D Aston had breached the Code of Conduct in relation to Part 2, Point 4 (b) and (c) which state that Councillors must:
(b) show respect and consideration for others;
(c) not use bullying behaviour or harass any person.
The Chair offered Cllr D Aston the opportunity to withdraw his comment to which Cllr D Aston refused.
These amendments were seconded by Cllr T Giffard.
141 Clerks Report including matters relating to the Council’s previous meeting
The Clerk provided the following updates to Members:
• The Precept has been requested;
• The One Voice Wales area meeting will be held on 25th January 2021 at 7pm;
• A meeting with John Rees, Operations Officer at Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC), has been organised to discuss updates on the ‘Brackla, Love it, Don’t Trash it’ project;
• There had been an issue ordering the bins through BCBC, therefore the Community Council would look to order directly with the information provided by BCBC;
• The Clerk had contacted the local PCSO regarding vandalism and speeding in the area and offered to pass on emails and look into the vandalism. He did advise that in the instance where a crime was committed, to advise residents to call 101 to report it. The PCSO was unfortunately unable to attend remote Full Council meetings;
• The Clerk requested that, due to current workloads and situations during the pandemic, the Grass Cutting and Grounds Maintenance Tender be postponed until 2022. This was agreed and as such a HR/Personnel Committee Meeting would be held to amend and agree a 12 month contract to receive quotes for 2021-22. This was proposed by Cllr I Hibble and seconded by Cllr J Spanswick;
It was resolved that the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as set out in Paragraphs 12 of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007 following the application of the public interest test. This was proposed by Cllr T Giffard and seconded by Cllr D Aston.
The Admin Officer left the meeting for the duration of the item.
Resolved:
It was provisionally agreed that the Apprentice Admin Officer would be offered a 6-month contract from April to September 2021 following the completion of her Apprenticeship, in order to:
a) Ensure continuity of service during the pandemic;
b) Provide suitable time for Members to consider the office staff roles and future budgets to determine the staffing requirements and any proposed restructure from September 2021 onwards.
Members agreed that a HR/Personnel Committee meeting be organised to define the role for the 6-month period, to be agreed by Full Council by March 2021.
Following the Council’s consideration of the above, it was proposed by Cllr D Aston and seconded by Cllr K Hughes to return to open session.
142 To discuss any matters concerning the Community Centre
The Clerk confirmed that the Community Centre was closed before Christmas under Welsh Government guidelines. Banana Moon Nursery were not currently using the building as they don’t have enough children enrolled.
A survey has been carried out by BCBC with a list of works needed at the centre. An Extraordinary meeting would need to be held when the results of the survey have been given, to discuss the Town and Community Action Fund Application.
It was resolved that the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as set out in Paragraphs 12 of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007 following the application of the public interest test. This was proposed by Cllr T Giffard and seconded by Cllr K Rowlands.
Resolved:
Members agreed that the newly appointed Caretakers would be on reduced hours of 2 hours a week until the Community Centre reopens or there is sufficient maintenance work to be allocated in the meantime. The hours would then increase to the full 4.5 hours. This was proposed by Cllr K Rowlands and seconded by Cllr J Chohan.
Following the Council’s consideration of the above, it was proposed by Cllr T Giffard and seconded by Cllr K Hughes to return to open session.
143 Covid-19 Update
None
144 Finance:
(a) Approval of the Schedule of Payments December 2020
Resolved:
The schedule of payments was approved, proposed by Cllr K Hughes and seconded by Cllr A Aston.
(b) Bank Reconciliation as at 31 December 2020
Resolved:
The statement was approved as correct, proposed by Cllr K Rowlands and seconded by Cllr D Aston.
(c) Monthly Budget Review December 2020
Resolved:
The budget was review was approved, proposed by Cllr A Pucella and seconded by Cllr D Aston.
(d) Payments for Authorisation
Resolved:
The payments we approved as detailed below, proposed by Cllr A Pucella and seconded by Cllr D Aston.
Date Cq No Amount Payee Details
4.1.2021 204623 10.00 The Works Hamper Kits
4.1.2021 624 290.44 Viking Cleaning Materials and Stamps
4.1.2021 625 119.34 JRB Enterprises 8,000 x dog bags
4.1.2021 626 43.37 NWS Ltd Excess Waste
4.1.2021 627 335.59 NWS Ltd Waste Collection
5.1.2021 628 321.66 JRB Enterprises 20,000 x dog bags
7.1.2021 629 67.39 NWS Ltd Excess Waste
7.1.2021 630 60.00 Planning Aid Wales Training
7.1.2021 631 233.60 Wales Audit Office Audit Fee
12.1.2021 632 60.00 One Voice Wales Training
14.1.2021 633 118.57 Viking Cleaning Materials and Envelopes
15.1.2021 634 11.86 NWS Ltd Excess Waste
15.1.2021 635 29.46 Clerk Part Wages
15.1.2021 636 32.75 Asst Clerk Part Wages
15.1.2021 637 19.50 Centre Cleaner Part Wages
15.1.2021 638 537.26 Admin Asst Wages
15.1.2021 639 917.21 RCT Pension December
15.1.2021 640 703.74 HMRC Tax NI December
17.1.2021 641 216.18 Manpower Centre Caretaker
20.1.2021 642 1463.27 MS Property Grounds Maintenance
20.1.2021 643 59.80 PPLPRS Music Licence Centre
145 Tremains Woodland Rangers – Meadow and Picnic Area
Mr Mark Payn and Mr Dana Boon provided Members with further information relating to the proposed Meadow and Picnic Area on the land next to Tremains School and rugby pitch. They addressed Members’ questions and gave an insight into the project and how it will work along with proposed costings.
Resolved:
It was agreed to await further information from Tremains Woodland Rangers regarding their negotiations with BCBC and explore the possibility of whether the Community Council could sponsor or underwrite the project if required.
146 Memorial Bench
Resolved:
It was unanimously agreed to purchase a memorial bench from Streetmaster for continuity purposes as the benches will likely be in vicinity of one another. The Council will ask Mrs Pat Hacking where she feels the best location for the bench will be.
147 Town and Community Council Fund Application – Update
It was agreed that an Extraordinary Meeting of Council be held after receiving the survey results from BCBC, proposed by Cllr T Giffard and seconded by Cllr E Caparros.
148 Possible Relocation of Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Ogwr – Feasibility Study and ‘Save Our Field’
Resolved:
It was agreed to draft a further response to BCBC to include the following:
• Challenge the assertion that Members were kept involved – Letter infers that County Borough Councillors were kept informed of this project at all times where as in reality this has only been twice – once in November 2020 and once in January 2021.
• Also, no advanced notification of feasibility study being undertaken – few days before. Was very clear officers had been in discussions regarding this project for a lot longer without Member involvement.
• However, accepting these inaccuracies, the Community Council are keen to progress future possibilities for the adoption of green space in Brackla and will be in contact with the relevant Officers in the very near future.
• Also request that for the future the Community Council be advised as early as possible when the next traffic survey will be undertaken and of any other similar works.
149 Correspondence
• A resident of Fairoak Chase had contacted the Clerk with issues relating dog fouling and Fly tipping in the area. It was asked that a sign to be placed on the green space to inform of the fines and for it to be put on future newsletters. Although Members did not feel that signs would help rectify the situation it was agreed a letter would be written and distributed to streets in the area.
• An email from BCBC was read to members outlining concerns and updates regarding the planning portal. It was agreed a response will be sent by the Clerk on behalf of the Community Council.
• Compliment was received from a Resident of Badgers Brook, expressing their thanks to;
1. The men and women who look after all the flower beds.
2. The men and women who look after all the waste bins
3. The council for the efforts in lifting everyone’s spirits with this year’s Christmas lights
• One Voice Wales – NHS, Social Care and Frontline Workers Day 5th July 2021. It was agreed the Community Council will get involved with this event. More details will need to be explored such as the type of event and unique flags to be raised at the event.
• An email was read out from a resident, expressing a concern over speed in Church Acre. It was agreed as this is an issue on the Council’s forward work programme, we would await the outcome of the meeting with the Police and Local Authority.
• Fence on Playing Field – Metal fence has been broken on the banking next to the main rugby pitch. The Clerk has contacted BCBC regarding this.
150 Brackla Gateway Signs
The Clerk presented an update on the current situation with the Gateway signs and the issues that had been raised regarding the planning application for them which had led to the substantial delay. The Clerk reported that conversations were still ongoing with BCBC Officers to try and resolve issues of design and location. Members discussed possible other locations for the signs and whether to increase the number top include an additional one at the end of Coychurch Road by Simonston Road.
Resolved:
Members agreed to continue with the 4 signs in the slightly amended locations which incorporated recommendations from BCBC. The Council will consider any extra signs and their locations at a later date. This was proposed by Cllr E Caparros and seconded by Cllr I Hibble.
151 To appoint a new School Governor for Tremains Primary School
There was no nomination to fill the post at this current time. It was agreed to advise the school and revisit again in six months.
152 Brackla Community Council Events
Members agreed it was too early to plan for 2021 events. It was suggested that the Funday could possibly be postponed until August or September instead of June but it was decided to revisit this item in March when we may know more about the current situation and vaccination status.
153 Brackla Community Council 5 Year Plan
It was agreed to add the future of the Community Council’s storage containers as part of future work for consideration. The Clerk will get in touch with the Environmental Group to see what they wish to do with their equipment.
154 Crime Statistics for Brackla
The crime stats were noted.
155 To Receive Reports from Members
Cllr K Hughes asked if the PCSO could be informed that there are no contact details on the Police website for PCSOs who cover the area. He also reported the vandalism that had occurred in the Black Path recently and that he had asked the clerk to contact the PCSO regarding it. Furthermore he advised Members of recent scams he had become aware of including one offering support to businesses where it appears it is from a government website and also another pretending to be from Amazon relating to payment and cancellation of a Prime membership. He proposed for Members to flag this up to local residents on social media possibly and advise people to report it to the police online or via 101.
Members congratulated Cllr T Giffard on his selection as candidate for the Senedd Cymru elections.
156 Agenda items for February 2021 Full Council Meeting
Members agreed to add the Community Council’s storage containers to the forward work programme.
157 Date of the next Full Council Meeting –Thursday 18 February 2021
158 Planning Applications
Resolved:
T/20/89/TPO – No Objections
P/20/1011/FUL – Members of Brackla Community Council wished to express their strong support for this application and for the work that was being carried out in the allotments.
P/21/4/FUL – No objections
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