Minutes of the Full Council Meeting – Thursday 20th February 2020
BRACKLA COMMUNITY COUNCIL
THE NEXT MEETING OF BRACKLA COMMUNITY COUNCIL
FULL COUNCIL MEETING
Thursday 20th February at 6:30pm
Boardroom of Oak Tree Surgery
Members Present
Cllr J Spanswick – Chairperson
Cllr D Aston
Cllr J Brett
Cllr T Giffard
Cllr I Hibble
Cllr K Hughes
Cllr C Jackson
Cllr A Pucella
Cllr T Walsh
Mrs R Keepins – Clerk of the Council
Mr P Ley – Assistant Clerk/Responsible Financial Officer
Miss H May – Admin Officer
187 Public Address to Council (10 minutes only)
188 Apologies for Absence
Cllr K Rowlands
189 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 J Spanswick, prejudicial interest, as a Member of Bridgend County Borough Council and of Bridgend CBC Development Control Committee – item 206 Planning
Cllr T Giffard – personal interest, as a Member of Bridgend County Borough Council – item 206 planning
Cllr I Hibble – Civil Servant working for the Welsh Government, personal
Cllr A Pucella – personal interest, as a member of Bridgend County Borough Council – item 206 planning
190 Ratification of Minutes of the Full Council Meeting 16 January 2020
The minutes were approved, with the following amendments:
– Cllr I Hibble left during item 180 due to a declaration of interest
– Numbers of the items need to change after item 183
– Cllr K Hughes sent his apologies for the meeting
Proposed by Cllr I Hibble, seconded by Cllr D Aston
191 Ratification of Confidential Minutes of Full Council Meeting 16 January 2020
Resolved:
The minutes were approved, proposed by Cllr I Hibble, seconded by Cllr J Brett
192 Report by the Clerk relating to matters from the previous Full Council Meeting
The Clerk informed members that there has been an issue with significant waste being dumped at the bin in the path near Brackla Primary School. Members requested that the Clerk contact BCBC Social Services to try and write to the care home regarding the waste being dumped. It was also agreed to email John Rees in the first instant to try and get any evidence of the issue with the bin and whether the care home have been implicated and possible contacted previously.
Members were also advised that there has been issues with domestic waste being dumped in and around the bins in Meadow Rise and Channel View. BCBC asked the for the Council’s comments on the plans to remove them temporarily.
The Council agreed via the Chair’s casting vote to support the removal of the bins on a temporary basis however wondered if we could relocate these two bins to two of the locations where the Community Council are looking at installing new ones. The plan would be then that new ones the Community Council orders could then replace the ones being removed, after the period determined.
The two locations proposed for relocation are one in the layby by the Welsh School and one in the are of the Subway/Gwaun Coed/Chorleywood.
193 To consider all Correspondence received by this Council since the last meeting
(no decisions to be made on correspondence).
The Clerk presented the correspondence report to Members adding further correspondence had been received since the agenda had been published from One Voice Wales, BCBC, Independent Remuneration Panel and PRs music Licence.
194 To discuss any matters concerning the Community Centre
Members agreed the recommendations of the Community Centre Committee:
Hire charges: Members agreed to recommend to Full Council that the hire charges for the Centre remain the same for 2020-21 with a minor amendment to align the charity/not for profit rates at 50% less than the standard charge for all rooms in the Centre. This was proposed by Cllr D Aston and seconded by Cllr T Giffard.
Centre Maintenance Plan: Members agreed to meet with the Community Centre Forum to discuss the future of the Centre, gain ideas and involve the users in the maintenance plan.
As a starter for discussion, the Committee listed the following as areas needing addressing in the Centre along with suggested prioritisation: (see minutes)
Health and Safety: Add emergency alarm in disabled toilet to weekly checks.
Access to Centre: The Committee agreed to support the issuing of an internal sliding door key to one of the new groups so that they could secure the building when leaving the premises.
Members requested that a benchmarking exercise be undertaken to compare the hire charges for Brackla Community Centre as well as detail provided regarding the party hires on weekends throughout the last twelve months.
Members approved the proposal for BCBC Officers to replace the 2 aluminium streetlight columns in the Community Centre Car Park at a cost of £500 each. Officers will also replace all 6 of the lanterns and carryout an electrical test certificate for all 6, only charging for the testing and not for the supply and installation of the new LED lighting. Test certificates would be £25. The cost for this work would be taken from the Community Centre earmarked reserves.
Exclusion of the Public
Proposed by Cllr I Hibble, seconded by Cllr K Hughes
Resolved: That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve 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.
195 Brackla Community Council Vacancy – Co-option
Resolved: It was confirmed via a show of hands and a vote that Mr Eugene Caparros would be appointed to Brackla Community Council.
196 Brackla Community Council Website Redesign
To consider the attached quotes and determine which one it wishes to progress to revitalise the Community Council’s website.
It was proposed and agreed to return to open session
197 VE Day Flowers, Wildflowers and Wales in Bloom
Members agreed that the Clerk would bid for the wildlife garden package from ‘Keep Wales Tidy’ in the first instance. Following this area for consideration for wildflowers were the Community Centre, the grass area past Tremains Court and a grass area over the east side of Brackla such as the one by Fairoak Chase. It was agreed that it would be easier to locate areas that were owned by the Community Council. The Clerk agreed to take these proposals to the contractor.
It was furthermore agreed that the clerk would get further quotes for the replacement brackets.
198 Brackla Gardening Club
The Council discussed the proposal for the establishment of a Brackla Gardening Club that was put to the Council by the Badgers Brook allotments along with the offer of a plot in the allotments for the club. Members fully supported the idea and agreed that it would be best if this club was community run. Cllr D Aston stated that he would volunteer to assist with any setting up of the club in terms of coordination and promotion etc and proposed that the Centre could be hired out by the club for meetings etc. The Clerk proposed that the club be advised of the Section 137 funding application process should they wish to apply for any financial assistance from the community council.
199 Brackla Signs
To consider and approve or amend the final design in order to progress to planning approval and the purchase of the four gateway signs for Brackla.
The Clerk showed members pictures of what the new signs for entrances into Brackla would look like. It was also confirmed the price of the signs would be £3834.84 and that this would be taken out of General Reserves. The Council agreed the look of the signs and the costing.
200 To confirm arrangements for the Annual Community Events:
(a) VE Day 75 Years Celebrations
(b) Brackla Funday
The Council agreed to go with the Valley Archers for the Archery stall for Brackla Funday proposed by Cllr I Hibble, seconded by Cllr A Pucella. The Scouts will be invited to have a stall at the Funday.
201 Crime Statistics for Brackla
The Crime Statistics had not been updated on the South Wales Police Website. It will be checked in readiness for the next meeting and if updated, given to members in March.
202 Finance:
(a) Approval of the Schedule of Payments January 2020
Resolved:
the payments were approved, proposed by Cllr K Hughes, seconded by Cllr D Aston
(b) Bank Reconciliation as at 31 January 2020
Cllr D Aston signed the bank statement on behalf of the Council
Resolved:
The statement for January was approved
(c) Monthly Budget Review January 2020
Resolved:
The budget review was approved, proposed by Cllr I Hibble, seconded by Cllr K Hughes
203 To Receive Reports from Members
Cllr D Aston questioned when the work on the new cycle path would be completed.
Cllr K Hughes reported on his latest school governor meeting at Ysgol Bro Ogwr, highlighting that the school now had a green status. The BCBC Corporate Director for Education had made a presentation to the governing body announcing the plans for schools under the School Modernisation Band B Programme.
Cllr T Walsh queried what the current situation was with the Community Asset Transfer of the Brackla playing fields.
Cllr J Spanswick provided a brief update on the school’s involvement with Brackla Love it, Don’t Trash it’ Scheme including the recent litter picks and sessions with Seaquest with had been very successful and all had thoroughly enjoyed.
Resolved: The Clerk agreed to:
• contact the project manager of the to ask for a completion date;
• invite BCBC Officers to make a presentation to the Council regarding any school development in the area at an appropriate time in the future;
• invite Guy Smith to invite him to a future meeting of Council to provide an update on the status of the playing fields CAT.
204 Agenda items for February 2020 Full Council Meeting
Section 137 Donations
Committee Update
Fireworks
Consideration of Forward Work Plan
205 Date of the next Full Council Meeting –Thursday 19 March 2020
206 Planning Applications
None.