DRAFT – UNCONFIRMED
Minutes of Monthly Council Meeting held on
Monday 18th July 2016 at Port Eynon Village Hall.
The meeting commenced at 7:30 pm.
Present: Cllr. G.Evans, Cllr. R. Fisher, Cllr. Mrs. S. Fisher, Cllr. A. Milligan,and Cllr. Mrs. L. Newland,
Apologies for Absence: Cllr. Mrs. Ann Scott
In attendance: Mr. B. Stubbings (clerk),
Chair person: Cllr. R. Fisher took the Chair.
Declarations of Interest: Cllr. Mrs. L. Newland re Gower Holiday Village
063/16 Minutes of Last Meeting (June 2016):
The minutes were proposed to be accepted as a true record by Cllr. G. Evans, the proposal was seconded by Cllr. Mrs. S. Fisher and agreed by all. The minutes were signed by the chairperson.
064/16. Matters Arising from previous Meeting:
Verges – Cllr Mrs. Newland advised that she had been in contact with Mr. Tom. Roderick and that he could undertake machine cutting of the verges at a rate of £30 per hour. Cllr R. fisher commented that it should not be necessary for the community council to spend money to make good the deficiencies of the City Council. After discussion it was agreed that the Community Council could take action to arrange cutting in localised areas where verges had become hazardous to pedestrians.
South Gower Sports Club – Cllr. Milligan advised that there had again been problems with noise and disturbance from the sports Club. During the event on 3rd July Cllr. Mrs Stott had found it necessary to visit the club at 12:30 am to complain about the noise. The event organisers acknowledged that the music volume should be reduced after 11 pm and should cease at midnight, but no action had been taken. Further it had not proven possible to contact the Environmental Health officers or obtain a visit from local police. Cllr. Milligan strongly commented that the frequent hosting of music festivals was not in accordance with the principles of Gower being an area of outstanding natural beauty, and would lead to a decline in tourism.
{subsequent to the meeting another complaint was received from a resident concerning disturbance from vehicles parked close to the boundary fence in the early hours of the morning}
065/16. Finance:
Clerk tabled an updated Cash Book status. He advised that there had been no income or expenditure in the past month. The bank balances were presently as follows:
Current Account £9,460
Savings Account £5,255
Knelston Burial Ground Account £675
Clerk advised that the Welsh Assembly auditor for local councils now required the cash book to be formally approved by the Council on a quarterly basis. Cllr G Evans proposed that the statement be approved, Cllr Mrs L Newland seconded the proposal and all were in agreement.
The following funding commitments have been made and are carried forward:
Scurlage Green Improvements – £2,000
Port Eynon Village Green improvements – £2,000.
066/16. Planning:
From Previous applications
2015/1657 The Monksland Scurlage – Appeal for Permit for 64 units of Touring Caravans for three months. Council considered the grounds given for appeal and noted that the claims for a permit on the grounds of providing an overspill facility were not supported by local caravan site owners who had not experienced full occupancy in the past three years. Council also questioned the claims that the site would generate more than 20 full time jobs for the three months of operation, or that the continued viability of ‘The Monksland’ was dependent on this application being granted. Clerk was directed to respond to the Appeal document accordingly. Appeal dismissed on 28th June 2016 on basis that use of land for caravans and camping was contrary to the provisions of the Gower Area of Outstanding Beauty..
2016/0680 Adjacent to Hawthorn Cottage, Scurlage. – Outline planning permission for a single dwelling house. Council noted that there had been a previous application for outline permission over ten years ago which had been granted but had since lapsed. After discussion it was agreed that a number of changes had occurred in the vicinity of this site since the previous application. In particular Council considered that the proposed access would result in conflict with the bus lay by and was not to be recommended given the volume and speed of traffic using the A4118 at this location. It was considered that access should be taken from Monksland Road, as was required of the adjoining development. Concern should also again be raised of the unsatisfactory state of mains drainage serving this area and of flooding of this area. Outline planning permission granted on 14th July 2016.
2016/1088 Berry Farm, Scurlage. – New agricultural barn. Council noted location and size of the new barn (approx. 18m by 12m.) and queried the height to eaves of only 3.7m. noting that whilst this rendered the barn more sympathetic to the surrounding buildings it would be of restricted use for access and storage. Council unanimously recommended approval. Notification received on 4th July that planning permission is not required.
New applications :
2016/1303 Gower Holiday village – Temporary use of field to erect marquee and 10 tents on 16th and 17th September. Council repeated their concerns over the ad-hoc use of this field and noted the views of the planning inspector with regard to the recent appeal on application 2015/1657. Council reiterated their view that use of the field should be conditional on provision of adequate facilities to create a licensed and approved camp/caravan site. The proposal in this application to rely on skips, three ‘portaloos’ and a few fire extinguishers was considered inadequate.
067/16 Highways & Footpaths.
Councillors noted that there the void in the road surface between near to the entrance to Mr. John Mumby’s field was still present and required levelling. Clerk to action.
Cllr Newland advised that she was in receipt of further complaints from residents regarding the overgrown verges in the Port Eynon area. Also the white lining and cats-eyes required attention as on a recent foggy night they had proved to be deficient.
After discussion it was again agreed to raise with the City Council permission for the Community Council to carry out verge trimming subject to a cross funding arrangement.
Cllr. Jones advised that he had received a complaint from a resident concerning the overgrown hedges at the junction of Trumpet Lane in Knelston which obscured vision for traffic leaving Trumpet Lane. Referred to trustees for the Knelston Burial Ground.
068/16 Correspondence:
Clerk advised that he had not been in receipt of any correspondence.
069/16 Knelston Burial Ground. Nothing to report.
070/16 Village Halls –
Port Eynon – Clerk advised that he was waiting for pegging of the boundary to be completed.
Cllr. L. Newland advised that the VHMC at their last meeting had expressed dissatisfaction with PECC in regard to the ownership and custody of the property deeds. Also that they had written to the Charity commission to say that the PECC had ‘lost’ the deeds and failed to fulfil their duties as Custodian Trustee, as such the PECC should relinquish this role and the VHMC should claim ownership of the property. They were in receipt of legal advice to this effect. Cllr. Newland was requested to obtain a copy of any correspondence between VHMC and the Charity Commission.
Cllr Newland further advised that she had requested a response from VHMC with regard to the encroachment by a neighbour onto the village hall land.
Cllr R Fisher suggested that PECC should write to the VHMC to request a meeting, in an effort to resolve these apparent difficulties.
Port Eynon Green – Council discussed measures to control parking on the green and agreed that a suitable solution would be to install timber posts similar to those at Scurlage Green. It was noted that access would need to be maintained to the electricity sub-station. It was agreed to proceed with drawing up an outline plan and obtaining quotations.
Llandewi Hall – nothing to report.
.
071/16 Communications – Cllr R Fisher would continue to liaise with Mr Tony Wright of AW Graphics concerning a newsletter.
072/16 Any Other Business:
Clerk advised that he had obtained an indication of price for a war memorial from local monumental masons. Cllr R Fisher advised that he may be able to arrange for supply of a large boulder from the Monksland Road housing site, and to wait until this could be further explored.
Cllr R Fisher advised that the ‘Muddy gap’ passage from Monksland road to the A4118 had been closed by contractors and this was contrary to the approved construction plans. Also that site works had damaged the trees and hedgerows bordering the construction site.
Cllr S Fisher commented that the flower beds had been prepared along Scurlage Green but to date there was little development of the promised wild flowers.
Finally, Cllr Newland advised that she had received a text message to complain about the notice board near St Cattwg’s church which had a broken hinge for some weeks and which the Clerk had failed to take any action despite having been advised of the problem. Clerk reported that he had recently replaced both hinges, and then offered to withdraw whilst Council considered what was a formal complaint. Chair directed him to remain. Council concluded that the Clerk had acted to the best of his abilities and that the complaint was unjustified.
Date of Next Meeting: Monday 19th September 2016 at 7:30 pm in the Port Eynon Village Hall.
Meeting closed at 9:30 pm. Chairman
- J. Stubbings, (Clerk) R. Fisher