Draft Minutes
DRAFT MINUTES OF HARLECH COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT THE OLD LIBRARY, HARLECH AT 7.30 P.M. ON 05.02.24
APOLOGIES
Cllrs. Thomas Mort.
PRESENT
Cllrs. Edwina Evans (Chairman), Christopher Braithwaite (Vice Chairman), Emma Howie, Tegid John, Ceri Griffiths, Gordon Howie, Rhian Corps, Martin Hughes, Giles Bentham, Wendy Williams, and Cllrs. Annwen Hughes and Gwynfor Owen (Gwynedd Council).
There was 5 members of the public present.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on January 8th 2024 were found to be correct.
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
It was stated that there was no need to give the statement regarding an email which the Community Councils had agreed to send out in December in the minutes of this Council under HAL.
Cllr. Martin Hughes stated that the audit report needs to say that it is in the public interest about the fraud of £9,000
Cllr. Martin Hughes stated that the notice of motion regarding appointing an experienced professional to investigate on behalf of the Council and advise on appropriate action including interviewing the people involved should be in the minutes of the Council and not in the minutes of the questions.
Cllr. Christopher Braithwaite questioned if it was £1,000 or £500 that had been earmarked for the Community Wildflower Garden and a majority of the Members stated that it was £500.
Cllr. Martin Hughes asked if Members could be sent copies of the Council’s budget with final figures on it.
DECLARATION OF INTEREST
No Member declared an interest on any matters.
GWYNEDD COUNCIL MATTERS
The following report was received from Cllr. Annwen Hughes and Cllr. Gwynfor Owen – Cllr. Annwen Hughes reported that since the last meeting that she had received more complaints of speeding down beach road and she had passed on these complaints once again to Gwynedd Council and asked for 20 m.p.h signs to be placed on the road especially next to the School. She had received a reply stating that because this road is lit and there are no signs along it so the restriction is 20 m.p.h and she will raise this issue at a meeting with the Police in Barmouth later this month. She had also received an email from a constituent asking why the booking system was still being carried out when wanting to visit Ffridd Rasus and she had forwarded this email to Gwynedd Council and received a reply stating that they had seen the benefit of this system but at the same time they were aware that this system does not please everyone so in the next few months they will be re-looking at this and reviewing this system because the experimental regime over the Christmas period had worked well and it had proven popular. She had received an email from another constituent asking when the car charging points would be working in Bron y Graig Uchaf car park and she had passed this on to Gwynedd Council and had received a reply stating that officials from the transport team were working on a programme to make the site operational in October, but unfortunately the activity of installing an electric meter on the site was cancelled without reason by the company. They have been working on re-establishing the work programme and are hopeful that they will be able to provide a charging service by April this year. She had received complaints from some residents of the area who visit the town to go to use the local shops that there is no place to park in the on-street parking spaces because the shop owners’ cars park there all day. Because of this she will bring this matter to the attention of the Police at the meeting and ask them to have the Traffic Warden to visit the town more regular. As from Monday February 12th a new Sunday and Bank Holiday
timetable will be introduced on Bus Service G23 and there will be 4 journeys a day on Sundays and Bank Holidays and will operate between Barmouth, Harlech and Porthmadog and there will be connections with TrawsCymru Service T3 will be available at Barmouth. More information can be found at Lloydscoaches.com/serviceup-date/servicechanges
Cllr. Gwynfor Owen reported that he had been told that the dead animals that had been washed up on the beach had been cleared within 24 hours by Gwynedd Council. He had attended the public meeting in the swimming pool where a good number had gathered, he had been told that a dangerous tree had fallen and Gwynedd Council had soon cleared it, he had complained that yellow lines were not being painted in places for some time and this was because there was an external company that was doing the work. He has arranged a call for peace vigil to be held in the castle car park at 5.00 p.m on Sunday 11th February. He stated that the council tax will probably go up to 10% with cuts of £8 million and the next financial year will be worse.
MATTERS ARISING
Budget Plan
It was reported that the Council had spent £78,716.20 (which included bank charges) since the start of the new financial year and this was £2,512.89 more expenditure than what was earmarked in the budget for the year.
Cllr. Christopher Braithwaite reported that Members needed to agree to take care of different projects and he shared a drawn-out plan listing the different projects with the cost attached to each. Some Members agreed to be responsible for various projects.
The Clerk reported that the £2,500 grant applications he had submitted on behalf of the Council to bring 6 allotments back into use had been successful. A quote for the work must now be sent to Gwynedd Council by the 14th of this month. It was also reported that she had recevied one enquiry about an allotment.
Council Webpage
Cllr. Emma Howie reported that the new website has gone live and checks need to be carried out to see if everything is allright on it and let her or Mrs Kim Howie know what changes need to be made. Cllr. Howie stated the new website needs tidying up because things have been transferred from the old website. Cllr. Howie stated that Mrs Kim Howie is willing to upload material on the new website every month at a cost of £25 per month and Members agreed to this.
HAL
The Chairman reported that she along with Cllrs. Wendy Williams and Giles Bentham had attended the public meeting in the swimming pool on the 29th of last month and that HAL have enough money to last them until April this year and she also reported that another meeting was being held between the area’s Community Councils at Llanbedr village hall on the 14th of February and Cllr. Christopher Braithwaite agreed to attend this meeting on behalf of the Council. Mr. Simon Dawson one of the members of the HAL Board addressed the Members stating that they expecting grants and also thanking Harlech Community Council for their continued support but disappointed that the other Councils besides Llanfair had pulled and it was also stated that a professional business plan was being created
Penygraig Land
The Clerk reported that she had asked Mr. Edwards if he could arrange for the Council to have a risk assessment and survey carried out and she had received a reply stating that they should contacted Gwynedd Council about this. After a discussion t was agreed to contact Mr. Arwel Williams from Tom Parry to ask if he would be able to carry out this work.
778……………………………………………Chairman
Ardal Ni
Cllr. Martin Hughes reported that a meeting had been held on the 22nd of last month and that Anna Lewis, Regeneration Officer for Ardudwy had been present at the meeting. Cllr. Rhian Corps stated that she had contacted Gwynedd Council with regards to the Old School site.
PLANNING APPLICATIONS
No applications received since the last meeting of the Council.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Treasurer reported that there was £7,710.42 in the current account and £92,064.32 in the reserve account.
Invoices needing payment since last meeting
Gwynedd Council – £1,200.00 – electrcity for the christmas lights
Play Inspection Company – £324.00 – inspection of the play parks
Audit Wales – £1,500.00 – external audit 2021/22 (full audit)
Mr. M. J. Kerr – £580.00 – opening grave re the late Mr. Dylan Wyn Williams
Mrs K. J. Howie – £650.00 – creation of new webiste and hosting
J. B. Pest Control – £150.00 – annual contract to eradicate pests
Applications for financial contributions
Harlech & Ardudwy Leisure – £1,750.00 – precept proposal (monthly payment).
The above payments were processesed by the Vice Chairman, Cllr. Christopher Braithwaite and Cllr. Ceri Griffiths approved the payments and permission was granted to the Clerk/Treasurer to make payment on line or by cheque at the end of the meeting.
Monies received since last meeting
Gwynedd Council – £990.35 – reimbursement for cutting grass on public footpaths
Pritchard & Griffiths – £1,827.00 – burial re the late Mr. Dylan Wyn Williams
CORRESPONDANCE
Mr. Huw Jones
The Clerk reported that she had received a letter of resignation from the above due to personnal matters. It was agreed to forward this letter to the Electoral Department at Gwynedd Council. Members declared disappointment that Mr. Huw Jones had decided to resign and the Clerk was asked to send him a letter of thanks.
Mr. Joe Patton
The Clerk reported that she had received an email from the above asking for the Council’s support to develop an orchard within the quiet area at King George playing field. He was asking if the Council would support his application whether they would be willing to provide the same information needed with the request he had made about the wildflower garden, that elected Members of the Council supported him with this project while being part of the steering group which will run from the end of this month until November and those he had in mind were Cllrs. Christopher Braithwaite, Emma Howie and Rhian Corps and would the Community Council consider supporting this
779…………………………………………..Chairman
initiative by funding for wildflower seeds to create a medow of wildflowers between the orchard trees that would have been planted, or if the grant application was rejected help to develop the quiet area into a nature space while developing a wildflower medow. Mr. Patton stated that he had already discussed this matter with Cllr. Christopher Braithwaite. It was agreed that the Council supports this venture and also the three Councillors agreed to be part of the steering group.
Rock Ardudwy
Received a letter from the Chairman of the above informing the Council that they are holding a mini-festival on Saturday the 18th of May and requesting the Council’s permission to use the tennis court together with the band room car park for a few days prior to the event and also a few days after to clear away. It was agreed to give permission.
Mr. J. Maxwell
Received an e-mail from the above to let the Community Council know of the present position. The plaques are now being cast and we are aiming for Thursday 4th April, 11am for the installation . Liz Saville Roberts had an early day motion put forward in the House of Commons re Daniel Angell Jones recently and is interested in unveiling his plaque. We would like to invite all members of the Community Council to attend also so please note the date in your diaries. Perhaps Edwina as Chairperson would like to unveil the plaque to John Thomas. There will be an exhibition in respect of these local men who achieved success in their fields in the Institute during the day. I will send further details regarding the 3rd plaque to Bryan Hilton Jones when i have information re the families wishes. The Chairman agreed to unveil this plaque and the Vice Chairman agreed to do this if she was not available.
ANY OTHER MATTER
It was stated that a reply had never been received by Gwynedd Council about a crossing near Ty Canol and the Clerk agreed to contact them.
It was declared that members’ support was needed to help with the christmas lighting and this was agreed.
Disappointment was declared that although the Clerk had issued the last draft minutes in time and they were on the Council’s website no Councillor had responded to them and this was necessary.
It was stated that more information was needed on the agenda and the Clerk declared this will be the case from April.
Cllr. Martin Hughes stated that One Voice Wales were still looking for an experienced professional person to conduct the investigation and he feels it was up to the Council to choose one and not him as an individual and this was agreed to.
SIGNED……………………………………….Chairman
DATE……………………………………………… 780.