142 Minutes of the meeting of Hay Town Council held in the Council Chamber at 7.30 pm on 5 th January 2009 Present: Cllr P Lloyd (PL) Cllr D Gittins (DG) Cllr K Showler (KS) Cllr N Birch (NB) Cllr R Golesworthy (RG) Cllr J Kramer(JK) Cllr S Like (SL) Cllr F Howard (FH) County & Town Cllr G Ratcliffe (GR) Apologies: In Attendance: Cllr M Fellowes (MF) Cllr A Lloyd-Penny (ALP) Lesley Moore, Clerk to the Council 435. Welcome to 2009 PL wished the team a Happy New Year. 436. Mayor Said Mahmoud, Timbuktu PL reported with regret, the sudden death of the Mayor of Timbuktu who had done so much for the twinning initiative, and who was looking forward to welcoming the delegation from Hay in February. He asked colleagues to join in a minute s silence in his memory. 437. Declarations of Interest GR and RG planning. 438. Minutes The minutes of the December meeting were agreed and signed as a correct record. MATTERS ARISING 439. Street Lighting GR reported that after the local review and the meeting with PCC, certain street lights were being switched back on via a timer during January. There would be a further review in a few months. PCC would not be removing the lamp posts which remained off as they may be used for low energy LED lighting in the future. This would be trialled in some areas. GR had put forward Hay to be considered for this. After discussion it was agreed that the Clerk write to PCC to ask for confirmation of the lighting for De Breos Court, Carlsgate and Booth Gardens. GR had been advised that they were the responsibility of the developers, i.e. not adopted by PCC and therefore the local review team were limited in considering the lighting in Hay.
143 440. CCTV It was also agreed to write a letter of thanks to Mr Robinson who assisted with the local review and gave his time to attend the PCC meeting. PL thanked GR for his hard work on this matter. The Clerk advised the Council that a quote of 24,282 plus VAT had been received for 5 CCTV cameras and the full system. It was agreed that details of the leasing scheme be sought and that PCC be chased for costs for monitoring. 441. Community Welcome Scheme Grant LM to arrange meeting with FH and DG to discuss how to progress this further. 442. Water Grant The Council was advised that Mike Harris was looking into the ownership of the fishing at the warren. It was not owned by the Warren Club nor the Fishing Club of Hay. PL asked the Fishing & Estates Sub Committee to make progress on this matter. MAIN AGENDA 443. Freedom of Information Model Publication Scheme Councillors had received the Model Publication Scheme with their papers. LM stated that HTC was required to adopt the scheme and could do so without any amendment, by January 2009. However it was agreed that PL and LM meet to make any local amendments and present to the February meeting. LM stated that she also had to prepare a list of the information held by the Council based on guidelines from the Information Commissioners Office. 444. Precept for 2009/10 The Finance Sub Committee presented the proposed Precept to the Council. Despite the rise in the Clerk s salary, some of which would be funded from income from tenants, the overall rise was only2.73%. The Council resolved to approve the Precept and submit it to PCC by the January deadline. DG abstained, SL & RG voted against. PL advised the Council that the Finance Committee thought that the Council s other sub committees should be focussed on project work. It was thought that some work might come out of the discussions on the Community Welcome Scheme.
144 445. Clerk s Correspondence Assembly Members following the details presented by the Clerk at the last meeting, LM now advised Council that the deadline for contributions had been extended, also that comments could be made via the website. Further details from the Clerk. Code of Conduct it was agreed that LM, DG and PL attend the training session to be held on Monday 19 th January in Borough Brycheiniog. 446. Clerk s Financial Report Cheques Issued: 447. Council Offices LM reported ongoing problems with the electricity circuits for the building which were tripping, due to the use of supplementary heating. The electrician had been called out and a plan of action would be drawn up. The Clerk would also be looking for tenants for the 2 vacant offices. Papers had now been compiled for the Court, in respect of the debt owed by Mrs Patricia Daly and Mrs Cass Higgins. HTC was required to pursue this as it was public money. LM would not be using a solicitor and would be attending Court herself. 448. County Councillor s Report The Superintendent from Brecon would be attending the February meeting to discuss the HTC s request for a full time PCSO for the town. GR had met with Jo Lancey, PCC, to discuss measures to deal with traffic problems. The speed flashers would be remaining in Hay for some time. PCC s budget would be very tight in the next financial year. An overall increase of 2.9% was being aimed for, with further budget meetings taking place before the full council met on 29 th January. 1% increase gave PCC an additional 500,000 only. Powys had 113 schools and 15 leisure centres which would be reviewed in the future. 449. Mayor s Report PL thanked those that had helped with the Senior Citizens Christmas party, which had been another great success. Lots of people had phoned or written to say how much they had enjoyed it. MF had deputised for PL at the Fairtrade event and had been praised for her speech.
145 PL congratulated Hay School on their excellent and entertaining Christmas plays and also the Carol Service at St Mary s Church. FH would pass on the comments to those concerned. PL and his wife had visited Cartref with sherry for the residents on 22 nd December. 450. Members of the Public Mrs Hitchcox enquired if PCC would be revaluing properties which had decreased in value due to the recession. GR thought that this was very unlikely. Bailey Walk the Council noted that trees were overgrown with ivy, but stated that it provided a natural habitat. SL had been told that there were 3 very rare brambles there. Newsletter the HTC had not issued a newsletter recently, but would be able to feed in to GR s column in Wye Local. The Council was advised that Lesley Arrowsmith was keeping a blog called a Life in Hay. 451. Sub Committees. Finance had met to determine Precept. Fishing & Estates PL stressed the need for urgent progress to be made on the Water grant. It was stated that Chris Smith was not the HTC s fishing bailiff. This was now Simon. Christmas Lights Cllr NB and DG thought that the Hay lights were not as good as Talgarth and Builth. There would be a Sub Committee meeting in July. It was agreed to write to the Chamber of Commerce about a partnership approach to funding the lights for next December. It was also agreed to write to PCC to complain about the power supplies for the 3 new swag lights, which PCC had fitted to lamp posts where the power had been switched off, requesting a refund of the monies paid last year. RG advised that Golesworthys would not be recharging HTC for the electricity used by the lights plugged into the shop, and PL reported that St Johns would not charge either. Christmas Party RG led the discussion on ways in which this event might be improved. Following contributions from FH, it was agreed that FH and GR put forward a detailed proposal on holding the event in the school next December. The meal could be cooked on site, and the school children could assist in serving. The hall could also seat 120 (20 more than the Masonic Lodge). It might be possible to borrow chairs from the Masonic Lodge. This would be an excellent way to link the community. RG also objected to Councillors being press ganged into helping serve. This was refuted and those who attended did so because they wanted to
146 be there, and had enjoyed serving the people they represented in the community. Concern was expressed about the accuracy of the Community Support database which was used for the invitations. GR reminded Councillors that, as locals, they should know about deaths and be able to deal with that accordingly. Some Councillors had been in touch with the Clerk to make amendments for the list. Recycling a meeting to be held in February to consider grant application. Council Offices as per Clerk s report. 452. Reports from Representatives Affordable Housing nothing to report. Community Support nothing to report. Almshouses no changes to report. Dial a Ride - nothing to report. Hay Youth Club nothing to report. Hay School Governors nothing to report. Community Centre still nothing to report. Gwernyfed Sports Centre nothing to report. One Voice Wales nothing to report. Twinning The first Twinning Sub Committee had approved two grant applications from Medics4Timbuktu and the Education Project with its temporarily delegated decision making power. The first Umbrella Coordinating Group was taking place on 21 st January. One of the Twinning SC would be required to attend. The Twinning groups had all been advised of the new structure and had been invited to send 2 delegates to the meeting on 21 st January. Health Focus Group no meetings had been held in December. PL asked if the complaint about the Hay Surgery staff had been passed on. RG and GR declared a personal interest and left the meeting. It was confirmed that the complaint would be discussed at the next meeting. PACT no report from the police. 453. Planning Applications GR declared an interest (BBNP) and left the meeting.
147 08/01687/FUL Approval re: Black Lion Forge Workshop. Noted. 08/01973/FUL Approval re: 15, 16, 17 Heol y Dwr. Noted. (RG declared a personal interest). 08/01799/FUL Approval re: 7 De Breos Court. Noted. P2008 1756 retrospective application re: Gypsy Castle Farm. Agreed that Lesley Moore write to say that HTC is unable to comment on this application without knowing the outcome of the first application, which HTC objected to. There being no further business the meeting was declared closed at 9.50 pm. Signed Date 2 nd February 2009