Among matters considered and discussed at last month’s meeting of Manorbier Community Council were the following:

A public participation session took place between 7 and 7.05 pm. The Westival Festival was discussed and potholes in Summerhill Lane, Manorbier Newton, were reported.

At this point, the clerk began taping the meeting, in line with MCC policy, using a digital voice recorder, to aid drafting of the minutes. No other video or audio recording was permitted.

Apologies: Clr. George Hislop, Clr. Paul Hannon and Clr. Lynda Parker. Clr. Hughes read out an email from Clr. Hannon confirming his resignation as a councillor for Manorbier Ward. Clr. Hannon was moving away from the area. Clr. Hughes said he had sent Clr. Hannon a card to thank him for his work on MCC and wishing him good luck in his new home. The clerk agreed to commence the appropriate casual vacancy process.

Correspondence

The clerk summarised some of the key items of correspondence, including:

An email from Lt. Cdr. John Blake about two issues - a bright security light that was blinding drivers on the A4139 at the Baptist Church, Manorbier, and a request for collected rubbish from the beach to be taken away by PCC. County Clr. Kidney had confirmed that the rubbish had been taken away from the beach and that he would speak to the church about the bright security light. Clr. Hughes said that the clerk and he had recently met with Chris Taylor, the new Area Ranger South, PCNPA, and that the issue of rubbish collected from the beach had been discussed. Mr. Taylor said he would supply Clr. Hughes with red bin bags for collection of waste on the beach (and at Swan Lake Bay) and offered his team’s help for any community projects. The red bin bags would be taken away by PCC. Clr. Hughes said he would speak with Lt. Cdr. Blake and supply him with the appropriate waste bin bags.

Donation request from Tenovus Cancer Care. Members agreed not to consider the request on this occasion.

PCC email seeking views on their draft Street Trading Policy. Deadline for comments was March 13. Council agreed not to comment.

Planning applications

Removal of condition 5 of NP/13/0015 to allow for seasonal holiday let use at Awelon, Pembroke Road, Manorbier. Clr. Hughes confirmed that he had spoken with the case officer to seek clarification on a number of issues, particularly as the planning documents were not detailed on the location of the eco summerhouse. MCC had previously (when discussing NP/13/0015 in 2013) expressed concerns about the safety of car parking at this location. After discussion, council felt that more detailed plans were required, in order to show where extra vehicles would be parked and to show detailed plans of the garden, including location of the eco summerhouse. Members asked that a site visit be requested with PCNPA and PCC’s highways department, to discuss the car parking and road safety implications at this location which was on a nasty bend on a narrow road. In view of MCC’s concerns and the requested site visit, Clr. Hall proposed that the application be recommended for refusal. All were in favour. 

County Councillor’s Report

County Clr. Phillip Kidney provided the following report:

A PCNPA site visit had taken place that day to the location of the proposed development opposite Bush Terrace, Jameston. This had been well attended. MCC’s previous points and concerns had been raised. The planning application was to be discussed by the development management committee on March 6.

Emails had been exchanged with PCC’s property department about the purchase of the driveway at Jameston Village Hall by Jameston Community Association from PCC. A meeting was to be held to discuss the matter, on March 15. The cabinet member for finance would be present along with officers and County Clr. Kidney. Initial PCC emails requested a payment of £30k for this ‘ransom’ strip of land. Currently, the Community Association pay £160 rent per year for the strip of land/driveway.

The issue of improvements to the footpath between Vicarage Fields and Manorbier Post Office would be discussed at a meeting with Alan Hunt, PCC’s access officer, as the narrow footpath had safety implications for wheelchair users.

A number of street lights had been repaired in Manorbier.

The state of the wall at May Cottage, Manorbier, would be looked at by Manorbier Castle and would be sorted out.

Speeding signs in Manorbier: Claire Williams at PCC was to instigate more speed checks in Manorbier. The last tests showed most motorists were inside the speed limit. If the new tests showed speeding motorists, the police could be notified. The value of flashing speed signs was questioned. The clerk was to be copied into any correspondence on this issue.

Action Tracking

Installation of footpath - Windy Ridge to Hounsell Avenue, Manorbier. County Clr. Kidney confirmed there was no further update on the application submitted to PCC under the Enhancing Pembrokeshire Grant scheme.

Jameston Play Area - inspections and vegetation update. Clr. Williams had undertaken an inspection of the play area on February 2. Some rubbish was collected, but there were no safety concerns.

Diversion of Public Footpath SP23/9, Park Farm - PCNPA had confirmed that the footpath was nearly complete and that it should be opened early this month. The clerk was asked to chase PCNPA for a further update, as some members thought that the footpath was now open.

OTHER?MATTERS

To discuss and agree a date for commencement of a further casual vacancies (co-option) process. The clerk reminded members that MCC still had two councillor vacancies and that following Clr. Hannon’s resignation, this had now increased to three. The clerk would notify the Electoral Services Office of Cl. Hannon’s resignation to instigate the first stage of a casual vacancy process (call for a petition for an election) and would then follow this up, if appropriate, with a co-option process for all three vacancies. Members were content.

To discuss and approve MCC’s grass cutting contract for 2019/20. The clerk confirmed that MCC’s existing contractor, Richard Mason, had confirmed that he was content to keep prices the same as for 2018. It was noted that grass cutting at the North Sports Field, Manorbier, was no longer the responsibility of MCC and would be omitted from the contract. Members considered that Mr. Mason had done a good job for MCC and that his existing contract be extended for one further year. Members agreed that MCC would put the contract out to tender in 2020. Clr. Long proposed that MCC extend the existing grass cutting contract with Richard Mason for one further year. All in favour.

To consider councillor training opportunities provided by One Voice Wales (OVW). Clr. Clark reported that the OVW area committee had discussed training and had encouraged Town and Community Councils to work together in facilitating appropriate training. This would help reduce costs and provide training locally. No further nominations for OVW training were put forward, but Clr. Hughes said he would consider attending a Planning Aid Wales training event, to be held in March. The clerk said that the monitoring officer had also offered to undertake Code of Conduct training if two or more councils worked together to try and achieve an ideal number of attendees of 20.

To consider an update on installation of the De Barri Coat of Arms on signage in MCC’s area. Clr. Marcia Kidney said that Gerald Codd had sent her a drawing of the Coat of Arms and that she retained quotations for signage from Signspeed. Members discussed how the coat of arms could be used. Clr. Hall thought that this work should not be a priority for MCC in view of current austerity. Members agreed to hold further work on this matter in abeyance for the time being.

To consider and approve funding for Jameston Community Association (JCA) for the purchase of the village hall driveway from PCC. Clr. Hughes said that this item had been adequately covered by in County Clr. Kidney’s report.

To receive an update (if any) from Clr. Hall on ways of reducing use of single use plastic within MCC’s area. Clr. Hall said that another acknowledgement from the Welsh Government (WG) had been received, but awaited further news from the WG before taking work forward.

Emergency Items

Clr. Williams reported that a local resident had mentioned the condition of the roads in the recent icy weather and noted that there was no salt in the bin outside Manor Crescent. County Clr. Kidney agreed to take this forward.

Clr. Miall reported that the new residents of Cow Park Farm had spoken to him about the BT box that had been installed outside the farm before they had arrived. This had yet to be connected and they had tried without success to find out why this had not been done. County Clr. Kidney said he would try and find out.

Clr. Marcia Kidney asked again about the removal of the directional road signs to the now closed Water Gardens. County Clr. Kidney agreed to look into this matter.