MINUTES OF HARLECH COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT THE OLD LIBRARY, HARLECH AT 7.30 P.M. ON 04.12.23
APOLOGIES
Cllrs. Huw Jones, Emma Howie, Tegid John.
PRESENT
Cllrs. Edwina Evans (Chairman), Christopher Braithwaite (Vice Chairman), Thomas Mort, Ceri Griffiths, Gordon Howie, Rhian Corps, Martin Hughes, Wendy Williams, and Cllrs. Annwen Hughes and Gwynfor Owen (Gwynedd Council).
There was 2 members of the public present.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on November 6th 2023 were found to be correct.
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
The Clerk reported that she had not yet paid the Macventure Playgrounds invoice because she had not heard from the Vice Chairman to give her the go ahead to do this.
Cllr. Martin Hughes questioned whether a Councillor had to declare an interest if he represented the Council on any external committee.
Cllr. Martin Hughes stated that the minutes about the scam was not very clear.
DECLARATION OF INTEREST
No Member declared an interest on any matters.
Report received from the External Auditor
The Clerk reported that it is not possible to discuss the above report because the necessary Notice has not been published in the Cambrian News informing the public that the above is being discussed even though the Clerk has sent it to them. It will now have to be discussed at the next Council meeting on the 8th of January.
A member of the public declared that he was not happy that a notice had not been placed on the Council’s webpage or the facebook page stating that this matter had been postponed.
GWYNEDD COUNCIL MATTERS
The following report was received from Cllr. Annwen Hughes – Cllr. Annwen Hughes reported that since the last meeting that she had received complaints of speeding down beach road an she had passed on these complaints and asked for 20 m.p.a signs to be placed on the road especially next to the School, she had also brought up this matter at a recent meeting with the Police in Barmouth. She had been invited by the Police, following the serious accident near LLanfrothen, to attend a meeting for an informal talk chaired by Llinos Davies of North Wales Police. Free parking between 9 and 26 December will be provided in all Gwynedd Council car parks from 11am everyday in the period leading up to Christmas to encourage Gwynedd residents to Support the county’s local businesses.
Cllr. Gwynfor Owen reported that he had attended the Remembrance Sunday service, the craft fair and the Christmas lighting night, most of his time went attending various meetings with the Fire Authority.
MATTERS ARISING
Budget Plan
It was reported that the Council had spent £61,603.69 (which included bank charges) since the start of the new financial year and this was £7,333.62 less expenditure than what was earmarked in the budget for the year.
King George V Playing Field
Cllr. Christopher Braithwaite informed the Members that Mr. Meirion Evans had completed the path from the road to the play park and also that the work on the zip wire had been completed and he was happy for the invoice to be
774…………………………………………….Chairman
paid. Mr. Meirion Evans had installed the bollards and the Chairman declared that she had received a phone call from a local person thanking the Council for installing these bollards and that the work was looking good.
Bus Shelters
Cllr. Christopher Braithwaite reported that he had nothing more to discuss on the above matter.
Election of Councillor
The Clerk reported that she had been informed by the Electoral Department, Gwynedd Council that they had received two nominations for the vacant seat which exists on the Council and therefore an election will be held on the 14th of this month.
HAL
The Vice Chairman reported that he together with Cllr. Martin Hughes had attended the meeting between the Community Councils and HAL on the 23rd of last month and the Clerk had sent a copy of the minutes that were taken at this meeting by the Clerk of Llanbedr Community Council to every Member. ‘The Clerk had sent copies of HAL’s accounts up to the end of last month to all Members and also reported that a meeting was being held again between the Community Councils and HAL on the 14th of this month at 7.00 p.m. and a meeting between the Community Councils in the area at Llanbedr village hall on the 18th of this month.
Council Webpage
In the absence of Cllr. Emma Howie the Clerk reported that Cllr. Emma Howie had sent her an e-mail stating that Mrs Kim Howie had agreed to produce a new website for the Council at a cost of £500 and that she had forwarded the email to all Members. It was agreed for Mrs Howie do this work for the Council
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.
Mrs Jane Jones e-mail
The Chairman reported that she had contacted the above to thank her for the work she has done and it was reported that each Member had been given a copy of the above email. Mrs Jones indicated that she was not happy in the way the Council’s accounts and other matters were being done and it was agreed the The Way Forward sub-committee would meet to discuss this.
PLANNING APPLICATIONS
Installation of 1300 litre oil tank – Land at Morfa Newydd, Ffordd Glan Môr, Harlech (NP5/61/505D)
Support this application.
Amendments to existing shop front. Creation of new porch, steps and front door to provide separate access to first floor flat – Rosslyn House, High Street, Harlech (NP5/61/113C)
Support this application.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Treasurer reported that there was £20,034.98 in the current account and £91,763.79 in the reserve account.
Invoices needing payment since last meeting
Mr. Joe Patton – £209.69 – purchase flowers, compost and equipment for community garden
Mr. M. J. Kerr – £90.00 – open grave re burial of ashes of David and Caerwen Williams
Mr. G. J. Williams – £152.00 – cut grass King George playing field and football field x 2
775…………………………………………….Chairman
Mr. Lee Warwick – £258.22 – clean toilets by the castle (2 months wages)
Mr. Meirion Evans – £1,620.00 – create path to King George playing field and install 3 bollards by Llyn y Felin
Brown and Wolfe – £260.00 – website hosting
Tindle Newspapers – £369.60 – notice external audit report
Macventure Playgrounds – £9,120.00 – remaining payment play equipment King George field **
Applications for financial contributions
Harlech & Ardudwy Leisure – £1,750.00 – precept proposal (monthly payment).
Old Library Committee – £650.00 – purchase of 2 blue plaques (agreed in last month’s meeting)
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
North Wales Police – £249.25 – PACT grant
Pritchard & Griffiths – £1,204.00 – burial of ashes re the late David a Caerwen Williams
CORRESPONDANCE
Gwynedd Council – Environment Department
Received an email from the above informing the Council the road from Awelfryn, Ffordd Uchaf will be closed on the 13th of this month on health and safety grounds for the public during works on overhead cables. It was noted that this work was going to be carried out in the community of Llanfair.
Mr. Joe Patton
Received an e-mail from the above informing the Council that the Keep Wales Tidy grant application for the wildflower seater pack had been successful and wanted to convey his thanks and appreciation to Members of the Community Council for making it possible for this grant to be had.
Mr. Owen Brown
Received and e-mail from the above asking if the Council is happy to go ahead with the hosting of the Council’s website for this year and also stating that he has sent an e-mail to Webflow asking how much time there is if there would be a need to cancel the plan. It was agreed to pay for the hosting of the website again this year.
ANY OTHER MATTER
It was reported that the ditch near The Morfa Shop needed cleaning and it was agreed that the Clerk contact Natural Resources Wales.
It was reported that the fence near this ditch needed repairs.
Cllr. Martin Hughes said that he was not happy that the reply sent to the External Auditor in response to the report received had not been sent to all the Councillors before it was sent to the External Auditor and had only been sent to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.
It was informed that a representative of the Council needed to go on the Board of Governors of Tan y Castell School and after a discussion Cllr. Wendy Williams agreed to be the Councul’s representative.
SIGNED……………………………………….Chairman
DATE……………………………………………… 776.