15th March 2021 | Aberdyfi Community Council

Minutes of the ordinary meeting of Aberdyfi Community Council held virtually via teleconferencing on Monday, 15^th March 2021

Present were:

Cllr Dewi Owen – Chair

Councillors:

Cllr James Bradbury-Willis

Cllr Brian Kelly

Cllr Catrin O’Neill

Cllr Dai Owens

Cllr Megan Reynolds

Cllr Bob Tyrrell

Cllr Dave Williams

Cllr Simon Worman

Public: Pat Hellen

AGENDA ITEM 1- Apologies

CL/157/15.03.21

Apologies were accepted from Cllr S Bradbury-Willis and Cllr G Jones.

AGENDA ITEM 2- Chairman’s Announcements

CL/158/15.03.21

The Chairman welcomed everyone and remarked on the amount sand that had been blown onto the road and pavements due to the recent storms and hoped that it would be cleared soon.

AGENDA ITEM 3 – Receive & confirm minutes of meeting 15^th February 2021

CL/159/15.03.21

Proposed: Cllr B Kelly Seconded: Cllr B Tyrrell

Unanimously approved.

AGENDA ITEM 4 – Matters arising

CL/160/15.03.21

Page 57

M/51/(15.06.20) Request for drinking water fountain

Clerk has emailed Snowdonia National Park again but still no response.

Action: Chair will contact Edward Jones direct as he has his telephone number

M/81/(21.09.20) EV charging points

Clerk wasn’t able to contact the clerk in Machynlleth, but had been in contact again with Jon Starbuck, who informed her that the chargers installed in Machynlleth were not fit for purpose, as they take too long to charge and therefore are not being used.

Action: Chair to talk to Gwynedd Council for an update on their plans

M/106/(16.11.20) Playground

New seating is being installed imminently.

M/107/(16.11.20) Subway Improvements

Clerk reported that she has sent another email to Adrian Williams at Gwynedd Council Highways and also tried to phone Sean Wilkes, but has had no response to either. Mr. Wilkes phone had been switched off every time she tried to ring him, so had been unable to leave a message.

Action: Clerk to keep trying to contact both

Page 58/59

M/139/(18.01.21)

Community Housing Trust

This will be discussed under Agenda Item 8, Community Needs Analysis

Crack in sea wall

Clerk has sent photos of the crack in the pavements as well as the sea wall to Gwynedd Council, who have replied saying they are on their monthly inspection list. The Chair has also spoken to the harbourmaster about this.

Cllr Tyrrell informed the meeting that the harbourmaster and Barry Davies have been to Penhelig gardens and have arranged for work to be done to the wall there and in other places round the village.

Penhelig Toilets development

Cllr Reynolds informed the Council that no work has been done on the development for about a month. The Chair reported that Snowdonia National Park have been to inspect the work and that the National Park were going to inform the owners that they have exceeded their boundaries, but nothing more has been heard.

Page 61

M/150/(15.02.21) Installing CCTV

Cllr Kelly has given log-in details for the CCTV system to the Clerk and has purchased a new system for the area around the Neuadd Dyfi.

Action: Cllr Kelly to install new system as soon as he is able. Clerk to make some CCTV system notices to be displayed outside the Neuadd Dyfi.

AGENDA ITEM 5 – Treasurer’s Report

CL/161/15.03.21

Clerk informed the Council that she has queried the 2 payments to Siemens on the 10^th and 11^th February as only one payment should have been taken. Siemens told her they have only taken one payment, but the bank statement shows that it has been taken twice. She is waiting to hear back from the accounts department at Siemens on this matter.

Cllr Kelly reminded the Council that the AA&I will be paying for half of the rent for the storage cupboard under the Council Office.

Proposed: Cllr. Tyrrell Seconded: Cllr Williams

Unanimously approved

AGENDA ITEM 6 – Gwynedd Council Report

CL/162/15.03.21

The Chair reported that there was a full Council meeting of Gwynedd Council last week with over 70 members present and the proposed increase in premium was discussed for almost three hours. Gwynedd Council passed the proposed increase as 30 voted for the increase and 16 voted against. The Chair reported that he spoke vigorously against it and some other councillors proposed that they should wait until next year. The Chair reported that they were told it is not a statutory increase and will be discussed every year at full council.

The Chair reported that the 3.7% increase in rates were confirmed at the meeting.

Cllr J. Bradbury-Willis reported that a road sign by Bryn Gwylan has fallen down. The Chair responded that he would report it to Gwynedd Council.

AGENDA ITEM 7 – Planning

CL/163/15.03.21

NP5/50/438B Glascoed, Aberdyfi

Construction of summerhouse

No objections were raised

AGENDA ITEM 8 – To consider doing a Community Needs Survey

CL/164/15.03.21

The clerk reported that she represents a group wanting to set up a community drop-in centre and had formed a steering group with representatives from the Neuadd Dyfi, the Community Housing Trust and the Climate and Biodiversity group in order to come together to do a community needs survey, as all groups had previously been planning to do their own. This steering group would like to work with the Community Council on the project and ask if the Council would be willing to take part and even lead the survey.

The Council agreed a survey is a good idea and Cllr D Owens and Cllr D. Williams volunteered to be on the steering group.

AGENDA ITEM 9 – To decide on response to station audit

CL/165/15.03.21

The signs at the station are looking a bit tatty.

Action: Clerk to respond to the audit with this information.

AGENDA ITEM 10 – To consider buying goal posts for the football field

CL/166/15.03.21

The clerk presented 4 quotes for a pair of goalposts to the Council, 12’ x 6’ (£172.99) and 16’ x 7’ (£229.99) freestanding steel from Networld Sports and 12’ x 6’ (£645.00) and 16’ x 7’ (£725.00) from the Soccer Store which are steel posts sunk into the ground.

It was agreed to put both posts out, rather than keeping one set of goals in storage. It was proposed to buy the larger ones from the Soccer Store at a cost of £725.00

Cllr Williams informed the Council that a child was killed a few years ago when some freestanding goalposts feel on them, so posts sunk into the ground would be a lot safer.

Proposed: Cllr J. Bradbury-Willis Seconded: Cllr M Reynolds

Unanimously agreed.

Action: Clerk to order goalposts

AGENDA ITEM 11 – To consider and decide on supporting work required for the cycle path project

CL/167/15.03.21

Cllr J. Bradbury-Willis declared an interest in this item and took no part in the discussions or decision.

Cllr Tyrrell reported that Network Rail have requested aerial footage of the proposed route of the cycle path between the cemetery and Aberdyfi. Four anonymous quotes for this work were presented to the Council, all to include editing of the final footage.

£375 + travel expenses at 45p for first 100 miles, 13p thereafter.
£579
£200 with company logo displayed on final video, £250 without logo
£350

It was proposed to accept the £250 quote from company No. 3

Proposed: Cllr Williams Seconded: Cllr Tyrrell

Unanimously agreed

Cllr Tyrrell informed the Council about a survey currently being done by Gwynedd Council under their Active Travel Initiative and urged everyone to take the survey. Cllr Tyrrell had spoken to the person at Gwynedd Council in charge of the survey and was told they have to convince the Welsh Government that the local community wants it to happen, hence the survey. Cllr Tyrrell asked if there is any way the Council can help get the message to more people in order for them to take the survey and support the project.

Cllr Williams responded that Gwynedd Council will already know the feelings of many people in this area because of the exhibitions that were held in Tywyn a few years ago. He suggested the Council can help by putting it in Rushlight etc. He also pinted out that what is currently there only goes half way, which is not much use to either Tywyn or Aberdyfi communities.

Cllr Reynold pointed out that there is a small piece of land where the proposed route goes that belongs to David Inman.

Action: Clerk to put the cycle path link into Rushlight etc and make some posters to put round the village, as well as talking to the clerk in Tywyn. Councillors to spread the word.

AGENDA ITEM 12 – Correspondence

CL/168/15.03.21

Harbour users meeting

The Chair reported that a meeting was held recently and at that meeting it was reported that fewer moorings were being put out this year as there is less demand for them due to Covid etc. He reported that the wharf development tenders should be going out by the end of the month and they were told that the work should commence towards the end of the year. He expressed concern that the cost will continue to rise which might mean that they decide not to put the steps into the wall to reduce costs. He reported that Aberdyfi has fought hard to get those steps put in for years so he will be monitoring the situation very closely to ensure this doesn’t happen. Cllr Williams expressed concerns that it is vital to monitor this as it will be the last chance to influence what happens for a very long time.

The harbour master reported that there will be two seasonal beach wardens employed this summer.

Neil Storkey reported to the harbour users meeting that the Picnic Island bridge is now fully funded and installation should go ahead as planned in the Autumn when the rail line is closed for maintenance on Barmouth bridge. Cllr Williams expressed concern that the council needs to liaise with highways to have temporary traffic lights just while they swing the bridge into place rather than a 24 hour road closure, as this will be more acceptable to the community.

Home Start Cymru

Email seeking volunteers from families to support other families

Snowdonia National Park Partnership Plan
Brown bin has been delivered and the clerk is sourcing suitable locks. The harbourmaster has agreed it can be sited by the harbourmaster office where there are bolts in the wall to lock the bin to.
3 benches have been delivered. 1 still on order.

One is for Alf Bowen, which will be sited in the wharf gardens, beside a bench supplied by the Maritime Department of Gwynedd Council, also in memory of Alf.

Work on the Gwelfor Terrace allotment retaining wall will start within the next couple of weeks and the clerk will inform the allotment holder of the plot immediately in front of the wall. There is going to be a drainage pipe leading to a water butt at the bottom of the wall.
Tree sculpture. A resident has offered to help move this project on so the clerk will check the existing paperwork held in the office and take it from there. The council has been advised that the trees will need to be cut down in the next few years, so the project is timely.

Action: Clerk to check the progress of the project so far

New councillor emails are now ready for testing and the clerk will email everyone with details. The clerk informed the meeting that there is a £120 one-off set-up fee and £126 annually for the emails and email notification service, with optional £10 per 200 texts for each email address for SMS notifications.

It was proposed to go ahead without SMS notifications.

Proposed: Cllr Kelly Seconded: Cllr J. Bradbury-Willis

Agreed unanimously

AGENDA ITEM 13 – Items for consideration at future meetings / urgent business

CL/169/15.03.21

CCTV policy
Triangle of land at the old Catholic church – request to find out who owns this land and if no-one, perhaps the council could buy it
Footpath at the top of the village has been blocked and signs have been moved.
Container storage for the Council.
Common land by Dyfi Yard Repairs seems to have been extended and trees have been cut down.

AGENDA ITEM 14 – Items for Rushlight / Website / Facebook

CL/170/15.03.21

Election staff needed for 6^th May
Beach wheelchairs
Cycle path survey information
New defibrillator at the Tourist Information Centre
Electoral reform link. Welsh Government want to encourage young people and minorities to engage more with the democracy process.
Installation of goalposts
Installation of new shelter in playground
Second home premium increase – it is not statutory, will be discussed again next year and Aberdyfi Community Council were not in favour of the decision

AGENDA ITEM 15 – Date of next meeting

CL/171/15.03.21

Monday 19^TH April 2021, 7pm

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.05pm