Draft Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on Thursday 20th March 2025 at the Welfare Hall, Heol Y Felin, Cwmgwrach and via Zoom, commencing at 6.30 pm
Present: Councillors J Bulman, A Doherty, C Edwards, R A Williams.
Council Employees Present: Clerk/RFO Linda Evans
Members of the Public Present: Councillor H Davies
120/24 Apologies: Councillors R Williams (Chair), M Mortimore (Vice-Chair), P Rudd, D Jones, A Edwards and A Hippsley had sent their apologies.
The meeting started at 6.30 pm. Due to the Chair and Vice Chair not in attendance it was proposed and seconded that Councillor C Edwards shall preside at the meeting as per Standing Orders 3(n).
The meeting is held as a multi-hybrid meeting in accordance with The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. No attendees joined online.
121/24 Declarations of Interest: There were no declarations of interest at this meeting.
122/24 County Councillor`s Report:
- Cllr H Davies, provided an update on the Glynneath slip road (106/24 Correspondence). Work to resolve the safety issue will begin later this month and will take approximately 10 weeks to complete.
- The Village was visited by NPTCBC Dog Patrol 2 weeks ago, and no offences were observed. Cllr H Davies placed “No Fouling” bilingual (English and Welsh) warning stickers on the main route around the school, hopefully, this will serve as a reminder to pick up any dog waste. As she was only supplied with a limited number of stickers, some older version stickers have been used. She is also looking into the number and location of Dog Bins in the Villages to determine if one can be placed at the top of Parish Road where there is a need for one. Residents should be encouraged to report any observed dog fouling to either the NPTCBC Waste Team or the local Police.
- Cllr H Davies informed the members of a recent incident at the school, which resulted in a temporary lockdown as a precautionary measure. The incident is currently under investigation.
- Cllr H Davies inquired about plans to replace the damaged park lighting. She was informed that fittings/replacements are no longer available so they cannot be repaired. Funding for the replacement is expected to be available during the next financial year. Meanwhile, work will soon begin on replacing the lighting on the Hall building and foyer.
- Cllr C Edwards informed Cllr H Davies that the landowner of the building land on Wenallt Road had returned to do minimal clearing work. Additionally, she reported that the water runoff from the plot is causing a large pothole and requested that Cllr H Davies ask the Borough Council to investigate it.
123/24 Public Observations on Matters Arising and Agenda Items
There were no observations made at this meeting.
124/24 To Approve the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on Thursday 20th February 2025
RESOLVED that the minutes be approved as a true record of the meeting.
125/24 Matters Arising from the Ordinary Meeting held on Thursday 16th January 2025
Further to minute 114/24A465 Road Repair Works – The approved letter was sent to the designated recipients, and acknowledgements were received from South Wales Trunk Road Agency and Councillor S Hunt. The Caseworker for Jeremy Miles MS provided the most informative response, stating that the current work has necessitated more extensive concrete repairs and will take longer than expected, and the stretch between Resolven and Cwmgwrach is still awaiting prioritisation and funding. The news was met with disappointment from the members at the meeting. They will await further information before responding. RESOLVED
Further to minute 117/24 Finance – Celtic Wildflowers (agenda item 53/24) – The Clerk had received a reply (from NPTCBC) regarding the planting of wildflowers on the grass verge of the roundabout. Two options were given and discussed by the members at the meeting: 1) the area is adopted and managed under the NPT Bee Friendly Scheme, this would be subject to an agreement with the Neighborhood Services Team and the Local Cabinet Members. 2) If the Community Council wished to carry out the planting and maintenance themselves an agreement with the above services would have to be agreed along with a license from NPT Estates Department. It was RESOLVED The Clerk should submit a request on behalf of the Council to have the area adopted into the NPT Bee Friendly Scheme.
126/24 Agenda Items:
a) Christmas Panto 2025 – Wize Productions has inquired whether the Council is interested in hosting a pantomime again this year. The members expressed an interest, commenting that affordable ticket prices offer families valuable entertainment and a festive way for residents of all ages to celebrate Christmas. They asked the Clerk to inquire about available dates, particularly the 29th November, as is coincides with the Christmas Lights switch-on. Additionally, they discussed the possibility of an afternoon and early evening performance. RESOLVED
b) Councillor Allowances 2025/26 and Councillor Allowances Policy – The Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW). mandates that councils must pay members £156 yearly for home working and either £52 yearly for office consumables or reimburse them fully for these costs, these amounts remain the same as 2023/24 RESOLVED and noted. The policy decision agreed by all members was – The Policy decision will state that payments are made annually, in December or January. In the event of a member’s resignation or disqualification, a pro-rata payment will be issued based on the number of months served on the council. Any overpayment must be reimbursed on a pro-rata basis. If the resignation or disqualification occurs mid-month, the month will be counted as a full month of service if the date falls after the halfway point of the month. RESOLVED Clerk to write the decisions into a full policy and publish on the Council Webpage.
c) Critical Bleed Kits and Code of Conduct Training – Councillor C Edwards and the Clerk attended the Neath Port Talbot Area Committee Meeting held via Zoom on the 5th of March 2025. Cllr C Edwards wanted to share and discuss two presentations made at the meeting.
- Critical Bleed Kits (Mrs Melanie James JP, High Sheriff of West Glamorgan) – To address the growing concern of knife crime in the UK, the High Sheriff has looked for advice and collaboration with Welsh Cabinet Ministers and emergency services to provide critical bleed kits that can be stored in defibrillator cases, the cases would then be labelled and registered as containing the kits. The cost is £95 and includes installation. The kits are for any serious bleed injury such as glass cuts, road accidents etc. and contain such items as chest seals, tourniquets, dressings, and come with detailed usage instructions. The members discussed the necessity of such a kit and the message it conveyed regarding knife crime. They were undecided on whether to implement it and opted to postpone the decision until the next meeting to include members who had sent their apologies. RESOLVED Clerk will add to the next meeting as an agenda item.
- The Role and Function of the Standards Committee – Cllr C Edwards gave a summary of the presentation given by the Chair and Head of Legal and Democratic Services to the meeting – The Code of Conduct is the foundation upon which trust in councillors is built, and it was vital that they always abide by it. The Code promotes ethical behaviour, cooperation, and collaboration. While the Standards Committee upholds standards of behaviour and conduct, its primary purpose is to support councils. Cllr C Edwards endorsed the need for all councillors to attend Code of Conduct training, such as the One Voice Wales training module endorsed by Monitoring Officers in Wales. RESOLVED
127/24 Planning: There were no planning applications to discuss at this meeting.
128/24 Crime and Policing
The Clerk informed the meeting of the changes that had been made to the Local Police Website. RESOLVED and the following noted:
The Local Police Website shows 9 Crimes reported in the Blaengwrach and Glynneath West Area for January 2025: 15 Crimes were reported – 9 Violence and sexual offences, 3 Anti-social behaviour,
2 Public Order and 1 All other crimes. 5 of these were reported in the Blaengwrach/Cwmgwrach Area alone – 2 Anti-social behaviour, 1 Public order and 2 Violence and sexual offences.
129/24 Finance
RESOLVED the following payments were scrutinised and approved:
| Clerks Report – Monthly E&I 21st February to 20th March 2025 | ||
| Payments Made | 21/02/2025 to 20/03/2025 | Amounts |
| Nest | Staff Pension Scheme (4 weeks) | £63.64 |
| Staff Wages | Groundperson, Caretaker and Clerk Wages (4 weeks) | £2603.98 |
| HMRC | Tax and NI 06/02/25 to 05/03/25 | £355.99 |
| Utility Warehouse Ltd | Electricity @ Welfare Hall | £283.99 |
| Welsh Water | Water Rates for Welfare Hall | £151.00 |
| Welsh Water | Water Rates for Cemetery | £21.50 |
| British Gas | Hall Usage | £891.78 |
| Zoom | Online Meeting Platform Monthly Charge | £15.59 |
| S Plant & Small
Machinery |
Hall PAT Testing | £72.50 |
| Tesco | Council Mobile Top-up | £10.00 |
| Tesco | Hall Flowers | £10.00 |
| Total Expenditure | £4,479.97 | |
| Income Received | 20/02/2025 to 20/03/2025 | |
| SRCC Stores Ltd | Monthly Rental of Shed in the Park | £35.00 |
| TSB Bank | Monthly Interest on “Reserve” Saver | £32.00 |
| VIEW (Glynneath) Ltd | Hall Hire Yoga Feb | £56.00 |
| Celtic Archers | Hall Hire Feb | £140.00 |
| Empower | Singing for the Brain Hall Hire Feb | £84.00 |
| Class Act Tutoring | Hall Hire Feb | £42.00 |
| H Lewis Funeral Director | Internment Fee x 1 | £150.00 |
| NPTCBC | Flying Start Hall Hire Jan/Feb | £196.00 |
| S Collins | Hall Hire Dec | £28.00 |
| SM Hume | Hall Hire Feb | £35.00 |
| Danzfit | Zumba Hall Hire Dec/Jan | £70.00 |
| Total Income | £868.00 | |
| Account Balances | As at 20/03/2025 | |
| General Account | £2,570.01 | |
| Reserve/Saver Account | £26,818.96 | |
| Total Account Balances as at 20/03/2025 £ | £29,388.97 | |
130/24 Correspondence & Section 137 Request:
- Clerk has received an email from J Juliff, Singing for the Brain co-ordinator, with a request to use the hall foyer, the first Thursday of each month, from 1-3 pm. She works with Dementia Friendly Swansea and wants to support residents by holding a mobile hwb to advise families on available services. There is no funding available to pay for rental, so the request is to use the foyer free of charge. The members acknowledged the decision made last year that required all hall hire to be paid for. While they believe the hwb would benefit the local community they cannot reverse this decision. However, they do wish to help make this service happen and funding options were discussed, including a grant application (by the society) to the Aberpergwm Fund or a Section 137 request to the council for a donation to the society for community use. This way the main hall could be used and be a more comfortable space for the hwb to be conducted. RESOLVED the council’s decision will be communicated by the Clerk.
The Council resolved to enter Closed Session under Section 100 of the Local Government Act 1972 & the Council Standing Order 3c to Discuss Personnel Issues. NOTE: ANY DISCUSSIONS/ETC WHICH TAKE PLACE IN “CLOSED SESSION” MUST REMAIN IN “CLOSED SESSION” AND NOT BE BROUGHT INTO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN (MINUTES) UNLESS AGREED BY THE FULL COUNCIL AT A FUTURE MEETING
119/24 Set Date, Time & Proposed Agenda Items for the next meeting; …
The next meeting of the Council will be held on Thursday 17th April 2025, at 6.30 pm. Critical Bleed Kits and VE 80th Celebration were Agenda Items put forward so far for this meeting.
Notices for the meetings will be posted at least three working days before they are due to take place.
Meeting closed at 7.40 pm