Venue: Committee Room A - County Hall, Llandrindod Wells, Powys. View directions
Contact: Shane Thomas, Member Support
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Apologies To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were accepted from County Councillors J. Gibson-Watt, H. Lewis and M.C. Mackenzie.
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Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 47 KB To receive the minutes of the previous meetings of the Committee held on Wednesday 16th March and Wednesday 11th May 2016. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chairman was authorised to sign the minutes of the previous meetings of the Committee held on Wednesday 16th March and Wednesday 11th May 2016.
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Declarations of Interest To receive declarations of interest in relation to matters to be discussed on the agenda. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest from members in relation to items to be discussed on the agenda.
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Chairman's Announcements To receive announcements from the Chairman. Minutes: The Chairman reported that he and other Radnorshire members had visited Dolyhir Quarry to view the Aveling Roller and Living Van which was being stored there. Both were in excellent condition. Radnorshire members re-iterated their thanks to the current and previous quarry owners for storing and maintaining the roller and living van in a shared ownership agreement. It was felt that it was timely to review the arrangement and it was the feeling of those who visited the site that tarmac would rather the roller and van be moved offsite and maintained by a group who would be able to dedicate more time to maintain them. It was agreed that there should be further discussion in relation to an arrangement for storing and maintaining the roller and van moving into the future. The Strategic Director would link with the legal service regarding ownership matters and options for a future arrangement.
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Superfast Cymru To receive an update in relation to Superfast Cymru – Martin Jones, Superfast Cymru. Minutes: Members welcomed Susan Ward and Martin Jones, British Telecom Group Ltd. to the meeting to provide an update in relation to the roll out of Superfast Cymru during which particular reference was made to:
a. Roll Out – the Welsh Government had recognised the importance of good internet coverage and speedy connections and had introduced its Superfast Cymru programme around five years ago. BT had been awarded the tender to upgrade the network and were nearing the end of a significant programme of works b. Contract Specification – the contract had been for £240 million and required bt to provide minimum connection speeds of 30mb for 90% of the population and 24mb for 95% of the population c. Rural Connections – the initial focus of the programme had been to provide better access to as many people as possible as quickly as possible. Quite early in the programme there were connections to some very rural areas. The focus now and towards the end of the programme would be to provide better access to more rural areas and areas where there are more issues to address d. Powys Intervention Area – there are 65,000 premises in the Powys area that would require a rural solution, 36,000 premises would be able to receive speeds in excess of 24mbs. 59 exchange areas have been enabled to support roll out in the intervention area e. Coverage Checker – residents could use a postcode facility to check when their network would be upgraded: f. (https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/adsl.htm?s_cid=ws_furls_adslchecker) g. Radnorshire – a member requested a breakdown by shire areas (possibly ward areas) in relation to the roll out and expected connection speeds. Representatives would look to provide more detailed information with a local focus h. Types of Connection – where dwellings are within 3km of a connection box (a fibre-to-the-cabinet) there would be good access, where dwellings are over 3km from the connection box connection speeds etc. would be less and other options could be considered. Where there are more direct fibre to premises network connections there would be the best access i. Options – there are a number of schemes operating that might provide a solution in areas where Superfast Cymru would not be able to operate i.e. Welsh Government Grant Schemes for residential and business access and BT community fibre j. UK Access – despite claims of the UK being a poor relation to other countries in relation to the cost of access and speeds the UK had been ranked top of the five major European economies (there’s very good access and the cost is comparatively cheap) k. Engagement – there had been very positive links between the Council and BT regarding the roll out. Sue Bolter, Head of Regeneration, Property and Commissioning had been recognised by BT as very supportive of the programme l. End of Programme – the programme would end in June 2017 m. Holiday Parks – providing access for use at holiday homes for residential use whilst on site via. ... view the full minutes text for item 29. |
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Council's Constitution - Traffic Regulation Orders/Frequency of Meetings PDF 152 KB a. To receive an update in relation to the Council’s Constitution and determination of Traffic Regulation Orders – Wyn Richards, Scrutiny Manager b. To discuss the frequency of meetings Minutes:
a. To receive and update in relation to the Council’s constitution and determination of Traffic Regulation Orders
Members were reminded that Council had agreed changes to sections of its constitution at its meeting on 20th April 2016. The review included section 13 which includes how the Council exercises its powers in relation to Traffic Regulation Orders. In this regard Council RESOLVED:
i. The Making of Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders relating to all Highways other than those specified in ii. below and not exceeding 18mths – sub-delegation to the Head of Highways, Transportation and Recycling and the Service Manager or persons authorised to act on their behalf. An extension to the time limit requires the permission of the relevant Welsh Government Minister ii. The making of Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders relating to cycle tracks, footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways and byways open to all traffic – sub-delegation to the Leisure and Recreation Services Manager or persons authorised to act on their behalf. Such temporary orders can be given by the Authority for up to 6 months and extensions require the permission of the relevant Welsh Government Minister iii. The making of Permanent Traffic Regulation Orders – sub-delegation to the relevant shire committee with exceptions in relation to Water Break its Neck, Moelfre City and car parks and car parking charging
Alexandra Road Footbridge (Footpath LL10a) – a member requested clarification in relation to the closure of a footpath for an extended period and queried whether the closure was legal and due process followed. It was noted that the closure had been due to significant health and safety concerns.
b. To discuss the frequency of meetings
In January 2015 Council had RESOLVED that shire meetings should change to being bi-monthly with the option to call additional meetings in emergency situations should the need arise. It was noted that the arrangement would be reviewed in January 2017. There are differing views by member and by shire as to the value of shire meetings. In the light of the position it was agreed that a short questionnaire be sent to members to seek their views in relation to the value of shire meetings and that in September each shire be asked to provide its view to feed into the review. The views of the shire committees would be presented to the Democratic Services Committee who would make a recommendation to the Council in 2017.
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Reports from and Questions to Cabinet Portfolio Holders To receive reports from and to put questions to Cabinet Portfolio Holders:
a. Councillor John Powell, Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Environment, Sustainability and Human Resources b. Councillor Graham Brown, Deputy Leader/Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Commissioning and Procurement/Children’s Services Minutes: Members welcomed the opportunity to receive reports from, and to put questions to, Cabinet Portfolio Holders:
a. Councillor John Powell, Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Environment, Sustainability and Human Resources
i. Waste Recycling (Performance) – officers expect the 2015/16 recycling target to have been met (performance figures had yet to be verified by the Welsh Government). There are significant pressures in terms of savings to be met and higher targets to be achieved moving forward. Actions to be taken to achieve savings were likely to be unpopular i.e. a recent decision to remove the household recycling facility from Machynlleth to safe £400k had been unpopular locally. It was agreed to write to the waste and recycling team to thank them for their efforts in supporting the roll out of programmes and in recognition of their performance against target ii. Community Recycling Sites – a member reported that income from recycling undertaken by a community group who were running a site had fallen dramatically since the Authority had rolled out is programmes to improve its arrangements. It was also noted that commodity prices had, over time, reduced and that the emphasis would be on quality iii. Flytipping – the Authority views flytipping as very serious and it would not be tolerated. The Authority operates a reporting website and members were encouraged to use and publicise it to the wider community. The Authority operates a significant number of bring sites which should be used (in the region of 80 bring sites) iv. Highways, Transport and Recycling – the future delivery of the service would be considered alongside the need to make savings of in the region of £1.6 million v. County Farms Estate – there had been a decade of recognised underinvestment in the estate which was due, in the main, to the need to provide funding from estate income to support the school modernisation programme. There would be an estate assessment to inform areas for investment and a programme of works. The priority for the estate would be to address health and safety concerns. The estate had income targets of £1 million per annum. When letting estates there would be a focus on supporting wider regeneration activities i.e. entering into agreements where there are younger families who would access more services and contribute to the wider economy vi. Cwmdauddwr Depot Rhayader – there had been significant investment in the depot and the local member suggested holding the September shire meeting at the site. There had been issues locally with regard to the absence of information being provided to the community about the development which had been accepted by the Authority and would be addressed moving forward. Lessons would be learn vii. JPR Recycling Site (Llandrindod Wells) – due to an issue regarding the need to address a water matter at a proposed new recycling site use of the current site had been extended on a monthly basis at a cost of £10k per month. More recently negotiations had lowered the monthly rate viii. ... view the full minutes text for item 31. |
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Reports from and Questions to Members Serving on Outside Bodies To receive reports from and to put questions to members serving on outside bodies. Minutes: Members welcomed the opportunity to receive reports from, and to put questions to, members serving on outside bodies.
a. Police and Crime Commissioner – representatives serving on the Board had met the new Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed Powys (Dafydd Llywelyn). Dafydd had yet to appoint to a deputy position and had confirmed that there would be a strong emphasis during his office on local engagement on matters b. Powys Byways User Group (PBug) – the group continues to meet. The group is a consultative group and comprises of officers from the Authority and byway user group representatives. The chair is Councillor Gwilym Williams. Minutes from meetings are available upon request
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Correspondence To receive items of correspondence: Presteigne and Norton Town Council. Minutes: Members were reminded that Presteigne and Norton Town Council had e-mailed shire members a number of times regarding their concerns in relation to changes that were imposed following a parking review. Having noted that the review had followed due process in terms of the procedure, having received support of Radnorshire, the local member and portfolio holder, having been re-considered by the responsible officer who found that there was no cause to review matters members accepted the position and agreed that there was no reason to carry out a further review. The clerk would advise the Town Council.
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Date of Next Meeting To note the date of the next meeting: Tuesday 12th July 2016. Minutes:
The next meeting would be held on Tuesday 12th July 2016.
The local member for Rhayader reported that he had expected a parking review report to be considered. It was agreed to link with the relevant department to receive an update in relation to why the report had not been brought to the meeting.
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