Manorbier.com
Community Council Meeting - Tuesday 12th AUGUST 2003
Councillor Brian Hall. Pembrokeshire County Council Cabinet Member responsible for Transport and Environment
Several members of the public were in attendance for the visit of Mr Hall who failed to attend the meeting. The clerk informed the council that she had received an e-mail at 2.44 p.m. informing her that would not be attending the meeting as he could not rearrange a meeting in Cardiff scheduled for the same time. Councillor Hall's non-attendance disappointed the members of the public who had been waiting in anticipation for him even though Councillor Hall had refused to take questions from members of the public and had requested that community councillors send in questions in advance. (Councillor Minchin suggesting that he could be genuinely is in Cardiff - I don't know what this is supposed to be saying). It was agreed to inform Councillor Hall that the council would appreciate him visiting as they had many questions to ask him. Councillor Calver noted that Pembrokeshire County Council road sweepers had been in great abundance over the last few days. Several members of the parish wondering if Councillor Hall could make several visits a year as it seems his visit prompts a clean up of the village the same as when royalty and other dignitaries visit the area.
Community Council Minutes
Mrs Harvey raised the point that reports of council meetings in the local paper were very poor and normally out of date. The clerk advised the meeting that it normally took her three weeks to formulate the minutes accurately. Councillor Calver wondered why three weeks were necessary for the report of the minutes to be accurate, as surely all the clerk had to do was record what was said at the meetings. It was finally agreed that the minutes would be finalised by the Tuesday after each meeting which would give the local papers time to include the reports before the next community council meetings.
New member of Council welcomed to first meeting
The new member of the council Mr Wales was welcomed to his first meeting of the council by fellow members with Pembrokeshire County Council Cabinet member Patricia Griffiths making the statement that he must be mad to want to join the council.
Accuracy of Manorbier Community Council Minutes
Councillor Griffiths questioned the reference in the minutes of the meeting held on the 1st July 2003 that Councillor Calver voted against accepting the minutes because they were not accurate. Councillor Griffiths seemed to be concerned with the insertion of the word accurate. Councillor Griffiths was reminded by Councillor Calver that at a recent meeting of the Council she had proposed acceptance of the minutes of a previous meeting when she had in fact not been to the full meeting so should not have proposed acceptance. Councillor Calver also reminded her of her statement that she countersigned the council payment cheques, which was not the truth as she had left the meeting and could not possibly been the person who had countersigned. A good example of how fellow councillors do not correct the minutes was how they had just agreed to accept the minutes of the previous meeting which stated that the meeting had received apologies for non attendance by Councillor Eades when she had in fact resigned two months previously. He was also aware that Councillor Griffiths had in the past refused to accept that when he had personally asked for a particular item to be recorded in the minutes she had made the statement that the Manorbier Community Council should not record everything that was said.
Now that the clerk had been instructed to finalise the minutes by the Tuesday following the minute they should be more comprehensive and accurate.
Resignation of Councillor Eades
Council agreed to correct minutes of meeting held on 1st July 2003 when Councillor Morgan had stated when questioned by Councillor Calver as to when the resignation letter from Councillor Eades had been received and had been told by the chairman that the resignation letter had been received on the 13th June and he was therefore reporting her resignation to the first meeting after her resignation.
Demolition of Toilet Block by Pembrokeshire County Council in conjunction with Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Councillor Calver had done some research into the cost of demolishing the toilet block and produced the invoice that had been submitted to Pembrokeshire County Council for work carried out. Councillor Calver found that a contract could be carried out and result in a labour costing of exactly £1,000.00 with a transport, material and plant hire cost of exactly £1,300.00 bringing the total with VAT to £2,702.50. He had asked Pembrokeshire County Council to supply him with a full breakdown of the schedule of works for this contract and all other relevant information regarding the contract. Members were unhappy with replies received from employees of both the Pembrokeshire County Council and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Organisation regarding this issue. The clerk was told to contact both bodies regarding the demolition of the toilet and inquire into if it needed planning permission to demolish and reinstate the area.
New Bus Shelter at Penuel Chapel.
Councillor Calver again raised the issue of the bus shelter and the dangerous nature of buses entering and leaving the lay by. He produced photographs (see photo below) showing a bus entering the lay-by from the wrong side. Councillor Griffiths was not aware of the danger even though she had visited the bus shelter and had her photograph taken in a Pembrokeshire County Council public relations exercise with the now departed Director of Highways Mr Hugh Roberts and the Cabinet member responsible for Transport, Mr Hall. At a recent site meeting over the appeal for a new hall at Penuel, Pembrokeshire County Council employee Mr Harries had informed him that all buses were supposed to enter from the Jameston direction. Councillor Calver informed the council that it was impossible to enter the lay-by at the Jameston end when approaching from Manorbier as the bus would need to reverse out backwards on to the main road on a fast bend. Councillor Calver could not understand why Councillor Griffiths had not noted this when she had taken part in the photo shoot. He also produced photographs (see photo below) showing water standing in the area were Councillor Griffiths had been photographed with Councillor Hall and the Director making it impossible to reach the bus shelter without walking through three inches of water.
Councillor Griffiths was asked to contact county hall to firstly find out who was responsible for this dangerous fiasco.
Gate at Jameston Play area
It was reported that the gate was now working at the play area but members were still concerned regarding the access. Councillor Griffiths did not seem to be worried about Councillor Calver's concerns regarding the dangerous access saying she had loose roots all over her establishment were holiday makers could trip. Councillor Calver informed Councillor Griffiths he was not concerned regarding the safety of Councillor Griffiths' premises only what the community council was responsible for and again pushed other councillors to provide a safe access. Councillor Griffiths suggested we call out the Risk assessment officer of Pembrokeshire County Council to access the risk. At the previous meeting Councillor Morgan had asked for councillors to make a site visit to look at the project. Now the proposal was to call out the Pembrokeshire County Council risk assessment officer. Councillor Calver felt it would cost more to call out this expensive Pembrokeshire County Council employee than to just get on with the work. Councillor Griffiths was of the opinion that if the council constructed a better path to the play area they would be responsible for any accidents that then happened on an improved path.
Manorbier Village Play Area - No Dog sign.
Councillor Sharland informed the council she had failed to get the dog ban sign reworded in the play area. Councillor Calver asked when this work would be carried out as she had been promising this for months. She informed him that the person who was going to carry it out was unable to lift their arm up to paint the sign. Councillor Calver informed her he would take the sign down off the wall and then she could arrange for it to be reworded and he would re-fix it.
Bus Timetables
Pembrokeshire County Council had still not provided weekly timetables at Penuel Chapel. Councillor Calver pointed out that they had never been put in the notice board at the village bus stop. Councillor Morgan informed Councillor Calver this was not true, as he had seen them there when he checked after the last meeting. Councillor Sharland was adamant that the notice board contained the Sunday bus timetable. Councillor Calver did not believe either of the councillors on this issue as he had checked and had been asked by visitors only the week before if there were any buses on a Sunday. He would check these statements by both councillors by the next meeting.
Cleaning of village road signs in village by Pembrokeshire County Council.
Pembrokeshire County Council had replied that there was an on going programme for the cleaning and maintenance of road signs in the area. Councillor Calver informed the council that since the duties of general maintenance of the village has been reallocated to a Tenby based gang we have seen a marked deterioration in the appearance of the village as they seem to spend all their time in the Tenby area. He had always supplied clean water to the old maintenance team but he has not seen the signs maintained in the last two years at least. Having attended a Pembrokeshire County Council meeting in Haverfordwest were the latest buzz word "Team Pembrokeshire" seemed to be mentioned a great deal he wondered if part of the Team could perhaps descend on Manorbier. Cabinet Member Patricia Griffiths when asked what on going meant was unable to inform the community council. The clerk was instructed to ask Pembrokeshire County Council was meant by the term on going.
Supply of New Notice Board at Jameston by Jameston Community Association
The Jameston Association had applied to the community council to pay for the planning permission to erect the notice board at the last meeting. Councillor Calver had stated that he was extremely concerned about the proposed location of the notice board on a blind narrow bend opposite a road junction. Councillor Griffiths felt that as it was going to be a Jameston Association board it was their decision where to erect it. Councillor Calver pointed out that as we were being asked to pay for the planning permission to erect it was our duty to point out the pitfalls, if any, of the proposed site. Both Councillor Minchin and Councillor Meyrick agreed with Councillor Calver, with Councillor Meyrick proposing that it should be located around the Mission Hall area. Councillor Calver proposed that the council inform the Jameston Association that the community council was prepared to pay for a planning application for the erection of a notice board but not in the location suggested. The community council resolved that they pay for planning permission in the area proposed.
Planning Permission at Fernley Lodge
Councillor Calver declared an interest in the application and withdrew from the debate. The main objector and the organiser of the petition against the proposal Mr Daryl Todd was in attendance at the meeting and mumbled to Councillor Calver who was leaving the meeting rules are rules. The clerk informed the community council that she had received a letter from a Richard Shepherd, a planning consultant who had been contacted after Mr Todd had arranged a private meeting in the village hall which had been attended, by Councillor Morgan and Mr Wales. Councillor Griffiths proposed that nothing be done until more information was available but Mr Todd who took part in the discussion felt that the Community Council should engage him because if they were not careful Mr Cowper would have his planning permission through before they knew where they were. Mr Todd stated that 300 people supported him and his stance on no development and he was happy to pick up the cost of engaging Mr Sheppard. Councillor Wales pointed out to the council that the letter from Mr Sheppard was an overall view as things stand now. Councillor Griffiths agreed and asked what Mr Sheppard could add. The members of the community council were of the opinion that a site meeting should be held but Councillor Morgan said the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority would not agree to a site meeting.
On returning to the meeting Councillor Calver asked if declarations of interest had been declared by County Councillor Patricia Griffiths who as far as he was aware is a director of a development company and Councillor Morgan who had attended an organised meeting regarding this issue. The clerk replied in the negative. Councillor Calver informed the clerk that he required her to make a date available for him to inspect the correspondence on this issue before the next council meeting as any proposed action by the council could affect his family interests.
Lopping and replacement of trees at Buckland House by Mr Buckley Riley
Councillor Calver declared an interest and withdrew from the discussion. The planning application submitted by Mr Riley was to remove dead trees and replace with mature trees. Councillor Davies was of the opinion that the trees were not dead but in fact alive and in leaf. There was great confusion and debate over if the trees were in fact dead as the applicant had stated. Councillor Morgan informed the community council that in the past Mr Riley had engaged Mr Ainsworth who was regarded highly within Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, to give an opinion on how far some of his trees should be cut back. However after being given permission Mr Riley engaged a cowboy contractor to prune the trees, which were then butchered. The council who were being asked for their views on the proposed application, then made the decision to write to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority. It must be noted they had asked the community council for their view on the point of whether the community council should support the application or not.
Manorbier Football Club
There had had been no response from the football club regarding the community council's request for details of their fund raising activities. The council had sought this information when a request was made for financial support from the community council.
Correspondence from Mr Wales
Councillor Davies declared an interest in this item
Mr Wales had again written to the council regarding a letter he had received from Mr Gerson Davies Director of Education. This followed a request by the Manorbier Primary School Governors, the chairperson of which is Councillor Griffiths, to make himself aware of the Manorbier Community Council's responsibilities in relation to the safe routes to school scheme. Chairman of the School Governors, Councillor Patricia Griffiths had proposed not to reply to Mr Wales' letter when this issue had come up at many past meetings. She was concerned that any reply should not make reference to the letter received from Mr Gerson Davies. Councillor Calver, who had attended the site meeting, referred to in this correspondence supported Mr Wales and remarked that although Mrs Greenhouse had attended she could not possibly be described as a representative of the School Governors as she was the head teacher. Councillor Griffiths who had still not declared an interest proposed that a letter be sent to Mr Wales informing him that in fact the council do not have any statutory responsibilities at all. Councillor Calver felt that this was an admission that Mr Gerson Davies had misinformed Mr Wales when he had asked him to make himself aware of the relevant responsibilities of the community council regarding the safe routes to school scheme. Mr Wales informed the council he would wait for the wording of the letter before he decided what action to take.
Mr Wales has contacted the webmaster for the www.manorbier.com website after receiving his letter to say he will now be writing to Mr Gerson Davies on this issue after the community council finally agreed that they have no responsibilities on this matter so they could not possibly make him aware, as proposed by Mr Gerson Davies on behalf of the school governors.
Joint Unitary Development Plan.
Councillor Griffiths declared an interest in this issue.
Councillor Calver was concerned about the proposals regarding the plan and whilst the clerk felt that all the councils concerns had been taken up. Councillor Morgan stated he did not agree that they had, so the clerk was instructed to bring all correspondence on this issue to the next meeting. Councillor Calver was concerned that if Councillor Morgan was aware of this why had he not informed the council.
Condition of Skrinkle Estate
Councillor Calver brought to the council's attention the lack of maintenance on the estate especially the refusal of Pembrokeshire County Council to accept responsibility for the hedges in their ownership. He was aware of one case where the owner had to pay privately for her hedge to be cut back and showed the council photographic evidence, see photo below. How could the owners of properties be expected to maintain their properties when Pembrokeshire County Council was refusing to keep hedges, which were in their ownership and had always been maintained by them, in a tidy condition. He suggested that the house owner concerned should receive financial compensation from PCC for her great efforts to maintain her property, which even meant cutting the PCC hedge surrounding her property.
The council would write to Pembrokeshire County Council on this issue.
Parking at Celtic Haven, Lydstep
Councillor Meyrick had asked for the this to be brought up on the agenda but the clerk had raised the matter with Pembrokeshire National Park Authority employee Keith Halpin, who informed her that the cars were owned by the contractors on the site and had now been removed. Councillor Meyrick was not happy with this reply and said he had in fact taken photographs of the vehicles, which seemed to have disappeared, since he contacted the clerk. He said he would keep an eye on the situation. Councillors were also concerned regarding the erection of a notice board on the wall of the complex at the dangerous bend and would be seeking advice from the PCNP to inquire if the notice board needed planning permission.