A meeting of Pembroke Dock Town Council was held at the Pater Hall, Pembroke Dock, on Thursday, November 29.

Among those present were Clrs. A. McNaughton, P. Kraus, M. Murton, K. Becton, M. Colgan, P. George, P. Gwyther, D. Earl, S. Perkins, P. Folland, A. Lee, C. Fortune, J. Phillips.

Also in attendance were Sarah Scourfield - assistant town clerk, and Natasha Smith - administration support.

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

WITH MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

Mr. G. Manning, of 6 Meyrick Street, Pembroke Dock, spoke at great length of his objection to the proposed planning application for 10 Meyrick Street to be turned into a house of multiple occupancy. He stated his concerns with regard to, the anti-social behaviour that had seen the police being called a number of times in one month alone, which were mainly for anti-social behaviour issues. He also expressed concerns about parking problems in the street. He urged the council to do something, to try something.

Members commented that this planning application had been before the planning committee of the town council who had objected to the proposed changes and urged the county council to refuse it on the grounds of the anti-social behaviour issues from the current residents of this property as it contravenes Policy 78 of the Joint Unitary Development Plan, as the development leads to an increase in noise, which leads to a significant adverse impact to the surrounding residents.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

Argyle Medical Group: The assistant town clerk informed members of the next meeting in December. Clrs. C. Fortune and S. Perkins would be attending. It was questioned if councillors attending the meeting could reinforce to the surgery the poor level of service currently being received. It was commented that the current appointment system dis-empowers people who work and have to leave their home by 8 am from being able to make an appointment. People should be allowed to book appointments a week in advance and there should be a provision in place that when someone is ill, they can go to the surgery and have an appointment there and then. Calling the surgery and having to wait 30 minutes to get through, only to find the appointments have gone, is unacceptable.

REPORT OF THE

TOWN CLERK

Pembroke Dock Lions donation: The town clerk informed members that in previous years, a donation had been made to the Lions to help cover costs for the vehicle that they provide for Father Christmas for the festival. Unfortunately, last year, this was overlooked. In previous years, a donation of £50 had been granted to the group. The town clerk proposed that a donation of £100 be made to cover the costs for last year and this coming year. This was agreed.

Dog fouling: The town clerk informed members that Clr. Alison Lee had requested for this item to be added to the clerk's report for the meeting.

The town clerk stated that as previously agreed by the council an extra employee had been looked at to take on the role of street cleaning etc, and the office had been working closely with the maintenance team of the county council to ensure that the same services were not covered by both councils. The town clerk commented that this was currently a working progress and hoped to employ another member of staff in the New Year.

It was suggested that Pembrokeshire County Council cleaners did not clean dog fouling, due to health and safety issues. The town clerk stated that she would contact the county council to confirm that this is the case.

It was suggested by several councillors that, rather than paying someone to pick-up the fouling, that perhaps they should be paying somebody to issue fines to dog owners who do not clean up after their dogs.

It was explained that PCSO's do not have any powers to issue a fine; they could only speak to dog owners, but they could not really do anything unless they actually saw the owner with their dog.

It was suggested by the town clerk that bag dispensers should be readily available. The council felt that this was a good idea, but costs should be checked.

It was commented that educating people was of great importance and the questioned arose as to whether there was enough signage locally to encourage people to clean up after their dogs.

Disability access to the Pater Hall: Clr. K. Becton commented that this was an ongoing issue and that as a statutory organisation, they had an obligation to offer disabled access. She also stated that there was a meeting with disability access officers about a year ago, where it was suggested that a lift should be available to access the upstairs meeting rooms at the hall and that a grant for a lift was given alongside the Heritage Lottery funding. Clr. K. Becton asked the members for their ideas on how to move forward with this as no changes had been made.

Clr. P. Gwyther explained that there was work to be done in the main foyer for disabled toilets and this would begin in January. He commented that there were no further plans with regard to disability access as the Pater Hall Trust did not have any money to fund this.

It was commented that if somebody wanted to attend the council meeting and had a need for disability access, then the meeting would be removed downstairs.

It was suggested to put this on the agenda for a future meeting to ensure that all details from the meeting with the disability officer of the county council were available for members to make an informed decision on a way forward.

Pater Hall Community Trust - fine: The town clerk stated that as requested by the council a letter was sent to the Pater Hall Trust requesting assurances that the grants received from the council were not spent on their recent fine.

It was commented that the minutes from the Pater Hall Trust had been received for meetings held in September and October. There seemed to be a difference of opinion with regards to maintenance issues, as it has been requested that maintenance be completed outside the normal working hours, which the trust had never sanctioned.

It was agreed that a meeting should be arranged between the Town Council and Pater Hall Community Trust to try and rectify some of the on-going issues. This would be arranged in the New Year.

Office Christmas opening hours: The town clerk informed members that the Town Council Offices would close for Christmas at 1 pm on Friday, December 21, and would re-open on Wednesday, January 2.

Remembrance Day services: The town clerk stated that she had received a complaint from a resident regarding the Remembrance services at Freshwater West. The gentleman stated that he, along with 20 other residents from the county, attended Freshwater West on Sunday, November 11, expecting a service to take place at 11 am. He commented that nobody was informed that the service had been held a day earlier and expressed his disgust that the service was held on the Saturday, rather than the Sunday. As all remembrance services were arranged by the British Legion, office staff were unsure of how the services were advertised. It was suggested that a letter be sent to the British Legion airing the concerns of the gentlemen involved and asking for their services to be better advertised.

Planning minutes: The minutes from the meeting held on November 23 were made available as members of the planning committee wanted to bring these to the attention of the council. The matter of the proposed development at 10 Meyrick Street was discussed.

Clr. A. Lee commented that this was an unnecessary development and there was anti-social behaviour at this property most nights. It was commented that this was not fair to residents and to businesses.

It was commented that members had to make a stand and take this further, to the Welsh Assembly if necessary, to stop this happening. It was suggested that a strong worded letter be sent to Clr. A. Lee to help with her fight in this and she called upon people to write individual letters, too, to support the fight.

The town clerk said that she would contact the local policing team to query if the existing property in Meyrick Street was a 'problem property' as this was maybe information that could be used against the development.

COMMUNITY ISSUES

It was commented that the chicanes on Essex Road were not being properly weeded and cleaned and it was asked if a request could be sent to Pembrokeshire County Council asking for better cleaning.

It was also commented that some of the roads were in an awful state and in desperate need of re-surfacing.

The town clerk commented that the roads were done on a priority basis and that she would try to source a list.