Among matters considered and discussed at the July meeting of Pembroke Dock Town Council were the following:

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

Victorian Post Box: Clr. A. Wilcox informed members that a new cover would be placed over the post box.

Street cleaning: The deputy town clerk informed members that the street hovers, which were on loan from the Chamber of Trade, were now in use. She commented that these worked well on the cigarette ends and that the street cleaner would be working on a reactive basis where required and not a two-week rota between the Memorial Park and the town centre.

Armed Forces Day: It was commented that the Mayor of Pembroke Dock Council had written an article in the press regarding the disappointing turnout at the Armed Forces Day service held on June 29. It was stated that there was poor attendance from both Pembroke and Pembroke Dock Councils. Members commented that there was no Last Post and the use of school bands should be included in this service to ensure that there was always someone to sound the Last Post. It was commented that councillors should support these events, as there were only four in attendance from Pembroke Dock and two in attendance from Pembroke. It was agreed that the organisation of this event would be looked at to ensure that a band and more standards were in attendance in future years.

White lines around Pembroke Dock: It was questioned if the county council had been contacted regarding the re-painting of the white lines in Pembroke Dock. The deputy town clerk stated that she had contacted them and they had passed on the information to the team who deal with this. She also urged members to provide her with a list of areas where the lines needed repainting so she could pass this onto the county council.

Streetscape Paint Scheme 2013: The deputy town clerk informed members that she had received a letter from the regeneration division at the county council regarding this new scheme. The scheme allows for funding to be allocated to assist with the cost of painting the front facade of buildings within town centres. The scheme was open to residential and commercial properties with grant values ranging from £250-£750.

The deputy town clerk informed members that the eligible area was very limited and only covered Dimond Street and Queen Street.

Street recycling: The deputy town clerk stated that the county council had announced that due to grant funding through the European Regional Development Fund they were bringing recycling to Pembroke Dock.

The Recycling on the Go initiative aimed to encourage locals and visitors alike to recycle their rubbish when out and about, by using dual compartment bins. As the county council were under increasing pressure to divert waste from landfill, this was one of many ways hoped to achieve this.

Four bins were to be allocated to the Pembroke Dock area and they were expected to be installed throughout July.

Information had been requested on the areas where they were to be located, so this could be added to the town council's website.

Social media websites - Facebook: The deputy town clerk stated that with recent updates and changes being made to their website, she had been working to raise the profile of the council.

After attending a training session on website maintenance and updates, she noted that a simple and effective way to raise the profile was to have a Facebook page.

She had spoken with Pembroke, as they had already set up a Facebook page,and they had commented that it was easy to do and helped to raise their profile when there were upcoming events.

The deputy town clerk felt it would be beneficial to Pembroke Dock Town Council as it provided another way for members of the community to communicate any issues.

Members commented that this was a positive step forward to communicate and engage with members of the community and agreed for a Facebook page to be set up and linked to the council website.

South Hook CHP project update: The deputy town clerk informed members that she had received information from the project director at South Hook regarding an update on the combined heat and power plant project. If anyone would like to view the information they should let her know.

Financial assistance, Hafan Cymru: The deputy town clerk stated that this organisation had requested financial assistance towards their education package 'Spectrum', which they were currently using to teach young children to form health relationships and how to tackle the negative effect of domestic abuse.

Members commented that this application fell outside its policies and they could not grant any funding on this occasion.

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT OF TOWN CLERK

Pembroke School seek governors: The deputy town clerk informed members that Pembroke School governing body has vacancies for governors with community representation and community interest. The governing body was particularly keen to recruit new members whose skills would broaden the skills base of the governors. The school had welcomed applications from town councillors, and interested individuals should contact the head teacher's secretary in September.

After discussion, it was proposed by Clr. A. McNaughton, seconded by Clr. M. Colgan and resolved that Clr. M. Murton should apply as a community governor for Pembroke School.

Governing body of Pembroke Dock Community School: The deputy town clerk stated that she had received a letter stating that Clr. Pam George's term of office as additional community governor was coming to an end on October 5, 2013. She asked for agreement from members to re-nominate Clr. George for additional community governor for the school. This was agreed.

The school had commented that this information would be considered along with others received at the next full governing body meeting due to take place on Thursday, October 24.

Photographic competition - for ages seven to 25 years: The deputy town clerk informed members that she had received a letter from the Good Neighbourhood Scheme with information that they were arranging a competition as part of 50+ Forum/Age Friendly Communities Project.

The competition was being run to provide images which would be used in a media campaign to promote positive aging. Photographs were to be taken by young people of older people. The title of the competition was 'Older people are GR8' and the main subject of the photograph should be aged 50-plus. Voting would take place at Pembrokeshire National Older Persons Day event in Bloomfield Centre, Narberth on October 24.

For further details of this competition can be found at http://www.pembrokeshireyouthzone.co.uk">www.pembrokeshireyouthzone.co.uk.

Where Waters Meet - Waterfront economic and business development: The deputy town clerk stated that she had received a letter from Mr. David James highlighting the above conference in Swansea on October 16 to 17. This would focus on providing strategic and practical guidance on harnessing waterfront assets as the focus for local and regional economic growth creating great places to work, live and visit. For further details on the conference, please visit http://www.wherewatersmeet.org.uk">www.wherewatersmeet.org.uk.

Review of electoral arrangements for Pembrokeshire: The deputy town clerk informed members that she had received information from the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales regarding draft proposals for the future electoral arrangements for Pembrokeshire.

The two proposals for Pembroke Dock were:

1. The existing Pembroke Dock Central and Llanion electoral divisions be combined in a single electoral division, this area to be then represented by two councillors.

2. The existing Pembroke Dock Market and Pennar electoral divisions be combined in a single electoral division, this area to be then represented by three councillors.

After discussion, it was agreed that the deputy town clerk should write to the Boundary Commission for Wales to ask what the benefits and achievements would be to the community with the proposed changes and commented that they felt the costs would outweigh the benefits of the proposals.

Disability access - Pater Hall: The deputy town clerk informed members that in front of them was a letter from the chairman of the Pater Hall Community Trust. The letter outlined the reasons why a lift was not installed when the recent developments were completed at the front of the Pater Hall; it also outlined new proposals for the town council offices.

The deputy town clerk commented that there was a copy of the proposed plans in front of members. The plans showed the town council offices being moved from its current location to the rear end of the Warrior Suite, with ramped disability access into the offices and also to one of the meeting rooms. Clr. P. E. George commented that these plans had been set up a number of years ago, but were never put into action. She stated that the cost for a new lift was £30,000 per lift and the proposed plans would work out a lot cheaper and would be quicker to achieve. It was stated that the proposed office plans were the perfect solution to the disability access issue and members appreciated that the lifts would be expensive as maintenance would also need to be included in the costs.

It was commented that the Pater Hall Community Trust would need to give reasonable timescales for these changes to ensure that the disability access issues were resolved as soon as possible.

REPORTS FROM TOWN COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES SERVING ON OUTSIDE BODIES

Power Station liaison meeting: Clr. M. Colgan commented that she attended a recent Power Station liaison meeting with Clr. T. Wilcox. She stated that they were still giving grants to local organisations and supporting the local community.

Police Forum: Clr. M. Murton commented that she had recently attended a Police Forum meeting. Their priorities were Albion Square - issues on weekends with skateboarders and anti-social behaviour in Meyrick and Dimond Streets.

COMMUNITY ISSUES

Pater Church Tower: Clr. P. E. George commented that she was disappointed that the Pater Church Tower was being sold. She stated that it was like a secret garden and a nhistorical asset to Pembroke Dock. It was questioned if it was viable for Pembroke Dock Town Council to take ownership of the tower. Members agreed that some investigations should be done as to the expectations of the county council to see if it was viable. The deputy town clerk stated she would investigate this further and bring the information back to the next meeting of the town council.

Military Cemetery: It was commented that the Military Cemetery was still locked, and there had been a number of visitors wanting to access the cemetery over the past few weeks. It was questioned if the county council could be contacted to find out what was happening. The deputy town clerk stated that she would contact the county council for further information.

Rubbish complaints: Clr. A. Lee commented that she had received a number of complaints regarding bin bags being put out too early, with the main areas of concern being the areas with a large number of flats. She said that this was an issue which was a hard one to rectify as the planners, when planning the layouts of the flats, did not allocate areas for rubbish.

Meyrick Street developments: It was commented that the proposed developments in Meyrick Street were a concern. It was stated that with the current issues within the town, more flats could make the problem worse. Members raised concerns regarding the depletion of bats in the most recent report and felt this was an issue which needed to looked into further.

Town Ccentre regeneration: It was questioned when the next regeneration meeting would be held. The deputy town clerk stated that she would contact the county council to arrange a meeting in September. Clr. A. Lee questioned if any members had any ideas for the regeneration of the town centre. It was commented that one way forward would be to pedestrianise the middle section of Dimond Street, something along the lines of what had been done in Carmarthen, with the animals for children to play on. It was commented that maybe the land opposite the police station or the paved area opposite Modern Print could be used for something, as the attention of the visitors coming from the ferry needed to be grabbed to draw them into the town. It was agreed that ideas should be brought to the meeting with the county council.

Town Trail: It had been noted that some of the Town Trail discs seemed to be missing. The deputy town clerk asked if anyone had a full list of all the locations of these, so they could be checked and reported to the police if they were missing. Clr. M. Colgan said that she had a list of all the locations and would pass it into the office.

Play equipment - Memorial Park: It was commented that the new play equipment had now been installed and was in use by members of the public.

Lavinia Drive: It was commented that the roads in Lavinia Drive had recently been tarmaced and due to the heat there were problems with it setting. This had resulted in the tarmac breaking away in places. It was commented that this has caused problems as the county council would not adopt the new piece of tarmaced road until the surface was sufficient, which was causing concern with residents in the area. It was also commented that residents in the area were parking on pavements and it was questioned if anything could be done to stop them doing this. It was commented that vehicles would only be moved if they were causing an obstruction.

MAYORS REPORT

The Mayor commented that she had been very busy and had attended a number of events during the previous month, including: Armed Forces Day, Pembroke Campus consultation, Pembs Housing AGM, Tenby Civic Service, Ella Harris 102nd birthday, Narberth Civic Service, Circus Bezercus, Seafarers Service, and Beating of the Bounds.

She had also met the Japanese Ambassador aboard the Japanese training ship in Portsmouth.