Among matters considered and discussed at the June monthly meeting of Penally Community Council were the following:

2018/06/04 Matters Arising from previous meeting

Notification has been received from Nat West Bank that the Reserve Account was closed on the 15th May and all funds transferred to the Current Account.

Petanque Court

Clr. Mark Hancock informed the meeting that Pembrokeshire Pentanque Society did not exist and was linked to a one-off event organised in May 2018 by Haverfordwest Rotary Club.

Clr. Jon Preston commented that he was having difficulty receiving information from Pembrokeshire County Council as to whether planning permission for such a court needed to be obtained if the playing field was to be used.

Clr. Jenny D’Arcy added that it was believed that the playing field was compulsory purchased some 20 years ago by the then South Pembrokeshire District Council.

Following a short discussion, it was decided to continue with last meeting’s decision that Clr. Jules Rilstone would arrange for a notice to be displayed in the Cross Inn and also speak with the resident who had expressed an interest in a Petanque Society.

Clr. Mike Neal would arrange for another note to be added to the next Crow News.

The heading ‘playing field’ would be added to the agenda item for next month to discuss if it could be used for other alternative events as well as sport related games.

Penally Village Parking and Speeding Update

Clr. Bradbury recently contacted the police incident hotline for an update on the van that had been parked for a considerable length of time near to the bus stop. As the vehicle was insured, taxed and MOTd and was not parked in a non designated area, the police were unable to do anything further. If there appeared to be someone living in the van, or if it was abandoned, then this should be brought to the attention of Pembrokeshire County Council.

Clr. Jon Preston reported that the village bus had once more been delayed by inappropriately parked cars whilst driving through the village. He had received an email from Head of Highways at Pembrokeshire County Council indicating that the transport team had asked about the introduction of yellow lines at the pinch points along the road through Penally or to consider re-routing the 349 service bus out of the village. First Cymru had already indicated that they felt the most effective option would be to re-route the bus out of the village. Following a discussion, it was still felt that yellow lines are not the answer.

Clr. D’arcy added that the chairman of the Village Hall Committee had suggested that a broken white line be painted on the road in front of the village hall and village shop to gauge how much room was needed by the bus to get through. The bushes opposite the village hall also needed cutting back further.

Clr. Preston was asked to contact Highways to see what the minimum required width was for the bus to pass safely.

Clr. Piers Bradbury would also look for a bespoke sign stating the minimum width that the bus and emergency vehicles required to pass through the village safely.

The Speedwatch volunteers had not been contacted as of yet by the Dyfed Powys Police with regards to the scheme and the clerk was asked to contact Sgt Price to ask what action was being taken.

Clr. Neal informed councillors that two village residents had offered to carry out the replacement of the frame around the ‘History of Penally Village’ sign located at Court Farm. It was thought that this would cost in the region of £20. Once completed a thank you letter would be sent to same.

Planning

Whitewell Caravan Park, Penally. Variation of conditions 2, 3 and 9 and removal of condition 10 (restricted camping).

An appeal had been made to the National Assembly for Wales following the refusal of planning permission by PCNPA. All comments already made at application stage would be forwarded to the Inspectorate and copied to the appellant.

Following a discussion, Clr. Jon Preston would draft a further response to be forwarded to the National Assembly outlining their objections. If they wished to receive a copy of the appeal decision they would have to write to the Planning Inspectorate in Cardiff.

Proposed three bedroomed dwelling, Stones Throw, Penally. It was brought to the council’s attention by Clr. Mike Neal that this application had been submitted. The clerk would disseminate the information to all councillors via email and collate information on same before responding to the Planning Department.

Clr. Jon Preston indicated a declaration of interest on this application.

Correspondence Received

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service: A letter was received regarding applying for grant funding for a public access defibrillator. As Penally village already had a defibrillator located at the Village Hall, this information was not required.

Biodiversity Solutions: The council was asked if they would like to pursue a project proposal to carry out a biodiversity assessment of the public areas in the community? This would involve a survey by skilled ecologists of plants, trees, birds and animals to discover which species were present. A report would then be prepared for the community which would include ideas on how biodiversity could be enhanced and opportunities for further related projects. They would like to involve the local community as much as possible, eg, as part of the survey they would include a bat survey one evening using detectors. This would be a great opportunity to get families engaged in the project; increase their awareness of their local natural life and find out ways to help to improve it. They hoped to get this project off the ground in summer 2018 (which would support funding applications to Pembrokeshire County Council with some solid expert suggestions) and continue survey work in 2019 and 2020.

Pembrokeshire County Council: Copy of byelaws with respect to omnibuses (horse drawn carriages) which came into

Clerk’s resignation

It was noted at this point that the clerk had handed in her resignation and would finish her role with the community council on July 20. Councillors accepted her resignation and would meet further at the end of the meeting to discuss advertising for a replacement clerk.

Items Submitted

by Members

Clr. Mark Hancock suggested spending an agreed amount of council money to keep the village looking clean and tidy and perhaps, in future, start entering the Best Kept Village once again. It was decided to add this as an agenda item for the July meeting.

Clr. Piers Bradbury mentioned that Smart Gardens had quoted a further £60 per month to cut both entrances of the village on a two-week basis as opposed to monthly.

It was proposed by Clr. Carol Bradbury to increase the amount of cuts on areas 1, 2, 3 and 4 from monthly to fortnightly between April and September (six months). This was seconded Mark Hancock and all were in favour. The clerk would contact Smart Gardens and inform them of council’s decision.

Clr. Jenny D’Arcy mentioned the scaffolding on the back of Alma Gardens flats that had been in situ from January 2018. Clr. Jon Preston replied that there was a problem with damp in these properties and the scaffolding was still in place to monitor same.

Clr. Mike Neal mentioned that a resident had recently been the victim of a credit card fraud attempt and reminded all to be vigilant in this area.

Penally MOD firing times: The clerk would contact Penally MOD as firing times had not been received over the last few months.