MINUTES OF A COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT THE COUNCIL CHAMBER ON MONDAY 25th JANUARY, 2010 AT 7.00 P.M.

PresentCllr Mrs A.M. Jones (Chair)

“ E.J.Breeze

“ Mrs R. Brunt

“ Mrs C. Edwardes

“ Mrs E.L. Evans

“ R.N. Hamer

“ Lady Hooson

“ D.C Jones

“ G. Morgan

“ G.M. Powell

“ Mrs P. Smith

“ N. Venti

“ J. Whittal Williams

Town Clerk

The meeting opened with Prayers

336/01APOLOGIES Cllr G. Powell for being late arriving due to work commitment

336/02DECLARATION ON INTEREST Forms to record declaration of interest were circulated and filed with these minutes. Cllr Morgan declared an interest in any matters relating to Powys County Council. He stated that he had checked with the Monitoring Officer regarding the issue discussed at the last meeting (Highways Depot Item 3, 18.01.10) and he was correct in declaring and leaving the room. He stated that another member of Council should have done the same, and that member has consequently been reported to the Standards Officer. Cllr Mrs P. Smith and Cllr Mrs Lynne Evans also declared an interest in PCC matters

336/03MINUTES The following minutes were read and confirmed:-

Council meeting held on 14.12.09 – True Record

Minutes of an Environment/Planning and Finance meeting held on 18.01.10 – Cllr Whittal Williams brought up, on behalf of Cllr Powell, the fact that it was not recorded that Cllr Powell had declared an interest but had not left the room. (Item 3)

336/04OBTAINING OF ‘WALKERS ARE WELCOME STATUS FOR LLANIDLOES’ Mr Jason Moore was introduced to Council and explained the reasoning behind the status. Mr Moore has a B&B business in the area and wishes to be part of a group which encourages more tourism into the area. The status has been implemented in 36 towns in Britain, with many in Wales including Prestatyn and Llandindod Wells. There are close links with the Ramblers Association and Chamber of Trade. 6 Criteria must be met, one of which is that Town and Community Councils are in agreement with the project. Cllr Morgan proposed that Llanidloes Town Council should be supportive of the initiative, Councillors unanimously agreed.

336/05POWYS HIGHWAYS DEPOT Cllr Morgan declared an interest and left the room. Cllr Whittal Williams gave a brief resume of the meeting he had with Mr Adrian Jervis (PCC shire Manager) on site at Victoria Avenue. He explained that there will be some screening taking place. He also stated that it will be a temporary site and that the Smithfield site will be coming onto the market as soon as Highways move to the Victoria Avenue site. Cllr Lady Hooson expressed her concern over the scruffy untidy site on the entrance to Town. Improvements and not just sheds should be implemented there. A site meeting (possibly Monday 1st Feb at 1pm) to discuss further will be requested with Mr Jervis. Cllr David Jones stated that utilising the Industrial Units on the Llangurig Road was previously suggested to PCC for use as a depot. Councillors agreed that this would be a far better solution than wasting tax payers money on temporary measures.

336/06PROPOSED CLOSURE OF LLANIDLOES HIGH SCHOOL Both Cllrs David Jones and Gareth Morgan declared an interest as Governors at the School. Cllr David Jones also declared an interest as an employee of Coleg Powys. Cllr Margot Jones stated that we should be sending a strong message to say that we will not tolerate any downgrading of our School. It is a centre of excellence of which we are all very proud. The social and economical stability of our area would suffer and would have a detrimental effect on Llanidloes and the surrounding area. Cllr Brunt stated that it is very frightening for the Pupils at the School, especially the younger pupils who do not necessarily understand what is going on, and for those taking exams, and that we owe it to the children to fight very hard to ensure that closure does not happen. Cllr Breeze asked how we as a Council could best channel our aggression? It was agreed that we write the strongest possible letter to the Chief Exec at PCC, Mick Bates A.M, Lembit Opik M.P. and Mr Leighton Andrews A.M. ( Education Minister at the Assembly). Mr Darran Davies along with some of his staff, has agreed to come to speak to Council. A date will be arranged in the near future

336/07MONTGOMERYSHIRE FORUM Letter received from Mr Robert Robinson - Received

336/08FOUNTAINS FOREST MANAGER - CRIBYNAU WOODS Notification of felling some Pine and Douglas Fir trees – received.

336/09LETTER FROM PCC RE ROSPA INSPECTIONS It was agreed that Rospa inspections should be carried out on Victoria Park Play area and at the Skatepark.

336/10INVITATION TO HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE SERVICES STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP 28TH JAN AND INVITATION TO BUSINESS LAUNCH EVENT 28TH JAN. Received – Many Councillors expressed a wish to attend.

336/11LETTER FROM MORRIS MARSHALL & POOLE RE RETIREMENT OF MR MIKE GEORGE – Received. It was agreed to write to Mr George wishing him a happy retirement.

336/12DONATION TO POWYS EISTEDDFOD Cllr David Jones declared an interest and left the room. Clerk gave details of donations made by various Councils in previous years. An event to raise funds was also discussed. It was agreed that Cllr Whittal Williams, Cllr Venti, Cllr Powell and Cllr Hamer will meet as a sub committee to discuss fundraising in the near future. Council agreed to try to raise between £500 - £1,000, with some monies coming from s137 donations.

336/13EXTERNAL AUDITORS REPORT FOR YEAR END 31.03.09 Received. It was agreed that actions required from Internal Auditors report have been carried out.

336/14NOTIFICATION ON SECTION 137 DONATIONS – LIMIT FOR 2010/11 Cllr Breeze agreed to read through.

336/15LOCAL HOUSING NEEDS QUESTIONNAIRE Cllr Whittal Williams informed Council that he has spoken to PCC who have extended the dead line originally set. It was agreed to invite Mr Kuipers to join Councillors at an Environment Panel meeting on 15th February at 7pm to discuss further the issues of Local Housing further.

336/16The following Accounts for DECEMBER were confirmed

Chq No

103366JDH Business Services745.45

103367Amazon (Snooker Chalk) 19.52

103368SLCC168.00

103369Wages & P. Cash (03.12.09)966.64

103370Llanidloes Youth Forum 50.00

103371JDH Business Services287.55

103372PCQ(Photocopier)328.73

103373Office Express 27.44

103374Wages (10.12.09)891.90

103375Inland Revenue 1,059.31

103376Morris Marshall & Poole287.50

103377Wages (17.12.09)892.12

103378Wages (24.12.09)891.90

103379Wages (31.12.09)797.66

TOTAL£ 7,413.72

336/17Date of next meeting 22nd February, 2010

Pursuant to Section 1 (2) of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 it is resolved that, because of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, the public and press leave the meeting during consideration of the following item:-

336/18 DISCUSS STAFF HOURS AND TIME SHEETS Cllr Powell had asked for the item to be included onto the Agenda and asked for details of Town Council employees’ time sheets to be available. Clerk showed a typical example of time sheets, with which Councillors were satisfied. Discussions on lone working, Health & Safety and Risk assessments followed. Clerk agreed to contact Workboost Wales for more information regarding lone workers. It was agreed to discuss the letter from Workboost Wales further at a Heads of Panels meeting on Monday 8th February at 7.30 p.m.

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