Bedlinog & Trelewis Community Council

Item 256 – the new summer plants for the street planters were planted today. Item 257 – the NOTICE of Co-option closed 24-05-2022 and there is an agenda item to appoint in this evening’s meeting. Item 259 – MTCBC have been informed that Cllr Beard will be the Standards Committee representative. One Voice Wales have been informed that Cllr Brown will be the Area Committee representative with Cllr Dawson as reserve. Item 261 – The total funding received from Welsh Government for the Allotment Improvement Grant is £23809. A community allotment garden will be created on the recreational land in front of the old Bowls Pavilion, improvements will be made to bring the existing community allotments in the Shinrig Estate back into use. It is also hoped that new plots can be created on land behind Manor View, Trelewis, pending authorisation from Redrow. MTCBC have advised that the Community Council has been unsuccessful in its application for the SETS grant to create an outdoor gym facility in the community. Regarding the free training spaces funded by Welsh Government, the following Cllrs have been booked on to One Voice Wales training: Cllrs Brown and Dawson – Code of Conduct Training Cllrs Matthews and Searl – Local Government Finance Cllrs Searl and Brown – Understanding the Law Cllrs Matthews and Beard – The Council as an Employer Cllrs Searl – Chairing Meetings Item 264 – There is an Agenda item for this evening to discuss locations for the defibrillator.

Three applications were received. RESOLVED: The press and the public be excluded from the net item of business in view of the confidential nature relating to discussions containing personal information. A discussion took place between Cllrs and the public were invited back into the meeting. RESOLVED: that Chris Frayne be co-opted to the Bedlinog Community Ward vacancy.

RESOLVED: To award a grant of £500 to Bedlinog Angling Association.

RESOLVED: To award a grant of £500 to Bedlinog AFC.

RESOLVED: to increase the hourly hire rent of the Community Centre to £12.50 due to an increase in utility bills.

An amendment was made to the proposal that the Chair would report back to Council in September. RESOLVED: That the Chair would report back to Council in September.

RESOLVED: To arrange installation of the defibrillator in Maen Ganol, Stormtown, Trelewis, near the bus stop.

County Cllr Symonds was in attendance and provided a verbal update to Community Cllrs. Cllr Preston asked County Cllr Symonds to chase the clearing of the guttering along the road between Bedlinog and Trelewis, which causes the road to flood when there is wet weather. Cllr Preston also reported that there are rats around the area of the Tennis Courts in Bedlinog and around Bedlinog Community Centre. An update on the current path closure from Bedlinog Community Centre to the recreational ground was also requested. Cllr Dawson enquired if residents could access food banks vouchers via Community Cllrs. The Clerk advised that contact had been made with Taf Bargoed Food Bank to ask if Community Cllrs could be set up on the system to allocate the vouchers, a response was received from Fr Gareth Coombes advising that this would need to be actioned via County Councillors. Cllr Ian Thomas stated that it is disappointing that people have to go to the local authority for something to eat, there should be looser system allowing the foodbank to authorise the food. Cllr Jago asked if enquiries could be made to move one of the Stormtown bus stops opposite entrance to Brondeg. There are residents in Brondeg who struggle in terms of their physical needs and the current location is difficult for them to access, it is also in a dangerous position from a driver and walker perspective. County Cllrs Symonds advised that she would further investigate the issues raised and report back to Council. County Cllr Symonds also updated Council to advise that MTCBC are looking to adopt the land behind the Manor View estate. It is a potential area for new allotment beds to be installed with funding from the Allotment Improvement Grant. County Cllr Colbran declined an invitation to attend the meeting but provided an email update.

MTCBC Road Safety Team have advised that the green line (safe walking route to school) from Bedlinog Community Primary School to Commercial Street has been re-painted. A meeting with CISWO was held Friday 10th June, they have agreed to support a grant application for approximately 35k to bring the Bowls Pavilion back into community use. One Voice Wales have made a bid to Welsh Government to fund IT equipment for Community Council’s to hold hybrid meetings. We are awaiting the outcome. Grant applications are available via the National Lottery Fund – it has been suggested that we look at line marking on the unused MUGA near Mackintosh Terrace, in Trelewis. There is a technical fault with the Digital Interpretation Board at Nant Llwynog Park – the vendor has advised that they have ordered a new battery for the infopoint and are expecting delivery of the part this week. Cllr Jago enquired as to whether a freezer could be purchased for the Community Centre so that a facility for providing hot food could be made available at Youth Club. The Clerk advised to complete an Agenda Request Form with costs so that this could be added to the next agenda and costs approved at the meeting.

RESOLVED to approve the payments and receipts 06-05-2022 to 17-05-2022.

RESOLVED to approve the bank reconciliation dated 17/05/2022.

RESOLVED to approve the Annual Return for the Year Ended 31 March 2022.

The date of the next meeting is Monday 11th July 2022, 6.15pm, via Microsoft Teams.