Minutes of the meeting of the Penrice Community Council held on ~

Wednesday 14^th November 2007

At Horton Village Hall at 7.30pm

Members Present: Councillor A Glass – Chairman

Councillor G Davies

Councillor M Barnett

Councillor A Oliver

Councillor G Roberts

Councillor J Bowen

Councillor B Richards

75/07 Apologies for Absence.

Cllr I Williams and Cllr T Methuen-Campbell.

76/07 Declarations of Interest.

Cllr B Richards declared a personal interest in items under Planning, application numbers 2007/2483, 2007/2256, 2007/2498 and 2007/2148.

77/07 To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 16^th October 07.

Cllr A Oliver wanted to add that he had stated under item 70/07 Greenways Caravan Park –

“Cllr A Oliver felt that the meeting with the planning department was not productive”.

Council decided that with the additional comment included, the minutes were a true and accurate record, proposed Cllr M Barnett, seconded Cllr Gavin Roberts, carried unanimously.

Cllr A Glass proposed that the item listed as no 10 on the agenda - Ceri Fitzpatrick and Keith Woodruff shall be moved to this part of the meeting. Cllr Glass proposed that standing orders were suspended. Carried unanimously.

78/07 Ceri Fitzpatrick , British Telecom Regional Manager and Keith Woodruff, British Telecom Senior Planning Engineer regarding the problems accessing Broadband in Gower.

Ceri Fitzpatrick and Keith Woodruff gave an overview of the business relationship between British Telecom and Openreach to the meeting.

Points made during the presentation:

Openreach must work within the compliance governed by ‘Offcom’
Problems experienced accessing Broadband must be taken up with the Broadband service provider, who in turn will take the issue to Openreach to resolve.
There are pockets in Wales where accessing broadband is a problem, due to the fact that the location of the exchanges were determined by the requirements in the 50’s and 60’s.
ADSL, copper wire and aluminium wire and their problems were explained. ADSL offered higher speeds compared to dial up. Aluminium wire used during the mid 70’s, due to the copper crisis, but due to the greater resistance with the increased speed of the information, causes problems. If there is any aluminium line between the exchange and the individual,

then broadband will not be available. ADSL must have a dedicated line from the exchange to the house.

21CN – is installed if the customer wants a special system eg an alarm. This system is due to be rolled-out by 2010 and uses a standard protocol, common capabilities which will alleviate many of the problems that are currently experienced. Is currently being tested on small exchanges. The impact on Gower will be faster broadband.
British Telecom’s contract of service, governed by Offcom is to provide voice lines to all properties, however it does not have to provide broadband. 99% of the population can access broadband.
Horton is not identified as a problem area. However Oxwich could be more difficult.
A community of 50 with connection problems would be required for BT to investigate.
ADSL Max at any one point in time will give you the fastest speed and will improve the quality of service, depending on the quality of the line. The customer must ask the service provider to provide this.

79/07 Matters arising from the minutes.

Item 63/07

£400 had been sent to St Andrews Church, Council decided to send to the other two churches as per budget. Cllr A Oliver proposed that £400 be donated to St Illtyds Church and the Chapel in Horton, seconded Cllr G Roberts, carried unanimously. SC

Item 71/07

Horton Firework display had been very successful. Council decided that a letter of thanks to be sent to Courtney Grove for all his efforts. SC

Item 73/07

Council had received a reply from Veolia Transport, offering to alter the system currently used, but pointed out that there had been complaints previously form passengers as they were getting stuck in the hedge. Council considered Swansea Airport and other areas as preferred options as this is a very difficult area to resolve this problem. Council decided that the Clerk send a letter to Veolia thanking them for the response and suggest that this problem may benefit from a site visit with the City Council. Alan Glass to speak to Ilston CC to advise of problem. Clerk to write to Ilston CC to advise of the situation. AG/ SC

80/07 County Councillor R. Lewis.

None.

81/07 Community Councils.

Gower Website minutes had been received. Cllr A Glass and the Clerk had not been notified of the meeting for some reason, therefore did not attend.

Community Councils Forum – Clerk to advise of Cllr A Oliver’s details SC

82/07 Correspondence.

Local Health Board – What have we done in the last year noted
Hilltop, Oxwich Green – Raising problems with a planning application adjacent to Hilltop, Oxwich Green due to be considered. A letter had been sent directly to the City and County of Swansea Panning Department. Council decided that the Clerk to write to advise of the late communication raising a valid issue.
One Voice Wales – Swansea Area Committee – Xmas party 3^rd December 07 Gowerton Rugby Club £5 per head.
The City and County of Swansea – Consultation Document – lighting scheme in the AONB

Cllr M Barnett took to consider.

The City and county of Swansea – Planning Application no 2006/0881 Approved
The City and county of Swansea – Planning Application no 2007/1897 Approved
The City and county of Swansea - Planning Application no 2007/1311 Appeal has been made.
One Voice Wales – The Voice magazine noted

83/07 Financial.

Details chq no amount VAT Total

Clerks pay and expenses 322 (information protected under the Data

Protection Act)

St Illtyds Church section 137 323 400.00 400.00

Horton Methodist Chapel section 137 324 400.00 400.00

The Ink Store 325 11.38 1.49 11.38

Balance as @ 31^st October 2007

Cash @ bank 10782.35 opening balance 4826.27

Less Cheques not presented 400.00 add receipts 17640.28 10382.35 22466.55

less payments 12084.20

£10382.35 £10382.35

Balance as @ 31^stOctober 07 £ 10382.35

Council decided to make payments as presented. Unanimous.

84/07 Planning.

Council considered the following applications:

Application no : 2007/2434 Applicant : D J Jarvis Site Address : “Rose Cottage” Slade

Proposal : Building to accommodate exercise pool (amended plan)

Agent : A Parker, 29, Gowerton Road, Three Crosses

Council decided that there were no objections to this application.

Cllr B Richards declared a personal interest in the remaining items and withdrew from the meeting and did not vote.

Application no 2007/2148 Applicant : Mr I Williams Site Address : Oxwich Bay Hotel, Gower

Proposal : Replacement of fabric canopies to hotel and wedding garden entrance

Application no :2007/2256 Applicant : Mr Ronald Carter Site Address : Bank Farm, Horton

Proposal : Camping and Caravan rally 50 units 18/7/08 – 03/08/08

Application no : 2007/2498 Applicant : The Caravan Club Site Address : Bank Farm., Horton

Proposal : Caravan Rally 50 caravans approx. 13/06/08 – 15/06/08

Application no : 2007/2483 Applicant : The Caravan Club Site Address : Bank Farm, Horton

Proposal : Caravan rally 60 caravans approx 26/08/08 – 31/08/08

Council considered and decided that there were no objections to any of the planning applications.

It was raised that if the City and County of Swansea does not give planning permission to Bank Farm Horton for caravan rallies, then it has to pay compensation to Bank Farm. A member of the public requested that this be clarified. Clerk to write to the City and County of Swansea. SC

85/07 SLCC Model Contract for Clerks.

Cllr A Oliver reviewed the contract during the course of the meeting. To be signed at the end of the meeting.

86/07 Greenways Caravan Park.

Copies of the map and site licences had been sent for the attention of the Council and were circulated. Points raised: -

· The City and County of Swansea prior to the meeting with Cllr A Oliver and A Glass, did not know what was going on at Greenways.

· The caravans were not getting trimmed down. There is a maximum of caravans that is allowed, but Mr Mead seems to be putting new caravans in before removing the old ones. This is acceptable as long as only the new one is occupied.

· The City and County of Swansea has not agreed to act yet, nor did they confirm that any action was going to be taken.

· Caravans seem to be arriving quickly, but the planting seems to be slow.

· Mr Mead should have a number of caravans that he can go to excess, whilst the work is undertaken.

· Mr Mead has planning permission for tents, but is claiming established use for touring caravans.

· The infrastructure is not in place to service 430 tents as per the requirement of the licence.

· There are no model standards for tents. The licence does not mean anything as there is no tent act.

· If the City and County of Swansea issue a licence, does the local authority not have any action to take if this is not followed?

Cllr B Richards advised that there was a condition on the caravan licence that he had that proved ‘ultra virus’ in law and he had taken to the high court to remove. Cllr A Oliver felt that in his opinion, Cllr B Richards had a conflict of interest in this item . The local authority cannot impose the conditions on tents as cannot be insisted upon in law. If the area is outside Gower, for 60 days tents can be situated and no planning permission is needed and no facilities eg toilets/showers etc are required.

· Mr Mead has attended Community Council meetings and stated that Greenways has permission

for 430 units, but the licence states that permission is for 430 tents.

· The Chairman explained that the Local Authority had advised that the intensity of caravans is material when established use is claimed. The Chair requested that all Councillors and members of the public check to see if any photographic or other evidence could be presented to prove that there had either not been any caravans in the fields in question or if there were caravans that the numbers present were less.

· An ‘Affidavit’ could be presented to the City and County of Swansea as evidence, was suggested by Mr J Bowen from the floor.

· Two caravans were still not removed from the field at 4^th November 07. Clerk to write second letter to enforcement to advise of this. SC

Cllr A Oliver asked the residents what actions were being taken following the residents meeting with Officers and Councillors of the City and County of Swansea.?

Members of the public advised that Mr Mead had until the end of November 07 to submit an application for ‘established use’. Any action was being held in abeyance until after this Community Council meeting. Council decided that the Clerk to write to John Hague for clarification of the number of static caravans that Mr Mead was allowed to have to be in compliance with the planning permission. SC

In summary the general consensus was that Mr Mead had not had caravans continually on the fields in question and the few caravans that have been there have been moved around.

Concerns were raised that there was not enough facilities for the number of tents that the licence allowed. Also the licence was issued in 1999, but there is no mention of caravans. Why was planning permission not applied for caravans if there were caravans present at this time?

Council decided that a letter would be sent to Bryan Graham, John Hague and Tom Gronow to raise the questions asked at this meeting and to know how many static caravans are currently on site. Also to update the Council on the current situation of the phased reduction of caravans. SC

87/07 Rubbish Bins.

Deferred until the next meeting.

88/07 Matters Outstanding.

The Clerk and the Chairman signed the Clerks Contract.

89/07 Date of next meeting.

13^th December 07.