PLEASE NOTE: These are the minutes from the Remote General Meeting of Penally Community Council held on September 9, before news broke of the situation at Penally training camp.

Matters Arising from the Minutes

Yellow Lines through the Village – The Clerk advised the Council that information was still be gathered regarding this heading and once all information has been received it will be circulated to all Councillors prior to the October meeting.

Cables Entangled with trees – County Cllr Jon Preston advised that he had sent several Emails to Pembrokeshire County Council requesting certain information but unfortunately has not received a response to date.

Trimming of Trees in Penally – The Clerk confirmed the landowner had advised that the trees entangled with the BT cables would be trimmed by the end of August, these works have not commenced as of September 9 (Post meeting note – Phone call received from Land owner advising that contractors will be on site before the end of September 2020).

Discussion took place as to what works could be considered to be carried out to enhance the Village with funding for such a project from an Enhancing Pembrokeshire Grant application. County Cllr Jon Preston offered his assistance and support with any application process and paperwork.

Cllr P Bradbury proposed that a working party be formed to co-ordinate the project and present their findings to Council when appropriate; Cllr Snow seconded the proposal with all Council in full agreement.

Cllrs Snow and C Bradbury along with the Clerk will form the working party. All Cllrs were requested to forward any considerations of works etc to the Clerk.

The large mound of spoil left in the playing field by British Gas several years ago following the laying of the new Gas Pipe was commented on. County Cllr Preston advised the Council that he would liaise with British Gas for the removal of such.

Information Boards Within Penally (Penally History Group) - The Clerk advised the Council that the History Group had confirmed that once one board had been designed with English only, the design can be considered by the Council and then the Welsh Translation added.

County Cllr Jon Preston advised the Clerk that the Welsh translation of all the information produced by the History Group has been completed and will be passed onto the history Group later this week.

Consideration of Correspondence Received

a) Telephone call received from Cllr Steve Robinson requesting the Clerk to present to the Council his resignation as Community Councillor, due to the fact that he would be moving out of the area. Cllr P Bradbury acknowledged such on behalf of the Council and requested the Clerk to advise Cllr S Robinson that his resignation has been accepted by the Council and he and his family are wished all the best in his new home.

b) Email received from Mr Staden – Pembrokeshire County Council advising that, due to safety reasons, certain tree works will be carried out on a tree situated within the Manor House area.

c) Pembrokeshire County Council Planning Application Approval Notice – East Tarr Farm (Conditionally Approved).

d) Pembrokeshire County Council Planning Application Approval Notice – Woodlands, Penally (Conditionally Approved).

e) Pembrokeshire County Council Planning Application Approval Notice – Greentop, Kenystyle (Conditionally Approved).

f) 2020/08 208 The Clerk confirmed that the response letter regarding the trimming of certain trees in Penally, as approved by all Councillors, had been forwarded via Royal Mail

g) The Clerk confirmed that a number of complaints and concerns had been received regarding building works being undertaken in the village. These concerns/complaints were presented to the relevant Planning Authority who have confirmed that they will investigate this matter further.

Update on licensing applications

The Clerk advised the Council that an Email had been received from the Licensing Officer stating that the two business partners who were to develop the Queen of Clubs Night Club have withdrawn their business plan.

County Councillor Jon Preston’s report

CEO - The current Chief exec Mr. Ian Wesley has decided to leave the authority at the end of November this year. This news came as a shock to many as Mr. Wesley has been held in very high regard by officers and council members alike. I wish Mr. Wesley all the best for the future.

LDP - Council will be aware that the candidate site at Four Winds Lane was not included as an allocation within the Deposit LDP. There does however remain an opportunity for the proposer of the Candidate site to submit an objection to the Deposit Plan. The planning Policy team are currently working their way through objections to and comments on the Deposit Plan and will be producing a report listing all comments together with a recommended Officer response which will be presented to Full Council.

Initially this was expected to be considered in Winter 2020, however Welsh Government has advised that Local Planning Authorities need to review their evidence base considering the Covid 19 situation.

This review will delay the LDP process and therefore the report listing all comments on the Deposit LDP is likely to be considered by Council in the Spring 2021.

There seems to have been a misunderstanding by some who thought that this decision had been ‘legally challenged’.

However, it is possible that the proposer of the candidate may objected to the Deposit Plan. Any objection will be considered by officers and a recommendation will be made to Council.

If the recommended response is that the Deposit Plan should not be changed then it would be for Council to consider this. If Council agreed with such a recommendation, then it is possible that the objection to the Plan would proceed to the next stage which would be the examination stage where a Planning Inspector would consider objections to the plan.

Maryland - I have been carrying out work with PCC and with representation from Maryland to explore the possibility of the road within the cul-de-sac to be adopted by the local authority.

The initial findings are that it may be a similar situation as we have at the Paddock in that the development company is no longer trading and the road is in effect left in ’limbo’.

Welsh Government have published a document addressing this problem across Wales. In the case of Maryland there may be opportunities to fund the work for the adoption, however this does depend on how the deeds to the land were administered by the solicitors when each property was sold on.

Planning Enforcement - There are two ongoing planning enforcement cases currently underway in the ward. One is being investigated by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and the other is at the stage of agreeing a site visit.

St. Tielo Sign Translation - The full text that was received from the Penally History Group has now been translated into Welsh and has been verified by a qualified translator.

This work has been very kindly carried out free of charge by Clr. Alun Lenny of Carmarthenshire County Council.

I suggested a donation which was politely declined, and it was suggested that if a donation was to be made Cllr. Lenny suggested the Welsh medium language school in Tenby Ysgol Hafan-y-Mor.

Trees - Despite numerous attempts to get some understanding from PCC on how they deal with tree maintenance my requests seem to have been ignored. I can only assume this could be down to the added pressures of dealing with Covid. I will keep trying and hope to have some information to share soon.

Update on Footpath - As I’m sure council will understand the Covid pandemic has had a great impact on this years proposed works. As a result, PCC have had to review all outstanding schemes to ensure they are able to work safely and efficiently.

The extended footpath scheme is presently number ten on the list of proposed footway schemes, and it is still hoped to be completed before the end of this financial year.

However, priorities can change, and the local authority must give a higher priority to maintaining the existing footway network before the construction of new footways as in this case.

Highways will advise me as soon as they can forecast a start date for this work.

Hoyles Close Hedge Cutting - The overgrown hedge encroaching on to the road at Hoyles Close has now been cut back.

Railway Crossing Gate - The faulty gate at crossing cottage has now been replaced following a report that it was damaged.

Sight Cymru - Sight Cymru have drafted a briefing in relation to the current Covid situation and individuals with sight loss. In normal times, Sight Cymru run training sessions raising awareness of eye conditions and the barriers that people with sight loss face in accessing the community. Any organisations who may be interested in receiving an awareness raising session, Sight Cymru would be more than happy to provide a session on a virtual platform raising awareness of the barriers to accessibility in general but also with the current Covid-19 situation in particular.

Below is a link to a list of relevant local community support: http://www.wcb-ccd.org.uk/coronavirus/word_documents.php

Reports from Council Committees - Grounds Sub-Committee

Clr. C Bradbury advised the Council that the plants around the Penally sign, at the entrance to Penally, have been trimmed back exposing the wording on the sign. All Cllrs agreed that this was a great improvement.

Agenda Items

Consideration to Replace the Handrail to the Steps on the Village Green - Clr. P Bradbury reported to the Council that the handrail to the steps leading from the car parking spaces down to the Village Green had broken and been removed for safety reasons.

Clr. Jon Preston advised that he would liaise with Pembrokeshire County Council to replace them.

Consideration of the 50mph speed limit on Penally Bypass in the area of the pedestrian crossing and the possibility for such to be lowered - Clr. Rilstone advised the Council that it is very dangerous for pedestrians crossing the Bypass to access the village or the Railway station with the speed limit being 50mph and cars parking on the grass verge obscuring their view. It was also reported that a near fatal accident had occurred only a few weeks ago.

Following discussion Clr. Snow proposed that Penally Community Council write a letter to Pembrokeshire County Council requesting that this matter be looked into and a solution offered to help prevent any further accidents or possible fatalities; Clr. C Bradbury seconded the proposal with all Council in full agreement.

Updates will be offered on the following matters - Planning Applications 20/0109/CA and 20/0042/PA – Clifton Cottage: The Clerk advised the Penally Community Council that, following a telephone call with the Planning Officer, it is understood that Planning officers have a very heavy workload and it is taking longer to determine some applications than others, hence applications may be determined well after the end end date of consultation.

Clifton Cottage is a more complex application which will take longer for the Planning Officer to reach a decision on.

The Footpath link from Trefloyne Lane to existing footpath to provide a footpath through Penally Village using the Section 106 Payment from the Grange Development - The Clerk advised the Council that the following information had been received from Pembrokeshire County Council – ‘The Penally Village Road Footway (Section 106) project has been set up and we are programming to arrange topographical surveys October/November and to commence feasibility designs once surveys are gained.’

This item has been diarised for January 2021.

The next meeting will take place on October 14 via the medium of Zoom.