Accessibility links

1
Language selection

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Civic Offices Angel Street Bridgend CF31 4WB. View directions

Contact: Mark Anthony Galvin  Senior Democratic Services Officer - Committees

Items
No. Item

102.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest from Members/Officers in

accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008. 

 

 

Minutes:

Councillor DRW Lewis declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 11., in that he was Chairperson of the Credit Union.

 

Councillor JE Lewis declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 11., in that she was a member of the Credit Union.

103.

Approval of Minutes pdf icon PDF 174 KB

To receive the minutes of a meeting of Council dated 29 November 2017.

 

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:                That the amended Minutes (as tabled) of a meeting of Council dated 29 November 2017, be approved as a true and accurate record.

104.

To receive announcements from:

(i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Chief Executive

 

 

Minutes:

Mayor

 

The Mayor welcomed all those in attendance to the meeting.

 

She announced that earlier this month she/her Consort visited the Princess of Wales Hospital and surprised staff on all of the wards by handing out Santa sacks. The idea of the Santa sacks was the brainchild of two local veterans Tom and Alistair who asked local firms for donations of biscuits chocolates and goodies as an ‘Act of Kindness’ for the hospital staff.  She added that they also returned to hand out a large number of toys donated by a toy firm from Yorkshire. She extended thanks to both veterans who had made this possible; the staff in POW who laid on tea, coffee and mince pies donated by local Tesco stores and to the toy firm who have promised to donate more toys in 2018.

 

She had attended several Carol Services including one in the Mansion House hosted by the Lord Mayor of Swansea.  My own Carol Service for the Mayors Charities and St Johns Church in Cardiff helped to raise funds for the St Johns Eye Hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital performed 113,000 eye operations often in very difficult circumstances.

 

Numerous Christmas visits had also been made to all hostels, nursing homes and sheltered accommodation where she delivered boxes of biscuits to them all.

 

She had also participated in the Bridgend Armed Forces Forum which was chaired by the Armed Forces Champion Councillor Richard Young.  The event was attended by a number of support organisations and service providers including The Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association (SSAFA), the Royal British Legion, Veterans and representatives of housing associations. The Forum provided an opportunity for organisations here in Bridgend to come together and look at how the support of the Armed Forces Community can be improved.  Future meetings of the Armed Forces Forum have been planned for next year to take forward the good work that has been started recently.

 

The Mayor advised that she had enjoyed meeting the Young people in Heronsbridge School who performed ‘Beauty and the Beast’.  It was very moving and the singing was a joy for everyone.  She wished to thank all those who performed, and the Staff for all the hard work they had put in sometimes in very difficult circumstances.

 

Deputy Leader

 

The Deputy Leader wished to remind Members that the festive recycling and waste arrangements will see collections taking place two days later than normal during Christmas week, and one day later than normal in the week after New Year. All collections will return to their normal schedule on Monday 8 January. He advised that the vast majority of festive waste can now be recycled. It was anticipated that the biggest non-recyclable items will probably be Christmas wrapping paper and polystyrene. Householders can either take excess waste to a community recycling centre, or put it out in a separate black bag. Community recycling centres will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, but will be open on all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 104.

105.

To receive the report of the Leader

Minutes:

The Leader reported that as Members may have seen that earlier this week, Welsh Government had announced their consultation on proposals for transferring healthcare services for people in the Bridgend County Borough area to Cwm Taf University Health Board instead of Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board.

 

The Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, Alun Davies AM, is intending to establish the County Borough in the South East Wales regional footprint for healthcare provision and social services, and complement existing economic and education partnerships.

Local Government Secretary Alun Davies.

 

Full details on the proposals are available at the Welsh Government website, and views were invited until the closing date of 7th March 2018.

 

The Leader was sure that Members will want to take a closer look, make their thoughts known, and encourage local residents to have their say.

 

The Leader advised that he reported to members at the last meeting about the possibility of developing a Logistics Hub here in Bridgend at Brocastle, for the construction of the third runway at Heathrow. We had dozens of local businesses that were very well placed to service such a Hub, and the Council were supporting the MP for Bridgend in organising an event in the Hew Year, at which we will showcase the successful businesses we had in the County Borough. When meeting with the First Secretary and the Secretary of State for Wales recently, the Leader had took the opportunity to make a case for locating a Logistics Hub in Bridgend. The main purpose of the meeting with Damien Green MP and Alun Cairns MP, was to discuss the impact of Brexit on Wales. There was a united position from Leaders across South Wales, of all political parties, that when the shared prosperity fund is established, we need to maintain the level of investment currently being made in Wales through the European Union..

 

The Leader advised that we recently requested and a held a meeting with Network Rail to discuss a Bridgend Transport Hub to improve access for bus services to Bridgend Railway Station. As members were aware, the Bridgend Rail station was poorly served by direct bus services, and this was largely due to the constrained road layout and access to the station. With funding from the European Union in place, we were ready to start work over a decade ago. This was scuppered at the last minute back in 2012 by Network Rail who had supported this, due to the land being required for electrification of the main line. At the meeting last week officials from Network Rail were very positive about our plans, upon which he assured he would keep Members posted.

 

Local Members would be aware, that work at long last was forging ahead at the former Margam opencast site.

 

The site had been a major concern for residents of Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr. As the original restoration scheme was not carried out by Celtic Energy and landowners Oak Generation, Bridgend and Neath Port  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105.

106.

Porthcawl Regeneration Scheme pdf icon PDF 102 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The S151 Officer and Corporate Director Communities submitted a report, the purpose of which was:

 

a.    To obtain approval from Council for a revised capital programme for 2017-18 to 2026-2027

b.    Advise Members that a report was submitted to Cabinet on 19th December 2017 which:

 

(i)                Updated Cabinet on the Porthcawl Regeneration Scheme 

(ii)     advised that a proposal has been received from the Evans’  families, to sell to the     Council their leasehold interest in Phase 1 – land at Salt Lake Car Park;

(iii)    presented the terms of this proposal, and set out the consequential impact on the remainder of the Porthcawl Regeneration Scheme;

(iv)  advised Members of the ‘due diligence’ that has been undertaken to date, and the further measures which will be put in place to protect the public interest; recommended that the offer be accepted.

 

At its meeting on 19th December 2017, Cabinet authorised the Corporate Director - Communities, in consultation with the S151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer to:

 

(a)  Acquire the Evans’ families head lease and sub-lease interests in Salt Lake Car Park Porthcawl, at the price of £3,330,000 and terms set out in Appendix 1 of this report;

 

(b)  Vary the existing Owners Agreement dated 11th March 2011 between the Council and the Evans families, on the terms outlined in paragraph 4.11 of the report. 

 

The report gave some background information, by confirming that in 2006, the owners of development land in Porthcawl agreed to work jointly, by bringing together the freehold and leasehold interests which overlay substantial land holdings within the town. The aim was to bring forward the land for sale, providing the owners with sale receipts to be split on a pre-agreed basis subject to minimum prices being achieved; and to deliver a clear planning context for disposal of sites for third party development.

 

In November 2007, the Porthcawl Regeneration Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) was adopted by the Council. This provided for new homes within the overall area plus major retail and leisure developments, community provision, new road systems, land set aside for health provision, and other areas of public amenity, including new sea defenses along Eastern Promenade and the Sandy Bay frontage.

 

The overall development area was divided into two phases of which:

 

·          Phase One included Hillsborough car park, The Green and Salt Lake car park

·          Phase Two comprised the Coney Beach Amusement Park and the former Sandy Bay caravan park.

 

The report then gave some information of the disposal history of the land, and that in 2014, following the failure of the sale of the site to Morrisons (and bids for sale of the site in 2010 to Tesco / Chelverton), various offers were made to acquire the Council’s interest. These were turned down as there was no market exposure (in terms of securing best consideration) and the nature of the offer did not meet either the minimum price requirement or the regeneration objectives of the Council.

 

The Corporate Director Communities then added that in 2015 the parties  ...  view the full minutes text for item 106.

107.

Amendment of the Constitution pdf icon PDF 89 KB

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer presented a report, the purpose of which, was to seek approval for the amendment of the Constitution to enable the Authority to meet its requirements in respect of the provision of agenda and minutes in accordance with the Welsh Language Standards.

 

He explained that Standard 41 required to produce in welsh, agendas and minutes which relate to formal meetings of the Authority.

 

The Monitoring Officer went on to state, that by law local authorities had to make agendas, minutes and reports available to the public 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.

 

Under provisions of the Constitution, Councillors could ask questions of the Executive and propose Notice of Motions, and had to give five clear days notice of this.

 

Due to the fact that the Authority sent their agenda and minutes to Cardiff for translation, approximately 5 clear working days was needed between sending these off and preparing these documents for Committee send out ie 3 clear working days in advance of the meeting.

 

In order to have sufficient time to arrange welsh translation for the inclusion of a question or Notice of Motion as specified above, in time for the inclusion of these on any Council agenda, it was proposed that the above timescale be extended to 10 clear working days prior to the meeting. This concluded the Monitoring Officer, would allow enough time to arrange translation of these prior to the publication of both the English and Welsh agenda, and enable the Authority to meet the requirements of its Welsh Language Standards and legislation ie under a provision of the Local Government Act 1972.

 

A Member felt that an extension of 5 working days to accommodate the above process was too long, and asked if this could be reduced to somewhere between 5 and 10 working days.

 

The Monitoring Officer replied that this may jeopardise Committee meetings going ahead, if the bilingual information was returned in insufficient time to meet the date the Welsh and English agendas/minutes were scheduled to be dispatched.

 

The Leader concluded debate on this item, by suggesting that the proposals of the report be agreed to, and that a progress report be submitted to Council in 6 months.

 

This was agreed by Council

 

RESOLVED:           (1)  That Council approved the amendment of paragraphs 10, 11 and 12 of Part 4 of the Constitution, as outlined in paragraph 4 of the report, to extend the timescales detailed therein, from 5 to 10 working days.

 

                                (2)  That Members await a progress report in respect of the above in 6 months time.          

108.

Elected Member Role Descriptions pdf icon PDF 89 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report, in order to present the Elected Member Role Descriptions for approval.

 

He explained that the individual Member Role Descriptions had been developed from the model role descriptions produced by the WLGA, but tailored to the requirements of the roles carried out by Councillors within BCBC, attached at Appendices 1 – 19 of the report.

 

Appendix 20 to the report then outlined details of generic guidance for Outside Body roles.

 

Paragraph 4.3 of the report, then contained details of the Charter requirement ie the WLGA Charter for Member Support and Development, and in table format, descriptors for the individual Members roles, and this also included information on Outside Bodies.

 

Paragraph 4.5.1 of the report, recommended that the approval and use of the Member Role Descriptions, meet the suggested timescales as suggested in this section of the report.

 

RESOLVED:                That Council approved the Elected Member Role Descriptions attached as Appendices to the report.

109.

Information Reports for Noting pdf icon PDF 49 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:                That the Information Reports included within the above report of the Monitoring Officer be noted.

110.

To receive the following Questions to the Cabinet

1.    Question to the Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration from Councillor Timothy Thomas

 

            What are your plans for the growth and promotion of Welsh Medium Education in the County Borough and how will this authority contribute towards the Welsh Government target of one million Welsh speakers by 2050?

 

2.    Question to the Cabinet Member Communities from Councillor Altaf Hussain

 

            Given the recent adverse weather conditions in the County Borough and the significant level of ongoing work within your portfolio i.e. potholes and street lighting etc. could the Cabinet Member for Communities advise me how this work has been prioritised.  I am sure that this Council wishes to ensure that the risk of injury of our residents and the likelihood of road traffic accidents is minimised to prevent this Council incurring additional costs and supports the health and wellbeing of its residents.

 

 

Minutes:

1. Question to the Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration from

Councillor Timothy Thomas

 

What are your plans for the growth and promotion of Welsh Medium Education in the County Borough and how will this authority contribute towards the Welsh Government target of one million Welsh speakers by 2050?

 

Response              The full details of the local authority’s ambitions in respect of Welsh language education within the Borough are contained within the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) 2017-2020.

 

                              The local authority has identified 11 targets to promote    Welsh language provision over the next three years.

We will:

 

          develop a feasibility of Welsh-medium provision for the 21st Century School Modernisation Programme – informed by a learner demand survey and by the strategic review and childcare sufficiency audit;

          increase the recruitment of children to Welsh-medium schools by 5% over the next three years by presenting promotional materials from within the local authority and from Welsh Government that outline the benefits of being bilingual and by adding extra provision where there is sufficient demand;

          continue to develop and implement a strategy to increase the retention of children in Welsh-medium education in foundation phase and in key stage 2, to include the planned review of additional learning needs (ALN) support for the Welsh-medium sector;

          ensure that Welsh-medium provision is available to all children of pre-school age and above whose parents/carers wish them to receive their care/education through the medium of Welsh, and this within reasonable travelling distance from children's homes;

          ensure a developing continuum from Welsh-medium primary education through to Welsh-medium secondary education, so that pupils who begin their primary education through the medium of Welsh will progress to a Welsh-medium secondary school and progress accordingly into further and higher education and training;

          ensure that Welsh is taught as a first and/or second language on the timetable of all our schools, in accordance with the National Curriculum's statutory requirements, and that all pupils are given the opportunity to sit an externally accredited examination in Welsh at the end of key stage 4

          ensure that children and young people with additional learning needs receive linguistic equality of opportunity in terms of Welsh-medium education, in line with the SEN Code of Practice for Wales and the Council’s Strategy for Educational Inclusion and the new ALN Reform Bill;

          ensure that all pupils attending a designated Welsh-medium school  can speak, read and write Welsh fluently by the end of key stage 2;

          work in partnership with all schools to improve the standard of Welsh as a first and second language;

          further develop teachers’ knowledge and understanding of Welsh as a first and second language, and provide opportunities for pupils to improve their knowledge and understanding of the cultural, economic, environmental, historical and linguistic ethos/characteristics of Wales via the Cwricwlwm Cymreig; and

          promote the wider development of pupils' Welsh language skills through specific activities and projects, in association with a wide range of partners.

 

It is hoped that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 110.

111.

Notice of Motion

Notice of Motion Proposed by Councillor Bridie Sedgebeer

 

NatWest Closures in Bridgend County

This Council expresses its great concern over the proposed closures of NatWest Bank Branches in Pencoed, Maesteg and Porthcawl.

 

The proposal to close these three branches in our County will be detrimental to the prosperity of our communities.

 

Customers, particularly elderly residents, rely on being able to pop into their local branch to manage their money.  The provision of local, face-to-face banking facilities has been reduced significantly over the past few years  and will leave Pencoed without a branch of any bank.  Technological change is helping customers access banking services in different ways but banks must not ignore the needs of those customers who are unable to use/engage with these new ways.

 

This council requests that the Leader writes to  NatWest, to ask it to reconsider its position on the closure of these three branches and to agree to take reasonable action to support residents, community groups and businesses to explore possible alternatives, including working with credit unions and neutral shared branches.

 

Minutes:

Notice of Motion Proposed by Councillor Bridie Sedgebeer

 

NatWest Closures in Bridgend County

 

This Council expresses its great concern over the proposed closures of NatWest Bank Branches in Pencoed, Maesteg and Porthcawl.

The proposal to close these three branches in our County will be detrimental to the prosperity of our communities. Customers, particularly elderly residents, rely on being able to pop into their local branch to

manage their money. The provision of local, face-to-face banking facilities has been reduced significantly over the past few years and will leave Pencoed without a branch of any bank. Technological change is helping customers access banking services in different ways but banks must not ignore the needs of those customers who are unable to use/engage with these new ways. This council requests that the Leader writes to NatWest, to ask it to reconsider its position on the closure of these three branches and to agree to take reasonable action to support residents, community groups and businesses to explore possible alternatives, including

working with credit unions and neutral shared branches.

 

RESOLVED:                  That Council supported the above Notice of Motion, subject to the following:-

 

1.     That the Council also pursues through the appropriate avenues Mobile Banking

2.     That MP’s and AM’s be lobbied to encourage further use of Credit Unions and Community Banking, through shared services.

 That the feasibility of further cash points be pursued in the location of the Valleys Gateway, and at locations regularly used by the general public, including those owned or run by the local authority. This could be taken up with LINC.

112.

Urgent Items

To consider any other item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in accordance with Rule 4 of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

 

 

Minutes:

None.

 

A to Z Search

  1. A
  2. B
  3. C
  4. D
  5. E
  6. F
  7. G
  8. H
  9. I
  10. J
  11. K
  12. L
  13. M
  14. N
  15. O
  16. P
  17. Q
  18. R
  19. S
  20. T
  21. U
  22. V
  23. W
  24. X
  25. Y
  26. Z