To receive apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members:-

Councillor JC Spanswick

Councillor P James

Councillor GW Davies MBE

Councillor E Venables

Councillor CE Smith

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. 

The following Members declared a prejudicial interest in Agenda item 7. and left the meeting whilst the report was being considered, due to them being Board Members of V2c who were the applicant in respect of this departure planning application:-

Councillor D Patel

Councillor HM Williams

Councillor HJ Townsend

To receive for approval the minutes of a meeting of Council dated 6 July 2016

RESOLVED:                That the Minutes of a meeting of Council dated 6 July 2016, be approved as a true and accurate record.

 (i) Mayor (or person presiding)

(ii) Members of the Cabinet

(iii) Chief Executive

Mayor

The Mayor announced that it was wonderful to welcome a small group of pupils from Ysgol Y Ferch O’r Sger to the Civic Offices before they broke up for the summer holidays.  The children came prepared with some very well thought out questions and there ensued an interesting exchange. He hoped that they enjoyed the visit as much as both his Consort and he did, and the Mayor thanked Councillor Butcher for arranging this.

He also had a very entertaining evening courtesy of Pencoed Comprehensive School, the pupil’s production of “Back to the 80’s” was a joy and the Mayor stated the event almost had him dancing.

The Mayor also had the pleasure on Saturday of attending the opening of the British Isles Junior Ladies International Bowling Championship, which was being hosted by Bridgend Bowls Club. This was the first time that this event had been hosted by Bridgend, but hopefully not the last and it was nice also to see that the event was hosted on a nice summer’s day.

The Mayor took the opportunity to thank Mr. Jeffrey Harris, Chief Executive of Castle Bingo and his staff for the donation of £2,000 which he presented to him a couple of weeks ago. This was is much appreciated and would go towards his fundraising for the year.

The Mayor confirmed, that Members will have received a list of the forthcoming charity events that have been scheduled for the coming months.  Hopefully there will be something that will appeal to everyone and both he and his Consort would be delighted if they could join them on at least one occasion to raise funds for his chosen charities.  The next event will be afternoon tea in the Hi-Tide, Porthcawl on the 21^st August, and as always further details and tickets could be obtained from Mari Major.

Deputy Leader

The Deputy Leader announced that the Council’s popular School’s Out programme was underway with a huge variety of activities and events taking

place for different age groups. The summer schedule was truly action packed this year, as children aged between eight and 12 are being offered free places in Active 4 Life schemes which focus on fun, sports, games, arts and creative activities.

The Play Ranger programme was new for 2016, and features outdoor events that show children how to make rope swings, dens, water slides and more. It encouraged children to put down their computer games, play outside and enjoy some traditional fun in the sun, all while learning about nature.

Elsewhere, Mini Play 4 Life sessions aimed at 2-7 year olds were helping youngsters develop their agility, balance and co-ordination skills, while the Active4Life programme catered for 8-12 year olds and focused on sports, traditional play and fun, healthy activities.

Many of these had been established in partnership with town and community councils, and Welsh language holiday activities were also available in partnership with Menter Bro Ogwr and Urdd Gobaith Cymru. In addition, there were a whole range of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 655.

The Leader advised that when the 2017 Urdd Eisteddfod takes place at Pencoed College, it is expected to draw more than 100,000 visitors into Bridgend County Borough for a celebration of literature, music and performing arts.

The Urdd generates wall-to-wall media coverage for a whole week, and benefits the local economy to the tune of more than £6m, with people staying in local accommodation, visiting other attractions in the area, shopping and using local transport.

He wished to make Members aware that all schools within their constituencies have been given an open invitation to attend the proclamation ceremony for the event. The ceremony will take place on Saturday 8 October and will feature a parade which will start at Bridgend College, proceed through the town centre and finish at Newbridge Fields.

To help celebrate the event, each school in Bridgend County Borough has been invited to attend, and to make and carry a banner with the name of the school on it. 

The banners will then be used as part of a display during the week of the Eisteddfod, which will take place between 29 May and 3 June 2017.

Every school will receive a CD of the Eisteddfod ‘Welcome’ song so they can practice and learn it well in advance of the event.

He was aware that many Members also serve as governors, so he hoped that they would encourage their local schools to take part and offer their support.

The Leader was also certain that Members would join him in offering congratulations to Coychurch Crematorium Maesteg Welfare Park and Bryngarw Country Park for achieving Green Flag status.

Organised by Keep Wales Tidy and the Welsh Government, the Green Flag awards are intended to acknowledge areas of high-quality green space that play an important role in community life.

Sites are measured against criteria that include horticultural standards, cleanliness, sustainability and community involvement, and the flags are testament to the excellent efforts of staff and volunteers. He extended his thanks to them all.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing presented a report, that outlined her Social Services’ Annual Report for 2015/16 for approval, and requested that Members note the judgements reached locally about social care services in Bridgend.

This was the seventh such Annual Report, and was based on the Authority’s self-assessment of the performance and delivery of social services. The Report in its entirety was attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

The report outlined certain background information, following which it confirmed, that the aim of the report was to provide the Council and people living in Bridgend County Borough with an overview of the standard of social care they were being provided. The report aimed to highlight the progress made during the year and to identify where improvements are needed during 2016/17.

The report was split into four parts, and these consisted of the Director’s overview; the Head of Adult Social Care report, the Head of Safeguarding and Assessment report, and a Glossary of Terms.

In preparation of the report, two fundamental questions were considered, namely, are there effective arrangements in place to safeguard children and adults and to promote their welfare and voice as well as their independence and social inclusion, and could performance be sustained and improved.

The report confirmed that services were generally effective in meeting the needs of people who require the support of social care, and identified that the services were improving overall, although areas had been identified where improvement was required.

Paragraph 4.7 of the report, outlined feedback from the CSSIW on performance in the previous year, that included areas where there was good practice, as well as other areas where improvement was required, and the Annual Report for 2015/16 addressed these and confirmed what actions had been taken, or alternatively, were being progressed.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing referred to the remainder of the report, which clarified the priorities for improvement in 2016/17, that reflected the analysis of performance and attempted to address the increasingly challenging context, both financial and demographic, both in Adult Social Care and Safeguarding and Family Support.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing, then proceeded to give a power point Presentation, entitled Director of Social Services Annual Report 2015/16, followed by a short video involving a service user who was receiving one of the many services provided through the Social Services Department.

The Mayor then invited questions from Members on the Report and the accompanying Presentation.

A Member congratulated the Corporate Director, Social Services and Wellbeing on the Annual Report, as it generally made for positive reading. However, he referred to page 36 of the report and sickness absence statistics and calculated that within 2015/16 the Department had incurred through its staff a total of 16,642 days sickness absence within this period. He also calculated, that based on an average salary of £23k, this would have resulted in the Authority losing around £1m and 35k due to such levels of absence. He referred to the report’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 657.

The Corporate Director Communities submitted a report, that advised that the Development Control Committee considered the above application P/15/845/FUL for the construction of 12 dwellings at Lansbury close, Maesteg on 7th July 2016.

The Development Planning Manager confirmed that the development comprised of 4 x 2 bed dwellings, 4 x 2 bed flats and 4 x 1 bed flats.

The above Committee, recommended that the application be referred to Council as a departure application to the Local Development Plan that it was not disposed to refuse.

She proceeded to explain, that the out-of-accord element related to a small strip of land at the site’s southern edge, which is outside the settlement boundary, where countryside policies apply. 

However, the site boundary extended to a logical and defensible limit, and allowing the proposal, would not compromise the integrity of policies to limit development in the countryside.

In addition added the Development Planning Manager, Development Control Committee Members also resolved to increase the contribution to children’s play, based on a realistic assumption that 2 bedroom properties, including the 2 bedroom flats as part of this development, could generate children and as such should contribute to the improvement of local children’s play facilities.

She finalised her submission, by recommending that Council approves the development, subject to certain Conditions and the applicant entering into a S106 agreement.

A Member referred to page 133 of the report and the site plan, and asked the Officer for clarification that the boundary of the application in question, did not straddle across the boundary of a property adjoining the application site.

The Development Planning Manager confirmed that she felt that this was not the case, but that she would further check this point.

RESOLVED:       (1)      That Council was minded not to refuse the Development and that the Corporate Director Communities be given plenary powers to issue a decision notice in respect of this proposal, once the applicant has entered into a S106 Agreement requiring the following:-

i)                   Provide a financial contribution of £3,760 towards children’s play provision

ii)                  Secure two units as affordable housing.

                           (2)       That such consent be subject to the Conditions contained in the report.

The Corporate Director Communities submitted a report, that advised that the Development Control Committee previously considered the retrospective application P/16/309/FUL for a steel portal framed extension to the side of an existing industrial unit at Unit 8 Heol Ty Gwyn Industrial Estate, Maesteg on 7^th July 2016.

The Committee recommended that the application be referred to Council as a proposal that they were not disposed to refuse on the basis of it being a departure from the Local Development Plan.

The Development Planning Manager stated that the proposal represented such a departure, as the structure extended marginally beyond the settlement boundary and the employment allocation. 

In visual and physical terms however, she added that the development occupies land that forms part of the industrial estate.

She concluded her submission, by advising that permitting the development will not compromise the integrity of protecting the surrounding countryside and recommended that Council approve the application.

RESOLVED:                     RESOLVED:                   That Council was minded not to refuse the Development, and that the Corporate Director Communities be given plenary powers to issue a decision notice in respect of this proposal subject to the Conditions contained in his report.

The Monitoring Officer presented a report, the purpose of which, was to inform Council of any information reports submitted for noting since its last ordinary meeting.

This report was detailed in paragraph 4.1 of the report and expanded upon in the information report and its accompanying Appendix.

RESOLVED:              That Council noted the content of the report.

To consider any item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in

accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 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. 

None