Wrthi'n llwytho
Y penderfyniadau fel y mae cofnodion y cyngor yn eu cofnodi. Bydd crynodeb mewn iaith glir yn dilyn pan fydd wedi'i ysgrifennu.
RESOLVED: To defer the presentation from the Welsh Local Government Association to the next Council meeting to be held on the 15th January 2025.
The Presiding Member welcomed Members and Officers to the Hybrid Extra Ordinary Council meeting held in Llys Cadwyn, Pontypridd at 4pm.
In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, there were no declarations made pertaining to the agenda.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: To defer the presentation from the Welsh Local Government Association to the next Council meeting to be held on the 15th January 2025.
The Service Director Democratic Services & Communication advised that this item was to receive the Chief Executive of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) to address Council however he sought Members’ agreement to defer the item to a future meeting of the Council to consider the major impact of Storm Bert and the recovery operation. RESOLVED: To defer the presentation from the Welsh Local Government Association to the next Council meeting to be held on the 15th January 2025.
The Presiding Member was of the opinion that this item is to be considered in accordance with the provision of section 100(b)4(B) of the Local Government Act 1972, as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstance i.e. to discuss the Major incident of Storm Bert and the recovery operations in place (and for the reasons described by the Service Director Democratic Services & Communication. The Chief Executive presented an update in respect of Storm Bert which had impacted various locations across RCT and brought with it higher rainfall levels than those during Storm Dennis in some areas. He confirmed that Treherbert had experienced the highest levels of rainfall recorded at 170 mm of rain during the course of the storm. The Chief Executive advised that flooding has affected residents and business at many locations and has also impacted the Council’s infrastructure, buildings and assets of the Council and the work to assess the damage is still ongoing as officers and staff contact residents and businesses to assess the impact of the storm on their premises and as the council also assess the damage to its own estate and infrastructure. The Chief Executive advised that it is estimated that potentially up to 200 homes and businesses have experienced internal flooding due to the storm, he added that immediate repairs to highways and footpaths have been undertaken to ensure their safety. The Abercynon pipe feeder footbridge has been lost during the storm and the following council infrastructure have experienced internal and external flooding: Ø Park & Dare Theatre Ø Ton Pentre Primary School Ø Maerdy Primary School Ø Aberdare Public Park Ø Abercynon Leisure Centre Ø Ynysangharad War Memorial Park Ø Lido Ponty Ø Ty Glantaf Ø Wilifred House (the Chief Executive paid thanks to the South Wales Fire & Rescue Services for their support in evacuating children and staff from the premises) The Chief Executive advised that following an initial assessment of the impact of Storm Bert is that the damage is not on the same scale as that experienced in 2020, the due to the extensive work and investment in the Council’s drainage structure since Storm Dennis the culverts and flood mitigation works over the past 4 years or more having had a positive and protective impact, with many properties which would otherwise have been at risk from this level of extreme rainfall being protected on this occasion. Overall the Council’s assets stood up to the storm with much of the damage caused associated with river flooding as levels rose rapidly on Sunday morning and rivers overflowed their banks in several locations leading to the declaration of a major incident early on Sunday morning. The Chief Executive assured Members that the Council had prepared for the event as yellow alerts were in force by the Met Office in the days ahead of the storm and given the uncertainties around high levels of rainfall the council took the prudent decision to stand additional resources in the contact centre and depots in anticipation of an amber alert. The Chief Executive commented that although this was not escalated to an amber alert by the Met Office, the impact of the storm in RCT clearly presented a risk to life and property. The Chief Executive paid thanks and praised the efforts of the depot staff who worked tirelessly to respond to incidents in extremely challenging and potentially dangerous conditions at times. He commented on the recovery work which commenced immediately, clearing debris, providing skips for residents and businesses and undertaking works to make safe and repair damage to footpaths and highways. Flood incident investigations are underway and assessments to the council’s estate and infrastructure are being completed. The Chief Executive advised on the many offers of support from volunteers and businesses and council staff are helping to coordinate these to ensure they are directed to the most needed. Financial support has also been announced for residents and businesses and arrangements are being put in place for that In conclusion, the Chief Executive anticipated that there would be a clearer picture of the full extent of the storm damage over the coming days but the major impact on residents and businesses who have experienced flooding is clear and the Council will support them in anyway possible to recover. He also advised that the council will capture any lessons learned from the event to inform future planning and its response to future extreme weather events and it is also engaging with partner organisations such as NRW and WG and will continue to do so over the coming weeks to explore how they can strengthen the resilience of its communities to extreme weather events. He once again paid thanks to the Council staff for their efforts over the weekend. The Leader confirmed that 170 properties have experienced internal flooding and over half of those properties have experienced river flooding and between 40-45% of those properties have experienced river flooding. He commented that during Storm Dennis 1498 properties were flooded. The Leader identified the key locations to experience river flooding which included Pontypridd, particularly Berw Road and Sion Street, some flooding in Mill Street, at Britannia from the River Rhondda, in Aberaman and Aberdare from the River Cynon and there was some isolated flooding in Upper Boat and in Nantgarw. Through the aid of a number of PowerPoint slides the Leader provided key information relating to the river and rainfall levels as set out below: Ø Tynewydd- River Level Ø Aberdare – River Level Ø Gelli – River Level Ø Monitoring Station & total rainfall (Day 1 & 2) Ø Peak intensity/Rainfall Classification Ø Weather related calls received (754) Ø Weather related calls answered (522) Ø Other key information The Leader advised that the Council had launched its support schemes and assessing successful applications for the Community Flood Recovery Grants. He added that the level of financial assistance is £1,000 per residential property (household) and £1,000 per business property (SME) with £0.500M has been made available from the Council’s General Reserves to support the immediate recovery requirement following Storm Bert including the Community Flood Recovery Grant. The Leader advised that he had met with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister and spoken with UK Government Ministers following the flooding event. He added that Welsh Government are keen to work with RCT Council to support its residents as they were amongst the hardest hit. The Leader also commented that he had met with Natural Resources Wales to have a frank and honest discussion in view of their systems not working for RCT and its residents (but had worked as it had been designed to do). He added that further meetings would be arranged to review the current systems in place which are not fit for purpose. There followed an opportunity for all Group Leaders to address Council and they did so to thank the Council staff and volunteers who had responded quickly under difficult conditions. Many referred to the anger felt by residents who had previously suffered during Storm Dennis and the need to listen and learn from the recent flooding events. They feared that the impact would be felt by those lower income families. The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor K Morgan commented on the disappearing natural flood management such as peat bogs and hedgerows and that further funding needed to be allocated to coal tips as a matter of urgency with more inspections. The Leader advised that RCT has a robust regime in place for coal tip inspections which has been praised by WG. Other Group Leaders spoke of the impact of the flooding in their wards and the importance of early communication with Members and that allocating a dedicated Officer to wards would be useful as a point of contact for local members. Other Members whose wards were severely impacted by the floods also had the opportunity to address Council and raised concerns with NRW not working collaboratively with the Council and wanting to discuss issues such as tree felling and land management with them. Another Member referred to the difficulties of having to navigate private culverts in their wards. Other Members praised the Council for its flood alleviation works which had prevented flooding in many areas this time such as Pentre. The Leader clarified that the money raised from the Go Fund Me Page had been paid directly to those residents most in need by the Local Authority in the form of cheques. He reassured Members that he was meeting in person with the most senior Officers from the Met Office and that future meetings would be forthcoming with NRW regarding their own gages and incorrect modelling but the priority for Council staff at the moment was to support residents with the grant scheme. The Leader concluded that it was crucial that information gathering continued with photographic evidence provided to the Council’s Flood Risk Management Team. The Presiding Member thanked everyone for their contributions and reminded Members that the next Council meeting would commence following a short comfort break. The Presiding Member concluded the meeting and reminded Members that the next meeting will commence after a short recess to deal with the remaining Council business.
Rhaid i gynghorwyr ddweud pan fydd ganddyn nhw gysylltiad personol â rhywbeth sy'n cael ei drafod, fel swydd, eiddo neu aelod o'r teulu. Mae buddiant sy'n rhagfarnu yn ddigon cryf i'r cynghorydd adael yr ystafell fel arfer a pheidio â chymryd rhan.
Caiff datganiadau eu darllen o'r cofnodion unwaith y byddan nhw wedi'u cyhoeddi.
Yn rhestru cynghorwyr presennol y cyngor yn unig. Nid yw aelodau cyfetholedig, swyddogion a chyn-gynghorwyr yn cael eu dangos.