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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED That it be recommended to Cabinet that the Local Strategy be endorsed; and that an update is provided to this Committee at the end of the year.
RESOLVED That the Notice of Motion is considered alongside the full update report on the County Farm Estate scheduled for the next Meeting. That a Working Group is established for the County Farm Estate comprising of Councillors Joshua Beynon, Pat Davies, Michael James, Jordan Ryan and Aled Thomas.
The following declarations of interest were received as follows: Item 5 – Public Rights of Way Maintenance Councillor Di Clements declared a personal interest by virtue of a public footpath that runs through her farm. Councillor Aled Thomas declared a personal interest by virtue of a public footpath that runs through his land. Item 6 – Local Toilet Strategy Councillor Di Clements declared a personal interest by virtue that she was a Member on the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and sit on Visit Pembrokeshire Board. Councillor Jordan Ryan declared a personal interest by virtue of being a Member of Fishguard Town Council, which have a company that pay Pembrokeshire County Council for toilet services. Councillor Michael James declared a personal interest by virtue that he was a Member on the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority.
Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Di Clements The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 24 January 2023 be approved as a correct record.
None were received.
The Committee considered a report by the Highway Infrastructure Manager on Public Rights of Way Maintenance. following a request by the Committee at their Meeting on the 14th October 2022. The Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services introduced the report highlighting that the Committee had considered the Rights of Way Improvement Plan in October 2022 and were requested to come back with further detail focusing more on the maintenance element. The Highways Infrastructure Manager presented the report outlining all the key issues within the report, which included resources and budgets; pressures and usage; and resilience and use of recycled materials. The Committee debated the contents of the report and the key points were highlighted as follows: · Councillor Di Clements highlighted that the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority (PCNPA) contributed approximately £800k per year to the Public Rights of Way Maintenance. She also commented that she believed the Committee would have been provided with more information on usage and queried if the Committee would get that information; and how that usage was measured. It was noted that there had been a 30% increase in usage generally since Covid and reference was made to the previous report, which had provided usage figures and reflected an increase over the summer period. · The delivery plans for the Right of Ways Improvement Plan were queried by Councillor Di Clements, with the Director of Community Services stating that he understood that the delivery plans in line with the six objectives had been prepared: however, he would check that with the Definitive Map Officer and update the committee outside the Meeting. · Councillor Di Clements commented that the usage data was provided by PCNPA at the October Meeting and suggested that it would be useful to have usage data from those public footpaths where the Authority needed to decide whether to continue to maintain them or not. It appears that the Authority were currently being reactive rather than having a distinct plan of action. · The Chair commented that it would be useful for the Improvement Plan to come back to this Committee to include information that Coucillor Di Clements had referred to following an update on the delivery plans from the Director of Community Services to the Committee. It was noted that the Chair would liaise with the Democratic and Scrutiny Services Officer to add to the forward work programme. · Councillor Michael James concurred that clarification was needed on delivery plans. He also referred to a local footpath group in his ward that works very closely with the team and thanked officers for their work. · Councillor Di Clements asked if there had been any discussions with Landowners on how they might be able to help maintain some of the public rights of way and referred to the new future farm subsidies. The Highways Infrastructure Manager advised that Landowners were usually represented within the Local Access Forum. It was also noted that as part of the new scheme · There would be closer working with rights of way managers to enable the countryside to be more accessible. · The Director of Community Services referred to the new approach of land subsidies around public goods, which was a different dynamic that potentially represented a new opportunity for further engagement through the Local Access Forum to get more farmers involved. · In reference to the Local Access Forum, Councillor Di Clements suggested looking at widening that engagement to involve the National Farmers Union and Natural Resource Wales. She highlighted that people need to be helped to understand what they can do on their own land to promote and maintain the public footpaths. Councillor Di Clements acknowledged that there might not be the capacity for Officers to do this work and suggested that it could be something that Councillors could help with. The Highways Infrastructure Manager highlighted that the National Farmers Union was represented on the Local Access Forum. · The Chair concluded by reiterating that this matter would be added to the Forward Work Programme, incorporating the suggestions that had been highlighted by Members. The Committee noted the report.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That it be recommended to Cabinet that the Local Strategy be endorsed; and that an update is provided to this Committee at the end of the year.
The Committee considered a report by the Director ff Community Services on the Draft Local Toilet Strategy 2023 before being considered by Cabinet in April 2023. The Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services introduced the report highlighting that local authorities were required to produce a local toilet strategy although it was not a statutory service. It was noted that the purpose of the strategy was to preserve as much of the toilet network as possible within these challenging financial times The Strategic Business Manager presented the report outlining all the key issues within the report, which included the outcome and feedback of the public consultation. The Committee considered the report and the key points were highlighted as follows: · In the response to the Chair the Committee were provided with further information in relation to Town and Community Council involvement in the Strategy. It was noted that all Town and Community Councils had been written to twice since November 2022 and expressions of interest had been requested by September 2023. · The Strategic Business Manager, in response to a query relating to disabled changing room, highlighted there was currently no funding for this from Welsh Government; however, they would continue utilise and seek out all grants where available. It was noted that in England there was a grant provided for the roll out of this provision. · Councillor Michael James commented that it was good that Town and Community Councils had been given more time to respond, which would provide them with more opportunity to look at the affordability. · Councillor Di Clements stated that she was disappointed to be going down this route and felt that the strategy disproportionately affected rural areas. She also highlighted her concerns that the strategy did not take into consideration the dependency that visitors and local residents had on the facilities. · Reference was made to the Community Asset Transfer process by Councillor Di Clements. In response the Strategic Business Manager advised that there was currently two in the process that were close to completion and one just in conversation at the moment. It was noted this was prior to the current process and it was expected that there would be a greater number this year, as already had a number of enquiries. It was noted that there had not yet been any situations where the Community Asset Transfer had been returned and quite often communities were able to find alternative ways of running them. · The Strategic Business Manager clarified that maintenance costs for any toilets on trunk agency roads were incurred by the trunk agency; however, it was the Authority who ran the contract. · Councillor Michael Williams highlighted his concerns in relation to Community Asset Transfers and the financial burden it put on smaller Community Councils and that it could be in danger of contravening the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. Councillor Michael James concurred with Councillor Michael Williams comments on the Act. · Councillor Michael Williams also queried whether the amount of toilets was calculated per population and it seasonal changes were considered in the figures. The Strategic Business Manager clarified that the figures were based on area and not population. It was also noted that Pembrokeshire was the second largest provider and that Tenby had a high number of toilets compared to other areas in Pembrokeshire. · The Chair highlighted his concerns over taking services away from rural areas and commented that charging more for toilets could be considered. · Councillor Michael Williams highlighted what he felt some of the issues were with the toilets in the centre of Tenby, which were that they were very difficult to clean and maintain; and had suffered from long term underfunding. · Councillor Bethan Price outlined her concerns over the toilets in St Davids, stating the issues with having coach loads of tourists arriving and inadequate toilet provision. · The Strategic Business Manager advised that the purpose of the Strategy was not to look at the closure of toilets but trying to maintain provision through other means and working with other people to maintain that provision. It was noted that an update would be going back to Cabinet later in the year. · The Chair suggested that this Committee should consider an update at the November 2023 Meeting before going to Cabinet. · Councillor Di Clements reiterated concerns over small community councils that might struggle with taking over a toilet in their area and did not think the Strategy had considered that element. · The Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services referred to the report that went to February Cabinet that had further detail about small community councils with more than one toilet. He suggested that a couple of sentences could be added to highlight that as a consideration and that those councils could be looked at as an exceptional case. The Strategic Business Manager referred to an action within the strategy that referred to engaging with local organisations and businesses to encourage them to open up the toilets for public use and, in addition to that for the local authority to make sure their public buildings, where available, was also available for public use. Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Jordan Ryan The Committee then proceeded to the vote, undertaken by way of a roll-call, which was carried. The votes were recorded as follows: For the Motion: Councillors Joshua Beynon, Michael James, Jordan Ryan, Michelle Wiggins and Michael Williams [5] Against the Motion: Councillors Di Clements, Bethan Price and Steve Yelland [3] Abstentions: Councillor Aled Thomas [1] RESOLVED That it be recommended to Cabinet that the Local Strategy be endorsed; and that an update is provided to this Committee at the end of the year.
The Chairman presented the report of the Finance Panel, which provided an update on the work of the Finance Panel. It was noted that Councillor Elwyn Morse was no longer a Member of the Committee and the Chair asked for any expressions of interest. No expressions of interest were presented at the Meeting. Councillor Aled Thomas suggested that an item on the Cost of Welsh Translation and how that could be reduced could be considered at the Finance Panel, with any options coming back to the Committee. The Chair noted this request and highlighted that it would be raised with the Director of Resources. The Committee noted the report.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Notice of Motion is considered alongside the full update report on the County Farm Estate scheduled for the next Meeting. That a Working Group is established for the County Farm Estate comprising of Councillors Joshua Beynon, Pat Davies, Michael James, Jordan Ryan and Aled Thomas.
The Chair introduced the Notice of Motion relating to Reinstatement of the County Farms Working Group submitted by Councillor Aled Thomas with it noted that a full update of the County Farm Estate was scheduled for the next Committee Meeting in June 2023 Councillor Aled Thomas addressed the Committee in support of his Notice of Motion highlighting that the County Farms Estate was the biggest asset of the Council and concerned that an update at the next Meeting would not do it justice and should be an ongoing piece of work. He suggested that a working group convene before the June Meeting to work alongside Property Services to start discussions and feed into the update report in June. The Chair commented that he had met with the National Farmers Union in his role as Chair and supported a working group to look at the matter prior to the June Committee. A number of Members voiced support that a working group should meet before the June Meeting. The Director of Community Services highlighted the work of the last review into the County Farms Estate and advised that the size of the asset and with the changing nature of agriculture, then it would be appropriate to review again. It was noted that financially the County Farms Estate had improved; however there were issues with the maintenance of buildings. Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Michael Williams The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Notice of Motion is considered alongside the full update report on the County Farm Estate scheduled for the next Meeting. That a Working Group is established for the County Farm Estate comprising of Councillors Joshua Beynon, Pat Davies, Michael James, Jordan Ryan and Aled Thomas.
The Committee considered the Forward Work Programme for 2022-23 with it noted that the following would be added to the Forward Work Programme: · Local Toilet Strategy 2023 · Rights of Way Improvement Plan with more information around delivery plans · County Farms Estate Working Group to meet before June 2023 Meeting.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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