Penygroes Community News

Present
John Davies, Colin Whitelaw, L R Reynolds, Yvonne Watkins, Llinos Hindley, Nicola Davies, Julian Tandy (Vice-Chair), Mark Waygood (Secretary), Huw Evans, Menter Cwm Gwendraeth

Apologies
Mair Griffiths, Yvonne Kelly, Alun Lewis

Minutes of last meeting
It was agreed that the minutes were a true record of the last meeting.

Matters Arising from the Minutes

* Nothing to report on the newsletter yet, may have to put on hold until after the AGM.
* Mark Durdin wasn’t at the meeting so there was nothing to report on the proposed walking club.
* We may be able to have another games evening in a months time.
* Local concrete bus shelters are being pulled down because the condition of the concrete is poor.  They are to be replaced with the new Anti-Vandal type.  There may be grants available to have village signs/notice boards placed next to bus shelters.
* Cllr. Thomas apologised for not being at the last meeting.
* The first aid training session to be conducted by Craig Pennel is free to attend as it only involves life saving and isn’t a complete first aid training course.

Pavilion Update

* Looks like an October opening now, perhaps a grand (official) opening could be arranged, possibly in the half term.
* £300 has been allocated from Sports Aid and the Forum has money available for the Youth Project.
* The size of the rooms has caused concern and the switches for the outside lights are in the room allocated for the youth project.  These switches may have to be moved.
* Would like to get the RFC involved with the opening and try to have a radio announcement to try and make it a large event.
* The forum would like the Youth project and representatives from Penygroes RFC to attend the next meeting if possible.
* Could Yvonne Kelly speak with the Chairman of Penygroes RFC Elwyn Roderick about a joint opening of the pavilion?

Emlyn Site Update

* Although water is draining away from the site now it seems to be flooding gardens in the opposite direction.
* The Highways Agency has been out to the site now (thanks to Llinos Hindley), they have seen the problem first hand and from the photos taken when the flooding occurs.
* Siân Thomas said she is getting 2/3 complaints by email per week and has over 1,000 emails on her disk regarding the problem.
* It seems that Protex tapped into the drainage system without authority.  The council had to be called out on Sunday 10th September to free a blocked outlet in the field on the other side of Waterloo Road which was causing bad smells inside a number of houses opposite the Library.

Could Peter Roberts supply the deeds for the Notice Board outside the hall that Yvonne Watkins has applied for?

Gardening Club

* No quotes received for the community garden outside the Library, despite a number of companies being contacted.
* If the quote is under £5,000 then we could probably receive 100% funding.
* Two quotes are required, one for the building work and the other for the plants etc.
* The Garden Show was a success with more money being raised this year.

Forthcoming Events

* Newsletter – could we include information or calendar of forthcoming events?
* Suggestion made that we could have an information card printed (to be kept) and distributed locally with dates of forum meetings for the coming year with details of committee and local groups with contact details plus any other useful information.
* Could we place leaflets into the local schools and get letters from them informing parents of the Pavilion Youth project opening and of the Games Evening.
* It would be a good idea to try and hold a meeting with committee members of all local groups, associations and clubs so we can work together on projects for the benefit of the community.
* Perhaps a social event with everyone attending would be a good place to start.
* Can we put a notice in the Guardian?  The problem is there isn’t a correspondent for Penygroes and because they only pay 50pence per item of news, no-one is interested.
* Llandybie has the largest non-town community council in Carmarthenshire, with 8 villages and a population of almost 9,000, but Penygroes does not seem to get the support it needs.  Perhaps this will change when Yvonne Watkins takes over as Chairperson of Llandybie Community Council.

Games Evening

* A date needs to be set.
* Arrange more games for the smaller children.
* Would it be possible to have a games evening arrange just for adults?

A.O.B.

* The apostolic Church has reapplied for planning permission and still wants a piece of the park land for access.  Although they were refused planning permission by the C.C. and Welsh Assembly, they appealed at the Assembly and adjusted their plans to incorporate social housing.
* This revised planning application is imminent.  It seems they can just keep adjusting their plans and resubmit them irrespective of how many times they are refused planning.
* Over £100,000 from grants has already been spent on the park, play areas and pavilion.
* Peter Roberts to be informed of events and to get the deeds for this land then liaise with Siân Thomas.
* Llinos Hindley said she would pursue the ‘press article’ avenue.
* On another matter relating to local development, Pendragon have applied for to build another 35 homes at their site at the Capel Hendre end of the village.  This situation needs to be addressed because the original 15 homes built there avoided the Section 106 ‘clawback’.
* We are still having speeding problems along Waterloo Road.  Siân Thomas has had the mobile speed camera unit out but they haven’t had any success so far as they set up at the wrong times.
* Dog fouling is becoming a problem again along Waterloo Road.  Can we get the council to put up more signs?
* The signs supplied by the council earlier this year have been removed.


Meeting Closed

Next meeting is the AGM on Tuesday 10th October at Caerbryn Hall.