Several members of the public were among those present at the March meeting of St. Florence Community Council held at the Village Hall last week.

Chair Clr. Griffiths informed them that on advice from Mr. L. Harding, monitoring officer at Pembrokeshire County Council, public participation was limited to 15 minutes and was a chance for members of the public to bring items to the council's attention.

Mr. Hughes asked what was being done regarding lorries continually hitting the side of his property.

Clr. Evans informed Mr. Hughes that the problem had been passed to the county council some months ago and they were aware of the situation and were hoping to remove a corner of the Flemish chimney to alleviate the problem, but as the monument was part of Cadw, this would take some time.

The item would be put on the agenda for the next meeting to discuss in full.

Mr. Hallett addressed the council informing them he currently cuts the verges in the village from the shop downwards, but he was no longer able to do this.

The clerk would agenda the item for the next meeting.

Joan Bevans and Brian Neale from Pembrokeshire Autograss Club introduced themselves and stated that they wished to clear up a few matters which had become apparent following the meeting last August to discuss the autograss planning application number 12/0271/PA.

They informed the council that the application had been deferred due to a noise check, but they could not do a check unless a meeting was held, which they could do under the 28-day rule.

They wished to give some feedback to the objections given to the application.

Clr. Griffiths stated that the comments were the results of a public meeting, not just the council. Mr. Neale and Mrs. Bevans accepted that.

They informed the council that there would only be six meetings a year, not eight as was stated in the objections, and they had the schedule of race meetings to prove this.

The objection that SatNavs would take cars and trailers down very narrow country lanes would be alleviated by the fact that all correspondence to racers would clearly state to follow the main roads.

Noise pollution would be kept to a minimum as they intended to put straw bales along the edges of the field.

The cars were fully checked at every meeting and all exhausts must face downwards; the cars were 102 decibels, and there would be a maximum of eight cars per race.

They stated it was a small club for local people and there would not be 250 cars in attendance, as the objections had shown.

Queuing onto the main road would not be any more of an issue than it was at any other time, due to the fact the cars would be entering straight into the middle of field and not waiting by the gates.

They wished to make the council aware that the National Autograss Sports Association Ltd. had sent in a letter of support to accompany the planning and that the group itself raises and donates a large amount of money for local and national charities and individuals.

Their junior drivers start at age 12 and one member had won the National Championships and received a letter of congratulations from Simon Hart MP.

The council informed the autograss club members that it may have been of benefit if these facts had accompanied the planning application or had been made known at the time of the public meeting.

They said they had been unable to attend that meeting and coming to this council meeting was the only way of reaching the community.

They thanked the council for its time.

This matter had been discussed at length within public participation and, as there were such a number of issues to be discussed, Clr. Eardley proposed that an open meeting be held on the matter. This was seconded by Clr. Phillips and all councillors in the room were in favour.

The clerk would post notices in the village noticeboards showing the date and time of the meeting.

Matters Arising

Update on Young People/Children's Project: As Clr. Treherne was carrying out some research into this, it was decided to carry over this item to the next agenda.

County Clr. Phillip Kidney informed the council that Manorbier and Jameston were also looking into such a project and maybe it was something they could all work together on.

Update on film licence at Village Hall: Clr. Buckmaster informed the council he had been in contact with the Village Association and that the licence had been renewed by them and was valid until January 2014.

Nomination for governing body of St. Florence Church in Wales School: Clr. Evans's term on the governing body had come to an end and the Governors Support Service had written to ask for a nomination for the next term of office.

Clr. Griffiths proposed that Clr. Evans continue in the role of additional community governor as she was the only councillor that spoke fluent Welsh.

Clr. Adams seconded this, Clr. Buckmaster abstained from voting, while Clr. Phillips earlier declared an interest so did not vote; all other councillors voted in favour.

The clerk would write to the Governors Support Service with the nomination.

Maintenance of the village playing field: It was brought to the council's attention at the last meeting that St. Florence Cricket Club would not be entering the Pembrokeshire League this season, so a decision must be made by the council on what standard the playing field was to be maintained to.

Clr. Buckmaster proposed that the pitch be maintained to a playing field standard. Clr. Eardley proposed that it be maintained to the standard it had been kept in until now, explaining it was a resource for the youth of the village and that the local school used the field for sports day.

It would be sensible to keep it to a standard in which it was playable at short notice for any community group.

Clr. Adams seconded Clr. Eardley's proposal and three other councillors were in favour.

Clr. Buckmaster abstained from voting. The clerk was asked to put out to tender in the local paper and village noticeboards for the same specification as when last tendered.

Finances

The clerk informed the council that she had received confirmation from Pembrokeshire County Council that the St. Florence precept had been set at £14,322.

She reiterated this was frozen from last year.

Planning

The clerk informed councillors that the application for erection of a dwelling on land north-west of Trintex, St. Florence, had been granted.

An application for the erection of three Geodesic domes at Manor House Wildlife and Leisure Park was also granted.

County Councillor Kidney's Report

The result of the speed line checks had been received and that the speed was in compliance with the limit set.

Unfortunately, the council believed that the lines had been set up in the wrong location.

The trees overhanging on Eastern Lane had now been cut back - issue resolved.

The loose stones in the ford were now repaired - issue resolved.

There would be a meeting at New Hedges Village Hall on March 26, at 2 pm to discuss the Minor Injury Units.

Clr. Kidney informed the council that the traffic department would be in the village the following week. It was suggested that they could look at Mr. Hughes's property, as discussed earlier.

Devonshire Drive would be jetted in the next few days as there had been a lot of flooding there recently.

The council asked Clr. Kidney to look into cutting the shrubbery in the village.

Correspondence.

A letter from Mrs. Hancock, on behalf of the WI, was received. This stated that the standard inside the village hall was not being kept up - there being no toilet rolls, rubbish in the kitchen, dirty tea towels and items not being put away after use.

Good news was the driveway was much cleaner, and that was appreciated.

The council would ask the booking clerk to remind all hirers of the hall that it must be left in an acceptable manner and the comment would be passed on to the caretaker.

The next community council meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 2, at St. Florence Village Hall.

Foonote: The public meeting to discuss the autograss application will be held on Wednesday, March 20, at 6 pm, at St. Florence Village Hall.