Among matters considered and discussed at the September meetng of St. Florence Community Council were the following:

Council Vacancies: Following the resignation of Clrs. Griffiths and Adams, the community council were to publish a notice of two vacancies within the village. If at least 10 people do not request an election, the council would choose its own replacements. As Clr.. Griffiths also acted as vice-chairperson, this position was currently vacant.

Bank mandates: A new bank mandate for cheque signatories was required following changes in councillors It was resolved that the following would be signatories on the account – Clr. Eardley; Clr. Hughes and Clr. Treherne.

Matters Arising

Adoption of complaints and complements procedure: As the original template had been adapted from a council who had their own monitoring officer, it was agreed to amend and delete the paragraph appertaining to this point and then adopt same.

Adoption of financial regulations: The regulations were found to be thorough and sensible. The following addition was to be added - three quotes should be sought for any amount of works exceeding £300. If there is a 15 per cent variation, higher or lower, then additional quotes would be obtained.

Contracts of employment: Following confirmation from Lewis & Lewis Solicitors that the community council were in fact the owners of the Village Hall, Clr. Buckmaster handed in his resignation as caretaker. However, he kindly offered to continue fulfilling this role on an unpaid basis until a replacement could be found. A vacancy for same at a rate of £30 per week for four hours work would be displayed on the two village notice boards. If no applications were received it would then be advertised in the Tenby Observer. .

The clerk would contact HMRC for further advice with regards to managing PAYE for employees salaries.

Tender for grass and verge maintenance: Clr. Treherne has been provided with a professional assessment on tendering of same which would be reviewed at the next meeting. Clr. Buckmaster had agreed to photograph all areas in the village that required attention. Chris Viggers from Simply Gardens would continue with the monthly verge and hedge maintenance programme until a conclusion had been reached.

Clr. Evans mentioned, that in her opinion, there may one of two dangerous trees in the village requiring attention. The clerk was to contact Andrew Davies, PCC tree surveyor, to arrange a risk assessment of trees to be carried out.

Village Hall works - repairs and repainting: After several minutes discussion, it was decided that the Village Hall works programme be put out to tender and different work packages identified with regards to the external/internal painting. Clr. Buckmaster would liaise with the clerk with regards to this tender.

Following a decrease in village hall bookings, thought partly to blame from the lack of adequate cooking facilities, Clr. Phillips gave information with regards to a replacement large domestic cooker with six burners. The price range of same was estimated between £800 and £900. It was also suggested that perhaps a new washhand sink also be purchased at an approximate cost of £50 and that this and also the cooker be moved to a different part of the kitchen, making it more 'user friendly'. Costs would obviously be incurred to carry out the installation work. Clr. Phillips would continue looking at different makes and discuss further with the booking clerk and report back at the next meeting.

Clr. Evans has received two quotations for the loft insulation. However, these both exceeded the £300 limit above which full tenders were sought and did not include costs of the insulation of the boarded walkway running the length of the loft space. Letters of thanks would be sent to the two companies involved, stating that that the work would be re-tendered to also include the walkway.

Office equipment:

A three-in-one printer/copier/scanner to the value of £100 was to be purchased for council use. A mobile phone which would enable all council work to be carried out via one central phone number would also be purchased for use by the current clerk.

Public toilet provision - update: Following an email from Jon Mills, the corporate improvement officer, stating that St, Florence woould be considered to take on the running of the public toilets, Clr. Eardley had responded agreeing in principle that this would be dependent upon financial assistance from the county council to move the facilities to the Village Hall. The position would be clarified following a report from PCC's surveyor - a meeting with whom was still be to arranged.

Village Association website/newsletter: Amanda Davies had informed the council that, although it was hoped to continue with the running of the Village Association, the website would no longer be required and asked if the council would like to take over its running. The cost involved would be approximately £15 per year for the continuation of the domain name. A content management system would also need to be researched. Clr. Buckmaster proposed that this be taken overr and all were in favour.

Parking issues: Several complaints have been received with regards to parking in the village, particularly around the Greenhill Hotel area. County Clr. Kidney would mention this to the local Police Community Officer for further investigation.

Finance: A thank you letter was to be forwarded to Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, of the Sun Inn, who had kindly donated £160 raised from the 2012 carol singing towards the cost of a new cooker.

County Councillor's Report

Clr. Kidney informed councillors that:

Mr. Edwards had been given the go-ahead to fell the tree on the grass area at the bottom of the village.

The overhanging trees adjacent to Fiddlers Lane would be cut back within the next seven days.

Boundary changes covering the next county council elections to be run in three years time had been brought into force. St. Florence would in the future be linked with the Penally ward. No changes would be made to any community council boundaries.

The planning application for the wind turbine at Jordanston Farm had been refused.

Fiddlers Lane had no special conditions. It was a standard bridleway for horses and pedestrians only. Motor vehicle access was restricted to residents only.