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

Mr. F. Mountney commented on his email re. public toilets, a copy of which was tabled to councillors present.

Clr. Eardley answered that all of his points would be taken into consideration and that no decision had been agreed with regards to the facility moving to the Village Hall and that this would only go ahead if viable.

The clerk would forward Mr. Mountney the cost breakdown of St. Florence public toilet provision that had been received from Pembrokeshire County Council.

Mr. R. Hughes commented on the recent Wales Audit Office report and the position of St. Florence Community Council and if the village would be made aware of the findings. Clr. Buckmaster answered that in his opinion it should be investigated further. Clr. Eardley added that the council could only move forward and conform to agreed recommendations.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

Councillor vacancies: No responses had been received. The two seats would remain open until potential candidates were sought.

Caretaker vacancy:

No applications had been received. Clr. Buckmaster, who has kindly been carrying out this position on a voluntary basis, commented that some weeks, especially during the summer, could involve more hours than advertised and that the person who took on the role should also be physically fit due to the amount of lifting involved. It was therefore agreed that the post be increased to five hours per week at a rate of £7.50 per hour and that an advert be placed in the Tenby Observer covering both councillor and caretaker vacancies.

Communication strategy: Following a discussion, it was agreed that - all financial records would be available to the community upon request; a summarised bank reconciliation would be placed on the village notice board together with the previous month's minutes; a list of current councillors and their contact information would also be displayed on the notice boards.

It was also suggested that perhaps the Village Hall be used as a Community Hub one morning per week offering broadband/internet cafe to the village. The clerk added that she would be willing to do this and that a Wednesday morning would be her preferred choice. This was to be discussed further once broadband connection had been established.

Grass and maintenance tender: Clr. Phillips would be happy to photograph and map each area of the village that was to be covered in this tender (for clarification purposes). This would be circulated for agreement before the next meeting.

It was reported that the footpath between The Parsonage and Parsons Green was very uneven. The clerk would contact County Clr. Kidney with regard to this.

Village Hall works: Clr. Buckmaster and the clerk would work on a tender covering all outstanding works ready for next meeting.

It was agreed that the ceiling damage in the boardroom be looked at immediately by a roofing contractor and Clr. Buckmaster will arrange same.

Clr. Phillips had liaised with the booking clerk with regards to a suitable cooker for the kitchen. A budget of £1,000 had been agreed for same. Clr. Phillips wouldl forward all cooker information to the clerk who would contact the central purchasing officer at Pembrokeshire County Council to see if they could order through them.

Cleaning of village memorial: Following an inspection of the memorial, it was unclear as to whether this would need re-pointing. The clerk would contact a local stone mason and ask for their opinion. The British Legion would also be contacted to see if they could offer any assistance.

Sale and replacement of chairs: A local company had expressed an interest in purchasing 10 non-stackable chairs that were currently located in the Village Hall. They would be happy to pay £100 for same. It was decided to find out how much it would cost to replace these chairs with a stackable comparison before any decision was made.

BT broadband: It was agreed that broadband be installed at the Village Hall with BT with 10gb download. No handset would be made available for general use. The clerk would contact BT and arrange installation.

Toilet provision: Clr. Eardley had met with the surveyor. He had looked at the proposed area at the Village Hall. He would report back after his recommendations had gone to full council. Clr. Eardley reiterated that all information and concerns would be taken into consideration before a decision was made by the community council.

It was asked if the annual insurance premium would be affected if the proposed toilets went ahead. The clerk would investigate.

Website: It had been agreed with the Village Association that the domain name be transferred to the community council and that they would take over the running and updating of the website. The timescale for completion was not known at present. Clr. Eardley would follow this up.

Finance

A bank reconciliation was to be completed each month by the clerk and displayed on the notice boards after approval at each monthly meeting. This was a routine procedure outlined in the Practitioners Guide. As not all councillors were familiar with this guide, the clerk would disseminate by email/hard copy.

The Clerk was still corresponding with the BDO in relation to the 2012 return and the outstanding queries.

Planning

Erection of dwelling, demolish existing garage and erection of annex, land west of Ivy Tower Farm, St. Florence. Due to lack of detailed information, this would be discussed at a later meeting.

The clerk was asked to contact the county council planning team and investigate further the removal of a hedge between Longstone and the new housing development.

Correspondence

St Florence Luncheon Club: A letter had been received informing the council that they would no longer be holding the luncheon club within the Village Hall. They thanked for its use over the years and kindly donated their crockery to be used at Village Hall functions.

Pembrokeshire County Council - feedback for Ironman event: The overall agreement was that this year's event ran a lot better than previous years, with little disruption with regard to road closures. It had now become a welcomed event which was well managed and raised the profile of the area.

Before the meeting closed, the clerk was asked to contact the insurers and ask whether the annual Duck Race was covered (this event does not take place within Village Hall grounds).

She was also reminded to add 'Available in Welsh upon request' on all relevant correspondence.