The annual general meeting of St. Mary Out Liberty Community Council was held last week, when Clr. Ron Johns was re-appointed as chairman, with Clr. R. Herrick as vice-chairman.

In his report on the year, Clr. Johns thanked every member of the council for the support they had given him.

He said that there had been frustrations, mainly due to the timescale that certain projects of the council had taken to be completed.

However, it had been another successful year.

Clr. Johns went on to express particular thanks to County Clr. Mrs. C. Cavill for her support and assistance during his time in office. He also thanked the clerk for his continued assistance throughout the term.

Clr. Johns ended his address by reminding members that they still had work to do in serving the local community.

Clrs. Mrs. Leyshon and D. Nash were elected as representatives on the Village Hall management committee, while Clr. Nash would also continue as the council's representative on PALC.

Clerk's salary: An increase of 2.5 per cent on the basic salary was approved.

                                Planning Applications

 

Conversion of agricultural building to office - Trevayne Farm,  Monkstone, Saundersfoot (advice of approval noted).

 

Update RE. Electoral Boundary Changes.

 

County Clr. Mrs Cavill reported that she would be meeting the monitoring officer to discuss if council could still present its case or not. She would advise the clerk so that the appropriate action could be taken.

County Clr. Mrs Cavill's report

         

Litter bins: The area maintenance team were in the process of producing new schedules for the emptying of litter bins in the area. They were reducing the operators' round to allow more frequent emptying. The schedules for litter picking were also being looked at. They aimed to litter pick through villages once per month, but would take into consideration any areas with real problems.

Footpaths 43/7 and 43/8: Clr. Mrs. Cavill had given details of the still existing problems on these paths, namely lack of signage and one overgrown stretch, to the footpath officer who was dealing with these.

Electoral boundary changes: No one had attended the meeting held at County Hall on May 6, so the monitoring officer was writing the report that would go to cabinet on the representations already made. Clr. Mrs. Cavill would contact him to ascertain whether further representations could be made before the report went to cabinet.

    

Village Park

 

Clr. Hall reported that the new swings for the younger children were now in place, and operational. 

The chairman expressed his thanks and congratulations to the Village Hall management committee, who had and were continuing to do a marvellous job for the community of New Hedges.

The playing field and park were a credit to the committee and the chairman gave particular thanks to Clr. Hall for his continued efforts and to Mrs. Linda Hensman for her support.

 

Village Matters

 

The clerk advised that he had received an e-mail from a local resident, who was concerned about the speed of traffic travelling through the village. He had forwarded this to Dyfed Powys Police for attention rather than wait until the meeting. The chairman had been informed and had approved the action.

Dyfed Powys Police had responded and as a consequence the police had been measuring the speed of the traffic by using a camera. Presumably council would receive notification as soon as the findings were known.

The litter bin on the footpath between the bypass and Lake Drive had been full for long periods over the holiday period despite efforts to contact the helpline for assistance. It was only after involving County Clr. Mrs. Cavill that the bin was finally emptied. Hopefully the new schedules that Mrs. Cavill had mentioned in her report would alleviate the problem.

The clerk advised that he had written to the Health Minister, Edwina Hart, to seek her assistance over the defibrillator, but to date no reply had been received.

 

Correspondence

 

The chairman introduced the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Development Plan to the meeting. The local proposals were discussed and comments would be requested at a later date.

The chairman also outlined details from the Mid and West Fire Authority Action Plan which was subsequently circulated for examination

The clerk had received an email from Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum for members to attend a meeting at Pembrokeshire College on July 4, the topic being 'The Secret Diary of the Mackerel'. Clrs. Mrs. Caswell and Mrs. Leyshon agreed to represent the council and would report back to the next meeting.

Confirmation way received from Acorn Garden Services of the tender for grass cutting. With regard to bulb planting, it was agreed to place this on the next agenda.

The next meeting will be held on July 14.