Prior to the start of a recent meeting of Whitland Town Council, Mrs. Lynne Beer, rural housing enabler with Carmarthenshire County Council, met with councillors.

Mrs. Beer explained that her post was part-funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the Housing Associations.

She works under Carmarthenshire County Council, however, she was independent of them. She explained that last year, the Welsh Assembly Government commissioned a report and they realised that there was a problem with housing costs in rural communities.

Her role was to stimulate the provision of housing and work by various means to increase the supply (explore demand, needs assessments, looking at hidden demand in areas).

Mrs. Beer explained that she was looking at the population density in Carmarthenshire and said that approximately 50 of the 70 wards in Carmarthenshire were termed as rural. It was her job to specialise in those rural areas. She was also looking at Laugharne, St. Clears, Teifi Valley, etc.

Mrs. Beer also explained that the rural housing enabler was supposed to work independently. She was looking into housing for young families and said that the average house price for a two-bedroom flat was approximately £95,000. The local authority said affordable housing was £84,000 for the Taf Myrddin area. Mrs. Beer said that she hoped to work with local communities to carry out a housing needs survey.

Mrs. Beer said that her job was also to look for places that Carmarthenshire County Council/Housing Associations could provide as affordable housing. She explained that it did not necessarily mean building new houses, but maybe looking at houses that were standing empty. She was also looking at shared ownership.

Mrs. Beer said that there were a lot of new developments in Whitland and she knew that those houses are not for first-time buyers. She explained that in Whitland, 126 people were on the housing list for two-bedroom houses, 100 for three-bedroom houses and 20 for four-bedroom houses.

A lot of those people may also be on the list for the surrounding areas or further and the last council house allocated in Whitland was 18 months ago. She also said that a lot of people didn't put their names down on the housing list and ended up suffering by staying in houses that were too small for them.

Clr. Mrs. D. Evans said that there was a lot of discussion regarding houses for young people, but asked what about the other end of the spectrum with someone wanting to downgrade to a smaller house. She felt there wasn't anywhere for people to downgrade or retire to.

Mrs. Beer said that in some parts of Carmarthenshire, social letting agencies were being set-up with Carmarthenshire County Council taking over the management of private rental homes. It was then hoped that longer lets would be available rather than shorter lets/holiday lets.

Mrs. Beer said that a housing needs survey would look at exactly what was needed in a particular community and what type of housing was required.

Mrs. Beer was asked whether Carmarthenshire County Council was involved in buying older houses to renovate. Mrs. Beer said not directly and only in extreme circumstances. Sometimes, Carmarthenshire County Council would lease this type of property off the landlord long-term.

A housing needs survey was discussed and it was agreed that Mrs. Beer would carry one out. She agreed. She would e-mail the clerk a survey form and ask for some feedback from the town council.

Clr. Mrs. Evans thanked Mrs. Beer for attending the meeting.

Councillors then met with Mr. Roy Llewellyn.

After comments made about Whitland becoming a 'ghost town', Mr. Llewellyn was asked to attend a full meeting of Whitland Town Council and Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Evans, thanked him for attending. However, she said that the town council were dismayed by the comments and said that he had been asked to go along and explain what the comments meant.

Mr. Llewellyn said that over the years, he had had a very close relationship with Whitland. He was the Dyfed County Councillor covering Whitland and was also the County Councillor for Whitland. He explained that when he became a Dyfed County Councillor, he worked hard to get a by-pass for Whitland and was successful in obtaining the route. Further, through TCRI, he obtained £250,000 to build a new extension to the Town Hall.

Mr. Llewellyn also said that for one year, Mr. Stan Phillips and himself ran the booking ticket office (unpaid) and sold £80,000 worth of tickets. While he was with Dyfed County Council, he obtained a £450,000 grant to build a museum, bicycle hire, etc., at the railway station. However, at the last minute, Railtrack refused the 99-year lease.

Mr. Llewellyn also said that on two occasions he managed to obtain £150,000 to erect a sports hall at Parc Dr. Owen, however, they could not obtain a lease. He was also chairman of the Whitland Week committee for 10 years.

Mr. Llewellyn said the reason he made the remark was because he felt that there was a danger of Whitland becoming a 'ghost town' and the purpose of the comment was due to the job situation for the new facility at Cilpost Farm.

He explained that six jobs would be protected and another eight jobs would be established for local people. He also said that the remarks he made were unfortunately true. Mr. Llewellyn said that he felt local people did not support the town and said that although there was a school with approximately 100 employees, very few lived in Whitland and very few support the area.

Clr. Mrs. C. Wilson said that she had seen the plans for the railway station and they looked excellent. She explained that she lived in Tavernspite and she and her family promoted Whitland in a most positive light. She said that Whitland Town Council was also looking to promote Whitland in a positive light and she felt that they didn't need comments about it becoming a 'ghost town'.

Clr. Mrs. Wilson also said that businesses were closing down, but the economic climate had to be accepted and council was going to be working with Carmarthenshire County Council to promote Whitland in a positive light. She wondered how Cilpost Farm could guarantee that the eight people due to be employed would come from Whitland town.

Clr. R. Wilson asked MR. Llewellyn about the sports hall that he had hoped would be built in the area and said that they don't seem to be able to get any further with this. He wondered whether he had any advice. Mr. Llewellyn said that he could not give advice as he was not the County Councillor. He said that he has to attend his constituencies and felt that this was part of his role as County Councillor.

Clr. Mrs. Evans thanked Mr. Llewellyn for attending the meeting to explain his comments.

CCTV cameras: The clerk confirmed that the cameras were not out of order and had not been since the end of 2008. She had also spoken to Powersafe who confirmed that the size of the hard drive was sufficient to run the system.

Bench in Spring Gardens: The clerk confirmed that the bench had been removed and it was in safekeeping at present. New locations for the siting of the bench were discussed and the clerk was asked to find out who owned areas of land where it could be sited. The clerk also reported that she had received a letter from Whitland Cricket Club who stated that they were happy for the other bench to stay on their land.

Clr. Wilson suggested that council donate the bench to the primary school as they were trying to tidy up the garden area at the school.

Wind turbines planning application: The clerk reported that the Lampeter Velfrey clerk had sent an e-mail to Carmarthenshire County Council stating that they agreed with WTC's comments opposing the wind turbines.

Disabled parking space outside Gwynfa, North Road: The clerk was asked to contact County Clr. Mrs. S. Allen regarding this issue. She was also asked to request that Clr. Mrs. Allen chased up the progress of the disabled space outside the Post Office.

Meeting with Mr. Mark James, chief executive, Carmarthenshire County Council: Clr. Mrs. Evans reported that three councillors attended the meeting with Mr. James. Clr. Wilson said he would like to know why the Mayor, or another member of Whitland Town Council, was not asked to walk around the town with Clr. Mrs. Allen and Mr. James.

Clr. Mrs. Evans said she learned quite a lot during the meeting and felt that council now needed to look at the bigger picture for the future of Whitland. All agreed that it would involve a lot of work to put together a project plan and it was decided to call a special meeting some time in May/June to discuss this item. Mr. James informed those present that he would allocate a projects manager who would give expertise and advice and would help to look to available grants.

Pelican crossing, Maes Abaty: Clrs. Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Wilson explained that unless some money became available there would not be a crossing from Maes Abaty to Bryngwenllian. It was also reported that Carmarthenshire County Council would have to carry out a survey to see if one was warranted. Clr. Mrs. Wilson said that all of the £80,000 should not have been spent on the park and some should have been kept for the crossing.

County Councillor: The clerk was asked to contact Clr. Mrs. Allen to enquire when she was going to return to their meetings. Mr. James, chief executive of Carmarthenshire County Council, stated that during their meeting that the County Councillor for Whitland should inform the town council of any progress in matters arising.

Local Development Plan meeting: Clr. Mrs. Evans reported that the meeting was very good., however, it was not very well attended. Whitland Town Council did have four attendees, plus County Clr. Mrs. Allen. A discussion took place regarding the various sites that had been entered into the Local Development Plan and all agreed that they were disappointed that the comments that were made during their previous meeting on September 2, 2008, seemed to have been ignored.

Mayor's visits: Clr. Mrs, Evans reported that she had attended the following during events: meeting with Whitland School Councils (Dyffryn Taf and Primary School), St. David's Day concert, Inner Wheel lunch, public meeting in Red Roses, Whitland YFC quiz, site meeting at Maes Abaty, Whitland YFC dinner, Dyffryn Taf prize evening, coffee evening, choir evening, bowls club evening, Pipriac events, Pembrokeshire Mayor's dinner, Whitland Rugby Club before the Youth Rugby played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

The next meeting of Whitland Town Council will take place on Monday, June 1, at 7 pm. This will take place in the Mayor's Parlour.