COMMUNITY LIAISON COMMITTEE
MINUTES of a meeting held on 30th
May, 2007.
Present: Councillor E.T. Williams
(Chairman); Councillor Mrs. J.E. Charles (Vice-Chairman);
Councillors Mrs V.M. Hartrey, G. John and
Mrs. A.J. Preston.
Representing Town and Community
Councils:
Councillors Mrs. S. Hodges (Barry Town
Council); B. Graham-Woollard (Colwinston Community Council); J.
Harris (Cowbridge with Llanblethian Town Council); B. Davies
(Llandough Community Council); A.S. Murton (Llandow Community
Council); K. Griffiths (Marcross and St. Donats Community
Council); R. Preston (St. Brides Major Community Council
A. Foyle (Welsh St. Donats Community Council); G. Jenkins
(Welsh St. Donats Community Council); and P. Thomas (Wick Community
Council).
Also present: Councillor N.P. Hodges
(Vale of Glamorgan Council); Inspector C. Patterson (South Wales
Police) and Assistant Divisional Officer N. Brown (South Wales Fire
Service).
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ANNOUNCEMENTS -
The Chairman took the opportunity to thank the
outgoing Vice - Chairman Councillor Mrs. V. M. Hartrey for her
support during the previous year and welcomed the new Vice-Chairman
Councillor Mrs J.E. Charles to her first meeting following her
appointment at the Annual Council meeting on 16th May,
2007.
The Chairman further advised Members of the
following :
(1) If any
Town / Community Councils wished an item to be considered on the
agenda for future Committee meetings to complete the request for
consideration of matter form and return it to Karen Bowen at the
Civic Offices;
(2) Two
requests for Consideration of Matter had been received from
Pendoylan and Wenvoe Community Councils and by agreement these
matters would be dealt with at the meeting on 18th July,
2007.
These were received from Councillors R.J.
Bertin (Vale of Glamorgan Council); Councillor G.C. Kemp (Vale of
Glamorgan Council); and K.R Stockdale; Councillor A. Pryer
(Llantwit Major Town Council); Councillor S. Wilson (Ewenny
Community Council); Councillor D Wilson (Llanmaes Community
Council); Councillor D. Lane (Llantwit Major Town Council);
Councillor C. Ride (Pendoylan Community Council); Councillor G.
Thomas (Pendoylan Community Council); Councillor D. Jones
((Michaelston-le-Pit Community Council); Councillor E. Hacker
(Llantwit Major Town Council).
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MINUTES -
AGREED - T H A T the minutes of the meeting
held on 14th March, 2007 be accepted as a correct
record.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST -
No declarations were received.
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POLICE MATTERS –
Inspector Patterson offered his apologies to
the Committee for being unable to provide statistical information
in written format, (due to technical difficulties) in respect of
recent crime figures. However he did advise that South Wales Police
had met a number of its performance targets in particular for
criminal damage crimes the force was the lowest. He however took
the opportunity to advise on a few incidents that had taken place,
for example a domestic murder in Penarth, the husband was currently
on remand, a rise in criminal damage in the Alexander Ward and
several burglaries had taken place in April in Dinas Powys.
The Penarth police station was also currently undergoing
refurbishment and recently in the town centre of Llantwit they had
conducted an operation where a supplier of drugs was arrested and
found with a substantial amount of cannabis.
In respect of the designated no alcohol areas,
two people had been found drinking in these areas and had been
booked and charged. Members raised concerns
in relation to the use of custody suites for prisoners and were
advised that some suites had been used to house prisoners but the
provision of this service had not affected policing in general.
AGREED – T H A T Inspector Patterson be
thanked for his report and it be noted that Members were pleased
with the good work that was being undertaken.
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SOUTH WALES FIRE AND RESCUE MATTERS –
The Assistant Divisional Officer for South
Wales Fire and Rescue provided the Committee with an overview of
his role and statistical information for the Vale of
Glamorgan. There were 10 Fire and Rescue authorities
throughout Wales and Divisional Officer Brown covered the Vale of
Glamorgan and Bridgend areas. He advised that the information
he would present covered the whole of the Vale of Glamorgan and its
four stations, however if any Member of the Committee wished to
receive a detailed breakdown of statistics for their ward areas
they were advised to contact Karen Bowen, Democratic Services
Officer with the request.
During the presentation Divisional Officer
Brown referred to statistics for deliberate property fires within
the Vale, education establishments, deliberate vehicle fires and
grass fires. In general he referred to the fact that grass
fires were becoming a major problem for the fire service and for
the Vale for 2006 there had been a total of 45 grass fires in July,
35 in June, 20 in September, 5 in October/November.
Deliberate vehicle fires and grass fires were now being considered
as priority areas by the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
The Service also had concerns in relation to the number of road
traffic collisions that were taking place and an independent road
traffic team had been established to address the issues.
Members raised questions in relation to
educational establishments and whether there were any initiatives
that were being put in place by the South Wales Fire and Rescue
Service. Assistant Divisional Officer Brown advised that he made
every effort where he could to target schools and where possible
assist in the provision of CCTV, railings, fencing etc to
assist with the prevention of fire. In order to gain funding
for schools he presented business cases to local partnerships to
obtain funding which would hopefully be match funded by the
schools. Concerns in respect of retained fire officers
was expressed by Members but Divisional Officer Brown assured
Committee that retained officer provision within the Vale was very
healthy and officers lived within a four minute travelling distance
and as such there was an excellent response rate. In respect
of the identification of hydrants within villages, he advised that
this provision was no longer their responsibility although he
was aware that requests had been made for this provision to be
re-assigned to the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service. He
would look into the matter and report back to Committee on the
current situation.
AGREED – T H A T Assistant Divisional
Officer Brown be thanked for his report and Committee reaffirmed
their desire to receive progress updates at each meeting.
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UPDATE BY THE CHAIRMAN ON THE PROGRES TO DATE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF
A CHARTER BETWEEN THE VALE OF GLAMORGAN COUNCIL AND TOWN AND
COMMUNITY COUNCILS –
The Chairman advised the Committee that as a
result of the Committee supporting the Chief Executive of the Vale
of Glamorgan establishing a working group to investigate the
development of a charter the first meeting of the group had been
scheduled to take place on 20th June, 2007. Clerks
of Town and Community Councils had also been invited to a meeting
on 16th April, 2007 to discuss matters of mutual
interest and the subject of a charter had also been a topic on the
agenda. As a result of the discussions five clerks had put
their names forward to be members of the working group, together
with officers of the Council and these were listed as Barry Town
Council, Penarth Town Council, Wenvoe Community Council, Llancarfan
Community Council, Llandow Community Council and the officers from
the Vale of Glamorgan Clive Teague, ( Head of Finance, ICT and
Property); Rob Thomas, ( Head of Planning and Transportation);
Miles Punter, ( Head of Visible Services); Beverley Noon,
(Operational Manager for Corporate Policy and Communications) and
Karen Bowen, Clerk to the Community Liaison Committee. Any
reports would be presented to the Community Liaison Committee for
discussion in due course.
AGREED – T H A T the Chairman’s report
be noted and the Committee’s thanks be recorded to the Vale of
Glamorgan Council for the support and co-operation afforded to Town
and Community Councils within the Vale.