“Shouldn’t the Llanelli area, which contributes 43% of the county’s council tax be entitled to its parks, playgrounds and playing fields which contribute so much to the health and well being of its residents?”
Minutes:
Mr Mike Bassett, Secretary of Carmarthenshire Unified Sports Committee, asked the following question:-
“Shouldn’t the Llanelli area, which contributes 43% of the county’s council tax, be entitled to its parks, playgrounds and playing fields which contribute so much to the health and well being of its residents?”
Response by Councillor David Jenkins, Executive Board Member for Resources:-
“I would in the first instance query the fact quoted where you state that the Llanelli area contributes 43% of the County Council’s tax. I have conducted investigations with officers and I have established that Llanelli Town residents contribute 12% of the council tax and Llanelli Rural 11% towards council tax making a combined total of 23%. The Council’s policy, put in place by the previous administration, which the present administration is happy to follow, is to promote local management of all parks and playgrounds and has been applied across the whole of the county, not just in Llanelli, to ensure that all areas of the county are treated equally, with each area bearing the cost of providing these facilities within their own area. In many parts of the county Community Councils and local sporting clubs have been managing local parks and playing facilities in their areas for many years. In fact, 41 out of 72 Community Councils are in that situation i.e. 50% of them are running their own assets at present. Since the policy was initiated, a vast majority of Town and Community Councils, who were previously not managing their local parks and playing fields, have responded positively to County Council calls for assets to be managed locally, with another 35% (25) taking an interest in asset transfer. That leaves a very small number of Town and Community Councils who have not to date expressed an interest in the asset transfer process, that is 6 (8%). The closing date for expressions of interest is 31st March this year. The long lead-in time for the County Council’s proposals has allowed Community and Town Councils, sporting organisations and other community groups to make preparations for taking over the facilities. The Maintenance and Improvement Grants offered by the County Council has also enabled future maintenance costs to be deferred for some years. It is also worth noting that Community Councils, Sporting Clubs and other community groups can apply for grants to help set up and maintain the facilities they manage, such grants not being available to the County Council. As stated previously, the closing date for declarations of interest is 31st March this year, with asset transfers to be completed by 31st March, 2018, at which time the Authority will consider the future of the facilities remaining within County Council control. On a local, parochial note, I am a member of Cwmamman Town Council as is Councillor Kevin Madge and we are actively involved and we are very close to asset transferring not only parks but the public conveniences and also the Community Education Centre with two sporting organisations, namely Amman United R.F.C. and Cwmamman Town A.F.C. also running their own sporting facilities.”