Minutes:
· The Chair extended his condolences to the family of the late Martin Morris who had been a member of both Carmarthenshire County Council and the former Dyfed County Council. Both the Chair and Councillor Rob James (Leader of the Labour Party) paid tribute to Mr Morris who had been the Leader of the Labour Group, Deputy Leader of the Council and the Executive Board Member for Customer Focus/Equality during his period as an elected member for Carmarthenshire
The Council stood in silent tribute to Mr Morris.
· The Chair welcomed Wendy Walters to her first meeting of the Council following her appointment to the post of Chief Executive.
· The Chair thanked all those who had attended his civic service, in particular, his chaplain the reverend Dr Caroline Jones, the Right Reverend Joanna Penberthy and also Mr Mark Drakeford , the Welsh Government’s first Minister.
He also thanked all those who had contributed to his charity, raising the sum of £806.76 for the food banks.
· The Chair advised on the numerous events both he, and his vice-chair, had recently attended particularly, the mayoral installation ceremonies at a number of Town and Community Councils throughout the authority’s area.
· The Chair referred to his recent visit, with Councillor Irfon Jones, to Mr and Mrs Jones of Bwlchnewydd, Carmarthen who had recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary
· Cllr Hazel Evans paid tribute to Dorian Lewis and Mark Allen of the Council’s Environment Department whose selfless actions during the recent Storm Callum had saved the life of a lorry driver whose vehicle had been swept into the swollen river by the landslide at Cwmduad. Their actions had also been recognised at the West Wales Community Awards Evening on the 24th May where they had been awarded the Community Bravery Award.
The Chair presented Dorian and Mark with a gift from the Council in recognition of their bravery.
· Congratulations were extended to:-
- Councillor Elwyn Williams on his appointment as Vice-Chair of the Mid and West Wales Fire Authority, for 2019/20,
- Councillor Rob Evans on receiving an award under the ‘Charity Fundraiser’ category in the West Wales Community awards 2019 for his work in driving forward the Llanelli Food Bank and in supplying it with a van to serve all communities. Councillor Evans had also created a War Memorial Garden at Dafen, Llanelli,
- Councillor Jim Jones on his recent birthday,
· Councillor Gary Jones advised on the following establishments in Llangennech which had achieved success in the recent Food Awards Wales:-
The ‘Bridge’ – Restaurant of the Year (South West Region)
‘Tafarn y Morlais’ Gastro Pub of the Year (South East Region)
South Wales Touring Park, off Trosserch Road – Best Caravan Site in Wales.
· Councillor P. Hughes Griffiths, Executive Board Member for Culture, Sport and Tourism, extended his appreciation to all those from Carmarthenshire who had participated in the recent Urdd Eisteddfod in Cardiff including school pupils, teachers, volunteers and craftspersons etc
· The Council received an update from Councillor Cundy on the recent TB screening exercise undertaken in the Bynea and Llwynhendy wards, which saw the largest ever mass screening undertaken in Wales attended by around 1400 people, 900 more than anticipated. He expressed his appreciation to all the medical staff involved in the screening and requested the Council send a letter of thanks to the medical teams via Dr Brendan Mason, Head of the screening team, to show them its gratitude for all their work.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that Council send a letter of thanks to Dr Brendan Mason and his team expressing its gratitude for all their hard work during the recent TB screening undertaken in the Bynea and Llwynhendy Wards.