Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P. Cooper, S.A. Curry, A. Davies, C.A. Davies, S. Godfrey-Coles, W.T. Evans, J.P. Hart, J.D. James and  A.C. Jones.

·   The Chair conveyed his warmest congratulations to Councillor Ann Davies upon her success in being elected as the Member of Parliament for Carmarthen.

·   The Chair referred to the array of events he and his consort had attended across the county since commencing his term of office. These included several Mayor Making ceremonies in Cwmaman, Kidwelly, Llandeilo, Llanelli and Llandovery, D-Day remembrance events in Llanelli and Garnant, Royal British Legion and Dementia concerts in Llandeilo and  also meeting a couple celebrating their 60^th Diamond wedding anniversary in Maesybont.   The Chair referred to his visit to the International Children’s Day and Young People Art Exhibitions in Llanelli, in addition to his attendance at the National Wool Museum in Drefach Felindre, the 25^th Anniversary celebrations of Aberglasney Gardens

·   The Chair referred to his attendance at a very innovative Carmarthenshire Young Farmers’ Club event at the United Counties Showground, Nantyci which was attended by over 1,000 primary school pupils to raise awareness and highlight the importance of the ‘farm to fork food miles’ philosophy to children.  These sentiments were echoed by Councillor H. Jones who commended the event which was provided as part of the Shared Prosperity Fund to enable school children to learn about local food production, the importance of farming and sustaining a healthy environment.

·   The Chair referred to the successes of Llandovery RFC who, on 11 May 2024, became the Club Champions of Wales after winning the Premiership play off final against Newport RFC. Llandovery RFC had also finished top of the Indigo Premiership table and won the Welsh Cup at the Principality Stadium on the 7^th April 2024. 

·   The Chair extended his best wishes to the Drovers and Carmarthen Quins who would be competing in the newly formed Super Rugby Cymru competition during the 2024-25 season and also congratulated both Newcastle Emlyn RFC and Llangennech RFC following their promotion to the Premiership.

·   The Chair commended the schools of Carmarthenshire who had competed at the 2024 Eisteddfod yr Urdd.

·   The Chair extended the Council’s best wishes for a speedy recovery to Councillor Tyssul Evans following his recent ill-health.

·   Councillor R. Sparks congratulated the Carmarthen and District Youth Opera on being bestowed the King’s Award for Voluntary Service in recognition of their outstanding contribution in providing musical theatre opportunities for young people across west Wales.

·   Councillor A.G. Morgan extended his congratulations to Miss Ruby Davies, a pupil at Ysgol Gynradd Swiss Valley, on winning the individual Year 5/6 recitation for Welsh Learners at Eisteddfod yr Urdd. Ruby’s positive attitude and lively presence on stage had made a big impression on many.  The Council’s best wishes were extended to Ruby at the forthcoming finals of the international youth and children’s short film festival.

There were no announcements made.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on the 8^th May, 2024 be signed as a correct record.

It was raised that the apology for absence submitted by M. J. A. Lewis had not been recorded within the minutes.

RESOLVED that subject to the above amendment, the minutes of the meeting of Council held on the 22^nd May, 2024 be signed as a correct record.

[NOTE:  Mr S. P. Murphy, having earlier declared an interest in this item, left the meeting during the deliberation and voting thereof.]

The Council received a report, presented by the Cabinet Member for Organisation and Workforce, noting the recommendation of the Appointments Committee ‘B’ held on the 29^th May 2024, to appoint Mr. Steve Murphy as the Head of Law, Governance and Civil Services, with effect from 1^st June 2024, following the retirement of the Head of Administration & Law (and Monitoring Officer) on the 31^st May 2024.  The Council was reminded that Mr Murphy had been designated as the interim Monitoring Officer and as such, the Council was now required to formally designate a permanent Monitoring Officer to discharge its statutory role in accordance with the provisions enshrined within Section 5 of the Local Government & Housing Act 1989 and to ensure compliance with Article 11 (Functions of the Monitoring Officer) of the Council’s Constitution.

RESOLVED that:

In line with the requirements of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) regulations 1990, as amended, and the Local Government Wales (measure) 2011, the Council considered a report detailing the outcome of a review of the composition of the Council’s Scrutiny, Regulatory and other Committees following notification received that Councillor D. Nicholas had moved from the Plaid Cymru Group to become a member of the Independent Group.

RESOLVED, as a result of the changes to the overall political composition of the Council that:

Council was informed that the Cabinet, at its meeting held on 29 April 2024 (minute 9 refers), had considered a report on the council consulting on the draft Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) documents for the Revised Carmarthenshire Local Development Plan (LDP) 2018-2033 in respect of:

·       Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs)

·       Open Space: Requirements for Integrating Open Spaces within New Residential Developments; and

·       Welsh Language

The draft SPG documents provided additional clarity on specific thematic policy areas to support implementation and provided guidance and elaborated upon the policies and provisions of the emerging Revised Local Development Plan at the point of its adoption.

The Cabinet Member for Resources referred Council’s attention to the SPG pertaining to the Welsh Language which aimed to strengthen the status of the Welsh Language in Planning.  Council was reminded that in accordance with the recent census results and the Welsh Government’s aspirations to reach 1m Welsh speakers by 2050, it had resolved to designate the whole of Carmarthenshire as an area of linguistic sensitivity within the forthcoming LDP. Accordingly, it was considered that the degrees of sensitives based on threshold weightings referred to within paragraph 6.13 and table 6.1 of the document was not relevant for consultation and therefore; in order to avoid any ambiguity on the matter, it was proposed that these sections be moved to Annex A of the document, for information purposes only.

RESOLVED that, subject to the inclusion of the above-mentioned amendments, the following recommendations of the Cabinet be accepted:

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the meeting of the Cabinet held on the 29^th April, 2024 be received.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the meeting of the Cabinet held on the 13^th May, 2024 be received.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the meeting of the Cabinet held on the 17^th June, 2024 be received.

“The Heart of Wales line runs a vital service between rural areas on the Swansea to Shrewsbury line. However, it has suffered from underinvestment for decades and is currently running on old unreliable stock and subject to regular delays and cancellations. When the service is fully functioning, it provides a lifeline for residents and visitors while also providing safe and sustainable travel.

Earlier this year Transport for Wales (TfW) revealed plans to reduce the number of services on the Heart of Wales line from five to four per day, with the removal of two late evening services to Llandovery and Llandrindod also proposed from December 2024.

Council believes that the decision to reduce this service, and the lack of investment in stock over the last decade could jeopardise the long-term future of the line.

Council expresses concern with the Welsh Government’s lack of investment in rail services in Carmarthenshire, which is in stark contrast to rail investment in Southeast Wales.

This Council calls on the Welsh Government to immediately review the decision undertaken by Transport of Wales to reduce service on the Heart of Wales Line and consider the inequitable level of investment in transport across rural Wales”.

Council considered the following Notice of Motion submitted by Councillors E. G. Thomas and A. Davies:-

“The Heart of Wales line runs a vital service between rural areas on the Swansea to Shrewsbury line. However, it has suffered from underinvestment for decades and is currently running on old unreliable stock and subject to regular delays and cancellations. When the service is fully functioning, it provides a lifeline for residents and visitors while also providing safe and sustainable travel.

Earlier this year Transport for Wales (TfW) revealed plans to reduce the number of services on the Heart of Wales line from five to four per day, with the removal of two late evening services to Llandovery and Llandrindod also proposed from December 2024.

Council believes that the decision to reduce this service, and the lack of investment in stock over the last decade could jeopardise the long-term future of the line.

Council expresses concern with the Welsh Government’s lack of investment in rail services in Carmarthenshire, which is in stark contrast to rail investment in Southeast Wales.

This Council calls on the Welsh Government to immediately review the decision undertaken by Transport of Wales to reduce service on the Heart of Wales Line and consider the inequitable level of investment in transport across rural Wales”.

The motion was duly seconded.

The proposers and seconder of the Motion were afforded the opportunity of speaking in support thereof and outlined the reasons for its submission, as set out in the Motion.

A number of representations were made in support of the Motion.

RESOLVED that the Motion be supported and referred to the Cabinet.

The Chair advised that no public questions had been received.

Note:In order to be considered at a formal meeting each petition must include 50 registered elector signatures for paper copies and 300 register elector signatures for e-petitions. The total number of Carmarthenshire Electoral Signatures up to the 300 threshold has been verified. We have not checked the signatures thereafter.

“BUILD YSGOL HEOL GOFFA A NEW SCHOOL

We, the undersigned, petition Carmarthenshire County Council to retract their decision to no longer build Ysgol Heol Goffa a new specialist school that they desperately need!

Carmarthenshire Council have previously agreed, had planning permission and also already started the ground work to build a new school for Heol Goffa, but they have now put in a notice to say that they are no longer going ahead with the plans and pulled the plug on it all! The plans started back in 2018 to have a new school built as the current building is no longer suitable and can’t hold any more capacity. In fact, they over in capacity. The Council have not prioritised the children and their needs and well-being and the fact they desperately need new facilities for education and it puts additional strain on education and getting future children the support they need! The new school would have provided so much more support and facilities on site. It’s appalling that they can even think it’s okay to make this decision but yet can provide other schools within the county new buildings and facilities! Carmarthenshire council need to be held accountable for their ridiculous decisions and to retract what they have decided and continue with the original plans! Their claim on “financial hardship” is a load of nonsense, as they are building a brand new wellness complex and leisure centre which the school was meant to be apart of the plans !”

[NOTE:  Councillors D. Cundy and L. D. Evans, having earlier declared an interest in this item, left the meeting during the deliberation and voting thereof.]

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Ms A. Evans who had been invited to present to, and address the Council on the following petition relating to Heol Goffa School, as follows:

“We, the undersigned, petition Carmarthenshire County Council to retract their decision to no longer build Ysgol Heol Goffa a new specialist school that they desperately need!

Carmarthenshire Council have previously agreed, had planning permission and also already started the ground work to build a new school for Heol Goffa, but they have now put in a notice to say that they are no longer going ahead with the plans and pulled the plug on it all! The plans started back in 2018 to have a new school built as the current building is no longer suitable and can’t hold any more capacity. In fact, they over in capacity. The Council have not prioritised the children and their needs and well-being and the fact they desperately need new facilities for education and it puts additional strain on education and getting future children the support they need! The new school would have provided so much more support and facilities on site. It’s appalling that they can even think it’s okay to make this decision but yet can provide other schools within the county new buildings and facilities! Carmarthenshire council need to be held accountable for their ridiculous decisions and to retract what they have decided and continue with the original plans! Their claim on “financial hardship” is a load of nonsense, as they are building a brand new wellness complex and leisure centre which the school was meant to be apart of the plans !”

Ms. Evans outlined to the Council the rationale for the petition.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language responded to the petition and clarified that due to the tender cost of the project, the current plan for Ysgol Heol Goffa could not proceed.  Accordingly, an independent review of the current Additional Learning Needs (ALN) specialist provision in Llanelli had been commissioned, which would take on board the views of learners, parents, staff, governors and wider stakeholders to develop fully costed options for consideration.

A number of representations were made in support of the petition and statements were made outlining the Cabinet’s commitment to work collaboratively to develop a plan to meet the needs of ALN pupils in Llanelli.

It was confirmed that the issue referred to in the petition was an executive function and consequently Council was only able to refer the matter to the Cabinet for consideration.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that in accordance with Corporate Procedure Rule 10.16 the petition be referred to the Cabinet for consideration.

The Chair advised that no member questions had been received.

Note: This appointment is subject to confirmation by the Home Office.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that, subject to confirmation by the Home Office, Councillor Michael Thomas replace Councillor Dot Jones on the Dyfed Powys Police and Crime Panel.

The Chair stated that the minutes outlined on the agenda under 15.1 – 15.16 were available for information on the Council website.