Minutes:
· The Chair extended his deepest sympathy, on behalf of Elected Members and Senior Officers, to Councillor Jane Tremlett and her family on their recent losses;
· The Chair welcomed back Cllr. Jim Jones following his recent illness;
· The Chair thanked Cllr. Edward Thomas for his invitation to an afternoon tea in Llandeilo on the 23rd October 2021;
· The Chair informed Council that on 30TH October 2021 he and his wife Joyce had enjoyed a performance of ‘Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ by Burry Port Youth Theatre. He thanked the Youth Theatre for the invitation;
· The Chair extended his congratulations to Cllr. Ann Davies and her team on their success at the recent Meithrin’s Annual Awards Ceremony;
· The Vice-Chair, Cllr Ken Lloyd stated that he had recently represented the Chair at the launch of the Annual Poppy Appeal in Carmarthen Town and a charity evening with the Mayor of Llanelli;
· Cllr. Ann Davies announced that the Council had again received accreditation from the White Ribbon Campaign in recognition of the work it had undertaken and planned to undertake. The Council, as part of its commitment, would be marking White Ribbon Day on the 25th November 2021 as it had done in recent years and Cllr. Davies urged all members to sign up to the White Ribbon Campaign promise;
· Cllr. Jeanette Gilasbey thanked everyone, including the Council, NRW and emergency services, who had helped residents following the recent floods in Kidwelly;
· Cllr. Hazel Evans congratulated Nicola Olsson, Assistant Road Safety Officer, on the award she had received from the British Horse Society in recognition of the work she had undertaken in developing a road sign to protect horses. The sign had since been approved by the Wales Road Safety Partnership;
· Cllr. Hazel Evans thanked and congratulated everyone involved in the successful bid for the Levelling Up Fund from the UK Government of £16.7 m for the Towy Valley Cycle Path including Jonathan Edwards MP for Carmarthen East & Dynefwr and Simon Hart, Secretary of State for Wales. Cllr. Evans also thanked all officers responsible for preparing and submitting the bid and paid tribute to the Corporate Management Team and Cabinet for their vision to support the project;
· Cllr. Rob James congratulated a group of Llanelli-based County Councillors led by Cllr. Rob Evans who had stepped in to sell poppies on behalf of the Royal British Legion when veterans had not been in a position to do so;
· The Deputy Leader, with the Chair’s permission provided an update on the Covid situation in Carmarthenshire. On Monday Carmarthenshire recorded 483.1 cases per 100,000 compared to 537.2 per 100,000 in the previous 7 days – a decrease of 54.1 cases per 100,000. The figure on the 11th October 2021 had been 579.5 per 100,000 and in the last 4 weeks therefore, there had been a decrease of about 100 incidents per 100,000. Whilst things were moving in the right direction it was considered that there was still a long way to go particularly as Winter approached and people were urged to remain cautious. In line with Welsh Government guidelines the Deputy Leader encouraged everyone to have both covid jabs and the booster when advised, get tested and self-isolate if one develops symptoms, when making plans to meet other people remember that outdoors is safer, keep your distance when you can, wash your hands and wear a face covering. People were also encouraged to take up the offer of the flu vaccine with the chances of becoming seriously ill with covid and flu were greatly reduced when vaccinated as were the risks of spreading the virus;
· The Deputy Leader referred to the Toybox Appeal launched at the last meeting stating that any support and donations of gifts would be greatly appreciated.