Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Tony Graham and Cllr Simon Pritchard – Pontypridd Town Council

To receive disclosures of personal interest from Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct

Note:  Members are requested to identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest: and where Members withdraw from a meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chairman when they leave.

To receive as an accurate record the minutes of the meeting on the 22^nd May 2020

RESOLVED: The minutes of the meeting of the 27^th July 2020 were approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

To receive a verbal update from the Service Director of Democratic Services and Communications

The Service Director of Democratic Services and Communications provided the Community Liaison Committee with a verbal update on the following areas:

·         As lockdown restrictions were easing, community recycling centres were beginning to reopen to the public

·         Libraries were also beginning to reopen with services reduced

·         It was recently announced that schools would be reopening in September with further details being communicated to parents once individual schools plans for reopening were put in place

·         Pest control and animal rescue services had been resumed

·         Marriages were able to take place from the 15^th July

·         Face to face registrations of death would resume in august and mourners at funerals would also increase in august

·         A new library at Llys Cadwyn was planned to open on 1^st September 2020

·         Playgrounds reopened on 20 July 2020 after some minor maintenance issues had been resolved to make them safe to reopen

·         Community centres and leisure facilities were going through a phased reopening

·         The Councils AGM was scheduled for the 16^th September and the service director reported that there was an improvement in attendance at remote meetings.

The Deputy Leader added that she was pleased to finally see the safe reopening of the playgrounds for the children and young people to utilise again and advised that community centres had also prepared activity packs for children to use during lockdown.  She further added that the democratic process was continuing with virtual meetings of the Council taking place and working very well.

A member raised a question over the requirement for community centres to reopen to provide a childcare service.  The Deputy Leader stated that clarification would be sought and feedback to the Community Council

The Senior Research and Consultations Officer updated the Committee on the current consultation that was underway in relation to the proposed extension to dog controls in RCT.  She advised members that there were many ways in which the public could contribute to the consultation as they had held a number of virtual events in addition to face to face events and the opportunity to provide feedback online.  She advised the committee that the consultation ends on Monday and if anyone had any feedback to contact her before then. 

The senior community Safety Officer stated that the feedback received so far had been positive and some of the issues such as improved signage were already being addressed.  She addressed the issue of enforcement and sated that there would be more social media presence around the public reporting areas of concern so enforcement could be deployed to key areas.

The Deputy Leader advised members of the Committee that a final report on the findings would be reported to cabinet in September

The Eisteddfod Project Officer, Scott Thomas introduced himself to the Committee who advised that the planning of the Eisteddfod for when it returns to RCT in 2023 was already underway.  He advised that if the Community Councils would like to get involved in the Eisteddfod, or have any questions in relation to it, that they could get in touch with him at eisteddfod2023@rctcbc.gov.uk and that he is happy to communicate with members in English or Welsh.

He advised that he would be meeting with the Eisteddfod CEX to discuss an action plan in late September, early October time.  He added that they would also be formalising a fundraising Committee later in the year as they had to raise in the region of £350k towards the Eisteddfod events but that it was a fantastic opportunity to boost the local economy

To consider any urgent items as the Chairman feels appropriate.

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