Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed the attendees to the meeting and an apology for absence was received from County Borough Councillor M. Norris.

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

Note:

1.    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

2.   Where Members withdraw from a meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chairman when they leave.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, there were no declarations made pertaining to the agenda.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 25^th February 2020.

It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 27^th February 2020 as an accurate reflection.

To receive verbal updates from the relevant officers in respect of the Council’s recovery response to date and future service planning.

The following updates were provided by Council Officers and Key Partners in respect of the major weather incident ‘Storm Dennis’:

Highways, Infrastructure and Frontline Services

·         Work was underway in respect of Llanwonno tip;

·         Not all damage to bridges had been identified;

·         The majority of the residential properties had been cleaned, except for Trehafod and Taffs Well – Taffs Well was in the process of being cleaned that day;

·         Skips had been provided to businesses on Treforest Industrial Estate;

·         Food donations were being delivered to the central location in Tonypandy;

·         The current bill for damage to bridges, structures and culverts was approximately 50M but would likely increase once all formal inspections have been undertaken;

·         The Leader confirmed that he would be writing to the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales to request emergency powers to demolish two bridges (Castle Inn and White Bridge) due to the high risk they pose. Natural Resources Wales confirmed that they would take a pragmatic approach and allow the Local Authority access to the rivers; and

·         All category C and D tips had been inspected and a report would be sent to Welsh Government for assurance.

Natural Resources Wales

·         NRW were in the process of carrying out inspections of the rivers, but would know more when the water levels lower;

·         A report of Pentre had been commissioned with various partners invited to ensure an objective review is taken, which could be learned from;

·         All tips had been inspected with remedial work undertaken in Clydach;

·         A contractor was inspecting Pentre grid and the 12-14 similar grids in the Rhondda were being routinely checked;

·         There had been a slippage in Treherbert, which the Coal Authority were inspecting; and

·         More rainfall was being predicted, which would likely call for an amber warning, but not a red warning. As such, there was a need for NRW to liaise with the Local Authority to work in partnership and jointly manage social media and anxiety levels.

Businesses

·         To date, 164 claims for the hardship fund had been processed;

·         An issue had emerged in relation to a lack of skips at Treforest Industrial Estate and as such, 9 skips would be delivered by the end of the day; and

·         Over 400 businesses had been visited and verified and of the few left, they were closed or uncontactable but officers would continue attempting to contact them.

Pontypridd BID

·         The majority of the shops within the town centre had reopened including Barclays Bank;

·         The businesses were pleased with the footfall in the town centre, which had arisen from the RCT CBC Jobs Fayre which took place in Llys Cadwyn;

·         There were concerns regarding parking in the town centre as workers were unintentionally blocking customer access;

·         There was a need for more events to promote the town centre; and

·         The Leader addressed the parking concerns, advising that the closure of Berw Road Bridge was causing congestion and that the introduction of free parking would exacerbate the issues;

Pontypridd Town Council

·         The Town Council were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

To receive notification of the Urgent Decision taken by the Leader of the Council in respect of grant Funding Support for Housing and Commercial Property Renovation; and Free School Meals for children from flooded homes for four weeks.

The Steering Group RESOLVED to note the Urgent Decision taken by the Leader of the Council.