Among matters discussed at last month's meeting of Pembroke Dock Town Council, held at the Pater Hall, were:

Question and answer session with members of the public

A member of the public read a letter which outlined her disappointment about the untidiness of the town. Specifically the grass embankment adjacent to London Road which borders the retail park, which continually appears covered with cans, bottles and fast food rubbish, and the main bus drop-off points at the Tesco traffic lights. There had recently been some fines on members of the public in Carmarthen for litter-dropping incidents and it was questioned why this could not be the case in Pembroke Dock.

Another particularly bad area of the town was Pembroke Road along by the school and leisure centre. The headmaster of the school had been sent a letter by the lady's husband suggesting that good citizenship lessons be introduced to the children, but unfortunately no reply had been received.

The member of public suggested that posters be placed around the town stating that litter be disposed of properly and fines would be given to those not doing so.

This all said, the lady present also commended some areas of the town that were well-kept, including the roundabouts at Water Street and Waterloo.

Clr. P. George responded by stating that the Town Council tried to ensure that litter around the town was kept to a minimum. However, they only employed one person to work externally and only part of his role was keeping the town centre free of litter.

Continuing, Clr. George said that much of the problem was down to educating people to dispose of their litter correctly and that the Community School did already ensure that the children carried out regular clean-ups around their school and the surrounding area. It was further stated that it was good that the schools tried to teach the children to be aware of how to correctly dispose of rubbish.

In response to the question of fining those caught litter-dropping, it was stated that Pembrokeshire County Council had investigated the outsourcing of fining to another company. However, it was proved that the cost would not be viable versus the potential fines being imposed. It was further commented that employees of the Town Council and of the County Council did not have legal power to impose fines on members of the public.

It was suggested that perhaps the Regeneration Team of Pembroke Dock could become involved in the litter problem by asking individual retailers throughout the town to make more of an effort to ensure the town stays tidy.

It was questioned whether the PCSO's within the town could start to fine those caught dropping litter. However, it was stated that the team was low on numbers at present.

Clr. P. George and Clr. S. Perkins suggested that the Town Council write or contact Pembrokeshire County Council, local shopkeepers and the Regeneration Team to make them aware of the current problem areas and to see if it would be possible for more frequent litter-picking to take place in the town.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

Q. and A. session with the public: Clr. M. Murton stated that during the public session of the meeting which discussed the reduction in hours of the library in Pembroke Dock, a comment was made by Clr. T. Wilcox where he stated that the library was not being subjected to full closure, but just a reduction in hours, and there are more important services that could be saved than one day at the library. Clr. Murton further commented that the fear was that cuts would probably continue and her concern was that year on year the library would be faced with further cuts in hours.

Clr. S. Perkins stated that there were certain services that the County Council did not have to pay for - including the provision of a library - and in the current climate, it was difficult to keep everything going.

Town clerk's report - Silver Band Trust: The town clerk stated that Mr. Marsden, of the Town Band, had visited the council offices to confirm that the dates requested by the Town Council had been noted by the band. Mr. Marsden also wished to clarify that the Town Band was separate to the Silver Band Trust and, therefore, did not benefit financially in any way from funds given to the trust. It was noted that all the band members were volunteers.

There followed a further discussion about the financial request received previously and whether the insurance was still required considering many of the instruments in question were deemed to be not of working order and irreparable. Again it was stated that some of the instruments were of working order and were to be offered to Oxfam who had an amnesty scheme that recycled instruments and offered them to charities or schools once refurbished.

It was commented that enquiries had been made by the Pater Hall Trust as to whether the instruments could be added to the insurance schedule for the Pater Hall - however, this was not an option. It was then questioned whether the instruments could be added to the insurance of the Town Council. However, it was stated that as many of the instruments were not working, what would be the point of insuring them.

It was commented that if the Town Band could not benefit from the Silver Band Trust funds, the constitution of the Silver Band Trust, being a number of years old, could benefit from being reviewed and rewritten.

Clr. Perkins stated that all the instruments that were of no use should be disposed of and if a young person decided they wanted to join the Town Band, criteria be put in place that the Town Council could be approached to help fund the purchase of any instrument that was required.

It was resolved that all instruments of non-working order be disposed of and criteria be put in place for financial assistance to be requested of the Town Council for any new young member of the Town Band who needed assistance to purchase an instrument.

Beer Festival: It was commented that the recent Beer Festival held at the Pater Hall had been funded by the Chamber of Trade.

Clr. S. Perkins stated that there was a lot of European funding currently available that the town of Pembroke Dock was not apparently picking up on. This European funding would not be around forever and it was important the Regeneration Team started to get some of this money for the town. Fishguard was miles ahead with its regeneration projects and Haverfordwest and Pembroke were also forging ahead with their own plans. Clr. Perkins stated that there never seemed to be any ideas from the group and perhaps a joint meeting with the Town Council and Regeneration Team might be of benefit.

Community issues, alleyway between Bargain Booze and Paul Sartori: It was confirmed that the graffiti had now been painted over.

REPORT OF THE

TOWN CLERK

Pembrokeshire County Council (Pembrokeshire Coast National Park) Off Street Parking Order 2015: The town clerk stated that a consultation document had been received from County Council. The order proposed to replace the present off-street parking order for the National Park Authority prepared by Dyfed County Council in 1991. The only car park within Pembroke Dock which came under this order was Llanion Park, the car park which fronted the National Park offices. There were to be no charges implemented within this order. The town clerk had included in members' papers the statement of reasons for the review of this order document.

The town clerk asked for members' comments, but none were made at the meeting.

Floral baskets: The town clerk reported that tender dates for the floral baskets throughout the town had now closed. There was one tender received which was from Hill Farm Nurseries. Within the quote the council asked them to identify the plants which would be used and for them to provide costings for the installation and removal/disposal of the baskets. The quote received was £2,294, which was more than last year's, but this was due to the installation and removal/disposal costs. Last year's costs were £1,960.

The town clerk sought members' agreement to use Hill Farm Nurseries for the floral baskets this year. This wsa agreed.

The town clerk also stated that the regular watering of the baskets needed to be looked at, as in previous years this was undertaken by an employee of the Town Council. It was, therefore, requested that the tenders included costings for this within the quote. Hill Farm Nurseries quoted £40 per day for watering to be undertaken for 137 days (every day from June to end of September and every other day in October). The total cost for this would be £5,480 against costs in previous years for watering being half of this amount.

The town clerk stated the council had three options available to them:

1. Accept the quote of £5,480 for watering for the 137 days - every day June to end of September and every other day in October.

2. Request that the watering of baskets be reduced to every other day June to end of October, which was 75 days and would bring the quote down to £3,000.

3. Employ a seasonal worker to undertake the work required which would cost £2,800 - £3,400 dependant on the contracted hours.

There followed a general discussion on the options given by the town clerk, after which it was felt that option three would be the best as a seasonal worker could be used for other tasks throughout the town during the busier summer months.

It was questioned whether investigation into an auto-watering system for the baskets might be a more cost-effective option in the long term. However, it was felt that any system that might be available would still require someone to replenish each system with water, even if just on a weekly basis, and therefore was not something that was a viable option.

It was resolved that the Town Council seek to employ a seasonal worker for 20 hours per week between May and October.

Grant funding requests: The following requests had been received by the council.

Cruse Bereavement Care -the town clerk stated they had been approached by this organisation for grant funding to help towards their volunteering training programme and the hire of appropriate venues to meet with clients. This organisation had funds of £7,803 as of March 2014.

The request was declined as the group did not fall within the remit of the Town Council's grant funding.

Santes Ffair Afterschool and Holiday Club - the town clerk stated that a request had been received from this organisation for funding for their 'Away Down Memory Lane' project, which had been inspired by last year's bicentenary. The children would learn about the two world wars and how it had affected Pembroke Dock. There would be cookery classes to learn about rationing, workshops, trips and craft activities. This organisation had funds of £2,103.97 as of December 2013.

The request was declined on his occasion.

Closure of Registration Outstations: Clr. Gwyther had requested for this item be discussed after he noted that Tenby Town Council were asking if it was possible for their staff to be trained to undertake this service to ensure there was no loss or inconvenience to the town.

The town clerk stated that she had contacted the monitoring officer to enquire what would be involved in taking on the service and had been informed that any staff would need to fulfil a number of criteria before training could take place.

It was questioned whether County Council could be requested to provide even a couple of hours service to Pembroke Dock each week to try and alleviate the problem. The town clerk would look into this.

Town Council website: Clr. Gwyther had requested that this item be discussed and the town clerk had included in members' papers a copy of the email received from Clr. Gwyther in relation to this item.

Among the items Clr. Gwyther had highlighted that were required to be listed on the website were:

• List political affiliations (if any) of councillors.

• Publish annual account.

• Publish notice of meetings which would include committee meetings to give at least three clear days' notice.

• Publish documents relating to the meeting where practical - not including private and confidential matters.

It was questioned how frequently members were asked to complete information forms. The town clerk stated that each councillor was required to complete an 'interests' form following each election or if any changes were made mid-term, i.e. school governorship.

The town clerk also stated that much of the information was already shown on the website, but where there were items that needed to be added, these would be done so.

Review of secondary education: The town clerk stated that there were to be a number of sessions held throughout the ounty to discuss this item. The County Council were looking for views on a number of different options available to the county. The town clerk had included in members' papers a copy of the information received. The session for Pembroke Dock would take place on Monday, April 20, from 6.30 - 8 pm, at Pembroke Dock Community School.

The town clerk asked for members to let her know if they wished to attend.

Clr. S. Perkins stated that it was very important that people attended the session for Pembroke Dock as this was probably the singlemost important change that had been suggested in the county for the last 50 years. Clr. Perkins gave a brief overview of the potential changes that were for discussion, including the request for Pembrokeshire College to be allocated 450 places into the proposed new Pembroke School.

Clrs. M. Colgan, J. Phillips, P. Kraus and P. George put themselves forward to attend the session.

Possible closure of Lloyd Bank: The town clerk stated that they had been informed that the possible closure of Lloyds Bank in Pembroke Dock was being discussed. The town clerk felt that, with the recent closure of Barclays Bank, it was important for the Town Council to contact Lloyds before any final decision had been made in order to put forward the positives of Pembroke Dock and reasons for them to stay open within the town.

The town clerk further commented that she had subsequently spoken to Lee Jones, the branch manager, who had confirmed that no closure was taking place, but a reduction in hours might be reviewed. Pembroke Dock was one of the largest branches of Lloyds within the area.

It was commented that in the press it had recently been reported that the branch was to close on a Saturday and a Wednesday. The town clerk stated she would follow this up with Mr. Jones, as this had not been mentioned in the conversation she had had with him.

Armed Forces Day: The town clerk informed members that Armed Forces Day would be taking place in Pembroke Dock on June 27 this year. The service would take place in the grounds of the Dockyard Chapel. There was to be a parade which would leave Pembroke Dock Community School at 10.30 am and march across to the chapel grounds in readiness for the service.

The British Legion had approached the town clerk and asked if the day could be made into more of a celebration instead of remembrance. The RBL commented that this could be done by encouraging all the local organisations like Sea Cadets, Army Cadets etc. to hold a stand and undertake some re-enactments.

The town clerk had spoken with the Sunderland Trust who had agreed for their grounds to be used and were more than happy to support the event. Castlemartin camp had also offered three vehicles to be present for the children to climb on, along with nine men to advise on the uses of the vehicles. The event would run until 3 pm.

Sale of Albion School: Clr. M. Murton had requested that this item be raised. The County Council had been discussing the option of the closure for Albion School. The town clerk stated that members were aware the building currently provided classrooms for adult learning in Pembroke Dock.

Clr. Murton stated that she had been approached by a number of residents as they had been advised by their tutors that the courses would be ending. She further stated that this would be another community venue that would be lost for residents who not only used this for education, but also for friendship and contact with other people.

Councillor Murton added that a few years ago public monies were put into the renovation of the property and she felt that Pembrokeshire County Council should not benefit from any potential sale of the property once it was no longer in use.

Clr. S. Perkins stated that, as adult education was part of her portfolio as a county councillor, she would like to assure Clr. Murton that adult education services were not closing - however, the Albion School building would probably close as PCC sought to move the services offered there to the Market building in town.

Clr. Perkins further stated that the decision had been madde quite recently by cabinet at County Hall as PCC had been faced with a 30 per cent cut by the Welsh Government to help provide adult education services. However, the cabinet proposal had been called into scrutiny and this would lead to a delay as a public consultation might well take place, which could last up to 12 months.

Hobbs Point car park charging: The town clerk had received a number of concerns from residents regarding the above proposal after it was mistakenly advertised in the press last month. The town clerk stated that they were later informed that the introduction of charges would be required to go out to public consultation before it could be agreed.

The initial proposal would be charging for two hours to be implemented within the Hobbs Point car park. The concerns which had been received were from a number of boat users and fishermen of the area who felt that if the charging was implemented, it would cause problems as people would start parking on the slipway instead.

The town clerk sought members' comments on this proposal.

Clr. P. George stated that the she spoke for the Town Council as a whole to say they were dead against the charges being implemented. The area in question was one that was visited by many people just to look out over the water views.

It was questioned why the introduction of charges at this spot in Pembroke Dock should be discussed at all when all car parking within Neyland overlooking the same waterway was free of charge.

It was further commented that those boat users and anglers would find the two-hour limit very restrictive in them continuing with the enjoyment of their pastimes if they had to clock watch.

It was felt that the area in question only had 19 parking spaces and taking into account the installation of a machine to take payment for any charges, would the area actually generate any funding for the County Council.

The town clerk stated that the Town Council must formally respond to the consultation.

Clr. D. Earl stated that he would table a proposal stating that the Town Council strongly put forward the points made during the meeting.

It was resolved that the Town Council respond to the public consultation for Hobbs Point car park charging, objecting strongly and stating the views and comments made during the meeting.

Letter of thanks - Pembroke Dock Friendship Club: A letter of thanks had been received from this organisation in response to the grant of £50 which was agreed at the last meeting of the council.

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT OF THE

TOWN CLERK

New town signage: The town clerk had received a copy of the proposed signage for the entrances to the town which had been distributed for members to review at the meeting. On the graphic provided, the signage was shown in a number of colour options that were now available to councils.

The town clerk had noted that other towns in the area had their crest on the signage and suggested that Pembroke Dock should also request use of their town crest, rather than the image shown on the example sent for review.

All those present agreed that the crest should be placed on the signage for the town.

There followed a discussion on which colourway should be used for Pembroke Dock and a vote took place on the options available, with the purple being selected with five councillors voting for it.

Civic amenity site consultation: The town clerk reported that a consultation had been received from Pembrokeshire County Council which outlined the proposal that the Pembroke Dock amenity site would be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The consultation anticipated that the opening hours would remain the same as the current opening hours for the site. It also reported that there were a number of other sites across the county that would also be affected by the closures.

There followed a discussion about the proposed closures when it was questioned if they were to be seasonal or permanently instated. The town clerk commented that the closures were proposed to be a permanent two-day closure on Mondays and Tuesdays.

It was stated that the Town Council were aware that cuts had to be made and therefore would reluctantly have to accept the proposals put forward in the consultation document from Pembrokeshire County Council.

Proposed move of Post Office: The town clerk informed members that she had been sent information via Simon Hart MP detailing the proposed relocation of the Post Office within Pembroke Dock. The letter stated that the proposal would be to relocate the Post Office to Cardcraft at 17 Gordon Street. A public consultation would run for six weeks and would like options on the following:

• How suitable is the new location and premises and how easy it is to get there?

• Are the new premises easy to enter and is the inside easily accessible?

• Are there any concerns about the new location and if so do you have suggestions that would help make it better?

• Are there any local community issues which might be affected by the proposed move?

• Is there anything that is particularly liked about the proposed change?

There followed a general discussion in which it was questioned why the Town Council had not received notification of the consultation by Royal Mail direct rather than it having come via Simon Hart. It was also commented that the current location of the Post Office did have a number of available disabled parking bays directly outside and there was no similar provision of parking within Gordon Street.

Other immediate issues that were highlighted during the discussions included:

• The new location was a very small premise compared to the current Post Office.

• It would leave yet another empty property within Dimond Street.

• With the closure of Barclays Bank, some residents were using the Post Office for certain banking transactions and it was felt that the new premises might not offer the same security to those users with the dual purpose premises (Post Office counter services and retail services of the Cardcraft shop)

• Security over the movement of parcels from the new location to the Sorting Office in Lewis Street - currently there was no requirement for external movement of these items as the Post Office and Sorting Office were linked by an internal corridor.

• Had the proposal been highlighted to residents?

REPORT FROM TOWN COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES ON OUTSIDE BODIES

Police Forum: Clr. M. Murton commented that there were a number of items following the recent meeting:

Speeding - following the recent checks that had taken place within the town, two people had been issued with tickets. The police had been asked to include Stranraer Road and Military Road when the checks next took place.

Dog fouling - PCSOs were patrolling with the dog wardens. The areas around the Innovation Centre were looking to introduce a 'No Dogs' policy due to the problems of fouling in the area and the field opposite that was used by dog walkers had also been fenced off, leaving some dog walkers angry that there was nowhere to walk their dogs.

Parking issues - there were still some issues being reported in Park Lane due to a business operating in the area. Further issues in Imble Lane, although this had been resolved for the time being.

Priorities for the month included continued patrols against dog fouling, continued speed checks and the spate of five-point turning that was occurring in Clarence Street.

Pater Hall Trust: Clr. P. Gwyther gave an update on the outstanding grant funding that the Trust was still hoping was available for further upgrade works at the Pater Hall. Where the Trust was having to make a decision on upgrading the curtains for the stage or the lighting within the main hall, they had decided to move ahead on both of these options, along with the improvements to provide baby changing facilities.

The Trust would have to pay for the upgrade works to take place and then reclaim the monies from the available grant funding that remained for them. The Trust accounts had £7,500 available to them to progress the upgrades.

Bookings for the Pater Hall were healthy at present.

COMMUNITY ISSUES

Commercial Row: Clr. J. Phillips questioned why the safety barriers were still in place around the area that the fallen tree once was within Commercial Row.

Credit Union: Clr. P. Gwyther suggested that the town clerk write to the volunteers on behalf of the Town Council to thank them for the years of provision of the Credit Union service. Clr. S. Perkins stated that County Council anti-poverty team were looking at ways to fill the gap left by the Credit Union closing. However, it was further stated that the Credit Union did not get the uptake of the town's residents that it was hoping to get.

Bush Street property: Clr. G. Goff stated that a property at 25 Bush Street had a very overgrown garden and he had received reports from residents that rats had been seen around the property. Clr. Goff requested that the owner of the property be contacted to request they attend to the vermin problem.

Railway lines: Clr. P. Kraus stated that the section of lines between Gordon Street and the St. Govans Centre had now been cleared of rubbish.

MAYORS REPORT

The Mayor, Clr. P. George, stated she had not had a busy month, but had hosted a group of Cub Scouts in the council chamber, who all enjoyed their visit She had also given a talk to the Friendship Club, taken part in the FAST Graduation at the Community School, and attended Pennar School to see off the choir on their trip to Paris.