The annual general meeting of St. Florence Community Council was held last month, followewd by the regular monthly meeting. Among items considered and discussed were the following:

Chairman's Report

Clr. Eardley gave a short review of the past year and commented on several achievements, including meeting all of the BDO financial requirements and the new flooring and decorating of the Village Hall. He also mentioned that it was imperative that they raise the public awareness of the council, who they are and what they do to support the community, and also the need to generate more income from the Village Hall. He ended his report by stating that the council now had a firm foundation to build on and carry forward into 2015 and beyond.

Clerk's Report

Details of the 2014-15 income and expenditure accounts for both the Village Hall and council were circulated to councillors. All accounts were now in place to forward to the internal auditor and subsequently the BDO. She reiterated the chairman's comments that more income needed to be generated from the Village Hall so that it could hopefully become self-sustainable. She ended by thanking the councillors for their continuing support over the last 12 months

HANDOVER

Appointment of chairperson: All councillors were asked in turn if they wished to stand for the election of chairperson. Clr. R. Hughes proposed that Clr. Buckmaster take on this position. No other candidates came forward. The proposal was seconded by Clr. S Hughes and all were in favour.

Appointment of vice-chairperson: The new chairperson proposed that Clr. S. Hughes continue as vice-chairperson. This was seconded by Clr. R. Hughes and all were again in favour.

MONTHLY MEETING

The meeting opened with Clr. Buckmaster thanking Clr. Eardley for all his work over the past 12 months. He added that they still had the outstanding invoice from the previous BDO reports that required payment. He also mentioned the shortfall in the Village Hall accounts and that extra funding needed to be raised. The main priorities for the next year would be the extension of the Village Hall car park and he hoped that the support of all councillors towards this goal would be forthcoming.

Public Participation

Two members of the public were present. One mentioned that the hedge at 1 Parsons Green needed to be cut back by half, so it became a hedge. The council would contact Smart Gardens and ask for a price to do same. Smart Gardens would also be asked to cut back the large low shrub overhanging the pathway leading to Parklands.

Matters Arising from the minutes

Restoration of War Memorial: The clerk has been asked to contact Mrs. Sarah Baker to ask if she had any information on same. The clerk and Clr. S Hughes would also visit County Archives and look through the old meeting minutes to try and find out further information required.

Cleaning of disabled toilets: County Clr. Kidney informed the meeting that the agreement to clean the disabled toilets by Pembrokeshire County Council was only ever verbal. Cleaning ceased when the main village toilets closed and they were under no obligation to continue cleaning. Clr. Eardley proposed that this be added to the caretaker's list of duties and the job specification be amended to include same. All were in favour.

Longstone development: County Clr. Kidney was still waiting to hear back from Pembrokeshire planning with the meeting date to discuss this application. Once the date had been confirmed, Clr. Eardley would attend this meeting together with County Clr. Kidney.

Village Hall and Village Hall Matters

Signage on Village Hall fencing: Clr. Eardley proposed that a letter be forwarded to the Football Club and other advertisers stating that if they wished their signage to remain, an annual charge would be levied at £50 per board, to come into effect on September 1, 2015. Larger signs would be charged at a higher rate. All were in favour. This funding would be used towards the cost of the caretaker carrying out inspections of the boards and also the fencing.

Parking of vehicles and trailers on Village Hall car park: Due to limited parking during busy periods, the persons who own the vehicles/trailers would be asked via letter to park elsewhere. County Clr. Kidney would find out further information from PCC on their stance on parking on such car parks.

County Councillor's Report

County Clr. Kidney mentioned that fly-tipping of grass cuttings had been reported near to the closed toilet block and that this was being monitored by Pembrokeshire County Council. He also reported that the damaged bench alongside the Ritec between the shop and the ford had been replaced.

Clr. Eardley asked that County Clr. Kidney request PCC to spray the weeds in this same area.

County Clr. Kidney mentioned that the county council would like to use St. Florence Community Council as a model for further contracting out of some services and that somebody from PCC would be attending a future meeting to discuss this in more detail.

Items submitted by Councillors

Clr. Randles asked that the clerk make sure that all monthly minutes are forwarded to the Tenby Observer for inclusion in the local newspaper.

Clr. Eardley proposed that the job and work specifications for the caretaker and Smart Gardens be discussed and clarified at the June meeting. Information for both contracts would be forwarded to all councillors before the next meeting.

Clr. Eardley outlined a new piece of legislation that became effective from May 1. Along with the electronic publication of minutes and agendas, councils would now be required to electronically display the annual audited accounts and a declaration of members' interests on line. A note would be displayed on the notice boards giving the web address to raise awareness of all information that was published.