Minutes of the Projects Committee held on Thursday 27th June 2018 at 7pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Abergavenny

Present:

Chairman –    Cllr T Davies (Mayor)

Cllr N Tatam

Cllr P Simcock

Cllr M Harris

Cllr R Harris

Cllr T Thomas

Cllr L Van de Vyver

Cllr M Hickman

In attendance:

J Lee (Town Clerk)

Apologies  

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs G Jones, S Dodd, F Morgan, T Konieczny, D Simcock  
Declarations of Interest  

None  
Matters arising from the Action Table  

Outstanding actions:  

To contact Network Rail re car parking at the station – agreed to put on hold pending more detail of Abergavenny station improvementsTo chase up additional dog bin for Grofield ward – MCC has confirmed that this is on orderTo arrange a facilitated session for all Town councillors – arranged for 14th July. Cllrs Thomas, Van de Vyver and Hickman will be unable to attend.    
Public Toilets Report  

The summary of the recent meeting between MCC and the Town Clerk were discussed. Town councillors are still unhappy with the level of service and conditions of the some of the toilet blocks.

As a result the following actions are to be pursued:  

To ask MCC long the wash hand basin in the Ladies in WHL has been out of action and why are the gents toilets at Brewery Yard partially closed and why hasn’t the Town Clerk been informed of these issues.  

MCC officer is to be asked to accompany a small delegation from the Town Council on a visit to all the toilets to highlight poor maintenance.  

All Councillors to take photos of issues that they see when visiting the toilets and to forward to the Town Clerk  

Town Council to inform MCC that a rebate will be requested if the toilets are unavailable for any length of time  

MCC has informed the Town Council that it will not fund sanitary bins or nappy bins and have provided a price for provision of these items. This will cost £2535 for a year emptied on a weekly basis. Confirmation is required as to whether this includes bins in the disabled toilets.  

It is recommended that Council agrees to fund the provision of sanitary and nappy bins for the remainder of 2018/19 and for this to commence asap  

The pros and cons of carrying out a public survey was discussed. The survey would gather views of residents and visitors to the town regarding the usage, levels of satisfaction and future provision.  

Cllr Tatam suggested that the MCC Community Networking event on Wed 5th July would be an opportunity to carry out the survey. All agreed, JL to prepare a questionnaire. Cllr M Harris requested a fact sheet is prepared in advance of 5th July so Councillors have key information to hand when talking to people.  

It was also agreed that Councillors should, on a rota basis, carry out the survey on a Tuesday and Saturday. Cllr Thomas suggested an online survey and that a survey be placed in the Abergavenny Chronicle.  
To consider whether to have bunting in the town centre in 2018  

The meeting was informed that the cost of putting up and taking down bunting in the town centre would be £3200. It was agreed that bunting should be put up and actioned asap.  
To consider the request for support for the Reading Challenge 2018  

This item is to be referred to Finance Committee, however it should be noted that the Projects Committee would recommend support  
To agree presentation for the July meeting  

Agreed to receive presentations from Rachel Rogers, MCC Museum Service and Sue Harrison, Plastic Free Abergavenny.    
Any Other Business  

No AOB  

Meeting closed at 8.04pm

RECOMMENDATIONS

That Council agrees to fund the provision of sanitary and nappy bins for the remainder of 2018/19 and for this to commence asap. Cost £2535 per annum   

ACTIONS

Town Clerk to contact MCC with regards to the ongoing issues with the level of service re public toiletsJL
  
To prepare a Public toilets questionnaireJL
  
To prepare a factsheet for use on 5th July Community Networking eventJL
  
To organise a rota for carrying out town centre Public Toilets SurveyJL
  
To contact MCC re erection of bunting in the townJL