Council Meeting - Police, Benches and Signs

This was a long session - just about 4 hours, though it started well, zipping through the agenda quite briskly.

it started with questions from the public about whether the lime trees on Broad Street would be pollarded this year (they think so) and should a large camper van be allowed on a resident's parking permit? There's one in Broad Street, which appeared over the summer. It's obviously used, but it's very noticeable because it is so big. Rob Golesworthy said he'd have a quiet chat with the owner.
Anita from HOWLS said that the management group were compiling the information for the meeting they are having next week with the portfolio holder for the County Council and the Chief Librarian, on 14th September. And on 12th September the full Town Council are meeting with the full County Council Cabinet to discuss issues around the transfer of assets from the County Council to the Town Council, since discussions have been dragging on for some time now. Members of the Town Council hope to meet with HOWLS on the 13th September to compare notes.

The police report began with the news that the PC had broken his toe, and had therefore been on light duties over the summer!
They've had 144 calls in August, with a big jump in burglaries, including a break in at SPAR (again). Though they defended the front entrance after the last spate of break ins, this time the miscreants seem to have got in through the side window. There have also been problems on farms surrounding Hay, with trailers and quad bikes being taken, so the police are appealing to farmers to think about security a bit more seriously. And online, one person drawn into a scam lost something like £200,000, and another lost £30,000 after a virus infected their computer, so the advice is to keep virus protection up to date.
Good news is that anti-social behaviour is down, though there has been a problem with trespassers at Talgarth Hospital. Apparently a ghost hunter went exploring the semi-ruinous buildings there and posted a video on YouTube - he has half a million followers, so a lot of people have been coming to Talgarth to have a look round themselves. Quite apart from the state of the building (which is a scandal in itself) there is a problem with asbestos there, so it really is not a good idea to go wandering around there.
There have also been pedlars selling things like tea towels and so forth door to door in the area - without the required license, so the police advice is to alert them if any of these people are seen.
One local theft involved two people getting a cashier confused about change and making off with £60, and a fake £5 note was found at the Chemist's yesterday. The plastic window in the note was clear rather than having an image of Big Ben on it.

Nigel the Town Clerk was given the go-ahead to order a new bench to replace the one opposite the Cinema Bookshop which was destroyed. The wooden bench which is there at the moment will be moved to Hay Bridge and set to face the river rather than the road, as the present one is, and the bench at the bridge will be refurbished by the Woodland Group and set up down by the river bank.
The idea of having a container for the Woodland Group's tools has hit a snag as they haven't been given permission to set it up, and will have to pay a fee to the National Parks to get permission, so they're back to looking at alternative sites for it.

Plans to extend the cemetery are moving slowly - one of the new councillors has been to see the landowner and says he thinks there has been a bit of progress, but it's slow work.
Meanwhile the Bowls Club would like the Town Council to support their new club house they want to build financially. All the councillors could suggest was that they applied to the Recycling Fund.
The idea to put a plastic film recycling facility in the car park has been refused, so the Town Council are looking for different places to put that.
The Town Council's accounts have been audited, and the result was good, apart from the comment that the Council has too much money in its reserves. Some of this is earmarked for various projects which have not yet gone ahead....
There's a metal Gateway to Wales sign, at present erected in the Council Chambers garden temporarily, which the Town Council want to erect permanently near the toilets at the top of Oxford Road car park, where they could have local information displayed. They just need the necessary permission from the County Council.
More signs are planned at the Gliss, too - a map and two interpretation boards, and they want to paint the old sign post outside the Council Chambers black and white and add two new finger signs to it. These would show the direction and distance of both of Hay's twin towns, Le Redu in Belgium and Timbuktu.