Held at 6.30pm on Wednesday 6th April, 2005 At Oakdale Community Centre

Chairman’s Opening Remarks

Chairman Roger Evans welcomed all those present.

Apologies

Jan Bennett, Deb Tucker, Maria Martin, Peter Gomer, Don Touhig MP and Selwyn Evans.

3. Membership

It was agreed that there would be a voluntary contribution of £1 per year membership.

4. Correspondence

A letter had been received from Trinant Partnership inviting members from the Oakdale and Penmaen Partnership to attend their next meeting on April 20th at 6.30pm in the welfare hall. Some members of the Oakdale and Penmaen Partnership have been meeting with members of the Trinant Partnership regarding a project to develop a bridleway.

5. Co-option of members to the Executive Committee

The constitution permits the co-option of up to 4 members. Officers will continue to meet monthly with the Executive Committee meeting twice a year. The co-opted members were not elected at the AGM as there were too few members present. Nominations were therefore invited from those present.

Granville Hale nominated David Davies. David has worked very hard on a number of projects, particularly with the WW2 commemoration events. This was then seconded.

Mair Gwynne was also nominated and seconded.

Jeanette Watson had also expressed an interest in joining the committee. She was therefore nominated by Margaret Salerno and seconded by Ray Moore.

Ray Moore was also nominated and seconded onto the committee.

4. Public Liability Insurance

Tina is currently working on quotations for public liability insurance to cover all 28 community Partnerships. This would be cheaper than each Partnership applying for their own. The Oakdale and Penmaen Partnership will need public liability insurance for the bridleway project and all the events organised as part of the WW2 commemoration. Tina will bring a price to a later meeting.

5. Charitable Status

Now that the constitution and committee are in place it would be beneficial for the Partnership to apply for charitable status. The Partnership was asked whether they were in support of applying to become a charity. It was agreed that the application should be made. Granville and Karen will meet to go through the registration forms.

Oakdale Silver Band mentioned that they had experienced problems in registering as a charity. They had only partly completed the application pack. Karen offered to help. John would get the Secretary of the band to contact Karen to progress the application.

6. Rhiw-Syr-Dafydd School

On the 15th of March a proposal came to Cabinet regarding Rhiw-Syr-Dafydd school. It was reported that there was a shortfall of money available to build the new school. Originally the new school was costed at £2.2 million but has now been revised and will cost £3.2 million. This represents an increase of over £1 million (50%).

The reason given for this overspend was that there had been an increase in building costs of 20-25% over the last 12 months. The remainder of this overspend was attributed to the need to replace the existing changing rooms and realign the two pitches, costs that the Local Authority say had not been originally envisaged. In order to alleviate the overspend CCBC could sell off the present school site with an estimated return of £500,000. The Education Directorate have stated that they would have no need for the site once the new school had been completed.

The Councillors asked the Cabinet to re-look at the proposal for a number of reasons. First the Partnership had not been consulted which contradicted the Partnership Agreement signed by Malgwyn Davies and members of the Local Authority. The Partnership Agreement was adopted so that there would be free and open discussion on all issues relating to the local area between all parties. Cllr Pritchard therefore objected on these grounds.

There had also been complications relating to the housing developments (Persimmon and Redrow) at the top. They had originally agreed to pay CCBC to connect into their services, the proceeds from which could have gone towards the cost of the new school. However, this was later found to be impossible as any connection fees would have to go back to the Welsh Development Agency not CCBC. Cllr Pritchard is now taking this up.

Granville then contacted the Chair of the Education Committee at CCBC in order that the Partnership’s views could be taken into account. He also spoke to Cllr. Hardacre, who assured him that their opinions would be taken forward and discussed. However, when the decision was made at Cabinet no mention was made of the Partnership’s feelings.

Cllr. Pritchard has suggested to CCBC that the school could be used as a community facility e.g. for use by the various groups in the area such as the guides, scouts, youth club etc. At present the Community Centre lacks adequate storage space which prohibits other groups from using the building. Unfortunately, the Cabinet still went along with the official’s decisions.

However, the Partnership then heard that the scheme would be brought back before the scrutiny committee for re-consideration. This took place on Monday afternoon (4th of April). Granville and Roger both went along to represent the Partnership and put forward the Partnership’s concerns. They also spoke to Cllr. Tudor Davies (Cabinet member for Regeneration) and Tim Peppin about the importance of the Partnership Agreement and how the Partnership’s views had not been included in the discussions.

Roger presented to the committee the Partnership’s disappointment that proper Partnership working had not been adhered to and the importance of the Partnership’s voice being heard. The Oakdale and Penmaen Partnership meet monthly and have a regular attendance of 30 people and various very active subgroups so should not be overlooked. Roger also asked for the opportunity to put forward alternative uses for the school site.

Some research has also been carried out by the Partnership into the claims made by CCBC that the building costs had risen by 20 to 25% over the last year. Using the same sources as used by the Local Authority it was found that in fact they had only risen by 4.5%. The other claim that the costs of replacing the changing rooms and carrying out the pitch improvements had been unforeseen has also been questioned. This must have been anticipated when drawing up the original plans and costings.

The Cabinet have agreed to re-look at the site next Tuesday where they have asked that the Partnership present a firm proposal of what their intentions are with the building. Any presentation would therefore need to be with CCBC by the weekend, Monday at the latest. This gives the Partnership very little time to prepare a case for community use of the school. Granville has therefore spoken to CCBC to say that this is unfair and gives the Partnership insufficient time. It is hoped therefore that an outline proposal can be presented to the Cabinet following which an extension may be granted in order to have the time necessary to draw up a detailed scheme. Granville has spoken to Jonathon Jones, the scrutiny committee organiser who guided them through the meeting to try and grant this extra time. He is due to come back to Granville today or tomorrow.

The Partnership members present were in full agreement of the actions taken by the committee so far.

Many members could not understand how the original costs could be so far short of the revised costs. Other schools had cost over £2.2 million 3 years ago so the original costs were always going to come short.

Plans for the new school have been presented to the governors at Rhiw-Syr-Dafydd and were available for the general public to view at the end of last term.

Money obtained through planning gain was also mentioned as a possibility of extra funding but unfortunately there has been very little planning gain with the housing developments. Much of it has been used on road improvements and access etc. Redrow and Persimmon cannot be forced to pay money to CCBC for the building works carried out at the site.

Ideas for community use of the school were requested from those present. Various suggestions were made including a centre for health and wellbeing, youth activities, arts workshops etc

Tina explained that any proposal must not duplicate facilities already in the area. Any project must be able to evidence the need for the project, must have identified funding and must be proven to be sustainable in the long term (in terms of staffing, volunteers, running costs etc).

The Partnership must look at the objectives contained within the Community Strategy and find out what it is aiming to deliver in the County Borough. If the proposal can meet both a need identified in the Strategy whilst at the same time meeting the needs of the local community the project will have a far better chance of succeeding. It may also be a good idea to get a number of other Partnerships on board, for example the Partnership has already worked very successfully with the Trinant Partnership. Economic issues and job creation are very important issues for the County Borough and therefore try and link any proposal with this.

The building could also be partly hired out to local businesses for office space, which would help with meeting the running costs and aid long term sustainability. This could also mean that other parts of the building could be devoted to community activities, classes etc.

The Partnership does need to bear in mind that it is not a deprived ward and therefore where others (e.g. New Tredegar) have had success in securing funding for major community initiatives it will always be that much harder in Oakdale.

Contact has been made with Lanfarnam Grange regarding the school site as they are looking for premises for art workshops. However, in order for any arts project to be successful would require the backing of CCBC and therefore must fit in with its Arts Strategy. The Arts Strategy has recently been completed and has identified Bedwas as the location for an arts centre. The area also has Blackwood Miners Institute.

There are several avenues that can therefore be explored but the Partnership need to be granted this extra time to develop a firm proposal. With the growth in new housing in Oakdale there will be the need for new facilities.

The Partnership would like to thank Cllr. Pritchard for all his hard work in having the issue called back before cabinet.

7. Trinant / Oakdale Bridleway Project

An application was successfully made to the Community Planning Key Fund to open up and connect bridleways. These will form community pathways for horse riding and walking and link up to the business park and Penyfan. The funding was a joint bid with the Trinant Partnership, totalling approximately £27,000. The culverts on the area of land would be dangerous for horse riders and therefore the grant will pay for a number of bridges. The grant application had to be made at very short notice and the money will need to be spent by October. Tenders are currently being sent out to two companies.

The application to the Keyfund was successful as it hit a number of priorities listed in the community strategy and showed evidence of Partnership working. Everyone was thanked for their involvement in the application. The project will mean that there will be designated routes for horse riding so that the horses no longer need to pass through the centre of the village.

It is hoped that eventually the Partnership can link up with other community Partnerships in the area, including the Upper Sirhowy Valley Partnership. News of the project can be included in the next edition of the newsletter.

8. Project Updates

GreenGRO

Roger Evans reported that the sub-group went on a site visit with the Highways department to some of the identified sites. The group had hoped to remove the tarmac at some of these sites and plant flowerbeds. Unfortunately, this will not be possible. It will however be possible to place planters on the surface, due to the funding received from Wimpey. There will be six sites for the free standing planters, including outside the Presbyterian Church, Beech Grove near the school, below the Vicarage, opposite the Comprehensive School on the woodland side, to the side of the hotel and outside the new Wimpey housing development. The group are now awaiting the final go-ahead from Highways. The project also needs to be passed by Planning. Tina has sent an email regarding this issue.

Once the planters are installed it will be the responsibility of the community to maintain them. Volunteers to water them will therefore be required.

The group have also met to design the questionnaire and it is now being looked at by the Research department of CCBC. It is hoped that it will be available in May to go out with the newsletter so that both can be delivered at the same time. The results will then be fed into the action plan.

Village Square

Rob Onions reported that the grass has been cut at the cenotaph and flowers have been planted. The area is to be planted again and it is hoped shrubs can also be planted at the square. Six tubs will be placed in the square and CCBC is to provide the flowers and compost. These will also need watering.

The cenotaph project is ongoing.

The public toilets at the square – cleansing has been contacted. The issue will be included in the questionnaire and if the majority of responses agree, the sides can be taken down and the area used as a viewing area.

Roundabout Project

Granville Hale updated the Partnership on this project. The bridge has now been taken down and the stages of work documented by Mike’s photographs. A thousand tonne crane is to travel down to the area to lift a section onto the suspension bridge. It is hoped that the developments can be turned into a digital film.

In terms of the roundabout there have been lots of developments and meetings with Costains, CCBC, GAVO and Groundwork Caerphilly. Braces Bakery has agreed to fund the technical aspect of the project in terms of drawings etc. Costains and Braces Bakery were both thanked for their assistance. Groundwork Caerphilly would be completing the plans for the scheme.

The original design was to plant 5 oak trees, 7 birch trees and 2,300 crocus bulbs. Michael Organ completed a design for the roundabout comprising a miner’s shaft, lamp and carriages of coal. However, this was seen as too ambitious. Geoff Jones had also designed a scheme which could now be adopted. Geoff explained that his design was based on the theme of regeneration, with plantings of trees and bulbs to attract wildlife (bluebells, foxgloves etc) There would also be a number of wooden sculptures of native species such as otters, squirrels etc.

There were some concerns over visibility at the roundabout, particularly due to the planting of large trees. The roundabout is extremely large (approx. 43 metres across) and slightly domed so it would be impossible to see across the roundabout anyway. All meetings that have taken place have involved members of the planning department so there are no safety issues with the planting of trees at the site. A plaque would also be placed at the roundabout with the various logos of Costains and the Partnership. There would be no seating on the roundabout for safety reasons.

Could the Local Authority provide a sign for the centenary of the village?

Recreation Ground

A meeting of GAVO and the Local Authority is arranged to take place.

Homefront Recall

(4th – 10th July)

The project is to commemorate the end of WW2. David Davies and Granville Hale have been working very hard to organise a week of events and have been in contact with the local schools and choirs. Four concerts have been arranged for the week. A special piece of music will also be composed. Granville and David have contacted Spam who will be sponsoring the event and providing tins of spam. There will also be a community ‘Roll In Roll Out’ event and an exhibition about the wartime.

Granville, David and Karen are working on an application pack to the lottery’s Homefront grant scheme. Volunteers will also be needed to help organise elements beforehand and on the actual days. A working party is needed to take the project forward in terms of organisation and co-ordination. People could even adopt a school.

The project will be good practice for the community when they hold events to mark the centenary of the village.

9. Any Other Business

There has been a request from the United Reform Church in Woodfieldside regarding joining the Partnership. It was agreed that they would be added to the mailing list.

Street Lighting – the lights at the rear of the community centre should be connected to the mains and not to the community centre.

Telephone – it had been agreed twelve months ago that the Partnership would pay the telephone bill for one year. The calls are very low (less than £5) but the overall cost over a year is £300. The Community Centre and Partnership need to consider the future of the telephone and how the bills will be paid in the future. Granville will speak to Doreen.

Partnership Computer – it had been hoped to locate the computer at the community centre but there is not an adequate office space. The centre will be visited by a representative of CCBC whose role is to advise on the best use of space.

Date of Next Meeting:

Wednesday, 4th May, 6.30pm at Oakdale Community Centre.