Minutes:
Members
considered the service report card for the Planning Policy Service area.
Members
noted that within the report card there was specific mention of the
regeneration of Port Talbot town centre and concern was raised that other areas
of the County Borough may be missed out. Officers confirmed that this was not
the case and work was ongoing in other towns also.
Members
asked for clarity on public rights of way and in particular the maintenance of
the paths. Officers stated in 2016/2017 a one off amount of £100k was made
available to undertake maintenance on the most regularly used footpaths.
Officers continued that the works were undertaken that provided value for money
on footpaths within urban and urban fringe areas.
Members
asked what was the current maintenance budget and officers confirmed it was
circa £50k and this again was used on commonly used routes and generally as a
response to complaints.
Members
enquired whether there was any collaboration ongoing in relation to rights of
way maintenance. Officers confirmed there are agreements in place with 3
Community Councils of Pontardawe, Cilybebyll and Blaenrhonddan.
Officers
asked Members to note that there had been other agreements in place with other
community councils but these had ceased for various reasons including councils
thinking they were undertaking too much maintenance compared to what funding
they were receiving.
Members
were concerned that the disrepair will get worse as funding diminishes and
Officers confirmed that was the reason to allocate the additional £100k so that
as much work could be done as possible.
Members
asked whether officers were speaking with the companies who have pulled out of
roundabout sponsorship. Officers confirmed that the company which had the
contract for organising this (Immediate Solutions) were in the process of
speaking to the businesses and the Authority would be informed of the outcomes
of these discussions in due course.
Clarification
was sought as to whether the sponsorship signs needed to be bilingual and it
was confirmed that they did not.
Following
scrutiny the report was noted.
Supporting documents: