MINUTES OF THE DERWEN COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON
WEDNESDAY 17 TH MAY 2023 IN THE CHAPEL VESTRY, DERWEN AT 7.30 P.M.
1: PRESENT:
Councillors Hywel Jones (Chairman), John Crowhurst, Robert Hughes, Llyfelys Rees, Clwyd
Jones, Gaynor Jones and the Clerk.
2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE.
Councillor Thomas Griffiths.
3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST ON THE AGENDA ITEMS LISTED BELOW.
None received.
4. DISCUSSION WITH PCSO BARRY JONES FROM THE DEE VALLEY POLICING
AREA.
The Chairman welcomed PCSO Barry Jones to the meeting who covers the Derwen
Community Council area.
Members raised the main concerns of the Council of the Derwen Parking issues which has
not improved, and it is becoming the norm for vehicles to be parked at the bottom of Derwen
Chapel hill next to the church wall. This is causing a blockage for larger vehicles on a
regular basis. PCSO Jones noted the concerns of the Council and will regular patrol the
village and take any actions against the vehicle owners as required.
5. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN FOR THE 2023/24 TERM OF OFFICE.
Members elected Councillor Hywel Jones as Chairman of the Council for the 2023/24 term of
office.
6. ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN FOR THE 2023/24 TERM OF OFFICE.
Members elected Councillor Llyfelys Rees as Vice-Chairman of the Council for the 2023/24
term of office.
7. CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT.
Councillor Hywel Jones summarised the Community Council’s minutes for the past twelve
months and the Clawddnewydd Pond project has now completed and thanked members for
their support during the year.
8. CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS COUNCIL MEETING,
Members confirmed 15th March 2023 minutes as a true record and signed by the Chairman
9. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES NOT APPEARING ON THE AGENDA.
A: Denbighshire County Council will shortly commence the resurfacing works on the B5105
in Clawddnewydd Village together with the Clawddnewydd Village to Derwen Hall road.
B. Denbighshire County Council reported that the obstructing parking issues in Derwen
Village is a Policing issue and that the Council should contact the Police directly.
10. DENBIGHSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL DIGITAL OFFICER UPDATED REPORT.
Mr Philip Burrows provided Council with the updated report in appendix 1 below
11. CLAWDDNEWYDD POND UPDATE.
Councillor Hywel Jones reported that the Clawddnewydd Pond project has now been
completed.
Delegation from the Green Community Projects (Cadwyn Clwyd) together with Darren
Millar, Member of the Senedd for Clwyd West, will attend the project completion event on
Friday 23rd June 2023 on site at 11.30 p.m.
12. DERWEN MEMORIAL TREE PLAQUE.
The two “Memorial Trees” plaques and attachments have now been delivered and Councillor
Llyfelys Rees is in the process of erecting the plaques in Derwen.
13. ONE VOICE WALES TRAINING COURSES.
The Clerk circulated members with the updated dates for the One Voice Wales Training
Courses.
14. FINANCE.
A; Bank balances £6,250.00.
B. Receipts:-
1. First 2023/24 Precept receipt £2,390.00.
2. Cadwyn Clwyd (Green Spaces Grant) in respect of Clawddnewydd Pond £3,210.00.
C. Authorised Payments:-
1. R.L. Rees for Clawddnewydd Pond project works £4,500.00.
2. Brunel Engraving stand attachments for the plaques £216.48.
3. Monthly HSBC bank charges fees £5.00.
4. Canolfan Cae Cymro for the April 2023 meeting of the Council £26.00.
15. REVIEW THE CLERK’S SALARY FROM 1 ST APRIL 2023.
Members resolved to arrange a separate meeting without the Clerk in attendance to discuss.
16. PLANNING UPDATE.
Denbighshire County Council has granted planning permission for planning application:
12/2023/0068 – Erection of 1 number dwelling and associated works (amended design to
previously approved scheme) on land adjoining Anneddwen, Clawddnewydd.
17. CORRESPONDENCE.
Already covered elsewhere within the minutes.
16. DISCUSSION WITH THE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC IN ATTENDANCE.
None in attendance.
17. HIGHWAY ISSUES.
Already covered in matters arising from the minutes.
18. URGENT MATTERS UNDER SECTION 100B(4) OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT
ACT 1972.
There were no urgent business to consider.
19. NEXT COUNCIL MEETING – WEDNESDAY 19 TH JULY 2023 IN THE CHAPEL
VESTRY, DERWEN AT 7.30 P.M.
APPENDIX 1.
1. Derwen is not in any major Openreach upgrade programme. Their current plans span
until December 2026. There may be unannounced upgrades.
2. I have mapped out clusters of properties that are eligible for funding and whom I
recommend for Fibre Community Partnerships (FCP). Please bear in mind Openreach will
add more premises to these FCPs, even one that are not eligible for funding.
3. The Welsh Government funded fibre programme that finished in February, only
installed fibre to 13 properties, not the 42 we expected.
4. Therefore, there should be approximately 169 premises in the Derwen Community
Council area that are left without fibre.
5. Openreach has expressed an interested in upgrading 84 premises, these are now
classed as ‘Under Review’. They are therefore not eligible for the Gigabit Funding, sadly
there is no guarantee Openreach will upgrade these premises. I will forward you the list of
these properties.
6. There for there are 128 funding eligible premises, that we should
target.
7. The UK Government scheme called ‘Project Gigabit’ has put forward 28 properties
in the Derwen Community Council area for tender. The tender goes out to all telephony and
internet provider/installers. It is hoped that Openreach will submit a quote for some of the
210 premises in your area that do not have fibre. We need to proceed as normal as there is no
guarantee any will installed via this scheme.
8. The North Wales Economic Ambition Board have a pot of money to install fibre into
premises in North Wales. They do not yet know the scope of their project or which premises
they will choose. They are having to wait until Project Gigabit announces which premises
they will be installing.
9. Openreach are now open for Fibre Community Partnership applications, but they
will not process them until Project Gigabit has announced which premises the scheme will
upgrade.
10. The Gigabit Voucher funding is worth £4,500 per premise. The voucher scheme is
not taking applications at the moment. It will reopen once Project Gigabit has announced
where it will install. Probably a couple of months. It should be open by the time we need to
apply.
11. The Openreach copper cable exchanges are being turned off by December 2025 and
all telephony exchanges will be digital. Premises that have not been upgraded to fibre will
continue to use their copper cables for telephony/internet, their signals will be converted to
fibre based Internet traffic at the roadside box.
12. Premises with digital telephony, called Voice Over IP (VOIP) will lose their
telephony service during a power cut. If their router does not have power, it cannot relay your
phone calls. This is worrying for areas with no 4g coverage. Openreach can provide a battery
backup for those classed as Vulnerable. Otherwise people can buy Uninterruptable Power
Supplies (UPS) from most computer retailers
13. There is grant to cover the cost of purchasing and installing 4g antennas and a 4g
router. The antennas are external and are mounted on a pole to enable them to receive a better
signal. This has proved effective in many rural areas, giving speeds between 30-100mbps.
The grant is ‘apply before you buy’. I am happy to talk to any of your residents/businesses
about this.