CYNGOR CYMUNED LLANSADWRN COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting of Llansadwrn Community Council held via MS Teams at 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday 5th November, 2025.
Present:
Chairman: Councillor C. Jones
Councillors: W. Davies, H. Evans, L. Rowlands
County Councillor A. Davies
1. Apologies
Councillor J. Evans, Councillor C. Powell
2. Minutes of the previous meeting and matters that were not included on the Agenda
Minutes accepted as correct.
3. Declaration of Interest
County Councillor A. Davies – Green GEN Cymru
Councillor L. Rowlands – Llansadwrn Reading Room, Cornwallis
Councillor C. Jones – Green GEN Cymru
4. Matters arising from the minutes:
4.2 Llansadwrn Reading Room
The Balance Sheet for 2024/2025 had been sent to the Charity Commission. A new Chairman and Secretary had been appointed for the Reading Room. The Clerk to arrange for the new Chair to have a copy of the Constitution. A Christmas event was being discussed, possibly singing carols, Father Christmas was being organised by the Rotary. It was agreed to obtain the costs of installing WiFi in the Reading Room, this would assist with events and also assist anyone in the village who found it necessary to work from home.
8. Brownhill Junction
Nothing further to report. The Clerk was organising a meeting between the Community Council and the Woodland Trust. Hopefully someone can attend the next Community Council meeting.
8 (1) Llansadwrn Play Area
No issues to report. There were brambles in the area but someone has cleared them from the new-build side.
8 (iii) Web Site
Nothing to report.
8 (2) Highway Issues
The potholes continue to be a major problem on the roads. The chippings on the road by Waungelli could be the responsibility of the landowner. The County Councillor agreed to enquire further information regarding such issues, it is a problem in many places where water on someone’s property carries chippings out on to the highway. The hedge below Waungelli had been reported.
8 (5) Green GEN Cymru
Locals were continuing to receive requests for surveys, the letters being sent recorded delivery. A group had been sent up of every Community/Town Council where wind turbines, etc. was an issue. Minutes of every meeting they had held had been sent to everyone. The Clerk to arrange for their minutes to be placed on our web site.There was a meeting called Justice for Wales being held on the 29th of November.
8 (6) Co-option
It was agreed to remove this from the Agenda.
8 (7) Grass cutting contract
Copies of the Contract for last year and the Invoice received were send to every member in order to draw up a Contract to advertise the work by the end of March 2026.
8 (8) Community Garden
No further updates to report.
5. Correspondence
(1) Carmarthenshire County Council – Planning Application PL/09999 – Sauna, Llwynbwch, Llansadwrn
(2) One Voice Wales – cost of living crisis
(3) Carmarthenshire County Council – Land Management survey
(4) Carmarthenshire County Council updates
(5) Tywi, Usk – pylons update
(6) Welsh Government Consultation
(7) One Voice Wales – Section 6 Biodiversity
(8) Emergency Road Closure C2169
(9) Review of Electoral arrangements
(10) Carmarthenshire County Council updates
(11) Temporary road closure C2169
(12) One Voice Wales area meeting
(13) One Voice Wales cost of living crisis
(14) Carmarthenshire County Council Bureau information
6. Reports
(a) Report from County Councillor
(a) 0300 333 2222 emergency telephone number
(b) Dolau Tywi buses – volunteers required
(c) Green GEN Cymru – discussing at full Council
(b) Report from Cornwallis Liaison
Councillor L. Rowlands gave an update regarding Cornwallis. Negotiations were continuing with Bro Myrddin Housing and also a private developer. The possibility of carrying out work at the Mansion was being discussed and giving the building to the National Trust. Hopefully next year there will be definite news and maybe we can move forward with this ongoing project.
7. Finance
(a) Payments
Clerks Wages/expenses – £501.60
HMRC/NIC – £129.95
We Dig Media – £576.00
Defib World – £243.79
Poppy Wreath – £30.00
(b) Donations
Requests had been received from the following;
Carmarthenshire County Council annual toy appeal, Y Lloffwr, Urdd Eisteddfod. Annually in November we give £250.00 to Llansadwrn Churchyard. These requests were discussed and it was agreed to give the annual donation to Llansadwrn Churchyard.
(a) Signing quarterly income and expenditure reports/bank statements
An updated financial report would be sent to everyone on receipt of Bank Statements.
(b) Budgets – 2026/2027 and precept
The precept was discussed briefly but would need to be finalised at the January meeting.
IRP payments
An email had been sent in order that Councillors could either accept or decline expenses.
Audit 2024/2025
Auditor General’s report and audit opinion
I certify that I have completed the audit of the Annual Return for the year ended 31 March 2025 of Llansadwrn Community Council. My audit has been conducted on behalf of the Auditor General for Wales and in accordance with the requirements of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 (the 2004 Act) and guidance issued by the Auditor General for Wales.
Audit opinion: Qualified
Except for the matters reported below in my Basis for Qualification, on the basis of my audit, in my opinion no matters have come to my attention to give cause for concern that, in any material respect, the information reported in this Annual Return:
• has not been prepared in accordance with proper practices;
• that relevant legislative and regulatory requirements have not been met;
• is not consistent with the Council’s governance arrangements; and
• that the Council does not have proper arrangements in place to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources.
Basis of Qualification
Accounting Statement
I am unable to conclude whether or not the Accounting Statement properly presents the Council’s receipts and payments and financial position:
• The Council has not provided an adequate explanation of variances between the current and prior year accounts.
Annual Governance Statement
In my opinion, the Annual Governance Statement is not consistent with the Council’s internal controls and governance arrangements for the year:
• Assertion 2: The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, requires the Council to create and publish a plan for councillor and staff training. The Welsh Government provides statutory guidance on this, which states that the plan must be approved by the full council and include details on the type of training, participant numbers, timeframe, and cost. The Council has not met its obligation under the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021to create and publish a training plan for members .
• Assertion 3: Section 50 of the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru etc. Act 2013 requires the Council to publish its audited accounts online. Regulation 5 of the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2014 requires the Council to publish the Annual Governance Statement alongside the accounts. Regulation 15 of the 2014 Regulations requires the Council to publish along with the accounts, any certificate, opinion, or report issued, given or made by the Auditor General.
The Council has not yet published the 2023-24 accounts and audit opinion.
• Assertion 6: The Council has not provided evidence that it calculated its budget requirement in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and that the precept has been set in line with the budget. The Act requires the Council to take into account its income and level of reserves when setting its budget requirement. We recommend that the Council sets a budget in accordance with the Act.
Other matters and recommendations
I draw the Council’s attention to the following matters and recommendations which do not affect my audit opinion but should be addressed by the Council.
Publication of information
We recommend that the Council reviews its publication arrangements to ensure that all relevant documents are published as soon as practicable.
Unpresented cheques
The Council has amended the brought forward balance for 2024-25 by £18 for the cancellation of a cheque written in 2023-24 but not presented.
We recommend that the Council reviews the guidance contained in the Practitioners’ Guide for the correct treatment of unpresented cheques.
There are no further matters I wish to draw to the Council’s attention.
8. Any other matters
Poppy Wreath
Details of the Service would be sent to the Chairman.
9. Date of next meeting
The next meeting would be held via MS Teams at 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday 7th January, 2026.