To keep Members informed of the progress being made with the bid to the Cydcoed organisation and for feedback.

The interim bid/application which merely outlined the plans for cleansing the local lakes and planting shrubs was in theory successful.

As well as the Garw Valley Community Council there are also Scruffs (Kiting Company) & Mynydd Carn Ltd involved in the bidding process.

Scruffs intend creating a mountain boarding/dirt surfing course whilst Mynydd Carn intend initially to create a small modular forest visitor centre.

Although only one bid is made the monies received will be divided amongst the parties and there is to be no further involvement amongst same parties except for this Council distributing the money to pay for various sections of works completed i.e. for all parties

Cydcoed has determined that the total amount payable is £135,000.00 therefore divided equally means £45,000.00 to each party.

The second part of the bidding process involves submitting more detailed explanations (attached) for Cydcoed followed by a works programme & costings. This is likely to be amended in order to fall into the criteria set by the company.

To date the Clerk has been involved in form filling and numerous visits to various parts of the Garw Valley in order to assess those areas that would benefit from landscaping or improvement.

The first priority was to inspect the lakes, followed by areas that had been neglected since the WDA regeneration programme.

The lakes were considered a priority as they would be the focal point for tourists & an attraction for new anglers to the Garw.

Originally the plan was to include landscaping the areas around the lake, however it was considered that the landscaping mentioned would not show any significant visible sign of improvement & therefore the following idea is now put to members for consideration:

That the land fronting Railway Terrace & Gwendoline Terrace, Blaengarw is converted into a parkland that would include flower beds, trees, shrubs, tables, benches new pathways children?s play areas and an associated car park

The parkland would be in close proximity to the lake which in turn is close to the forestry, therefore not only would this be an attraction to local residents & visitors but would meet the criteria set by Cydcoed.

I also recommend that the Blaengarw lake is cleansed of the debris, weed etc that is detrimental to fish life.

This is only the Clerk?s suggestion; Members are asked to consider this and/or formulate your own ideas.

I recommend that Council creates a sub-committee to deal with Cydcoed matters and make recommendations to full council.

It is unfair on the Council for the Clerk to make suggestions/recommendations without members having a proper input, debate and overview of the situation.

Leaflets /flyers to be posted to residents of Blaengarw seeking their views on the matter

The land in question is owned by Bridgend C.B.C. and is as you know subject to negotiation for a thirty year lease, should members agree to entering this long term lease would allow for the necessary improvements/projects to be completed.

Attached is a copy letter received from BCBC?s Property Section which is a response to the Clerk?s comments regarding their original terms for a thirty year lease on the land.

It appears that the terms suggested will be amended, however the senior council seems reluctant to cleanse the lakes.

This can be overcome by including an amount in the final bid for such work to be conducted.

Should any project be completed the Council must show that it is capable of sustaining it, i.e. maintenance, upgrades, new furniture etc.

I envisage a number of ways for doing this e.g. local advertising income, website advertising, leasing the lake for boating competitions etc., percentage of income from the Angling Society from granting permits to visiting anglers and of course mild increases to the annual precept.

An application to have the new footpaths/rights of way created and inserted into the Definitive Map would increase footpath maintenance income.

This is a long term aim where should the project be successful a gardener and a warden would need to be employed for obvious reasons.

This in my opinion is phase one and should take up to one year to complete.

This can be followed by further bids to Cydcoed for projects at Pontycymmer.