Old Colwyn (East) Residents’ Association
Minutes of the Open Meeting Wednesday 11th November 2009
Item 1. Those present signed the register, there were 40 persons present. Chair Richard Poynton,
Secretary Mark Chatham.
Item 2. Apologies – Sgt. Kirkham, David Curtis, Monty Slocombe, Councillor Glyn Jones.
Item 3 Minutes of last meeting on Wednesday 14th October 2009 were read out by the secretary, they
were proposed as a true record by Gwynfor Jones, seconded by Janet Gardner. All showed in favour
– Accepted.
CBM Mike Williams commented that the reported people under the arches, are sitting there drinking
and are not wanted there by police or public. Mike reported that they have been moved on today and
told not to return. The police are checking up on the designated area status of the arches. New signs
will be erected.
Item 4 Matters arising from last month’s minutes~
9th Member of the Committee ~ members will be aware that we needed a ninth member to join the
committee. We are pleased to inform the meeting that this month, Ray Gardner has volunteered and
has been co-
Chair.
Pier issues ~ Last month, Councillor Cossey reported that Conwy County now had permission from
the Receiver to engage marine structural engineers to examine the pier. That examination has now
been done and the report is awaited.
Last meeting, a resident spoke of a group of between three and six people who regularly meet
quite regularly on the concrete steps in the mornings under the Old Colwyn arches they have been
seen to be drinking openly from wine bottles and other open vessels. During the month more people
have made reports the police were informed and are interested in hearing from anybody who has
felt intimidated by the presence of these men to take steps to provide a long term solution.
Item 5 Standing items~
Policing/Local Crime / Nuisance
It was reported that there had been a stabbing in Cadwgan Avenue on Saturday night three weeks
previously.
There have been reports recently of a van windscreen being smashed in Kensington Avenue /
junction Min y Don Road.
Also two cases of damage by stones in Peulwys Lane one to a double glazed window plus
surround and the other to the frontages of houses with stones possibly with a slingshot.
Last month you will recall there was a report from police of stone throwing in Mill Lane.
Windows have been smashed in the village recently. The Red Lion has had its window damaged;
Poyntons window was damaged between 3.23am and 3.30am on Saturday morning 31st October.
On street drinking and purchasing for underage people is still an issue in Old Colwyn. The Chair
commented that we are trying to work with the police and local Authority to cut it down.
Refuse wheelie bins stored on the street.
Many bins are often wide open and untidy on the street, this is most unacceptable as a health issue
as well as unsightly to residents.
Our Association Website -
October unique visitors 433
November up to the 7th 106
Cliff Road parking. The installation of yellow lines will happen soon.
Item 6. Any other business.
The secretary reported that on 20th October he received a copy of the Britain in Bloom judges
report for 2009. Colwyn Bay achieved Silver Gilt in the Coastal Towns section.
St John's Church garden received a mention from the judges; we were pleased to tell of the support
that we have had from Conwy County Council Parks and Gardens Department which has contributed
to that mention.
Judges comments ~ Horticultural Achievement
The judges were particularly impressed with: The combination of sustainable plantings and
wildlife areas blended into a perfect setting at St John’s Church.
Soap scum in Afon Colwyn ~ The secretary photographed soap residue in the river in Min y Don
Avenue. Soap residue has been causing scum for quite some time now. There was a build up of
leaves which had emphasised the problem. The Council has been informed and are looking into the
source.
The Parks and gardens department has commissioned a world class chainsaw carver
Simon O’Rourke to make a public work of art from a large tree trunk in Min y Don woodland,
Beach Road. It is well worth a look, it’s brilliant.
Fence along the railway line ~ David Jones MP met with Network Rail about the state of the fence
along the embankment of the Old Colwyn promenade. They have agreed to replace it.
Alleged problems with the HSBC Bank machine in Cefn Road. It is not helpful to relations with
the bank when allegations are made that HSBC is conspiring to close the machine. This association
worked hard with councillors and elected members to retain a machine and we are grateful to HSBC
for the facility. It has to be appreciated that machines go wrong from time to time. It is not generally
faulty.
Item 7 Police report ~
CBM Mike Williams gave the following report.
About the men drinking in the day under the Arches, they are known to police and Mike has seen them,
there is an intention to get them moved.
During the month damage has been the biggest problem; there has been an amount of window
damage, there have been cars damaged on Llanelian Road.
Mike suggested that a lot of this relates to alcohol consumption, there have been parties held at the
football club which has resulted in the damage to cars. People going to watch football in the clubs
have had too much to drink.
There are plans to visit pubs on a more regular basis like last year as a lot of problems are coming
from the pubs at present.
There are still youngsters getting alcohol, police recently conducted an operation in Old Colwyn; only
one store failed and served a lad who was underage.
Old Colwyn has a new Sergeant to the policing team, Sergeant Kirkham who will attend a meeting in
due course.
There are still problems with arson and drug dealing in Old Colwyn. Hopefully Mike said he will get
together with the Sergeant and put something in place to combat these matters. He also asked if
anyone has information in relation to the arsons or drug dealing; please pass the information to the
police.
On a good note, Mike commented that the streets of Old Colwyn are looking very clean, the police will
be working more closely with the councillors to ensure the same objectives. He commented that the
sculpture is fantastic and a real feature for the village. The Remembrance Sunday Parade was
excellent.
There was a discussion about CCTV with relation to an offence of criminal damage in Abergele Road
recently when the CCTV did not pick up anything. The Chair commented that he sometimes wonders
why we pay for it if it does not deliver results.
Councillor Bob Squire added that for 14 years, it has worked perfectly and has never been offline.
It has missed offences; it cannot cover everything all the time. It has proved its value and is worth its
weight in gold. Since it went in during 1995, a lot of it needs replacing and that is not helped by the
current financial climate. That is why he, Mr Rafferty and the Chief Executive had recently been to
Cardiff; as a result the Council has £1Million for a North Wales system with a Central Control. It will be
put right but without CCTV over the years many cases which have been successfully prosecuted at
court would not have been detected.
Mike Williams spoke of an incident at Top Shop recently when all the offenders were filmed by CCTV.
It is very useful he added.
A resident asked for the definition of antisocial behaviour versus criminal behaviour. She added that
a lot of people who are causing damage in Old Colwyn often seem to come under the banner of
antisocial behaviour which ends up with a lighter sentence than if they were charged with criminal
damage. If particularly persistent offenders were locked up for a longer period, we might get a bit of
sense. Not just given an ASBO and told to behave themselves.
CBM Mike Williams replied that if it is criminal damage, it is dealt with as criminal damage; arson is
dealt with as arson. If damage is caused and we can prove it we deal with it as damage. Antisocial
behaviour is just causing a nuisance. It is sometimes frustrating that offenders go through a procedure
of Caution followed by Final Warning. They seem to get quite a lot of chances these days
Mike said that he works three weekends out of five, if he is working on Friday and Saturday night he
will be in the village on foot. If he is on foot there are not many problems, if he is off for two weekends,
there is nobody here, the response officers are too busy; it is just a lack of resources. He can come
back to work and there have been problems and people say they never see a policeman.
A resident complained that people could be heard under Llawr Pentre Bridge shouting regularly.
Mike replied that Jackie’s is a magnet
Councillor Squire expressed concern that damage is being done to windows. “We should be finding
more out about the perpetrators, where they are from, why they are here because that is part of the
problem. I have done freedom of information requests from the police as to where people who have
committed serious offences in Conwy in a twelve month period have come from. I was staggered
because I had 129 pages of names on my computer and three quarters were from outside Conwy
County. That is a big problem. Mr Rafferty is using a questionnaire that I devised when dealing with
people who put themselves forward as homeless; people are homeless in two or three months in
Wales. We are finding much more information out and that is the only way to tackle the problems. We
cannot expect Mike to be there for every incident, he just can’t be”.
Mark Chatham (secretary) added that CBM Mike Williams had hit the nail on the head when he said
that when he is around there is no problem, obviously the problem is that Mike and other fellow officers
are just not here and not getting a chance to be here.
Councillor Chris Perry said that he could accept what Councillor Squire says but we do have people
that come from Colwyn, that were born in Colwyn that are causing these problems. He added that he
would just like to know that when these people who have lived here for years commit these offences,
is there no responsibility on the parents?
CBM Mike Williams replied that there is nothing in place for that; a young offender is dealt with as
such, with no comeback on his parents.
Ray Gardner added that with all the criminal damage going on in the village, we need to get a grip
on the people causing the problems before we start talking about spending money on improving the
area. We are giving them more opportunity to cause damage.
The Chair summed up this part of the proceedings by asking everyone to take care to let CBM Mike
Williams know about anything which could lead to arrests. He can’t do his job without the help of the
public.
Item 8 Speaker ~ The Chair welcomed Councillors Cossey and Carlisle, who were present to
speak about their ideas for the regeneration of Old Colwyn which had been gleaned from meetings
of a Business Forum . He added that some persons had been to a similar public meeting on Monday,
some had not and that he was sure that there would be a search for another consensus of opinion for
the Councillors to take forward.
A separate minute was prepared about this discussion and can be read by clicking here
The Chair thanked everyone for attending and giving their views
Item 10 The next meeting is December 9th 2009 at 7pm.
