01.2015

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Community Council held at Llanddewi Rhydderch Village Hall on Monday 5 January 2015 at 7.30 p.m.

Present:- Mrs M Shooter (Acting Chair), Mrs A Letton, County Councillor Mrs Sara Jones and Messrs R Adam, C Brown OBE, R Evans, G Thomas, A Nevill, J Tod and H Candler (Clerk)

Apologies:- Apologies for absence were received from Mrs L Ball and Mr J Vater.

Community Policing:- It was regretted that no representative of the Neighbourhood Policing Team were present. The Clerk reported that he had been informed by Gwent Police that in late February/early March Inspector Sarah Taylor would be replaced by Inspector Huw Jones. This is part of Gwent Police’s restructuring programme. Gwent Police will be split into East and West Policing Units. will be grouped in the East structure alongside Newport. Monmouthshire will be split into two sections – Monmouthshire North (, Monmouth and ) and Monmouthshire South (Caldicot and Chepstow). Meanwhile Monmouthshire’s LPU Commander, Chief Inspector Nick Moyles has moved to 24/7 Silver Cadre in the Force Control Room. Superintendent Glyn Fernquest will head the Monmouthshire East LPU supported by Chief Inspector Jo Bull (Operations) and Chief Inspector Matthew Williams (Partnerships). How these proposed changes will affect this Council remains to be seen.

Minutes:- The minutes of the previous meeting held on 1 December 2014 were approved by the meeting, subject to two alterations at the foot of page 62 to show that the statements about a resident of The Bryn were the Clerk’s personal view, were approved by the meeting and signed by the Acting Chair.

Matters Arising:- (i) Llangattock -nigh -Usk

Mr R Adam reported that the leaves had not yet been cleared from the road opposite the Steel Horse Café on the B4598. Also, nothing had yet been done with regard to the culverts under the B4598 by Church Lane, Llanvihangel Gobion. County Councillor Sara Jones has asked An drew Welsh to attend a site meeting with Mr Adam.

The Clerk reported that he was still waiting to hear from Michelle Kent of Melin and PC 576 Maldwyn John following their attendance on several residents of The Bungalows at 65

The Bryn on 3 December arising out of the multi-agency meeting held on 11 November 2014. The Clerk reported that the Independent Investigator, Melanie Mercer, investigating the complaint of a member of the public against this Council had sent a letter on 24 December rejecting the compla int. The Clerk will circulate a copy of this letter to members and County Councillor Sara Jones. The Clerk confirmed that Mrs Mercer did not intend to charge the Council for her work in connection with this matter.

The Clerk also reported that he had received a letter from the Ombudsman indicating that he did not intend to investigate the same member of the public’s complaint against Councillor A but that he will be proceeding to investigate his complaint against Councillor B. Councillor B had heard from the Ombudsman and had replied denying the allegation made by the member of the public . In connection with the complaint against Councillor B the Clerk informed the meeting that he had been asked by the Ombudsman’s Investigator to send a copy of this C ouncil’s approved Code of Conduct and a copy of the Acceptance of Office signed by Councillor B . The Investigator had also requested whether Councillor B had attended a Code of Conduct training course, to which the Clerk will reply that Councillor B was present at the Presentation on the Code of Conduct given by Mon. CC’s then Monitoring Officer, Mr Murray Andrews, in March 2011.

County Councillor Sara Jones reported that she was expecting good news about the proposed speed limit of 50mph on the B4598/R64 very shortly.

(ii) Llanover Mr A Nevill reported that no tree felling had yet been carried out in Upper Llanover following the erection of notices of closure of various footpaths. He also reported that the notices had been substantially ignored in any event. Fortunately, there had been no damage to local business such as the Goose & Cuckoo Public House. The NRW Officer concerned, Donal Clancy, had sent some plans to Mr Nevill to show the forestry work which was planned.

Mr Nevill reported that the loose cover on the A4042 referred to at the last meeting had been dealt with promptly and he had sent an email thanking David Chan, the local representative of South Wales Trunk Road Agent, for his prompt action in resolving the problem caused by the defective cover.

Mr Nevill also reported that the request for white lining on the A4042 was at last being attended to.

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There was still no news about the alleviation of flooding on Llanover Road in Upper Llanover. County Councillor Sara Jones reported that she was continuing to press Andrew Welsh to attend to this problem.

The Clerk reported that he had heard from Mon. CC’s Assistant Engineer (Traffic), Brian Cleary, that it was intended that the promised SatNav sign be erected on the C9.2 during January.

(iii) Llanfair Kilgeddin Mrs A Letton reported that she had had a site meeting with Highway Engineer Andrew Welsh with regard to the flooding by Glanu sk Farm on the B4598. Subsequent to this meeting Mr Welsh arranged for new road drains t o be installed with new gullies feeding surface water from the adjacent fields into these drains. The work had been carried out before Christmas and the occupiers of Glanu sk Farm, Mr and Mrs Watkins, were very pleased with the work which had been done. M rs Letton also reported that new road drains with gullies had also been installed near Llanfair Kilgeddin School. Also, blocked drains had been rodded and cleared at Panty-y-Goitre. The only concern about this latter work was that a water main appeared t o have been damaged. This problem is still being investigated.

Mrs Letton announced that she intended to resign as a Governor at Llanfair Kilgeddin Church in Wales Primary School. She also advised the meeting that the only child who was likely to need school transport from the village in years to come in her Reception year at the school. However, there was no reason why a bus shelter might not be needed by children coming to live in the village in the foreseeable future.

(iv) General There was a d iscussion about the email from the Chair, Mrs Lesley Ball, requesting photographs and information for inclusion in the proposed website. Mr J Tod advised the meeting that he was co-ordinating information with regard to the Llanddewi Rhydderch and Coed Mor gan area. It was suggested that the website should include photographs of Panty-y-Goitre Bridge (by which 3 US Servicemen were drowned shortly before D Day in the Second World War having been caught in the branches of a tree which had become stuck in one of the bridge arches). It was also suggested that another important landmark in the area was St Mary’s Church, Llanfair Kilgeddin with its mediaeval mural.

Messrs C Brown and J Tod were formally thanked for arranging the trip to the Senedd building and Ebenezer Chapel (with lunch) in Cardiff on 10 December. It was agreed that it had been a most interesting and enjoyable trip for everyone who 67

had attended. Mr Brown was pleased to report that his application for a £1.2m Heritage Lottery Gra nt to bring the Chapel “back to life” and creating a new community hub had been successful.

Community items:- (i) Llangattock -Nigh -Usk Mr R Adam reported that there was a tree stuck in one of the arches in Pant-y-Goitre Bridge which was impeding the flow of water. He will report this problem to Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

(ii) Llanfair Kilgeddin It was reported that the finger post sign at Llanv air Cross had been damaged and needed to be replaced.

Mrs A Letton reported that some street lights were not functioning in the village. She will ascertain the numbers of the street lights and report the fault direct to the One Stop Shop in Abergavenny.

Mr G Thomas complained that the signs to Usk and Abergavenny opposite the junction of the B 4598 and R53 had still not been replaced.

(iii) Llanddewi Rhydderch Mr J Tod complained that nothing appeared to have been done to alleviate flooding on the small roads within his area in spite of the meeting last year with Mr Andrew Welsh to show him the defective road drains/gullies. In the recent rains there was the us ual flooding outside the Little Llandeilo Farm and near Hall Farm. County Councillor Sara Jones will chase Mr Welsh about this.

Mr Tod also reported that John Judd had complained to him that he had had a near accident on a corner on the B4234 shortly before Christmas when at about 5.30pm i.e. in poor light he had come across horses, some of which were being ridden by children, riding three abreast up this road just above Maindiff Court Lodge. The Clerk said that he had already spoken to the owner of th e Stables, Andrew Lewis, about this but will speak to him again.

(iv) General Mr C Brown OBE reported that BT was changing cables with a view to providing fast broadband for the Gobion and Nantyderry exchange through landlines but this will not “go live” until August 2015.

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Correspondence:- (i) General The Clerk referred to the following letters/circulars which he had received:- (a) from One Voice Wales, - consultation letter re draft National Transport Plan 2015, - notice of training sessions in February, - email with paper from Cornwall Council on Devolution of Services;

(b) from Monmouthshire County Council, - updating information re: Budget 2015/16, - email to which is attached link to Rural Alliance’s Newsletter, - the December 2014 Newsletter for Volunteers and Friends of the Monmouthshire Countryside Service, - from the Local Democracy Manager, forms of request for copies of the Electoral Register which the Clerk distributed for completion, - From County Councillor Peter Fox, leader of Mon. CC, Mr John Prosser, Chairman of Mon. CC, and the Abergavenny Town Mayer Martin Hickman, a Christmas card with Christmas greetings to the Chair and members of this Council;

(c) from Avon and Somerset Pol ice, - link to Senior Siren;

(d) from Aging Well in Wales, - details of new initiative for older people launched by the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales in October 2014;

(e) from MrFlag - email on flags for Community Councils:

(f) from Hannah Thompson, - notification that she will be filming in the Llanover area, to which the Clerk had replied that she would be expected to pay a small donation of up to, say, £50 if she wished to film in the Churchyard (it seems that the film is about a local person who wishes to spread their ashes at a bridge down the road from Llansabbath House. Ms Thompson may well film at the church because it seems that this local person has memories of the church).

Finances:- The Clerk produced Reconciliation Statement (see attached) which he will discuss with the Chair on her return to the UK. He reported 69 that taking account of the recent credit of £998.64 by way of refund of VAT from HMRC there was currently £2,733.59 at bank to cover the rest of the financial year’s outgoings.

Payment of the following accounts was approved:-

Gabb and Co (administration expenses and - £214.00 disbursements for the quarter to 31 December 2014)

A H B Candler (Clerk’s travelling expenses for quarter - £47.70 to 31 December 2014)

It was agreed to delay consideration of a donation to the Monmouthshire County CAB and other donations to the next meeting.

Planning The Clerk reported that he had written to Mon. CC’s Planning Department opposing the application by McDonalds for an outlet in Llanfoist on the basis that its location was too close to the nearby waste management site and that it would deter travellers from using the facilities offered in Abergavenny town centre.

With regard to the latest application for Ty’r Pwll Farm County Councillor Sara Jones reported that the application had been allocated for consideration by the Planning Committee and a site meeting would be arranged shortly. The site meeting will also be attended by an Enforcement Officer who will consider the position with regard to the two new silos located by the supposedly mobile but actually stationary chicken house.

The meeting noted the approval by the appropriate sub committees of the following applications for planning permission to Mon. CC:-

Applicant Description Mr D Parry Full and listed planning permission for conversion of 2 store barns into residential units and associated acce ss at The Elms, Llantilio Pertholey, Nr Abergavenny, NP7 8BH.

The following applications were considered and approved:-

Applicant Description

Sandra Rowland Provision of single storey kitchen extension to rear of property at Gobion House, Llanvihangel Gobion, Nr Abergavenny, NP7 9BA

Mr R Williams Replacement of existing flat roof dormers with a pitch roof dormers on front (south) facing elevation. 70

(However, the Clerk will complain to the Planning Enforcement Officer that an access/exit h as been constructed onto/off the B4598 without previous planning permission)

AOB:- (i) It was agreed that the Annual Dinner should take place at The Hardwick on Tuesday 20 January. Mr Tod will agree a menu at a cost of no more than £30 per head with the proprietor, Mr Stephen Terry, and will circulate menus to the Clerk.

The next meeting of this Council will take place on 2 February 2015 at the Sir John Herbert Memorial Hall, Llanover at 7.30 pm

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