02.2016

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Community Council held at the Sir John Herbert Memorial Hall Llanover on Monday 1 February 2016 at 7.30 p.m.

Present:- Mrs M Shooter (in the Chair), Mrs A Letton, Mrs L Ball, and Messrs A Nevill, C Brown OBE, G Thomas, R Evans, J Vater, J Tod, R Adam, I Tweddle and H Candler (Clerk)

Apologies:- Apologies for absence were received from County Councillor Mrs S Jones.

Neighbourhood Policing:- There was no one present to represent the Neighbourhood Police and no Crime Report was available. The Clerk will circulate the January Crime Report when he has received it. However, Cllr. Tweddle reported that his caravan had been stolen one night. Fortunately it was traced by the police to Gloucester and recovered by him soon afterwards.

Declarations of Interest:- It was agreed that these would be raised as and when appropriate.

Minutes:- The Minutes of the previous meeting held at The Llanddewi Rhydderch Village Hall on 7 January 2016 were approved by the meeting and signed by the Chair.

Matters Arising:- (i) Llangattock -nigh - Cllr. Adam reported that he had completed a formal application for a formal inspection of Play Area which the Clerk will send to PlaySafety Limited. He said that for Councils there is a reduced fee of £66.50 per site.

Cllr. Adam also reported that he had not yet heard from Tim Bradfield of Mon CC with regard to the hedge adjacent to The Bog.

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(i i) Llan over Cllr. Nevill reported that he had met Mark Langley and Tim Bradfield of Mon CC to discuss a project to eradicate invasive weeds in Upper Llanover . He had suggested to them that a map be drawn up showing the various locations of invasive weed. He had also spoken to Steve Smith of BBNPA who will ho pefully provide volunteers to assist. He will also speak to Kyle Williams who is endeavouring to eradicate invasive weeds from Hendre-glyn Farm. It was agreed that Llanover Estate will need to co-operate because much of the invasive weed is on their lan d. Cllr. Nevill’s plan was to prepare a map in the first year and then proceed to eradicating the weeds in the second year. It was understood that Himalayan Balsam needs to be pulled out but other weeds can be poisoned.

Cllr. Evans reported that it was planned to apply resin to the gravestone of the Victorian Harpist John Jones at Llanover Churchyard in order to stop it flaking.

Cllr. Tod reported that he had not yet made contact with Rev John Collier with regard to th e proposed railing adjacent to the footpath leading to St. Bartholomew’s Church but will try to do so soon.

Cllr. Nevill reported that flooding on the C10.1 had been particularly bad recently and in the middle of the flooded area was a large pothole near Blaengwenff rwd Farm.

It was reported that the velothon had been moved to 22 May. The Clerk reported that he had been in touch with Rhian Davies who will be arranging for a representative of the velothon to meet a group of local council representatives in cluding Llanfoist Fawr and Community Councils as soon as possible.

(ii i) Ll anfair Kilgeddin The Chair reported that a Governors’ meeting planned for last week had not taken place because there had been no quorum. She had asked for it to be rearranged before 17 February which is the date when the consultation period for the closure of the school ends. The Clerk reported that Gabb & Co had not yet received a substantial reply to their latest letter to the Diocesan Trust. Cllr. Thomas reported that he had been approached the Rev. Tim Clements about the possibility of having a meeting with representatives of Village to discuss what will happen to the proceeds of sale of the school and the plot of land

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adjacent to it. The Chair will contact the Rev. Clements to arrange a meeting with him.

Cllr. Thomas reported that he and other local residents had written to Mon CC as part of the consultation process with regard to the Flood Risk Mana gement Plan. In particular he and the other residents had pointed out that Llanfair Kilgeddin Village suffer ed regular flooding from surface water coming down from higher land and that the flooded land included all or part of the site which had been earma rked for residential housing in the LDP. There had been particularly bad flooding in the village over Christmas and on 3 January 2016.

(iv ) Llanddewi Rhydderch Cllr. Tod reported that one tree on t he Llanddewi Rhydderch Village Green had been properly pollarded but nothing substantial had been done to the other trees. He said that local residents were unhappy because the issue is not just Health and Safety with regard to the Play Area on the G reen but also the reduction in light reaching the houses on the north side of the Village Green. The Clerk will pursue this matter with Tim Bradfield of Mon CC.

(v) General Cllr. Nevill brought the meeting up to date with progress on the project to provide superfast broadband and a Wi-Fi connection in the various Village Halls so that they can become training hubs for community, business and friends. Access to fast broadband will be obtained by fibre optic in respect of the Llanover, The Bryn and Llanfair Kilgeddin Village Halls. Access by Llanddewi Rhydd erch Village Hall will be provided free of charge by AB Internet through their proposed mast on the Little Skirrid and line of site connection. The provision of equipment etc. will be provided under the Capital programme of the Rural Community Development Fund and training and support for digital technology to the local communities and user groups will be provided under the Vale of Usk Leader Programme. There will need to be an element of match funding which can be provided through volunteer hours. No mo ney will be payable directly by this Council. Cllr. Nevill reported that the next step in the project was for him to inform Village Hall committees of the proposals.

Community items:-

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(i ) Llan gattock -nigh -Usk Cllr. Adam reported that he had received complaints about the state of the Village G reen which he understood to be the responsibility of Monmouthshire Housing. The place where storage containers have been located was in a very poor state. Also, the trees on the Village G reen needed to be pollarded . They should be pollarded regularly but it had not been done for many years.

Also with regard to the Village G reen Cllr. Adam said that double yellow lines were needed to prevent inappropriate parking of veh icles. Phil Anslow of Anslow Coaches had threatened to instruct his drivers not to come in to the G reen if they could not reverse properly when collecting or disembarking passengers at the bus shelter on the Village G reen. At the present time his drivers have to drive around the G reen which sometimes they can only do by driving onto the grass which is causing damage.

Cllr. Adam also reported that there were now four Directors of the Bryn Trading Post Limited living in the Village.

The Chair reported tha t she had arranged a meeting with Nick Ramsay AM and Mr Andrew Sheasby with regard to the noise emanating from the road surface of the A40 (M) adjacent to the Village. It had been suggested that the erection of fencing would alleviate the problem but this would be expensive and there was no real alternative to resurfacing. However, resurfacing work was likely to be a low priority of the Welsh Government for some time. The Clerk will write to the Welsh Office, with a copy to Mr Sheasby urging action withi n the foreseeable future.

The Clerk was requested to ask Mon CC to remove the flowers and other objects which had been laid at the side of the road on the B4598 between Bryncain and Llangattock House. The funerals of the young men who were killed in the road traffic accident at this point will take place this week and it was felt proper that the flowers etc. should not remain in place after the funerals . The flowers in particular will become very unsightly as they deteriorate in condition.

(ii) Llan ddewi Rhydderch Cllr. Ball complained that the banks and hedges on both sides of Banol Lane (C24.6) had been damaged by large vehicles. Cllr. Vater said that he had seen the damage done by Mon CC’s refuse lorry which had also knocked

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stones out of the banks. The Clerk will ask Mon CC to scrape the lane and ensure that the refuse lorries treat these narrow lanes with more care.

Cllr. Tod requested that a gout on the north side of the R40 opposite Little Coed Vir be cleaned out to elevate flooding.

(iii) Llanover Once again there had been complaints that traffic lights placed on the A4042 between Hardwick roundabout and were left in place well after flooding had receded. The Clerk will write to the Welsh Government to request that once traffic lights were located on trunk roads they be monitored more regularly.

(iv) Llanfair Kilgeddin Cllr. Letton reported two large potholes in Pengam Lane . She also expressed concern about the blocked drains on the hill above the village on the R53. The meeting was informed that Mr John Cadma n had written to Mon CC about these drains which need cleaning out because they had become blocked with stones and chippings washed down the road.

(v) General Cllr. Tod complained about the poor traffic management resulting from the road works on the Hea ds of the Valley road. He complained that on one particular occasion recently barriers were left up overnight unnecessarily. It is understood that Llanfoist Community Council has made similar complaints which the Clerk will write to the appropriate authority to support.

Correspondence:- (i) General The Clerk reported that he had received the following correspondence/circulars:- (a) From Welsh Government , • Email with link to consultation documents on Draft Local Government (Wales) B ill with detailed proposals for the reform of Local Government, • A letter with links (http://www.traffic- wales.com/Trunkroadssafetyreview.aspx ) and http://wales.gov.uk/topics/transport/road- uses/speedlimitguidlines/?long=en from the WG Department for Transport (the Clerk reported that he had looked at the link an d had seen the Transport Minister wa s proposing

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no change in the speed limit between Llanover and Penperlleni. (b) From One Voice Wales , • Email with invitation for nominations for New Year 2017 Honours Round, • Email with correspondence from Welsh Government on Transparency of Senior Remuneration in the Devolved Welsh Public Sector, • Email with link with regard to First World War Partnership Day 2016, • Email on Queen’s 90 th birthday Beacons (the meeting requested that the Clerk register this Council with the Beacon Co-Ordinator. Cllr. Brown assured the meeting that he would be able to use again the Beacon which had been given to the local scouts), • Email with list of local training courses for February 2016, • Email with links on Climate Change Commissio n for Wales. (c) From Westminster Forum Projects, • Details of Seminar on future for policy on biodiversity and natural capital in the UK. (d ) From Monmouthshire County Council , • Emails with links on proposed closure of Llanfair Kilgeddin VA Church in Wales Primary School, • Various Press Releases on National Eisteddfod and Education, including one stating that Wynne Evans will be joining Caldicot, and Monmouth Male Voice Choirs at an event in support of the Monmouthshire and District National Ei steddfod to be held at Caldicot Castle on Saturday 18 June).

Planning The meeting confirmed the approval by the local committee of the following planning application to Monmouthshire County Council:-

Applicant Description Mr and Mrs Smart Proposed variation of condition 3 (closing existing access) from consent number DC/2015/00820.

The meeting also confirmed the recommendation of the local committee to refuse the following application to Monmouthshire County Council:-

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Applicant Description Mr Richard Williams Widening of an existing gateway to allow farm vehicles to access property without obstructing the highway and put in a recycled hard core track across the field linking to the farm buildings (for reason that as Mon CC has already been info rmed this council does not accept that there has ever previously been an entrance from/exi t to the B4598 at the point shown on the application. Anecdotal evidence supporting this statement goes back over 50 years. Accordingly there is no gateway/access t o be widened and thus no justification for a track across the field to the alleged access. The Clerk confirmed that he had forwarded photographic evidence to support this contention).

Finances:- The Chair and the Clerk reported that they had attended a meeting of the North Monmouthshire Liaison Committee (NMLC) on 26 January at which there had been further discussion with regard to the proposal by Mon CC that community and town councils in Monmouthshire should increase their Precept to cover the cost of services without extra funding from Town and Community Councils. They reported that the general view of these neighbouring councils was that it was wrong to ask local councils to fund these services to any extent when Mon CC had decided not to increase council tax up to the full amount available under central Government capping (4.95%). The Clerk circulated a copy of a letter sent to Mon CC by NMLC stating that there was no logical reason why Mon CC should put itself “in a better position with the electorate by putting the burden onto local councils, most of which are very small and not equipped to deal with it either through finances or staff”. The Chair and Clerk reported that while some local councils had increased their Precept this was to cover new projects rather than existing services. As a result it was unanimously agreed to restrict this year’s Precept to £10,500.00, i.e. the same as in the previous two financial years. Cllr. Brown took the opportunity to produce a document which the Clerk will circulate summarising the legal liability of community councillors in respect of work done or commissioned by their council. In particular he stated that community councils are responsible for “any loss, injury or damage to property or persons arising from its activities or from any equipment or services it provides”

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The Clerk reported that S.137 expenditure (“free two pence”) to cover discretionary expenditure in 2016017 will be £7.42 per elector.

Payment of the following invoice was approved

Mon CC (reimbursement of Clerk’s salary for quarter to 31 December 2015) £607.50

The Clerk advised the meeting that burial fees for St Bartholomew’s Churchyard were last increased from 1 April 2013. The Clerk was authorised to obtain details of current burial charges applied by the Church in Wales and Mon CC so that consideration can be given to increasing the burial fees at a later meeting.

AOB:- None

The next meeting of this Council will take place on 7 March 2016 at The Bryn Village Hall at 7.30 pm.

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