79 02.2016 the Minutes of the Meeting of the Llanover Community

02.2016 The Minutes of the Meeting of the Llanover 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 -Usk Cllr. Adam reported that he had completed a formal application for a formal inspection of The Bryn 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. 79 (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 Llanelly 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 Monmouth Diocesan Trust. Cllr. Thomas reported that he had been approached the Rev. Tim Clements about the possibility of having a meeting with representatives of Llanfair Kilgeddin Village to discuss what will happen to the proceeds of sale of the school and the plot of land 80 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 Monmouthshire 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:- 81 (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 82 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 Llanellen 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.

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