09.2017

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held at Llanfair Kilgeddin Hall on Monday 4 September 2Al7 at7.30 p,m.

Present:- Mr J Tod (in the Chair), Mrs A Letton, Mrs M Shooter and Messrs R Adam, J Vater, R Evans and H Candler (Clerk)

The following members of the public were present:- Mr Andrew Nevill in his capacity as the Manager of the Village Hall Digitalisation Project Mr Ralph Charles and Mrs Christine James of The Bryn Village

Apologies:- Apologies for absence were received from Mr I Tweddle, Mr G Thomas and County Councillor Sara Jones.

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

Neighbourhood Policingr- There was no attendance by representatives of the Neighbourhood Policing Team, nor had the Clerk received a Crime Report.

Minutes:- The minutes of the previous meeting held at The Br).n Village Hall on Monday 3 July 2017 were approved by the meeting rrrd signed by the Acting Chair.

Matters Arising:- (i) Llangattock-nigh- Mr Charles and Mrs James were attending to discuss problems b"i*g experienced by residents of The Bryn Village living near no. 10 Pentwyn. In this connection the Clerk referred to an email received from Lauren Francis of Monmout}shire Housing stating that they were currently assisting the tenants of the property "in clearance and bri"g"g the property to a maintainable standard for them to manage going f

46 suggested to Mr Charles and Mrs James that they contact P&P Pest Control for an assessment of the rat problem though it was not likely that a representative of that firm would be granted access to no. 10. However, it might be possible for them to assess if there were rat trails indicating that rats were travelling to and from no. 10.

Councillors present aszured Mr Charles and Mrs James that they would continue to try to find a resolution to this problem with the help of County Councillor Sara Jones.

Mr Charles and Mrs James were thanked for attenfing and then left the meeting.

(ii) Llanover The Clerk reported that he had recently spoke to Jan Aitken who had not yet erected railings on the path to St Bartholomew's Church, Llanover but he was in touch wit} Rev. J Collier.

The Clerk and Cllr. Evans reported that they had recently met Mr Roger Joy, Mon. CC's Streetlighting O{ficer, on site and had agreed the location for the proposed new streetlight to be erected at tlle junction of the C10.8 and C10.9. Cllr. Evans had arranged for a small tree to be removed from the proposed location. Hopefully the new streetlight wlll be erected in the near future.

Cllr. Evans was pleased to report that Mon. CC's Highways Departrnent wa$ looking at the damage to the kerbstones by the entrance to Ty Uchaf and SEWTRA had arranged for the road and pavements to be swept where they were covered in loose aggregate.

Cllr. Shooter reported that this year's Velothon had caused less problems than the 2015 Velothon. There had been less litter left and roads were not stopped up for so long. Her only complaint was that the organisers had not held the meeting they had promised.

Cllr. Evans reported that the individuals who had complained about the Stagecoach buses not stopping at Llanover on the way thr""gh to had received letters of apology. Th.y now know to whom they should complain if it happens again.

(iii) Llanfair Kilgeddin The Clerk reported that there was no news concerning the future of School Field and Llanfair Kilgeddin School. He will chase the Monmouth Diocesan Trust for an update.

Cllr. Letton reported that her information was that it was very unlikely that local landow-ners would agree to a permissive footpath being established between Llanfair Kilgeddin and Chqinbridge.

41 (i") General Andrew Nevill reported that progress was being made with regard to the Village Hall Digitalisation Project. He was due to meet representatives of The Bryn village on the following day. BT had assessed the cost of providing Wi-Fi to each hall at 847 per month, which sum will be paid by Mon. CC for the ftrst t}ree years. He was due to meet representatives of the Llanddewi Rhydderch Village Hall at the end of September. He will be arranging for Mon. CC's QS to revisit the halls with a rriew to preparing tenders for the necessary improvement works. It was unlikely that this work would start before January 2018. He was also due to meet Dewi Jones of Mon. CC to fiscuss a Press Release. He anticipated that free training will be provided to each village hall to enable them to crreate their own Facebook page. He said that he had provided the Clerk with timesheets to record time spent by volunteers on the Project. He himself would shortly be submitting his ftrst timesheet as Project Manager. Finally, there was discussion about whether or not Llanfair Kilgeddin Village Hall will be part of the Project. The Clerk stated that his own enquiries had indicated that there was little interest in the Project in Llanfair Kilgeddin village. Cllr. Letton confirmed that it was generally felt that the Llanfair Kilgeddin Hall was too far out of the village for everyday use and in particular there was concern as to who would open and close it. CIlr. Adam confirmed that this latter concern was also one felt by Nchard and Jean Fry who currently act as caretakers of the Hall. While it was generally felt that this was an opportunity which should not be missed by people living in the area Mr Nevill said that the door could be left open for the village to reconsider its interest in the Project in 5-12 months time.

With regard to the provision of Fast Broadband the Clerk read out a report prepared by Geoff Ball on the meeting held at Llanddewi Rhydderch Village Hall by BT on 20 July 2017. Martin Jones of BT had assured the meeting t}at a FTTP Solution with a fibre point of presence of 50Om from any property with a standard maximum charge for installation of {,50 regardless of distance. The necessary work will be carried out by December 2017 under the current contract with WG. Providers of a Superfast FTTP service include BT, Talk Talk and Spectrum with Sky and others due to enter the FTTP market shortly.

Community items:- (i) Llangattock-nigh-Usk Cllr. Adam reported that St Michael's Church, Llanvihangel Gobion, was about to be put up for sale, th""gh the Churc\ard will remain consecrated and in use as a graveyard. The key to the Church is currently held at Elstons in Usk.

ir Cllr. Adam reported that the Pokce GoSafe Camera team had been in action over the Bank Holiday weekend so that it had been relatively quiet.

Cllr. Adam reported that the Post O{fice facility at The Bryn Trading Post was open betweqn 9.30am and 11.30am on Wednesdays. He himself had resigned as Treasurer of The Bryn Trading Post at the end of August but was still a member of the Board.

48 (ii) Llanover Cllr. Shooter reported that a farmer had pulled out a small section of hedge adjacent to t}e C 10.4 just above canal bridge 8 1 so that he could get access to and from a field. However, he had been advised by the Agent to the Llanover Estate, Tom Jones, that this should not have been done and an attempt had been made by the farmer to reinstate the hedge. The Clerk said that he had already reported this incident to the Ptanning Departrnent of Mon. CC. Cllr. Shooter said that she had reported the incident to the Tree Officer, Jim Keech, because the area was in the Nafional Park.

Cllr. Shooter reported subsidence on the C10.4 by a lay-by. She was concerned that a car might flip over if it tried to use the lay-by as a passing place. She had spoken to Andrew Welsh of Mon. CC's Higtrways Departnoent about it and will also mention it to County Councillor Sara Jones.

Cllr. Shooter also reported that the ongoing problem of flooding on the C10.1 above Hendre Glyn had not yet been resolved. Also, about two years ago she had mentioned to Mr Welsh about the erosion on each side of the junction of the C208.8 and 10.2 which had not yet been resolved.

Cllr. Evans reported a blocked road drain at the junction of the C10.8 (Tre Elidyr) and the C10.9 (Rhyd-y-Meirch). He also said that Tre Elidyr road itself was still in a bad state.

(iii) Llanddewi Rhydderch Cllr. Vater reported that hedges on Church Lane needed cutting back because they were colliding with vehicle mirrors. He &d not think that there was sufficient room for emergency vehicles to use the road and that perhaps letters should be sent to occupiers of properties on the road asking them to ensure that the mirrimum width is obtained.

Cllr. Vater also reported a blocked road drain on the C25.3 near The Galchen. Finally he complained that the road at the bottom of the hill on that road, i.e. by the Mill Farm, and on the junction with the R40 had not been repaired.

Cllr. Tod complained that the road sign to Llanddewi Rhydderch by that same junction has still not been replaced.

Correspondence:- (i) General The Clerk reported on the following correspondence which had already been circulated:- (") from County Council, e-mail from Craig O'Connor on Development Management Services e-mail from Richard Williams on new arrangements for Area Committee meetings (Cllr. Thomas was formally appointed this Council's representative, with voting rights, on the new Area Committee which m.ay AA $"( well be named the North Monmouthshire rather than the Bryn y Cwm Area Committee) Press Releases -- Green Flag award for green spaces, - Monmouthshire Games Sports programme, - A Level results in Monmoutlshire, - GCSE results in Monmoutlrshire;

(b) from One Yoice lVales, Training Schedule - September to December 2A17, consultation e-mail on Electoral Reform (response by 10 October), reminder about Heritage Irnpact Statements, e-mail on Protecting the Planet;

from Play Safety Limited, lur Report on The Bryn Play Area following an inspection in iuly (the only substantial complaint was about the moss which was expected. The Clerk had obtained advice fiom PlaySafety Limited that moss could be removed by a hard brush but this was doubted by Cllr. Adam);

(.) from Yvonne Hertr, e-mail on Grandparents (residents of Llanfair Grange Cottage up to 1935. Cllr. Adam reported that he had put Mrs Hern in touch with Mr Huw Crawshay who was a descendant of the owners of Llanfair Grange at that time);

(f) from Planning Aid , e-mail offering Training on Pre-application Consultation tt St Michael's Centre, Abergavenny on Tuesday 21 November 2.30pm - 5.00pm.

The Clerk referred to the following correspondence received since the Notice of the meeting had been circulated:-

G) from the Monmouthshire County CAB, a letter requesting continuing financial support and stating that during the year ending 31 March 2017 the CAB o{fice in Abergavenny had seen 34 residents of the Llanover Community Council Area as clients (which was an increase on the previous year);

(h) from Mon, CC, a complaint that the tree surgery carried out on tle trees on the Llanddewi Rhydderch Villug" Green earlier in the year had been defective. The Clerk said that he was making further enquiries about this complaint which had apparenfly come ,h.o"gh a County Councillor. Cllr. Tod zuggested that the defective work may have been carried out by Mon. CC's contractor rather than their own contractorl

50 $^,r (i) the Clerk to the Trustees of the Abergavenny Relief in Need Charityr a request for a new representative from this Council to replace former Councillor Christian Brown as a member of the Trust (Cllr. Adam was appointed with his consent).

Finances;- Payment of the following accounts was approved:-

PlaySafety Limited (fee for inspection) - f,70.80

Mon. CC (Reimbursement of Clerk's salary) 1637.50

The Clerk produced document headed Budget - Comparison with Actual at 31 July 2017 which is attached to these Minutes at page 54 and which was approved by the meeting.

The Clerk reported that he was hopeful that he would soon receive confirmation from BDO LLP in conclusion of the External Audit and without any qualification of the Accounts. He reported that to avoid any qualiftcation he had recently arranged for a document detailing declarations of interest at meetings to be disclosed on the Council website. It will be updated both in hard copy and on the website as and when declarations are made.

Planning The Clerk reported that he had received a letter flom Mon. CC dated 17 August stating that the owner of Mount Pleasant, Mount Pleasant Road, , NP7 9UT (Mr Godfrey Codrington) had appealed against an Enforcement Notice served upon him by Mon. CC requiring him to return an outbuilding at Mount Pleasant to ancillary accommodation and to demolish the join between the garage and annexe. The appeal was made on the grounds that "the breach of planning control alleged in the notice has not occurred as a matter of fact". The appeal will be determined by Written Representations and representations must be received by the Planning hnspectorate within four weeks of 10 August 2017. Whether or not the breach of planning control had occurred was not within the knowledge of this Council. Accordingly, the Clerk will write to the Planning Inspectorate stating that this Council will not take part in the appeal process.

The meeting endorsed the approval of the following application to the Brecon Beacons National Park Authorify made by the Llanover.sub-committee:-

Application No, Applicant Description of application 17 / 15207 /FUL Mr Alan Williarns Erection of steel framed agricultural lean-to for hay/straw/implement shed with seasonal lambing during inclement weather at Hendre Glyn Farm, Ancient Road, Upper Llanover, NP7 9ER

51 The following applications to Mon. CC for planning permission were approved:-

Application No, Applicant Description of application DC/2A17 /00907 Mr Nigel Garmin Sr"gl. storey side extension at Avonia, Church Lane, Llanddewi Rhydderch, NP7 9TS

DC/zAfi /A0944 Mr and Mrs R Listed buil&ng consent for internal alteration to Murray include relocation of secondary staircase at Ty Uchaf, Llanover Road, Llanover, NP7 9EF

The Clerk referred to a letter which he had received from Mrs P Llewelyn of Penpergwm House, Residential Care Home, The Brfn. Mrs Llewelyn is proposing to develop the field adjacent to Penpergwm House to provide independent but supported living accommodation with car parking adjacent to the 84598. Mrs Llewelyn hopes to provide full-time employment for up to 5 people in the proposed new complex. The meeting apProved the proposed development enthusiastically. However, before the Clerk replies to Mrs Llewell'n's letter Cllr. Adam will discuss it with the new representative for the Llangattock-nigh-Usk ward, Mrs Alison Denton.

Reports:- The Clerk reported that earlier that day he had attended a Project Briefing by National Grid at The Shire Hall, Monmouth. Preparation work in the form of survey and exploratory work at the base of pylons, construction of temporary access gates, stone pathways and erection of scaffolds, and safe removal of bird nests when wildlife is not present and vegetation clearance for access to the pylons, had already started. The actual refurbishment work will begin in April 2018 on sections of the 75 hn line between Whitchurch in England and Abercynon in South Wales. The engineers will replace wire and equipment, inspect pylon foundations, replace damaged or vrofll steelwork and pain the structures, where needed. The project is due to end towards the end of 2018 and from then until February 2019 tree planting and other reinstatement will take place. Questinns, feedback and concerns can be dealt with by telephoning National Grid's Community Relations Team on 0800 073 lCI+7 or by email to Of particular interest to us will be National Grid's Community Grant Programme which is aimed at community orgarrisations and charities in areas where National Grid's work is impacting on local people tht""gh their operations and site activities.

Finally, we were informed that National Grid carry out education sessions for pupils in local primary schools in partrership with STEM Education Specialists Mad Science.

AOB:- None

The next meeting of this Council will take place on Monday 2 October 2017 at the Llanddewi Rhydderch Village Hall at 7.30 pm

52 Llanover Community Council

Paynnents approved at meeting on Monday 4 Septernber 2017

PlayS*ftry Lirnited {fee for inspectioQ _ $70.80

Mon. CC (Reirnbursement of Clerk's tdaty) - s537.50

53 k BUDGET - Comparison with Actual at 3I luly Nl7

Item Budget Actual Comments (excl VAT) (Where discrepancy over 10Yo INCOME Burial fees 233 (33a/o) 20A Better than last year (nil) Repayment of Loans Precept 3,834 (33%) 3,834

OUTGOINGS

Streetlighting C1erk's salary 807 (33%) 6A+ Reimbursed quarterly Clerk's admin and travel expenses 40 (33o/o) 12 Only claimed for one trip Clerk's Secretarial and admin expenses 266 (33a/o) 311 Actual covers 5 months Subscriptions/ Renewals - Domain name - ovw Data 35 (100%) 35 Protection Insurance 650 (100%) 628 Donations - General CAB sports Churchyar;ffii::ool +G5 (33%) +00 First instalment not based on time spent Grass cutting Internal &External Audit fees 166 (33%) 200 Only internal audit fee paid Chairman's allowance - Chairman's Badge 25 (100%) +2 Badge needed updating Play Safety Ltd Course fees 33 (33%) - No courses attended Hire of halls for meetings 73 (33a/o) - No fees yet claimed New streetlight at Llanover - Miscellaneous 1,308 (33%) 180 Oniy one one-off item of expenditure so far which was repairs to notice board carried out : last year

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