Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of St Arvans Community Council held via StarLeaf Conferencing on Tuesday 13th July 2021 at 7.00 pm Chair welcomed a full cohort of Councillors to the meeting and congratulated County Councillor Ann Webb on her appointment of Vice-Chair for Monmouthshire County Council. Members welcomed Lucy Allen, Locum Clerk. 2107.01 ATTENDANCE: Cllrs R Edwards (Chair), P Farley (Vice Chair), A Clay, M Davies, D Griffiths, B Howells, M Sunderland. ALSO PRESENT: Mrs L Allen, Locum Clerk; MCC Cllr Ann Webb 2107.02 It was resolved to appoint Mrs L Allen as the interim Proper Officer for the duration of the meeting. 2107.03 DECLARATION OF INTEREST IN ITEM(S) ON THE AGENDA: there were none. 2107.04 PUBLIC SESSION: one member of the public had requested access details to the meeting and joined at 19:35. 2107.05 It was resolved to approve Minutes of remote Ordinary Meeting held 8th June 2021. 2107.06 It was resolved to approve Minutes of Finance Committee meeting held 5th July 2021. 2107.07 REPORTS RECEIVED: a. Community Police Crime and Traffic, PCSO A Jones: The report to be forwarded when PCSO A Jones is next at work. b. MCC, Ward Cllr Webb: i. Boundary Review – has requested that an executive summary be produced by MCC detailing the changes once the review has been confirmed. ii. Wye Valley Villages AONB consultation – draft papers will be published by the end of the month via video link with the results expected in late September. iii. 20mph – currently pilot scheme in Severnside and Abergavenny with workshops in the autumn relating to highways concerns and 20mph in other settlements. iv. Traffic Orders – meeting 14th July 2021. v. A466 has reopened but a small landslide near Tintern needs stabilising, works should start in the next 2 weeks under traffic light management rather than road closure. Works expected to take 2 weeks. vi. NRW Upper Wyndcliff Car Park – all appropriate agencies working together, no child protection concerns, family has reported harassment from the community including some behaviour that is a concern (ref 1207.12c). A Member requested an update of the experimental 20mph orders and was advised that an email had been forwarded to the Clerk regarding this. It was suggested that SACC consider holding a remote meeting with Cllr Webb in between Council meetings in order to have important issues communicated. c. One Voice Wales Area Committee: Minutes had been circulated prior to the meeting. Members were advised that Richard John, Leader of MCC, had been the guest speaker who discussed MCC’s response to the pandemic and the steps being taken to establish good communication and working practices between MCC and Community Councils. It had been suggested that Cllr John be invited to St, Arvans, travelling down through Devauden Road, to see the issues. Members further noted that the advice from One Voice Wales in regards to remote meetings is still to meet remotely because the LG & E Act gives a statutory right to any Councillor, member of the public or press to join a Council’s physical meeting remotely. If the Council does not have the facilities to accommodate remote attendance for the person requesting it, the meeting would be unlawful. d. Wye Valley AONB Joint Advisory Committee: Members noted the minutes. A request was made that the Wye Valley Villages (AONB) project be included on future agendas due to its importance. 2107.08 FINANCE a. Members considered the following recommendations from Finance Committee meeting 05/07/21 I. It was resolved to adopt Terms of Reference for Finance Committee (as circulated) II. It was resolved to accept the increase in costs from Merlin Waste for the removal of dog waste. III. It was resolved to approve c. £500 for the Devauden Road Project for the purposes of data gathering and other early work in the PEP menu of proposals. IV. It was resolved to approve up to c. £500 for selected elements of the OVW proposal for the recruitment of new Clerk/RFO – the elements to be determined by the team leading the recruitment exercise, as agreed at SACC’s June Ordinary Meeting b. Noted the balances at bank & building society at 07/07/2021 HSBC @03/06/2021 £8,436.90 MBS @ 07/07/2021 £9,274.77 a. Members noted payments authorised since last meeting 12/06/2021 DD H3G (Three Mobile) Clerk mobile phone June 2021 14.00 14/06/2021 VIS JAMF Software – June 2021 2.91 13/06/2021 VIS CISCO Webex Video-conferencing system June 2021 15.00 30/06/2021 BP KA Houghton Clerk salary 358.33 390.24 b. It was resolved to authorise payroll payment received 07/07/2021 SH Banfield Councillor Allowance 2020/21 pro-rata 55.15 2107.09 PLANNING a. Noted the current planning application pending MCC approval: MCC approved 17/06/2021 DM/2021/00610 The Byre, 3 Rogerstone Grange Barns, Grange Road, St Arvans: single storey extension to form family room and utility. b. A late item of correspondence was reported: Local Development Plan consultation at the Drill Hall on th 14 July 2021, contact the Chair for booking details. 2107.10 COMMUNICATIONS Further to the Advisory Group meeting: a. Apologies were received for the delays incurred with the set-up of I-pads for Councillor use, discussions with the IT Consultant were ongoing to deal with specific issues. b. Mail Chimp is ready to proceed, a short meeting needs to be arranged to finalise the set up before having a trial run with Councillor emails. 2107.11 HIGHWAYS & MAINTENANCE Further to Advisory Group meetings: a. Noted that A466 had finally reopened 18/06/2021 following geological structural works between St Arvans & Tintern due to rockfall; traffic lights are in force further toward Tintern for a small rockfall repair (ref 2107.7b). b. It was resolved that PEP Highways Consultants provide a site visit and preliminary report at a cost of £250, with a view to developing a structured schedule for further plans for Devauden Road Project. c. Noted that MCC have cleared the Give Way sign at junction of Grange Road/Devauden Road and that they would return to complete the works i.e. No Through Road signs and BT OpenReach pole. Replacement road sign required to include Rogerstone Grange Barns. d. It was noted that there were still a number of places in the village which need MCC to road/street sweep as part of an agreement between SACC and MCC. Some trimming of hedges overhanging pavement needed to be carried out first. Members were advised that drain gully emptying was not part of this agreement. 2107.12 ENVIRONMENT & RECREATION Further to Advisory Group meetings: a. The meeting expressed their thanks to Elaine Richardson for the attractive planting in the bed at Pollinator Garden in KGF. 2 b. Noted that St Arvans in Bloom judging has been carried out, presentation to be at September’s meeting, the trophy winners as follows: Best Kept Front Garden: Finney - Ann Weaver Best Hanging Basket: 18 Laurel Park - Andrew and Lynda Kerr c. Members received an update on unauthorised encampments in NRW Upper Wyndcliff car park and also a privately-owned development area on Monmouth Road A466. Members were advised that the caravan on Monmouth Road had now moved to join the one in Upper Wyndcliff car park. Email received from Mike Richardson (MCC) re Thomas Blythe (NRW) who has written to the police and asked if they can assist with an eviction, if that fails then NRW have reached the point that they can start eviction proceedings themselves and the legal team has been asked to appoint an external lawyer. At all times NRW are following the Welsh Government Guidance. Several complaints have been received by Councillors in regards unpleasant behaviour towards villagers which has been reported to Thomas Blythe NRW and Mike Richardson at MCC. Noted a report from Cllr Webb based on notes from the Head of Children’s Services regarding the families involved. Members were reminded that this is a complex situation. d. Noted that SACC documents re ownership of the pavilion, currently used by Chepstow Garden City Football Club, along with insurance arrangements are still being reviewed. Past minutes will also be examined as part of this process. Members agreed that in the future it is possible that this space could be a source of revenue for SACC if it was marketed correctly and rented out. e. Noted that site of bench on Grange Road needs to be stabilised and bench refitted and quotations for this work need to be sought. A Member suggested that the bench may need to be replaced and it was agreed to ask for an assessment of the state of the bench. f. Defibrillators: Monthly maintenance report was received – all in order. g. Noted the solution for Merlin Waste to collect waste from dog bin on Stud footpath – the larger bin has been installed to allow greater capacity and ease of access to improve removal of waste from bin furthest away. h. Noted that several residents are interested in the tree planting to commemorate Queen’s Jubilee in 2022. King George’s Field Playground - A Member asked if there were any developments in regards to equipment on KGF and if any other companies had been contacted to quote for repair / replace. The meeting was advised that a contractor had attended and that SACC were awaiting a report – a reminder had been sent requesting this. A company in Newport had also been contacted who are visiting at the end of July at which point a group session will be arranged to discuss options.