MINUTESOFORDINARY MEETING

LANGSTONE COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Date:
Time:
Venue: / 14th April 2015
7.30pm
Llandevaud Parish Hall
Present / Cllr T Jeffery (Chairman)
Cllr D Barradell
Cllr C Bryant
Cllr K Dew
Cllr G Hancock
Cllr A Henderson
Cllr P Verity Davies
Cllr M Griffiths / In attendance
Apologies / Ms H K Jones (Clerk)
Cllr R Mogford
2 members of the public
Cllr Y Edwards
Cllr W Routley
Cllr C Pike

189.Apologieshad been receivedand were accepted fromCllrsEdwards, Routley and Pike.

190.Declarations of Interests–None

191.Previous Minutes

Theminutes of the Full Council Meeting including the Finance, Planning and Events & Amenities Committee Meetings held on 9thMarch 2015were accepted as a true record and signed by the Chair withno amendments.

192.Gwent Police

There was no police representation at the meeting.

It was noted that all of the Ward’s police personnel had changed. The new Inspector was Kevin Warren, his deputy was Sgt Sarah Davies, the Ward Manager was PC Ellen Broadley and the new PCSO was Laura Price. The Clerk and the Deputy Chairman were planning to meet with Insp Warren the following Friday.

193.City Councillors

Velothon Wales was to take place on 14th June 2015. Magor Road, Chepstow Road and Catsash Road would be closed. Signage and information on the official website would be available from the beginning of May and letters would be sent to those directly affected. Two NCC staff members had been designated official contacts for enquiries.

A complaint had been received regarding horses being ridden over gardens at Shepherd Drive.

Mohammed Asghar AM is keen to be involved in local issues.

A bin had been requested by a member of the public at Ger-Y-Parc – this had already been approved by the Events and Amenities Committee.

A letter responding to Cllr Mogford’s queries regarding the new noticeboards was handed to him. All issues had now been resolved.

194.Public Participation

Two members of the public attended the meeting and asked for an update on the play park upgrade. Cllr Hancock apologised for the delay and stated that NCC had agreed to allocate S106 monies to fund the refurbishment. He had attended meetings with the Head of Leisure and Streetscene. The Clerk was asked to arrange a meeting of the working party to include the members of the public present. The working party would determine what was required in the park then this would need to go for consultation to residents. NCC would draw down funding from housing developers and tender for contracts. The funding available would also need to be allocated to maintain the park for the next 25 years. Dogs could be excluded from all or part of the park. It was hoped that work would commence before the summer holidays. Action: HJ

It was agreed to site a litter bin at Priory Gardens entrance to Ger-Y-Parc.

195.Road Safety

A meeting had taken place between the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Clerk, GoSafe Sergeant and two residents to discuss the results of the road safety survey. Steve Bowden of NCC had been unable to attend but had sent a comprehensive report. NCC had applied for funding for 8 Vehicle Activated Speed Signs, with LCC to fund £10k as matched funding. He had sent requests for double yellow lines to the relevant department.

Regarding the complaint about traffic speeding up at the 50mph sign on the A48, the Clerk had received a reply to the letter asking to move the speed limit sign. NCC stated that they would “add the request to [the] Traffic Management Workload Programme for future consideration/assessment/ prioritisation should funding for new Traffic Orders become available at some time in the future”.

The issue regarding the school bus pick-up point on Catsash Road being unsafe had been forwarded to NCC’s transport department.

The Council discussed changing the speed limit to 20mph. This would require physical changes to the road such as chicanes and raised roundabout. GoSafe planned to monitor speeds on Catsash Road.

The Chairman agreed to speak to someone at the Celtic Manor about stopping commercial vehicles using Catsash Road to access the resort and to Transport Companies about changing school bus routes. Action: EJ

The hedge along the field alongside Catsash Road needed to be cut back to aid visibility and to allow vehicles to pass each other safely. Clerkto speak to Oak Court estates. Action: HJ

Clerk to chase response to email regarding lamp-posts at Ford Farmbeing re-lit. Action: HJ

It was noted that the new CSO had been trying to identify the motorcyclist causing distress to residents with loud acceleration and excessive speed.

196.Annual Accounts

The Council reviewed the Receipts & Payments Accounts considering spend against budget. The Council approved the accounting records to be forwarded for internal audit.

The Clerk agreed to review the budget for 2015-16 to allocate the actual underspend from 2015-16 to General Reserves, with the road safety underspend carried forward into the road safety budget for this year. Action: HJ

197.Court Farm Solar

NCC’s Planning Committee had rejected the planning application for a solar farm at Court Farm on 1st April 2015. It had been rejected on the same basis as the original rejection in November 2014. It was likely that an appeal would be submitted to the Welsh Government.

198.Environment

Clerk to request handyman to renovate bench and noticeboard in Llandevaud, and to chase BT about renovating the phone box.

The old noticeboard from Llandevaud was to be offered to Llanmartin Residents Association to replace the two poor boards located there. It was noted that NCC did not have any planters which could be located in Llanmartin as previously suggested. Action: EJ/AH

The Council offered thanks to Cllr Meredith for installing the new noticeboards free of charge.

The Council resolved that the gardener who maintains the churchyard in Llanmartin should be asked to mow verges around all LCC’s planters. Action: AH

Cllr Bryant stated that summer planting was scheduled for May. The annual budget for planting was confirmed as £800.

The categories had been amended for Wales in Bloom. It was resolved that Llanmartin, Langstone and Llandevaud should all be entered into bot the Wales in Bloom and the Gwent Best Kept Village competitions this year. Action: HJ

199.Welsh Government Consultation

Reforming Local Government : Power to Local People – there was some discussion of the main issues raised by the paper. It was felt that amalgamating community councils to form larger bodies defeated the principle of devolving power to communities. Clerk to draft response and circulate for comment. Action: HJ

200.Correspondence

  1. Letters had been received from John Griffiths AM. He had forwarded responses to his enquiries on:
  1. Monmouthshire County Council’s policy on solar panels
  2. Welsh Government-funded road safety initiatives

201.Project / Working Party Reports

  1. Play Park – Covered under Public Participation at 194 above.
  2. Village Plan – The Working Party was still looking to compose a report, the structure of which had been decided. It was hoped that a draft would be available to the Council soon.
  3. First World War Research – The play park (to be renamed Langstone Centenary Field) and a new war memorial were to be funded from S106 monies. NCC was pushing for a plan. The Council needed to set maximum dimensions for a memorial so that a design competition could be launched. Children from Langstone Primary School were to be invited to be involved and to create a time capsule to be buried under the memorial. Cllr Bryant to brief school governors. Action CB

Allotments –Clerk to write to NCC re using the land on the left of Catsash Road – Ger-Y-Park.

Action: HJ

  1. Dog Fouling – Cllr Routley was awaiting information from NCC. Leaflet and posters to be included in noticeboards.

202.Reports

  1. GAVO – No update.
  2. Langstone Village Hall –Cllr Edwards had forwarded a report from the LVH Trustees.
  3. One Voice Wales – No meeting held.
  4. NCC Liaison –Cllr Routley submitted report: 11 of 14 councils had responded re the alternative methods of distributing concurrent funding. Option 1 appeared to be the preferred option (tax base). This was also LCC’s preferred option. Concerns re the Charter were discussed. NCC suggested the issues were an “administrative error”.
  5. Langstone Primary School – The children of the Eco-Committee had sent a letter of thanks with photographs of them using the equipment purchased by LCC.
  6. Langstone Youth Club – More volunteers needed. Parents to be asked to join a 10-week rota. A trip to Cwmbran Bowlplex was planned for May. LCC would no longer be funding the Youth Club’s rent.

203.Training / Conferences

  1. Cllrs Edwards, Dew and Verity Davieswanted to attend Finance training.
  2. Skills questionnaires were still awaited from Cllrs Routley, Griffiths and Dew.

204.Items for inclusion in next Agenda

  • AGM
  • Police – new structure and communications
  • Group buying of energy
  • LDP update

There being no other business the meeting concluded at 21:30 with the date of the next meeting of the council being confirmed as Monday 11th May2015 at Langstone Village Hall.

Minutes of the Full Council Meeting 14th April 2015 Page 1