Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

The minutes of the Central Monmouthshire Area Committee dated 27^th January 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

On behalf of a representative of Monmouth Town Council, the Chairman requested an update on the third lane construction on the Wye Bridge at Monmouth.

Members were informed that funding was available this year for design purposes.  Funding would be requested for construction purposes.  Funding was likely to be received for pre-works in 2016/17 and it was anticipated that funding would be available for 2017/18.  Peter Woodrow in the Highways Department was the best person to contact for further information regarding this project.

The Chair stated that she would contact Peter Woodrow regarding this matter and the Transport Planning and Policy Officer would provide the Chair with details of the bidding document.

We received a verbal update by the Head of Community Led Delivery regarding the future of Area Committee Grants.  In doing so, the following points were noted:

·         Each Area Committee will receive £5000 grant funding.

·         This financial years funding has been slipped into the next financial year.

·         The process of issuing grants by each Area Committee has differed.  Therefore, a standardised application form has been established.

·         In the first instance, the form will be completed and will be sent to the Chairs of the Area Committees who will check whether the forms comply with the eligibility criteria.

·         Eligible application forms will then be determined by the Area Committees.

·         The application form is on the County Council’s website. The Head of Community Led Delivery will despatch the application form to the clerks to the Town and Community Councils.

·         The closing date to receive completed applications is 30^th May 2016. Eligible applications will then be considered at the Central Monmouthshire Area Committee meeting on 22^nd June 2016.

We resolve to receive the update report and noted its content.

We received a verbal update by the Estates Manager regarding Portal Road.  In doing so, the following points were noted:

·         The southern part of the site will be going on the market at the beginning of next week with Alder King. Estates are currently agreeing costs.

·         The remainder of the site is being developed for Premier Inns, the current target date of November 2016 for opening remains.

·         Activity is likely to increase on the site shortly, with construction commencing towards the end of March / beginning of April 2016. Estates have requested a timetable of activity directly from Whitbread for the construction.

·         Estates agreed to explore the possibility of housing temporary coach parking on the site as soon as possible.

We resolved to receive the verbal update and noted its content.

We received a report by the Transport Planning and Policy Officer in which the Committee received an update on work that has been undertaken to progress transport projects and to seek external finance, including via the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

The Monmouthshire Local Transport Plan was agreed at Full Council on 26^th February 2015.

Having received the report, the following points were noted:

·         The Active Travel Act mapping included information from disability groups and would therefore be DDA compliant.

·         The Passenger Transport Unit Manager would be preparing a reort on bus services in due course.

·         It was noted that public transport was essential for rural communities.  The Grass Routes Scheme continues to run a ‘book a journey scheme’.

We resolved to receive the report and noted its content.

The meeting ended at 3.05pm.