Agenda and minutes

County Councillor D.J. Evans was elected as Chair.

County Councillor J. Watkins was appointed Vice-Chair.

County Councillors A. Davies, P. Fox and F. Taylor.

None received.

The following minutes of the Committee were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

4th January 2017

25^th January 2017

The Committee was joined by a local resident Mr Harris who was invited to address the committee by his County Councillor Tony Easson.

Mr Harris raised concerns regarding speed limits and the frequency of heavy goods vehicles in Dewstow and the surrounding areas.

Mr Harris spoke of the need for heavy goods vehicles to use the A48, rather than drive through villages damaging roads.

County Councillor Easson asked that the Severnside Area Committee pick up this issue and speak to MCC Officers to seek resolution.

As Traffic and Network Manager Paul Keeble was unable to attend the meeting he sent the response below;

With regard to the control of vehicles access on Newport Road, I recall being asked to consider this arrangement by the TC following which a letter was sent to all the businesses reminding them of the terms of the traffic order. I also spoke with the Market who share my concerns about access arrangements.

The bottom line is that we could provide a barrier or a gate however further surveys and observations show that very few vehicles are driving through Newport Road and I would suggest that the current arrangements agreed with Gwent Police and which involve the issuing of a pass remain the best solution.

Finally, and as you will be aware, there are proposals to upgrade the pedestrian area in line with the recently completed linkage scheme at Waitrose. Funding is available for these works and I would suggest that the access arrangements be considered further as part of this scheme.

I’m happy to meet up with anybody separately if they wish to discuss further and of course catch up with you at any time.

Town Councillor P. Stevens expressed his dissatisfaction that Paul Keeble was absent from the meeting said that the Town Council were happy to pay for the bollards if MCC would install.

During the discussion the following point were raised;

·         Question of which type of bollards to be installed, automatic or manual.

·         Permits – issued from the library, it was asked for clarification as to how many have been issued and to whom.

·         Damage had recently been done to the Celtic cross and we were told that the Cemeteries Team were responsible for the repair work.

·         A. Reeks representing the Town Team offered to arrange a survey to ascertain the number of vehicles using the pedestrian area.

The Chair asked that this item was added to the next agenda inviting Paul Keeble to update the committee.

Officers from the Markets team attended the meeting to update Members of the committee on current issues.

The Chair asked officers if they were aware of any reason why there was a decline in the number of stalls at the Tuesday and Saturday market.

In response we were told that there was no single reason for the decline, contributory factors included;

·         Shopping habits have changed with buyers shopping online.

·         Shoppers who work during the day can only shop at the weekends and evenings (the night markets have proved very popular)

·         Reduced football has resulted in poor profits for traders who need to make a day’s wage everyday

·         Bad weather deters shoppers

Officers advised that efforts had been made to entice traders including lowering rents.

Town Councillor P. Stevens who drives for Grass Routes suggested a bus service solely for market days to shuttle buyers into the town.

The Committee was joined by MCC Project Officer ASB Andrew Mason who provided an update on the CCTV.

The general consensus was that the six Caldicot cameras are working well, however some blind spots have been identified which they are currently looking to rectify.

A Member asked if the Wi-Fi in the town would interfere with the CCTV and we were told that the cameras are on a different frequency so there would be no disruption.

A Town Councillor asked if the live feed from the cameras could be streamed in the Town Council office and we were told that this would not be possible due to Data Protection laws. It was mentioned that Council clerks can email the control room directly if there are issues.

Aaron Weeks representing Caldicot Town Team provided members of the committee on the following;

·         Linkage

·         Caldicot goes Pop!

·         Market Projects

·         Empty Shops

·         Wi-Fi

·         Town Centre Painting/Caldicot in Bloom

·         Upcoming events

The Committee also received a report detailing Town Team spending for Quarter one and two of 2017.

In regard to Caldicot hosting the Hogging’ the Bridge event on 8^th October 2017, a Member expressed reservations regarding the bikers riding through the town with A. Reeks advising he will be speaking to MCC Highways department to discuss feasibility.