Agenda and draft minutes

County Councillor D. Dovey was elected as Chair of the Committee.

County Councillor A. Webb was appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.

County Councillors D. Batrouni, P. Murphy and P. Pavia.

None received.

Tony Newman from St Arvans Community Council asked if the County Council would be able to advise where the Community Council could source funds to assist with creating a children’s play area for children with disabilities. Mr Newman was advised that advice would be sought on this matter and information email to County Councillor Ann Webb. (ACTION: DEMO. SERVICES)

Concerns were raised regarding the Newhouse exit of the A48 with a number of changes to the road markings over recent years. It was asked that an officer from MCC Highways attends the next meeting to discuss the issue with the Committee.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 14^th December 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chair as a true record.

Matters Arising:

Area Grants

Community Councillor G. Down stated that as per matters arising on the previous set of minutes that there were still two missing applications from Shirenewton Recreation Hall and Mathern Athletic for Capital Funding requests.

It was agreed that Mrs. D. Hill-Howells should be contacted and requested to provide a response by e mail to Community Councillor G. Down.

Due to the low number of Committee Members present it was suggested by the Chair that this item was added to a future agenda.

The question of poor attendance was discussed and a new member asked if an alternative forum exists for members of the public to raise issues with County Councillors.

It was felt that in its current format the Committee was not reaching its full potential and with imminent changes to the Whole Place model, now is the ideal opportunity for Members to influence the direction of the committee.

A Member stated that they did not understand Whole Place and asked if a Whole Place officer could come to a future meeting to explain the work of the Whole Place team.

Generally it was felt that the committee was a useful tool in discussing and understanding the particular issues in the Lower Wye area and resident engagement must be encouraged.

A number of issues were raised, with County Councillor Becker advising the committee that he was meeting with Traffic & Network Manager Paul Keeble to discuss a Chepstow/Sudbury bypass the day after the meeting.

In the absence of a highways officer the Chair invited committee members and residents to attend the Strategic Transport Group on the 19^th July 2017 10am at County Hall, Usk where questioned could be raised.

Members felt that the time and venue of meetings needed to be reviewed as 10am in the morning was felt to be unsuitable for most and evening meetings were suggested.

Members of The Chepstow Society attending the meeting suggested that the meetings were better publicised and offered to relay the meeting dates to their membership.

The use of MCC’s social media accounts was suggested with the meeting dates being published on Twitter and Facebook.

County Councillor Louise Brown suggested that one subject agendas may encourage members of the public to attend.

This item was deferred to later meeting and suggested as a single item agenda topic for a future meeting, inviting relevant MCC officers to discuss concerns with the committee and members of the public.

The date and time of the next meeting was confirmed as 20^th September 2017 at 10.00am. It was suggested that the venue should be St Arvans Memorial Hall.

It was agreed that the agenda would be a single item Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.