Agenda and minutes

We elected County Councillor M. Feakins as Chair of Central Mon Area Committee.

We appointed County Councillor L. Jones as Vice-Chair.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18^th January 2017 were confirmed as an accurate record and were signed by the Chairman.

It was decided that the Committee would hold meetings at various locations around across the area, aiming to ensure all Wards were covered.  A list of venues would be circulated by Democratic Services.

Members discussed ideas for future working and the intentions of the Committee.   The Chair was keen to establish a cohesive forum for local government and public engagement.  It was suggested that the next agenda should include an opportunity to discuss ideas for cluster grouping and in the meantime, Members should come forward with proposals for discussion

The Chair agreed to liaise with the Whole Place Manager to discuss alignment between Cluster groups and Area Committees.

A Member of the public expressed that from a public point of view there was confusion surrounding public engagement, in terms of Future Monmouthshire, Community Governance Review, Cluster working.  He asked if Area Committees were the preferred vehicle whereby the Council relates to its communities.  In response, the Chair explained that the new Council intends to create one strategy for engagement across the board. 

A Member suggested that attending other area committees, for example, Bryn Y Cwm would be beneficial in establishing ideas of good practice.

We agreed that an item for the future work programme could be Broadband issues, particularly in rural wards.  County Councillor Sara Jones to be invited to a future meeting, being the Cabinet Member with this responsibility.

In conclusion, the future meetings of Central Mon Area Committee would include discussion around the following:

·         Vision, Role and Responsibility – objectives and strategy.

·         Broadband issues – Invite County Councillor S. Jones

·         Public Transport and School Transport

Members agreed the date of the nest meeting as 11^th October 2017, but changed future meeting times to 10:00am.  Venue to be confirmed.