Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest made by Members.

We welcomed Glyn Edmunds and David Hancocks to the meeting who were in attendance to address the Committee regarding concerns around parking on the Hereford Road, Monmouth.  There were concerns that parking issues were increased during school term time, and therefore were no doubt caused by the school.  Concerns were raised around pollution and safety aspects, and the obstructions to emergency vehicles.

The visitors suggested that redesigning yellow lines would be an enormous benefit, and the girls’ school has no objections to double yellow lines along Hereford Road.

A petition had been handed to Cllr Roden with over 400 signatures, to be presented to Council.

The group were prepared to meet with officers to resolve the matter, and Monmouth Town Council were in full support.

The Chair agreed that Central Mon Area Committee would support the position, and recognised the importance of aiming to deliver as much as possible, in the shortest amount of time.

Councillor Roden added that he fully supported a survey of local residents, and urged that action be taken.

The Highways and Network Manager responded that he is aware of the petition and previou7s proposals for parking restrictions.  The first stage would be to look if there are engineering measures, and to revisit traffic orders to identify is amendments are acceptable. A safety issue would have to override parking problems.  He proposed to:

1. Carry out an assessment and look at options

2. Look at traffic order, and improvements.

It was agreed that officers would meet members of the group on site to discuss.

The minutes of the meeting of Central Mon Area Committee held on 18^th April 2018 were approved and signed by the Chair.

The Committee noted the Action List.

The Highways Manager advised that to change the crossing signage on the link road it would require the lengthy process of changing the traffic order.  He agreed to ask the traffic team to look at this, and the broader picture of Wonastow Road.

The Highways and Network Manager was in attendance to address highways issues.

He advised that the Traffic Team have a wo9uld programme and he would ensure feedback is supplied to the Committee.

With regards to concerns raised around traffic through the new estate, we were advised that the layout would have been approved through the planning process.  New estates are designed to reduce the width of highways to give priority to residents.  There is a need for people to accept the concept of shared space.

The Chair suggested that developers are contacted to express the importance of highlighting the concept to residents.

Issues raised by Members included:

·       Make Trellech Safe – chase up signage, have been waiting for 15 months.

·       Llandogo – residents asking for community meeting to look at reduced speeds.

·       Request that, in times of snow, highways prioritise areas/lanes connected to livestock and milk farms.

·       Traffic issues on Dixton Road/Close.

·       Implementation of double yellow lines at Usk chip shop.

·       Declassification of Church Street to a pedestrian area, to be controlled by Town Council.

With regards to the follow of traffic at Redbrook Road options were looked at.  The Safety Camera Partnership had put out measuring devices and at the moment it does not exceed the threshold.  In terms of congestion it was recognised that it is not straight forward to implement traffic lights.

The Committee received a presentation on the upcoming improvements to the Wyebridge Junction, Monmouth.  Slides to be circulated.

The Recycling Strategy Manager was in attendance to address concerns regarding the closing of recycling centres.  He advised that a review had been undertaken, and a change to the collection system is due from March 2019.  He welcomed views of the Committee.

It was noted that Central Mon Area Committee had concerns about the Mitchel Troy site, and the site does suffer due to limited skips for general rubbish.  There were issues with traffic coming across the border.

Officers were assessing seasonal, day and full closures.  Viridor prices reflected the best deal is to close some one day, or Usk and Mitchel Troy two days.  It was thought that closing MT two, Usk two and Llanfoist one days would be the most cost effective.

Residents would prefer dedicated closure times, rather than a push notification scheme.

As part of the LDP officers are looking at other sites and potential section 106 funding.

Options will go to Strong Communities Select and Full Council by the end of this year.

Area issues were raised throughout the meeting.

Councillor Edwards commented on frustrations around the broadband cabinet in Rockfield Village.  Councillor Blakebrough recommended highlighting with Cabinet Member Cllr Sara Jones.

Noted.