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Meeting on 8 December 2008
 

Present

Cllr A Henderson (in the Chair)
Cllr W Woods
Cllr K Lowndes
Cllr J Kennett
Cllr C Bryant
Cllr A Haycock
Cllr Y Edwards
Cllr L McMail
Cllr M Pike
Cllr M Sanders
Cllr S Mogford

Also in attendance: Cllr S Lane

(Prior to the meeting Cllr McMail agreed to take the Minutes)

1 Apologies Cllr D Atwell & Cllr C Manship

2 Police Report

See Appendix 1 for full report.

No report available but Cllrs Wood, Lownes & Lane attended the Pact Meeting on 07 December 2008, which gives all residents in Langstone an opportunity to raise their concerns.

Action Points arising from that meeting

a) Cllr Wood to investigate a Chair for the PACT Meetings
b) PSO has resigned, replacement required
c) Crime Tel No. To be widely advertised 01633 838111
d) Police Report no longer on LCC Agenda

3 Previous Minutes (10/11/08)

The Chairman signed the minutes of the November meeting as a true record.
Proposed by Cllr Wood and seconded by Cllr Mogford

4 Planning Applications

Church Farm Bungalow, Llanmartin
Raising of roof height & insertion of windows – No Objections

Coldra Beefeater, Chepstow Road Langstone
Bar extension – No Objections

Kemeys Farm Barns (Listed Building Consent)
Modifications to Staircase – No Objections

Demolition of existing Dwelling & Erection of Dwelling & Garage

Orchard Bungalow, Lower Road, Llandevaud
(Planning refused 2007, Appeal refused 2008)
Object on similar grounds to previous. Over development, unsustainable development in a remote rural area, and in particular restrictions on drainage by Welsh Water until sewer upgrades.

5 Matters Arising From Previous Minutes (10/11/08)

Grey House, Caerlicken Lane.
Cllr Lane to meet with the Enforcement Officer, as she was unable to find the property. (Original building has “Agricultural” permission which is not subject to the same planning regulations)

Rosecroft Drive Woodland
No further developments.

Fly Tipping. See 2. Police Report Above.
Chairman had visited the site off the A48 adjacent to the Coldra & noted that the black rubbish bags had been removed.

Cllr Manship’s nomination as LCC representative Governor at Langstone School has been accepted.

The Chair/Acting Clerk was congratulated on the format & content of the minute. The Chair thanked Cllr McMail for taking such comprehensive notes.

6 Correspondence

Village Hall Rent for the period March 2007 to December 2008

Community Council Liaison Notice of Meeting Rec’d 28/11/08 & Cancellation of Meeting Rec’d 04/12/08.

Lack of adequate time to be raised with NCC

List of Neighbourhood Committees (Too Late to notify Councillors)
Meeting attended by Cllrs Lane & Lownes. Very informative meeting on the Ryder Cup.
Cllr Lownes enquired about the availability of tickets for the event.
Next Meeting 19 March 2009

Freedom of Information Pack
Freedom of Information Circular

Adjudication Panal for Wales – Annual Report 2007-2008

National Assembly – Call for Evidence ref Financial Support for Assembly Members

Welsh Assembly – Advocacy Grant Scheme

Glasdon – Latest Products for Local Councils

Summons & Agenda for Newport City Council Meeting

Langstone After School Club seeking funds. (Agreed at Nov 2008 Meeting)

Village Hall – request for Funding - £10K
The Village Hall Management Committee are seeking grant aid to upgrade the facilities &, more importantly, to comply with statutory regulations. However, they have insufficient funds to provide the 20% of the costs needed to attract the grant. It was agreed that LCC would provide the necessary funds on the production of a business plan.
Proposed by Cllr Woods, Seconded by Cllr Kennet.

7 Ger-Y-Pac Working Group

No Report. Only 2 people attended the last meeting.
NEXT MEETING 07 JANUARY 2008 @ 19:00 PLEASE ATTEND
Cllr Edwards agreed to join the Working group

8 Park End Play Area

Cllrs Lane & Henderson met with NCC on 04 December 2009.
The following points are still outstanding
Ownership/responsibility of boundaries to be investigated by NCC
NCC proposed an unacceptable cost for maintenance
A further meeting with NCC is to be arranged.
Cllr Lownes had inspected the play area earlier today & apart from the pen area fence, which requires repair, no other problems were noted. Cllr Woods agreed to instigate the fence repairs
Cllr Lownes to be provided with a diary to log visits to the Park

9 Village Plan

February 2009 meeting to commence at 18:30 & the first hour will be devoted to suggestions & action plan.

10 Clerk to the Council

Six applicants to date, 3 from the local poster displays & advertisement in the South Wales Argus. All have been supplied wit a Job Description and a copy of the Service Agreement.
Closing date 19th December.
Selection panel will consist of Cllrs Henderson, Edwards, McMail & Lane.

11 Youth Club

Cllr Mogford is in the process of applying for Grant Aid for the Village Hall, part of which was applicable to Youth Club Capital Expenditure.
It was suggested that Shan Jones be contacted, as she was enthusiastic about a Youth Club.
Cllr Edwards suggested that a paid Youth Club Leader would be needed & possibly paid for by Youth Club Subscriptions.

12 Precepts 2009

To be carried forward to the next meeting.
1687 housed in Langstone Ward compared with 1676 last year.

13 AOB

A seat has been requested between Park End & Catsash Road. Cllr Haycock offered to progress this

Cllr Mogford enquired about a Christmas tree or possibly street decorations. To be carried forward to the February Meeting

Cllr Wood stated that the new web site http://www.langstonevillage.co.uk was perceived to be the official site of the Community Council. The Chair stated than it wasn’t very well used & did contain a link to the official Langstone Community Council website.

Cllr Bryant asked for grit boxes to be supplied for Llandevaud. Cllr Lane to progress with NCC.

Cllr Kennett noted the extraordinary number of signs present along the A48, many of which created a traffic hazard. Cllr Lane to investigate via NCC which signs required planning permission to remove as many as possible.

Cllr Haycock informed LCC that the Village Hall would have a licence to hold concerts in the near future.

The Meeting closed at 21:25 & the Chair thanked everyone for their attendance A wished all a Happy Christmas & a prosperous New Year.

Cllr Wood suggested that only one member of the Planning Sub Committee is replaced every 3 months to allow continuity. This was agreed.

APPENDIX 1

Notes form the PACT meeting attended by David Morgan, Sergeant 1402, Neighbourhood Police team, Alway Police Station.

The PACT meeting was held at St. John's Hall, Penhow on 02.12.08 attracted 9 members of your community.
A PowerPoint presentation was delivered on work that had been undertaken in the ward since the last PACT meeting. The ward was also compared to the four other wards.

The period 01.07.08 - 31.10.08 was looked at and compared with exactly the same period the previous year.
The total number of calls received by Alway Police for this period was 4490 & these were broken down as follows:

Alway/Somerton/Beechwood 1324
Ringland 1702
Caerleon 887
Llanwern/Underwood 293

Langstone 284

Langstone Calls 2007 2008 Change

All calls 335 284 -51

All Crime Calls 66 52 -14

Violent Crime 8 7 -1

Vehicle Crime 26 12 -14

Criminal Damage 10 12 +2

Burglary 6 6 0

ASB Calls 67 55 -12

The large reduction in vehicle crime has been brought about by the work of PC Gray by working closely with the hotels where the majority of the crimes occurred and by ensuring that the hotspot areas have been widely advertised in the form of posters being attached to lampposts.

One offender was also arrested by the Neighbourhood Policing team and dealt with for several offences that were committed in the area.

The PACT priorities that were chosen at the last PACT meeting were

1. Speeding Vehicles on Magor Road (01/07/08 – 31/10/08)

Speed checks by PC Gray have been undertaken at Magor Road.
17 drivers have been stopped and advised regarding their speed. It was deemed that as they were only slightly over the speed limit, that verbal warnings and an educational chat would have considerable benefit.
5 drivers who were caught travelling at faster speeds were issued with £60 fines and their licences endorsed with 3 penalty points

2. Fly tipping

PC Gray has liased with officers from Newport City Council.

As a consequence, the council now patrols known 'hotspots' to quickly identify rubbish that has been dumped and dispose of it accordingly.
Popular fly tipping locations have been identified and the council may place covert cameras in certain locations to catch fly tippers.

3. High Visibility Patrols
PC Gray patrols the ward in a police van. He also utilises a pedal cycle to patrol. He patrols his ward every time he as at work.

OPERATION COLLATERAL (01/07/08 – 31/10/08)
Intention to reduce Anti Social Behaviour & Criminal Damage offences.
High Visibility Patrols.
Bicycle Patrols, Foot patrols & Mobile Patrols.
Specific areas targeted based on intelligence provided by members of the public.
Proactive Use of Stop & Search Powers
12 people were stopped and asked to account for their actions. 2 people were stopped and searched.

OPERATION DISRUPT (18.10.08 - 31.10.08)
Intention to reduce anti social behaviour & Criminal Damage offences during Halloween with high visibility patrols & proactive use of stop & search powers

Preventative work conducted in month prior to Halloween where comprehensive schools were visited and children advised of their expected behaviour. They were warned that people who were found in possession of eggs and stones would make themselves liable to be arrested for going equipped to cause criminal damage.

Vulnerable people who did not want 'trick or treaters' to visit them homes were given 'pumpkin posters' which they could display to ensure that their house was not called upon.

Calls for the entire Alway section reduced from 280 in 2007 to 199 in 2008, a reduction of 29%

Calls for the Langstone ward were reduced from 17 in 2007 to 7 in 2008, a reduction of 59%.

OPERATION BUSTLE (01.04.08 - 31.10.08)
To target off road bikes.

11 motorcycles seized and 48 Section 59 reform Act notices issued to riders caught riding antisocially.

Calls have been reduced from 318 in 2007 to 157 in 2008, a reduction of 51%.

These figures are for the entire Alway section, but the majority of Reform Act notices were issued to riders in the Wentwood area.

NOMINATE A NEIGHBOUR SCHEME
This is designed to help vulnerable people deal with unknown callers at their address.

The vulnerable person is given a card that tells the unknown caller to go to a nominated neighbour's address.

The scheme protects vulnerable people from bogus callers and people intent on targeting them with unnecessary and expensive work at their house.

In addition, Support Officer Lee Roberts has resigned his position, and there is no PCSO covering Langstone at this time.

The PACT priorities that have been decided for the next quarter are:
1. Speeding on Chepstow Road
2. Speeding on Magor Road
3. Parking issues outside the Rock & Fountain Public House