By now all of the households in the area should have received a Community Questionnaire.  Thank you to all of you who completed them.  We will duly report back the results of the survey in the form of a Public Meeting and a published report.

One of the sections in the survey was on Policing matters and this month we learned of a substantial increase in Class A drug usage locally with the attendant increase in burglaries to pay for the drugs.  There is also a targeting of Badger setts.  Please be on the lookout for any untoward activity and dial 999.

A note for anyone planning an outdoor event involving the public, Risk Assessments must now be carried out.  Advice can be obtained either from the Police or a Monmouthshire County Council Licensing Officer.

The long awaited meeting with Officers of the County Council has taken place with a view to exploring ways in which the whole community can benefit from the Section 106 money that will be realised from the Merton Green site in Caerwent.  (Section 106 covers the sum paid by the developer for community facilities).  Projects put forward include the Old Gym where the Youth Club etc meets which could be saved for the community when the MOD sell it off, and expanding the facilities at the Village Hall amongst other local projects.  Its early days yet but as a result of research being carried out we hope in the not too distant future to form a much clearer idea of where this is leading.

Some residents over the whole area have come up against problems with planning applications when they came across policies H13 and H15.  H13 deals with extensions to properties that cannot be classed as traditional and seeks to control the scale of development.  H15 deals with traditional properties (cottages etc).  The problem is that under each of these policies the applications need the proposals to be subservient to the existing property.  In the case of non traditional properties extensions should be no larger than 50% and with traditional properties 20 – 30%.  The problem here is that if you have a very small property which you wish to enlarge you end up with a slightly larger small property which may well not suit the needs of a family in the modern day.  Bowing to pressure MCC have gone out to consultation on this and we hope soon to have the Supplementary Guidance to enable us to assist applicants.  However, the message is clear.  If you intend to purchase a property which you know you will be extending, then check with the Planning Department at MCC first.  You could save yourself a lot of heartache.

Phil Murphy

Chairman

Mrs L McKeon, Clerk to the Council, Caerwent Community Council,

Mayfield, Pill Row, Caldicot, Monmouthshire, NP26 5JD.   Tel:  01291 424802 

Email: Caerwentcouncil@aol.com