I mentioned this in the last Newsletter and it has now started. As you know the child population has reduced over the years and there is a view that some schools may become too small to be educationally viable. All the Primary Schools in the Bryn y Cwm area (including ours) are now under review to consider what if anything needs to be done about large numbers of vacant places and educational viability.

Schools need to be of a size which is sufficient to deliver the whole curriculum properly. At the same time we must be mindful of a child’s social needs. Travel time to and from school for young children must not be too long; a child needs to be able to socialise with school friends after school; parents need to be able to easily maintain contact with school and participate in school based activities; and teachers need to have knowledge of the community the child comes from.

We also need to be mindful of traffic congestion and pollution if we have too few schools and too many people travelling; I have asked for a cost/benefit analysis of the environmental aspect of transporting increasing numbers of children to school and have been assured that this will be investigated as part of the Review.

It is also important that children feel a part of their own community as so much of their social development takes place outside school. The view of the Council is that these reviews should be carried out initially on a confidential basis until the Council has decided what options should be consulted upon. My concern about this approach is that it prevents me and other Councillors from sharing information openly. I believe that confidentiality can go too far and I have challenged the approach on the basis that it is widely known that a review is taking place and why. If my view is upheld I can share more detailed information with you about the process. In any event I will keep our school Governors and Staff well informed and there will at a later stage be public consultation by the Council.

Affordable Housing:

There is a County Council Task & Finish Group on this which is looking at getting more “affordable housing” into the County. If you look at the Brecon Beacons National Park Development Plans which affect us (see www.breconbeacons.org.uk) you can see what possibilities there might be in our area

Waste Disposal:

MCC is part of a consortium with other Councils which is looking at options for disposing of rubbish which is not recyclable and will not in future be able to go to landfill. I have asked several questions of the Cabinet member responsible and have taken expert advice. My concern at the moment is that the process is leading to a large incinerator in the Cardiff area although I have been assured that other technologies will be looked at. I would appreciate comments from anyone with knowledge and expertise on this subject

Safeguarding Children:

As a former Director of Social services this issue is close to my heart and I have asked several questions in Council about the safety of our own services following the “Baby P” case. I am also leading a Select Committee review on the effectiveness of safeguarding children and young people in Monmouthshire.

County Council Budget:

The difficult process of setting the budget and the Council Tax has now started and I will keep you informed as it progresses.

We are still waiting to hear from the Police the outcome of the monitoring exercise on traffic speeds on Merthyr Road. Recently, the new Traffic Inspector has said that she is willing to come to a PACT meeting so I will follow up on the offer.

Work is also in progress to design improvement in the junction at the bottom of Blaenavon Road – but the wheels grind very slowly.

The really good news is that the new Chief Constable of Gwent and his management team are planning to give a much higher priority to Community Policing. I have asked for a meeting with the Divisional Commander for Monmouthshire who has a force responsibility for community policing and hope to discuss these issues with him soon.

I am chasing up a number of issues regarding safer roads with both the Police and the County Council to see what we can together do to improve road safety. The wheels grind slowly which is frustrating but we will keep on keeping on to make our local roads safer.

If you have any ideas or concerns about Community Policing and/or about making Govilon roads safer please let me know.

To contact your neighbourhood police unit (non emergency issues only) phone 01495 233917. Do not use this number to call the Police to an incident. In an emergency always use 999.

I have had several discussions with the Police about this and they have done some monitoring of traffic speeds. So far, there have not been large numbers of examples of exceeding the existing speed limits. However, as we all know if you are walking on a narrow pavement or where there is no pavement, or if you are trying to get out of your driveway where you can’t see very much even 30 mph can feel dangerous. It may be that some of the speed restrictions need revising and it is clear that some drivers are not driving with consideration for other road users.

This issue is still under active discussion by the Police and we are also looking at what the Police and the County Council can do together to improve road safety. We hope to have a joint meeting soon to look together at what else might be done to make our local roads safer.