Apologies received from P. C. Cowburn.

In attendance County Councillor Greenland.

Minutes of the Last Meeting.

The minutes were agreed by those present and signed by the Chairman. The Clerk tabled eight emails from P.C. Cowburn and read out his report, which will be attached to the minutes.

Flooding at Llangwm. Cllr. Bennett pointed out that an item in previous Mor Hafren Area minutes referred to a flood plan for Llangwm costed at £320K, but the significance of this was not clear. Bridge Inn Llangwm - nothing official to report, but someone was in the property this morning.

Matters Arising under Any Other Correspondence.
Red telephone kiosks. MCC have advised the Clerk of the responses to BT. A number of Councils are going to adopt.
As instructed, the Clerk wrote 23/11 to MCC Chief Executive regarding their intention to distribute Cabinet papers electronically, to ask to continue to receive them by post. No reply or acknowledgment received. County Councillor Greenland will query the lack of response, but was adamant that all Council work was now dealt with electronically. The Clerk now distributes these papers, as received, to the five Councillors with email addresses, but they all said they found this method of scrutiny unhelpful.

Matters Arising under Any Other Business.
Financial support for churches - to be discussed under Finance.
Cllr Evans reported that he was making a new noticeboard for Llansoy, as the old one was unsuitable.

Cllr. Bennett asked the Clerk to query the situation at Coed Ceirw, since no planning application had been received following the advice of the Enforcement Manager.

Any Other Correspondence.

The following documents were tabled for circulation:-

A) Documents requiring decision:

From MCC:-
Planning applications:-
DC/2009/01165, Mr Burridge, steel frame extension to agricultural building, Tyn-Y-Groes, Gaer Fawr. Still current, this was agreed.
DC/2009/01075, Mrs R Yoxall, Agricultural building, Ty Wilson Farm, Llangwm. MCC decided 18/12 that no development permission required.
Path diversion order, Llangwm Isaf Farm, Llangwm. Comments required. This was agreed, with a query as to whether the applicant was liable for the relocation of the path direction signs.
Application form for C.E.D.S. grants received, must be in by 26th February. It seems an ideal vehicle to bid for improvements to the village hall. Cllr. Sheath complained of the very short time scale, which County Councillor Greenland explained. Since members of the History Group had already done some work on acoustic improvement for the Llangwm hall, the Clerk suggested the application be passed to Cllr. Bennett and colleagues. Cllr. Gough, who is now on the Hall Committee, will also examine the grant conditions, and the Clerk will liaise with him to involve the hall committee at their next meeting.
MCC U.D.P. - Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance on conversion of agricultural buildings. Comments by 5/02/10.
Budget setting meeting for business ratepayers, Portskewett, 2/02.

From Other Bodies:-
Ombudsman for Wales. Draft guidance on the Code of Conduct, response by 12/02/10. (More in line with the English Code).

Requests for financial assistance from Llangollen Eisteddfod and Abergavenny Eisteddfod. These were refused.

B) For information only:-

From MCC:-
Copies of the Register of Electors for 2010.
Monthly updates to the Register of Electors.
One set of Council papers, with a review of the current policy on location of the new MCC headquarters. County Councillor Greenland explained that unforeseen additional expenditure would have been needed under the original plan, so the strategic HQ at the Rhadyr, Usk, will be reduced from around 400 to 100 desks, and outlying hubs will be used, with the object of achieving 50% agile working, i.e. one desk for two people. With the sale of other redundant premises, the cost would be reduced from around £35M to around £17M. He confirmed that traffic management studies had been carried out.
Report on the pre-deposit consultations on the MCC Local Development Plan.
Report on the creation of an agile working room in the Chief Executive's office. County Councillor Greenland commented that agile working involved a different approach to the work environment, and the Chief Executive wanted to lead by example.
Copies of three interesting Cabinet Member decisions.
Four Planning Committee agenda, including today's recommended refusal of The Bungalow, Chepstow Road, Llangwm. County Councillor Greenland said he had met the applicant, who wanted a large increase on the volume of the previous building. He said that the officers had moved considerably on this, but were still unable to agree the increase requested.
MCC Rural development Plan for Wales - quarterly newsletter 'Boost'
Advice on Farming and the Public Highway
Rural Forum minutes.
Two sets of Mor Hafren committee minutes.

From One Voice Wales:-
Invitation for the Chairman to apply to attend the Buckingham Palace garden party.
Summary of the consultation on Statutory Guidance issued by W.A.G.
Latest edition of 'The Voice', and agenda and minutes of committee meeting.

From the National Assembly:-
Two lay members required for the Special Educational Needs Tribunal.

From GAVO:-
Monmouthshire network papers.
The Clerk agreed to accept information on funding opportunities.

From Other Bodies:-
Planning Aid Wales newsletter.
Local Government Boundary Commission review of electoral arrangements.
Clerks and Councils Direct magazine for January 2010.

Cllr. Bennett asked if the future of Area Committees had been decided. County Councillor Greenland said no decision yet, proposals were still being considered, especially as to their funding.

The Clerk pointed out that in just over twelve months he would be 80 years old, and felt a search for a successor should start to be considered.

County Councillor Greenland said that the use of the coloured sacks was probably increasing the amount of recycling from the 40% presently achieved. The Clerk was astonished at this, as he felt the black boxes were much easier to cope with.