l langattock in lockdown - but your counci l has not been s itt ing id le

LLANGATTOCK IN LOCKDOWN- but your Council has not been resting

LLANGATTOCK LIVING WITH CORONAVIRUS

While Llangattock, and the rest of the world, has been in the grip of the Coronavirus pandemic, Crickhowell Volunteer Centre have coordinated support for people in the village and Llangattock Community Council have supported them. We have published a newsletter with useful information for residents who are shielding. We have also publicised shops and services available to people who need help. Councillors remain available if anyone needs help to find support: contact numbers/councillor’s contact details can be found on the noticeboards at The Recreation Ground, The Dardy, Ffawyddog, St Catwg’s, Bethesda Chapel and The Vine Tree. Or you can email the Clerk at llangattockcc@gmail.com.

LLANGATTOCK RECREATION GROUND

Much normal activity has been suspended but council facilities have been maintained. The difficult decision to fence off the recreation ground was taken in late March and it has remained closed since then.

During that time, play equipment has been repaired, ready for when the park reopens. Our handyman, Wayne, has been working around the village, joined by Councillor Gwyn Dobbs, who has been doing some welding and Andy, who normally looks after the toilets has been redeployed to help with maintenance.

We look forward to the time when we can call on volunteers to help. All ages will be welcome, young adults especially, as well as keen gardeners.

EMERGENCY POWERS Councillors adopted emergency

powers in March which allowed us to carry on discussing important issues online, using email, video and telephone conferencing.

NEWSLETTER

Llangattock Community Council

Llangattock Ffawyddog Dardy Legar Hillside

REOPENING THE RECREATION GROUND

Councillors have discussed when the park should reopen and come to thefollowing conclusions:

Following recent easing of Coronavirus restrictions by the UK and Welsh Governments, Llangattock Community Council has discussed the ongoing closure of the Recreation Ground.

• No decision has been taken about when to reopen Llangattock Recreation Ground.• Llangattock Community Council are taking a cautious approach. • We want to act in step with other local authorities and the Welsh Government.• We do not want to reopen the park ahead of other nearby facilities as this could place too much pressure on

Llangattock’s Recreation Ground.• Equally, we do not want to keep it closed longer than necessary as it is a valuable resource for local residents.• We have investigated options to reopen the park without the play equipment but have decided it would not

be safe or sensible to do so. • Therefore, when we do reopen the park, the whole park including its play equipment and toilets will be

available but this will not happen until we are advised by the Welsh Government that this is the correct course of action.

• Llangattock Community Council will place notices at the entrances to the park and on the play equipment asking visitors to abide by Welsh Government guidance on social distancing and to wash their hands thoroughly afterwards.

• We do not have powers to decide who uses the park and any residents who are concerned about people’s behaviour with regard to social distancing should contact the police in the first instance.

• We are investigating options for reopening the toilets in the park, and introducing an enhanced cleaning regime. A number of the volunteers who normally open and close the toilets are shielding from Coronavirus and are therefore not available. If anyone is willing to join the volunteer pool, please contact the clerk by emailing Llangattockcc@gmail.com

• While it has been closed, the park has been maintained and the play equipment repaired in readiness for reopening and we hope soon to be in a position to proceed with our plans to create the Memorial Garden and safely organise volunteer days for the Perk Up The Park initiative.

• We want to hear the views of people in the village, including users of the recreation ground and people who live nearby. If anyone wants to express a view please contact the clerk by email on Llangattockcc@gmail.

TOILET VOLUNTEERS - For many years the toilets in the recreation ground have been opened and closed by a team of dedicated volunteers. In order to reopen them, we will need new volunteers to join the team. Making the toilets available to the public is a significant element in our plans to make this important space available to our community once again, so if you think you can help, please get in touch.

SPEED CONTROL - Other important developments effecting the village have been put on hold, including work to reduce speed limits on the edges. With County Councillor, Jackie Charlton, we are now hopeful we can get reduced speed limits at the entrance to The Legar, The Dardy and the Beaufort Road. We also await with anticipation consultation on the Active Travel Plan which should bring improvements for pupils travelling to and from the High School.

MEMORIAL GARDEN & PERK UP THE PARK

As soon as social distancing allows, we hope to be able to organise volunteer days to create a Memorial Garden in time for VJ Day in August, marking the 75th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The Council has agreed to purchase commemorative benches to go in the garden and has been awarded a grant to help create a butterfly garden. We have also received generous donations from local residents. This will all be part of our wider plan to win lottery funding to Perk Up The Park and provide better facilities for the village.

IN OTHER NEWS

RED TELEPHONE BOX - The Council have adopted the old BT box on Ffawyddog. A new community group is forming on the hill to look after it and develop its use, please contact the clerk or the group direct if you live on the hill. Their details are inside the box.

LACAS GRANT - We approved a grant to the Llangattock Allotment Society with the expectation that they should be able to hold events in the village over the next year! If you would like to dis-cuss grants then please contact the clerk.

FLOWER PLANTERS - Volunteers have been bringing some cheer to Llangattock by replanting and tidying flower boxes throughout the centre of the village. The boxes were purchased by Llangattock Litter Pickers and they still maintain some of them, while others including those at Plas Derwen, Clos Cilau and some on Lime Trees Avenue have been taken over by local residents. The Litter Pickers are looking for more volunteers to help keep the boxes watered, so if you enjoy a splash of natural colour, give them a hand by emailing llangattocklitterpickers@hotmail.com

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

We want to hear the views of people in the village, including users of the recreation ground and people who live nearby. If anyone wants to express a view please contact the clerk by email on Llangattockcc@gmail.com. There is still a space for one councillor. We are a group of volunteers determined to make a difference to Llangattock. We are a mix of people who were born in the village and have lived here all their lives and new people with different experiences and skills to offer. As a statutory body, we can apply for grants for community projects. We would welcome applications from anyone who has skills to offer to the village.

Together, we can make a difference.

So, what do we do? · We look after the recreation ground and the cemetery

· Rent out the field to LACAS and the Glebe field for grazing

· The car park by the Church is currently owned and maintained by us

· Noticeboards and benches around the Village

· We aim to provide the Village a voice at County and National level

· We comment on planning applications, as consultees and respond to issues and consultations that impact the Village

- If you would like to receive this newsletter as a hard copy then please contact the clerk.

The Council is currently in delegated powers the next meeting is the 16th June 2020 at 7pm online

see agenda on noticeboards and on our website for details of the next meeting

Find us online at www.llangattock-cc.gov.wales or Facebook and twitter under Llangattock Community Council

Councillor’s details are on the website or on the noticeboards around the village

Copyright © 2019 Llangattock Community Council, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 16 Kennelwood, Gilwern, NP7 0BD Tel: 01873 598067 llangattockcc@gmail.com