Minutes:
Newport City Council
NCC will be delivering a new three and half mile stretch of cycleway along the Monmouthshire Brecon Canal using the new Active Travel grant .
NCC led on an Ambassador programme using external grant involving the Fourteen Locks and the canal. This was about raising the awareness of the Story of Newport and thus the importance of the canal in that story, linked to the industrial Heritage theme. This is still being delivered through cross referencing of the Friends and Heritage Groups as well as other organisations with their visitor groups.
The Fourteen Locks staff and volunteers make full use of social media and the Council links up with them to resend their messages which is a good to engage with youth and the Canal.
In terms of promotion of the Canal Newport is working with Monmouthshire and Torfaen and Visit Wales to promote the canal via the ‘Valleys that Ruled the World’ campaign .
A new campaign by Visit Wales is called the ‘Wales Way’ which promotes sites and attractions off the key visitor car routes across Wales. This will include the Canal and Fourteen Locks.
Powys County Council
The recently launched Powys County Council Vision 2025 announces the Cabinet’s mission of ‘change for Powys – delivering an open, proactive and engaging council for 2025’.
http://pstatic.powys.gov.uk/fileadmin/Docs/Democracy/Vision_2025_booklet__Final.pdf
The Vision 2025 is made up of 4 priority areas (programmes), which are:
Economy: developing a vibrant economy
Health and Care: leading the way in effective, integrated rural health and care
Learning and Skills: strengthening learning and skills
Residents and Communities: supporting our residents and communities
The Regeneration team will be responsible for the delivery of a large proportion of the projects that fall within the Economy programme. The projects are currently under development with a view to starting in April 2018.
Collaborative working continues between Powys County Council and Ceredigion County Council in the development of a Mid Wales Regional Plan for Targeted Regeneration. Economic regeneration in the area is co-ordinated and promoted through the Growing Mid Wales (GMW) Partnership which is one of the four regional partnerships covering Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Plan will provide the evidence base for future funding applications.
Torfaen CBC
Torfaen had submitted a bid to HLF for the restoration of five locks. Unfortunately, the bid was not approved based on a VFM basis, however, Torfaen have been invited to resubmit. Since the departure of Gareth Jones and the uncertainty as to whether his post will be replaced due to budget pressures, Torfaen are not yet in a position to resubmit.
Torfaen also submitted a bid to RDP to restore Cabin Lock, one of the locks that had to be dropped during the Waterworks project due to funding and timescale issues. RDP have come back with queries, however, due to lack of resources, Torfaen are currently not in a position to progress this any further.
Cllr Ashley brought up problems being encountered by the developers of Edlogan Wharf in Sebastopol including a cycle-way being laid on top of glow worms. Officers had been asked to investigate this and he hoped to report back at the next meeting in April.
Brecon Beacons National Park
BBNP are currently reviewing conservation areas across the park, looking to include more areas and also looking at how they can with best work with these areas. The 2018 National Park Tourism Conference, a partnership between BBNP and Brecon Beacons Tourism is due to place on 7 February at Llangynidr Village Hall. The conference is tourism focused.
MBACT
R Dommett confirmed that he had taken over Chairmanship of MBACT from Roger Francis who had now stood down.
MBACT - The Lime Kiln Trail Leaflet will be designed and printed to cover the southern section of canal including the Crumlin Arm and the Trusts Magazine will be published as soon as funds become available.
Gland?rCymru/Canal River Trust
A case study (https://goo.gl/9RnKQZ) had been written of the work carried out under the Welsh Government’s Green Infrastructure Capital Investment Fund. The work comprised repairs to structures including relining of parts of the Mon Brecon canal, delivery of the natural environment prospectus (https://goo.gl/dJ1czn), works to improve the resilience of habitats, education visits, skills development and community engagement
CRT’s first outcomes measurement report was recently launched which included 14 sites (two in Wales, one of which is picking up the length of Canal in Pontymoile) (https://goo.gl/wscUWa). Towpath use will be monitored using machine learning cameras giving a better understanding of who is using the waterways.
CRT’s Annual Heritage Review (https://goo.gl/EAWXnn) and Annual Review for Wales (https://goo.gl/b8Uc5o)was published at the end of 2017.