The Tintern News
Produced by the
Friends of Tintern – August 2006
Tintern Youth Club
Every Wednesday
At Village Hall
6.00pm till 8.00pm
Ages 9 to 15 welcome
50p
Adam Parker who works at Stella Books was elected by the
Community council as councillor for Tintern Parva to replace Brian Young
at a special public meeting on Monday 24th July. I will publish a new
information sheet for the News, website and notice boards as soon as possible.
Members of the community should note that unless another casual vacancy arises
the next election of all eight
councillors will be in 2008, probably in May.
Election
of New Officers for 2006/2007
Election of
Chairman
Councillor
Saunders proposed Councillor Floyd. Councillor Webb seconded the motion. There
being no other nominations Councillor Floyd was elected unopposed.
Election of
Vice Chairman
Councillor
Floyd proposed Councillor Bennett. Councillor Saunders seconded the motion.
There being no other nominations Councillor Bennett was elected unopposed.
Election of
member of
Village
Hall Committee
Councillor
Evans proposed Councillor O’Connor. There being no other nominations Councillor
O’Connor was elected unopposed.
‘Friends
of Tintern’ Committee
Councillor
Webb proposed Councillor Bennett. Councillor Floyd seconded the motion. There
being no other nominations Councillor Bennett was elected unopposed.
Election
of other Officers
Councillor
Bennett remains as co-opted governor on the Board of Llandogo School.
With
the death of Councillor Young a new trustee is required to represent the
Council on the Board of the Bradford & Chapel Hill Charity. This will be
decided at the council meeting on 31st July.
Roger Hopson
Clerk to the
Council
Proposed Improvements
to the GP Out of Hours Service in the Gwent Area
Monmouthshire
Local Health Board believe they can provide a better service with three reconfigured units as they will be
better staffed and have access to equipment and facilities not available in the
smaller units. For example, many drugs are not readily available to the doctors
at units without access to 24 hour dispensaries. This is because of the rules,
now in force, regarding access to drug supplies.
Monmouthshire
Local Health Board state that currently a doctor/nurse will return a telephone
request for out of hours assistance in between 5 minutes and 1 hour depending
on the seriousness of the problem and will provide a home visit if necessary.
This will not change.
If patients
are requested, and can attend one of the reconfigured primary care centres
themselves they may be asked to do so. If they do not have transport, it will
be provided.
The Director
made it plain that this change was not being done to save money but to improve
service. The new configuration will, in fact, cost £300,000 more to operate
than the current one.
Please
remember that in a real emergency ring
999 and ask for an ambulance
Tintern Bus Services
The Tintern Community Council Survey gave villagers the
opportunity to express their concerns about having a more frequent and
accessible bus service for the whole of the Village.
It would be almost impossible to organise a service that
would meet everyone’s needs, particularly as most villagers prefer the
convenience of using their own cars, but efforts are being made by MCC to
improve the existing services.
The future planning strategy will be based around the
existing Chepstow/Tintern/Monmouth
services offered by Welcome and Stagecoach (No 69 – timetable attached) and the
shoppers bus operated by Philips (No 91) and to expand this by offering a
‘Grass Routes’ service that will eventually link with both Monmouth and
Chepstow. If the Grass Routes service is successful it could become the basis
of any future service.
The Grass Routes operates on a membership basis for which
there is a one off membership fee of £5 per household which entitles any member
of the household to telephone (free phone 0800 085 8015) a minimum of one day prior to needing the
service, to be collected at a local pick up point.
Local hotels and guest houses can take up membership which
will allow them to book the service on behalf of their guests. It is also
planned that the Chepstow Tourist Information office will also have the
facility to book the service for visitors to the area.
It is also hoped that a bus turning area can be provided at
the Railway Station in Chepstow, which would allow a direct rail/bus connection
to the bus station in Chepstow, but no detailed plans are yet available for
this.
The ‘Grass Routes’ service has already started in Monmouth
and should be extended to Tintern and Chepstow sometime in the Autumn, so we can
watch developments with interest.
In the meantime it is planned to trial a ‘Park and Ride’
service for Tintern, operating from Chepstow racecourse at the end of July
which should help ease some of the parking pressures in the Village.
Please let your Community Councillors hear your views on the
services as they develop.
DFB/TCC
TINTERN
WI
For our July meeting we were back in the Village Hall. We heard how the Air ambulance Service
operates. They fly people to hospital as quickly as possible and this service
is especially valuable when people in remote areas are involved in accidents.
This Air Ambulance is funded solely by donations from the public and though
there are many volunteers helping to raise funds the money to pay for the
helicopters, pilots and other staff is not easy to find. We found the talk very interesting and
informative.
Our next meeting is on Monday 21st August at
2.30pm. at the Old Station for our Garden Party. If it should rain we will meet at the Village
Hall
If you are interested in joining WI do come along to our
meeting and you will be made very welcome.
TINTERN
VPA
On Friday evening 21st
July the annual VPA Garden Party was held at the home of Mina Vanderveere at
Quinton’s
The next meeting is
the Annual Show on Saturday 19th August in the Village Hall. Tables and staging will be prepared on Friday evening and the Hall will be open from 9.00 am
on Saturday morning. Entries must be staged by 11.45 am ready for judging from 12.00 (all entries to be grown or made by the
competitor). Entries should be notified
(using the forms already provided with the schedule) to Mrs C Bradshaw , 10 Parva Springs (Tel. 689877)
by midday on Wednesday 16th August.
Items donated as prizes for the raffle
can also be left at 10 Parva Springs. Entries for the tallest sunflower
will be measured on Thursday 17th August. (For additional copies of the schedule and
entry form telephone the number above).
From September we will have meetings in the Village
Hall once per month at 7.30 pm. On 15th September Mr D Collett will be giving a talk on “Growing
and Showing Vegetables”. (He will be on
television on 20/08/06 7.30 pm , not
sure which channel).
I would like to take this opportunity to explain my concerns
for our community and why I went to the press sometime ago about the lack of
focus by TCC and MCC on the challenges that we have here regarding parking,
pavements, tourism and the roads.
I have been here in the parish since 1993 and set up
business in Tintern in 1997. I rebuilt Abbey Lodge (Imagination) to house my
design studio and gallery. In recent times I built the café opposite which is
now run by Tony and Bridgit as Ginger Blue. I love Tintern, it is beautiful and
has amazing facilities.
Why then when ever I have asked TCC to sort out some of the
challenges is the stock answer that there is no money? Recently I sat and
watched as a local girl sailed through the air having been hit by a car outside
the surgery, although the girl was to blame, she didn’t look, the junction is
plainly dangerous. Traffic needs to be slowed.
Several cars have spun off the road in the wet due to poor
road surface and lack of safety barriers. Why O why do we value humans so low
that we do nothing to sort out the problems?
We all pay council tax and the Abbey brings huge amounts of
revenue and those of us in business pay our share, so where is all this money
going?
We desperately need a Community Council who are not prepared
to take no for an answer. I realise that there has been a survey to find out
the obvious (quite frankly) and I am told things are happening behind the
scenes but I am also told that I cannot be told what is happening behind the
scenes. This frankly is quite mad as we should have openness to what is going
on from our representatives on Tintern Community Council. Just why do things
have to be secretive?
Some years ago MCC bought the land up the road from the
George to make into a car park. Just how many years do we have to wait? How
long will it take to have a pavement that runs the entire length of the
village? None of these problems are insurmountable but TCC has failed to
deliver results to date, this has to change.
Finally! There is always great debate about Tintern and what
it is. It is a Tourist area, it is a place people come to live in to have peace
and quiet and it is a place where business provides local employment to
lubricate the system. It would be great if we were able to influence where
Tintern goes to make it work for all of us. I believe that totally possible
with a Community Council that includes and debates the issues openly and is not
afraid to stand up to MCC.
I would like to help and make sure Tintern goes in a
direction that works for most of us, it is a fabulous place.
With kindest regard, Andi Francis.
Wanted: house to buy or some land for an eco build.
We are a professional young couple looking for a
house or land to buy in the
Tintern area. We are currently living in
Brockweir and loving this paradise
on earth! We'll consider anything but ideally we
look for an open south-west aspect
and views. Minimum 2 beds. Alternatively, if we
find the right space, we want to undertake an eco-build.
Please contact Piers on 07886101446 if you have
any ideas.
Thank you
Change
of Address: Parva Ltd. Due to the success of Christoper Klinkert’s business at the Tintern
Garage over the first 12 months, he has outgrown the Tintern Garage premises and has now taken over the site at
Coltharts, St Arvans.
Mrs.
Bailey – Happy 80th Birthday – 27th
July.
Friends of Tintern send Dorothy
Michael and Margery Matthews get
well wishes.
More volunteers are required to help with the cleaning rota
for the Church. Contact Sue Ball/Janet Hill/Hermoine Ford.
Wednesday 9th August - Bingo in the Anchor –
7.30pm
Saturday 19th August – Village Hall
VPA Annual Show – from 9.00am
Monday 21st August at 2.30pm. WI -
Sunday 10th September – Race Night
7.30pm
Friday 15th September – VPA – 7.30pm
– Village Hall
Sunday 10th December 6.30pm –
Christmas Lights Switch On at the
Monday 11th December, 12 noon – Old
Folks Christmas Party at the Anchor Hotel.
CATBROOK MEMORIAL HALL EVENTS 2006
August 4th-6th - Art for
Friday 29th September - Whist Drive.
Saturday 30th September - Italian Wine Tasting Evening and
Supper.
Friday 6th October - Film Night - The Constant Gardener.
Saturday 21st October - High Jinx Theatre Evening. Friday 3rd November -
Film Night - Walk the Line.
Friday 24th November - ArtsVariety Show featuring Frank Hennessy & Friends.
Saturday 9th December - Dougie Watts Singing Duo - back by popular demand.
A Coffee Morning is held in the hall every third Tuesday of the month
commencing at 10.30 am. Everyone welcome.
Yoga Classes held every Tuesday evening and Thursday morning. Call Ruth
Routh on 01600- 860648 for details.
Whist Drives:-
Friday 29th September
Friday 15th and 29th December
For details of all other events or to hire the hall contact Betty Maloney on
01600-860548.
Items for the Newsletter
Items for the Tintern Newsletter from home or
abroad can be sent by email to andrew.elspeth@virgin.net delivered to Wye Barn,
Tintern, or tel 01291 689456.
Please ensure that items for the September
edition of the Newsletter are received by 28th August.
The
Tintern News Letter is sponsored by the Lower Wye Area Committee.