Time for Another Council Meeting

I didn't stay all the way through - I left when they were going through the letters the Council had received - but I still saw a lot of topics covered.

First up this time was Affordable Housing. There will be a meeting on the 6th March of interested parties, and it will be open to all. Some people in Hay have already done a lot of research on this subject, and it would be a pity not to pool all that knowledge. Ros Garrett would also like people who are in need of housing to be involved. There was a survey to find out about housing need around Hay in 2005, but this is now out of date, and another one should be done soon. They also need to identify acceptable sites for new building, and empty properties that could be renovated and returned to use. One of the housing associations that might be interested in moving into this area - they already have properties in Brecon and Crickhowell - is Merlin.
One of the problems with the existing council houses is that they are managed through the County Council, so there is no local control, which is what Fiona Howard wants from this project.

And from housing, to dog fouling! When the Hay Together Fair was put on at the Castle in September, there was a place to write down things people liked about Hay, and things that they didn't like. Top of the "Don't Like" list was dog fouling! There is a scheme in Ross-on-Wye which has been successful, of Community Dog Wardens. In fact, it has been so successful, Ledbury and Bromyard have started to copy them (and somewhere else, I think, but I didn't get the name down). Community Dog Wardens are people who walk their own dogs regularly, or use footpaths regularly, so it's not something that volunteers would have to spend any extra time on. They'd just have to carry on doing what they are already doing. They are interviewed for the post, and need to be of good character, because the police and other officials have to be able to take their word as witnesses in order to issue fixed penalty notices to people who allow their dogs to leave nasty little messes around the town. The same people in Ross have also assisted in spotting fly tipping, littering, and anti-social behaviour. They are given basic training, and a supply of free poop bags that they can give out if necessary.
Where farmers are concerned about dogs roaming free in fields with sheep, which is a particular worry at this time of year, the same Dog Wardens could keep an eye on that too. It is, of course, legal for farmers to shoot dogs which are worrying sheep, and someone asked if that was possible on the Warren, because a shotgun can only legally be fired 60 yards or more from a footpath or road.
Gareth Ratcliffe said that he would bring the matter up again at the County Council - he last raised the matter in 2010.

Going slightly out of order now - the County Council have agreed to launch a pilot scheme for Resident's Parking in Hay from April. The idea is that there will be a red zone and a green zone (there are maps which are still having the details finalised). The red zone will be the centre of town, which will mostly have the double yellow lines as at present, but where parking is allowed, cars will be able to stay for an hour to help people with their shopping. In the green zone, residents will have permits at a cost of somewhere around £52 for the year (so a pound a week), and visitors will be able to park for up to two hours if there are empty spaces.
As they said, this is a pilot scheme, so there may well be problems - but when they occur, they can then be thought about and dealt with.