Planning Matters, and More on the Council Meeting

I'll start off with the O2 Mast.
There was a meeting last week between EMF (the agents for O2 who are building the mast) and parents at the school. The mast is going to be built - but they have agreed to do some sort of before and after survey, presumably of the local radiation levels, to see if there is a measurable difference in emissions. The monitoring will be carried out by independent monitors paid for by EMF. Apparently the acceptable levels in Switzerland and Sweden are among the lowest in Europe, and the levels being given off by the Hay mast will be even lower than that. However, eight children have been taken out of Hay School because of the news of the mast - it was thought they had gone to Clifford School. This affects the budget of the school, which is calculated on the number of pupils, so eight leaving all at once is pretty bad news for them.

Meanwhile, on the Warren, there is a possibility that the fishing rights are for sale. The Warren Club owns the land up to one yard from the river, and the owner of the fishing rights wants around £40,000 to £45,000 for them. This is beyond the reach of the Warren Club, or the Town Council. There was a suggestion that, if every B&B in town contributed £1,000, they could buy the rights, and advertise that they had "a rod for life" to encourage fishing tourism. There was some concern, too, about big fishing clubs from nearby cities coming in, and keeping the fishing on the river for their members.

And then we came to the letters.
Tim Organ has written to the Town Council to ask for a meeting. He is the architect who has done a lot of work for Plan B, including drawing up plans for a possible new school, on the same site as at present, and using sustainable methods.
At this point in the proceedings, you could have cut the atmosphere in the Council Chamber with a knife. Some councillors didn't even want to hear the letter read out. Others insisted that Tim Organ should be listened to, and that the goal for everyone was to get the best school possible for Hay. There has been a huge amount of bad feeling generated over this issue, but here was a polite letter, offering reconciliation between the two sides. It was pointed out that there had been four public meetings to view the plans that Tim Organ drew up - such was the public demand to see them - and that the Town Council should not remain in ignorance.
Finally, it was agreed that he would be asked to speak to the Council in the same way as other guest speakers, who have a half hour slot at the start of the meeting.

Onwards, to happier matters.
The town was given a new Welcome To Hay sign a little while ago, to celebrate the twinning with Timbuktu, as part of the Welsh Gold Star scheme. It appears to have been mislaid, but they think it might be at Gwernyfed School. There are also three actual Gold Stars, and at the moment they don't seem to be displayed anywhere either, and it would be good to have them in a public place for everyone to see.

Fiona Howard is hoarding Town Cryers' uniforms! She has three, as well as a bell and other accoutrements, which she is keeping for a time when Hay has a museum.

Another letter was from Germany, politely asking what was the correct form of address for the King of Hay, and when was Richard Booth's birthday?

There will be a meeting to start organising the River Festival at 6.30pm on 12th March, in the Swan - this is intended to be a celebration of arts, community and history centred on the River Wye, and will be starting at Hay, going down towards Chepstow, with boats on the river and events along the route.

Dial-a-Ride has a completely new committee, and Community Support have asked for financial support for the coming year.
Hay Together is looking for volunteers to sort out their new Community Base at the Castle (which makes it sound a bit like a Bond super-villain's lair!)
On 11th March they are having a meeting at the Granary from 1.30pm, and on the 24th March, from 2pm to 5pm they will be in the Swan for an Ideas Factory!

Stuart, the headmaster at Hay School, is ill at the moment, and there may have to be a new head teacher. Fiona Howard (who retired as headmistress) is back in school on supply to help out.

And that's it for another month.