The Town Plan committee had their meeting yesterday, and will be putting their conclusions out for consultation in September - it's been front page news in the B&R this week. The press release was also sent to the Hereford Times, so there might be a story in there as well tomorrow. The Wye Local, because they are monthly, said they wouldn't run the piece, presumably because it would be old news by the time the next issue comes out - they said they'd wait until there had been some reaction to the plans. The Council are encouraging all the local community groups they can find to get involved.
Meanwhile, there has been more research about the tangled web of ownership of land around the Gliss. Councillors have been up to Llandrindod Wells to consult the records, and have gone back as far as 1902, when the railway ran through there - but they didn't just own the track. There was an extra bit of ground that they still owned when they sold the trackway - and on another occasion Welsh Water managed to sell a piece of land that they didn't actually own! It doesn't help that, on old photos, the Gliss looks quite a bit smaller than it is now. The old Hay Urban District Council maintained ownership by the use of the land, and the Glanusk Estate, which was supposed to have ownership at one time, can't provide any proof of ownership either (though I think I remember discussions at the History Group that mentioned that some of the Glanusk Estate records were destroyed in an air raid in the Second World War, when the Estate's solicitors' building in London got blown up). They also know that some land between the railway line and the river was purchased in 1970, but they have no idea which bit exactly.
When it comes to the ownership of the Council Chambers, the records go back to 1829, and the Community Centre goes back to 1939. There's a Welsh Office circular (back when the Welsh Office was the highest authority) saying that assets should go to the local councils rather than the borough (this was back in 1974 when everything was re-organised), but the only occasion locally where this seems to have happened is the Guildhall in Brecon, which was retained by the Town Council. The transfer of Hay car park to the County Council seems to have been automatic - they can't find any paperwork relating to it at all, though there's lots for the public toilets!
And then the little matter of Hay's £200,000 came up - and what could we spend it on? Originally it was earmarked for the extension to the car park, but when that didn't happen it was supposed to have been transferred to a fund for a new community centre, which almost happened around the millennium, at Forest Road. But now the community centre is going to be part of the school, so what's going to happen to this money? No-one knows, though there does seem to be a stipulation that it can only be released if Powys County Council own the land that will be used.
As Hay is being expected to take on more and more services from Powys, there was a lot of dis-satisfaction about the idea that the school building would be an adequate place to run all the Council services from, which is supposed to be the plan. They seem to be going back to the days when Hay Council had all the responsibilities of the old Urban District Council, but without the funding to run those services. Some of the new responsibilities will involve taking over staff and owning grass cutting machinery and so forth, which will have implications for the town's insurance policies.
There was a suggestion that a business plan should be drawn up to show that the present Council Chambers would be essential to providing those services, to make a case for Powys transferring ownership back to Hay, rather than the present lease that only takes them up to two months after the new school is built. Then they're supposed to move everything to the new school, which they really don't want to do. They didn't see any other option than to sign the lease offered, though they want to keep negotiations open with Powys.
This is one of the things that is being discussed as part of the Town Plan, and they also want to go to the electorate of Hay to see what the residents want the town council to take on.
There is a training day for councillors to help them grapple with these problems, and Fiona Howard seemed to think that they wouldn't be taken seriously in negotiations until they had that knowledge - so they're going to spend £400 on it. It's a day set up for 20 people, so all the councillors will attend, plus whoever else they can find who is interested locally.
There is still an empty place on the council - no-one has come forward to say they are interested, so the councillors will be looking for people they can persuade to take up the position.
Wednesday, 9 July 2014
Tuesday, 8 July 2014
Council Meeting - Sunday Buses and the Bowling Club Pavilion
At the beginning of the Council meetings there is time for questions from the public, and yesterday there was a chap there from Rail for Herefordshire, which also campaigns for bus services, who was there to bring the councillors up to speed on the Sunday bus situation. The service will be stopped at the end of August between Brecon and Hereford.
However, in an attempt to show the support for the service along the route, Rail for Herefordshire are trying to get local councils and businesses to pledge a total of £4,000 and invite Herefordshire County Council to match fund the amount - £8,000 would be enough to run a service between Hay and Hereford for three round trips. It may be possible to do it with a 16 seater coach. They are starting off the pledges with £200, so need 19 other bodies to chip in the same to get their total (or more, of course!). The fare would be the same as it is now, and they would be looking at starting the service at 9am in Hay to get to the railway station in Hereford for about 10am, rather than around 1pm as it is now.
It would be more difficult to try to keep the whole route through to Brecon, partly because all the Beacons Buses are being cut as well, apart from the T4 to Cardiff, so there is less reason to go into Brecon on a Sunday. It would also mean dealing with Powys County Council as well as Herefordshire County Council.
Rail for Herefordshire have also been conducting surveys to see who actually uses the service - last week, for instance, 7 people with all their luggage took the journey to Hereford railway station from Hay on the first bus of the day.
Nigel the Town Clerk said that he had been trying to get in touch with the chap whose responsible for the public transport in Herefordshire County Council - and when he finally got hold of him, he was told he was too late and the decision had been made the week before! A grudging apology was finally given, but it means that Hay Council have been kept out of the decision making process. There was also a suggestion that the route might be viable in the summer months but not over the winter - and a year's trial run, as suggested by Rail for Herefordshire, would test this. There was a rumour going round that Herefordshire County Council had met Hay Together on the subject rather than the Council, but this does not seem to be true!
When the Rail for Herefordshire chap had gone there was some further discussion, and the councillors decided that they would ask them to apply to the recycling fund for the £200 they were asking for, as it would be for the benefit of Hay. Fiona Howard is also going to meet with the Chamber of Commerce to discuss the pledges, as lack of the bus service will impact on the local businesses in Hay as well.
Another visitor to the Council Chambers was Stephen Butcher from Powys County Council, who is responsible for the handover of sporting assets from the County Council to the local councils or sports clubs of Powys. He's actually working his way out of a job, which led Nigel Birch to say that the County Council soon wouldn't need that big building of theirs, because they will have got rid of so many employees!
The County Council want to pass over responsibility for the sports facilities in Hay either to Hay Council, in which case it would be a transfer of assets, or to the sports clubs that use the facilities, in which case it would be on a 25 year lease. There were several sour comments about the responsibilities being devolved down, but the County Council would still be collecting the same amount of Council Tax from everyone, and the local councils would have to increase their precept - meaning that every tax payer will have to pay more - to cover the new responsibilities they're landed with. It was noted by Steve Like that the people of Hay had bought the sports grounds originally, and the County Council had agreed to maintain them, and now they were going back on that historic agreement.
"They won't give up the car park, though, will they?" said Nigel Birch. "They want us to take on all the rubbish and they keep the good stuff."
The Cricket Club seem to have been going through a few difficulties lately, though rumours that they are about to fold are not true. They are just taking a year out of the league, and will just be playing friendly matches for a while. The bowls club are keen to take on their part of the pavilion, which is also used by the cricket, football and tennis clubs. There is a £5,000 one-off grant available to help with the costs, or the equivalent in mowing machinery. Further grants might be available to the sports clubs from various sources later. If neither the clubs nor Hay Council are willing to take it on, the building would have to close down. The asset transfer includes the children's play ground. Steve Like wanted a complete breakdown of what the County Council spends on the maintenance, in detail, because previous figures that have been given are far too vague. Stephen Butcher said that the County Council had spent £2,469.97 on cutting the grass, picking up litter, trimming hedges and sweeping leaves off the tennis courts - the cricket club maintains the square between the wickets, and the bowling club maintains the bowling green already.
There has been a hold up in the whole transfer business while the issue of the extension of the cemetery (which is next door) is sorted out. The councillors believe that the field above the cemetery has already been bought, some years ago, for use as an extension, but there is some confusion about this, and about whether the ground is suitable for graves.
And in an added twist, the sculpture group want to rent the garage on the little car park attached to the Pavilion, though there's nothing formally agreed yet.
The Council has until January to think about whether they want to take on the responsibilities, though the actual asset transfer could take eighteen months.
However, in an attempt to show the support for the service along the route, Rail for Herefordshire are trying to get local councils and businesses to pledge a total of £4,000 and invite Herefordshire County Council to match fund the amount - £8,000 would be enough to run a service between Hay and Hereford for three round trips. It may be possible to do it with a 16 seater coach. They are starting off the pledges with £200, so need 19 other bodies to chip in the same to get their total (or more, of course!). The fare would be the same as it is now, and they would be looking at starting the service at 9am in Hay to get to the railway station in Hereford for about 10am, rather than around 1pm as it is now.
It would be more difficult to try to keep the whole route through to Brecon, partly because all the Beacons Buses are being cut as well, apart from the T4 to Cardiff, so there is less reason to go into Brecon on a Sunday. It would also mean dealing with Powys County Council as well as Herefordshire County Council.
Rail for Herefordshire have also been conducting surveys to see who actually uses the service - last week, for instance, 7 people with all their luggage took the journey to Hereford railway station from Hay on the first bus of the day.
Nigel the Town Clerk said that he had been trying to get in touch with the chap whose responsible for the public transport in Herefordshire County Council - and when he finally got hold of him, he was told he was too late and the decision had been made the week before! A grudging apology was finally given, but it means that Hay Council have been kept out of the decision making process. There was also a suggestion that the route might be viable in the summer months but not over the winter - and a year's trial run, as suggested by Rail for Herefordshire, would test this. There was a rumour going round that Herefordshire County Council had met Hay Together on the subject rather than the Council, but this does not seem to be true!
When the Rail for Herefordshire chap had gone there was some further discussion, and the councillors decided that they would ask them to apply to the recycling fund for the £200 they were asking for, as it would be for the benefit of Hay. Fiona Howard is also going to meet with the Chamber of Commerce to discuss the pledges, as lack of the bus service will impact on the local businesses in Hay as well.
Another visitor to the Council Chambers was Stephen Butcher from Powys County Council, who is responsible for the handover of sporting assets from the County Council to the local councils or sports clubs of Powys. He's actually working his way out of a job, which led Nigel Birch to say that the County Council soon wouldn't need that big building of theirs, because they will have got rid of so many employees!
The County Council want to pass over responsibility for the sports facilities in Hay either to Hay Council, in which case it would be a transfer of assets, or to the sports clubs that use the facilities, in which case it would be on a 25 year lease. There were several sour comments about the responsibilities being devolved down, but the County Council would still be collecting the same amount of Council Tax from everyone, and the local councils would have to increase their precept - meaning that every tax payer will have to pay more - to cover the new responsibilities they're landed with. It was noted by Steve Like that the people of Hay had bought the sports grounds originally, and the County Council had agreed to maintain them, and now they were going back on that historic agreement.
"They won't give up the car park, though, will they?" said Nigel Birch. "They want us to take on all the rubbish and they keep the good stuff."
The Cricket Club seem to have been going through a few difficulties lately, though rumours that they are about to fold are not true. They are just taking a year out of the league, and will just be playing friendly matches for a while. The bowls club are keen to take on their part of the pavilion, which is also used by the cricket, football and tennis clubs. There is a £5,000 one-off grant available to help with the costs, or the equivalent in mowing machinery. Further grants might be available to the sports clubs from various sources later. If neither the clubs nor Hay Council are willing to take it on, the building would have to close down. The asset transfer includes the children's play ground. Steve Like wanted a complete breakdown of what the County Council spends on the maintenance, in detail, because previous figures that have been given are far too vague. Stephen Butcher said that the County Council had spent £2,469.97 on cutting the grass, picking up litter, trimming hedges and sweeping leaves off the tennis courts - the cricket club maintains the square between the wickets, and the bowling club maintains the bowling green already.
There has been a hold up in the whole transfer business while the issue of the extension of the cemetery (which is next door) is sorted out. The councillors believe that the field above the cemetery has already been bought, some years ago, for use as an extension, but there is some confusion about this, and about whether the ground is suitable for graves.
And in an added twist, the sculpture group want to rent the garage on the little car park attached to the Pavilion, though there's nothing formally agreed yet.
The Council has until January to think about whether they want to take on the responsibilities, though the actual asset transfer could take eighteen months.
Sunday, 6 July 2014
The Return of the Car Boot Sales
Due to popular demand, the Wye Local and Hay School have started running car boot sales again on the first Saturday of the month over the summer. The Lions club have stepped forward to run one on the third Saturday of the month, and two ladies from the Lions were there yesterday morning to see how everything was organised.
I don't have a car, but I decided to try a bit of de-cluttering anyway by piling everything I wanted to sell into the shopping trolley I used to wheel Islay the dog around in, with another box balanced on top. As long as I went slowly up the hill and was very careful going up and down kerbs I was okay.
I didn't sell much, but it was a very pleasant way to spend a morning, eating grapes in the sunshine and chatting to people I knew.
There were seventeen (and a half!) boots there, and a steady stream of people passing through.
As I pushed the trolley up the car park at the end of the morning, I noticed a big carousel set up in the castle grounds.
It seems there was a wedding being held there, and the carousel was for the use of the guests. They also had the City of Swansea Pipe Band! Later in the afternoon I was up in town again chatting to friends (two people passed by as we were talking and commented "You haven't moved far!") when we heard the sound of the bagpipes and headed for the Honesty Bookshop, where the Pipe Band were giving a short concert to the town from the terrace around the castle! Wonderful stuff. I'm told they marched through town later.
Men in kilts (and women!), and me without my camera!
I don't have a car, but I decided to try a bit of de-cluttering anyway by piling everything I wanted to sell into the shopping trolley I used to wheel Islay the dog around in, with another box balanced on top. As long as I went slowly up the hill and was very careful going up and down kerbs I was okay.
I didn't sell much, but it was a very pleasant way to spend a morning, eating grapes in the sunshine and chatting to people I knew.
There were seventeen (and a half!) boots there, and a steady stream of people passing through.
As I pushed the trolley up the car park at the end of the morning, I noticed a big carousel set up in the castle grounds.
It seems there was a wedding being held there, and the carousel was for the use of the guests. They also had the City of Swansea Pipe Band! Later in the afternoon I was up in town again chatting to friends (two people passed by as we were talking and commented "You haven't moved far!") when we heard the sound of the bagpipes and headed for the Honesty Bookshop, where the Pipe Band were giving a short concert to the town from the terrace around the castle! Wonderful stuff. I'm told they marched through town later.
Men in kilts (and women!), and me without my camera!
Saturday, 5 July 2014
Small Business Saturday
I wondered about including the charity shops as local businesses, but then I decided that I get so many bargains from them that I may as well include them. This is the Red Cross Shop, once Paris House - and once the site of an antique shop that was a front for a money laundering operation!
Friday, 4 July 2014
Beer and History
I've just realised that next weekend will be something close to perfection for me!
It's Hereford History Day on Saturday - I've been along to that for several years now, with Drudion, the re-enactment group I belong to. I usually go in full costume on the bus, carrying a big basket with all my spinning and weaving equipment.
This year the focus is much more on the First World War, so 13thC Welsh mercenaries don't quite fit in! However, I thought I'd still like to go as a member of the public, so I'll be wearing an Edwardian outfit for the day, complete with a solar topee - just back from the Raj, you see!
At the other end of town, the tenth Beer on the Wye will be in full swing down by the Rowing Club - so this year I can do both on the same day! Normally, I wouldn't be drinking while re-enacting. If I keep in character, I should be looking out for interesting IPAs (that's India Pale Ales, which were originally brewed for the British in India).
It's Hereford History Day on Saturday - I've been along to that for several years now, with Drudion, the re-enactment group I belong to. I usually go in full costume on the bus, carrying a big basket with all my spinning and weaving equipment.
This year the focus is much more on the First World War, so 13thC Welsh mercenaries don't quite fit in! However, I thought I'd still like to go as a member of the public, so I'll be wearing an Edwardian outfit for the day, complete with a solar topee - just back from the Raj, you see!
At the other end of town, the tenth Beer on the Wye will be in full swing down by the Rowing Club - so this year I can do both on the same day! Normally, I wouldn't be drinking while re-enacting. If I keep in character, I should be looking out for interesting IPAs (that's India Pale Ales, which were originally brewed for the British in India).
Thursday, 3 July 2014
Baskerville Hall - Lean on Me
Over the river to Clyro again on Wednesday night for the music night, and there were some good singers and players there again, including a lad with a flute. The musical styles ranged all over the place, from Irish jigs to sea shanties to Sixties protest songs (we all belted out The Times They Are A'Changing). Also there was a rude song about rhubarb!
In the next room there was a group of young football players - a strictly non-alcoholic meal, though some of them did come into the bar later for soft drinks. As they were getting up from their meal and drifting through to the front hall, past the open door of the bar, we were singing Lean on Me, and one of the footballers, a good looking black lad, stopped to join in the chorus. We tried to get him back to sing some more, but he came over all shy!
In the next room there was a group of young football players - a strictly non-alcoholic meal, though some of them did come into the bar later for soft drinks. As they were getting up from their meal and drifting through to the front hall, past the open door of the bar, we were singing Lean on Me, and one of the footballers, a good looking black lad, stopped to join in the chorus. We tried to get him back to sing some more, but he came over all shy!
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
Food and Vintage Fairs
This weekend, the marquees went up in the market square again.
Saturday was the Food Fair. I always go up to see what goodies are on offer, and usually come away with some Jacobi beer. This time they have a four-pack beer carrier, and a new beer to try, made with honey. I had a trial sip of their porter as well, which sparkles in the mouth, and finished the selection off with Red Squirrel IPA and Original. I treated myself to some focaccia from Caroline's Bakery too.
Outside, a male voice choir was singing (from Talgarth?) and there were stalls selling herbs and snacks and vegetables, with crafts in the Buttermarket, and Marie Curie Cancer Care teas in the Cheesemarket.
On Sunday was the Vintage Fair - which actually started with cocktails down at the Old Electric Shop on the Friday evening. I always miss this one, as it's on a Sunday, so I just saw them setting up and taking it down at the end. From all accounts it was a successful event again, though.
The Old Electric Shop has popped up and stayed. Sally Matthews is now exhibiting some of her animal paintings and sculptures there, and they're going to start doing craft workshops soon - fabric flower brooches for children, and shopping bags for grown-ups to start with.
Saturday was the Food Fair. I always go up to see what goodies are on offer, and usually come away with some Jacobi beer. This time they have a four-pack beer carrier, and a new beer to try, made with honey. I had a trial sip of their porter as well, which sparkles in the mouth, and finished the selection off with Red Squirrel IPA and Original. I treated myself to some focaccia from Caroline's Bakery too.
Outside, a male voice choir was singing (from Talgarth?) and there were stalls selling herbs and snacks and vegetables, with crafts in the Buttermarket, and Marie Curie Cancer Care teas in the Cheesemarket.
On Sunday was the Vintage Fair - which actually started with cocktails down at the Old Electric Shop on the Friday evening. I always miss this one, as it's on a Sunday, so I just saw them setting up and taking it down at the end. From all accounts it was a successful event again, though.
The Old Electric Shop has popped up and stayed. Sally Matthews is now exhibiting some of her animal paintings and sculptures there, and they're going to start doing craft workshops soon - fabric flower brooches for children, and shopping bags for grown-ups to start with.
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