Chairmans Report delivered by Chairman Ian Parry covering the period of May 2025 - May 2026.

Chairmans Report delivered by Chairman Ian Parry.

We had a positive year but before we dig in, let me say a few words about our outgoing Councillor and former Chairman Richard Dover.

Richard has served on the Council since I believe October 2017 and served as Chairman for a few years. Richard has served his community with dedication, commitment, passion and was always prepared to take on any action and any request from members of the public.

On behalf of Carreghofa Community Council and the people of Carreghofa and indeed the wider Llanymynech community, I want to say thank you to Richard and wish him all the very best for the future.

Due to Richard retiring from the Council and John Fynes’ departure earlier in the year, the Council is now in need of two additional members in order for us to reach a full complement. The Council has advertised one of these positions, and to the surprise of no-one, we did not have to run a by-election. I imagine the same will happen for the remaining slot, so the Council will consider suitable people to be co-opted. They will have giant shoes to fill.

I want to thank those who continue to serve on the Council. We all do this voluntarily, in our free time and sometimes with very little thanks. We are also all grateful for Arwel Jones, our County Councillor and his work with the Council. We will continue to press him for action on the potholes, but we know he does all he can. And lastly, let me thank our Clerk, Mike Donkin, for his professionalism and for his continued work in keeping the Council running as smoothly as possible.

We have continued to utilise social media to engage with the wider community, keeping residents regularly informed of important information. The website is now fully updated and will be used more often to make announcements and share information.

We also want to thank all those who volunteer to maintain the planters, and we thank Ian Done for his work in initiating this project and giving up his free time to build the planters. The feedback from the community has been overwhelmingly positive to this beautification of our village.

Montgomery Canal Restoration.

The works on Walls Bridge continue and we can all agree it has been fascinating to watch the progress. Before the end of the year we hope, with fingers tightly crossed that the work will be fully completed. Keir have visited with the council and are open to discussion both with councillors and members of the public, and while we have had the odd complaint, we can say they have acted with politeness to the community.

We await planning permission for the works on Williams Bridge. Works which will likely be more disruptive to the village, to the school, and the wider community.

The canal restoration will likely remain a topic on our agenda for a good while to come.

Finances.

Council finances remain healthy and in good order, although more was spent this year because of expenditure on new planters. We have made donations and supported local institutions such as St Agatha’s Church. The Council remains keen to identify and support further projects and will continue to publicise opportunities with local organisations and community groups.

Planning.

The council has responded when appropriate to planning applications in the village. Most notably the planning proposal for 11 new dwellings near Elm Tree Park.

The Council gathered for an extra-special Council meeting in the Dolphin Inn to discuss how best to tackle the proposal. We did not object in principle to the application however, we raised various issues which included:

Residents of Elm Tree Park not receiving due notice of the application.

Underground utility concerns where we asked for a comprehensive survey to be conducted.

Junction safety, flooding and drainage risk, playground crossing hazard, and overdevelopment concerns. We rightly pointed out that there needs to be more cooperation and discussion when it comes to development between Powys and Shropshire Councils.

Speeding and roads.

The village continues to deal with potholes which remain particularly prevalent down Carreghofa Lane and Pen-Y-Foel. Increased use of parts of Carreghofa lane by Keir Construction means the road has suffered. The Council continues to make presentations to the County Council for repairs to be done.

Speeding remains a major concern. We welcomed a few years ago, the main road the A483 converting from 30mph to 20mph and residents generally seem to prefer this.

However, the B4398 continues to see people not following the 20mph and speeding from the junction toward the school, and then beyond the school toward Williams Bridge.

The Council will continue to chase local police and GoSafe for anti-speeding measures.

Liaison with Llanymynech and Pant Council.

It has been some time since we held a joint council meeting, I would recommend we arrange this for as soon as possible and reach out to our sister council with some proposed dates.

Ongoing business for the next year.

The regular work of the Council which includes much of what is mentioned here shall continue throughout the next year.

It should be noted that we enter the final year of the current Council term as elections will be held in May 2027.