Monmouth Town Council | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Mayor | Tom Kirton,Welsh Labour |
Deputy Mayor | David Evans,Welsh Labour |
Seats | 19 |
Meeting place | |
Shire Hall | |
Website | |
www |
Monmouth Town Council is the town council of the traditional county town of Monmouth, south-east Wales. The Council comprises 19 members, who are elected every five years. [1] The Mayor is the titular head of the council. The council has its offices in the Shire Hall, a Grade I listed building owned by Monmouthshire County Council.
Monmouth is located within the principal area of Monmouthshire (Welsh : Cyngor Sir Fynwy), one of the 22 unitary authorities of Wales.
The Town Council is responsible for a limited range of local government functions, including street cleaning, children's play areas, the town's Christmas lights and floral displays, civic events, and grants to local organisations, and is consulted by the County Council on other matters including planning applications. [2] It operates a community projects grants scheme. [3]
During the reign of William the Conqueror, a castle was built in Monmouth to control the area and its resources. [4] In addition to the castle and Benedictine priory, the town also had burgesses in medieval times. Burgesses had an exclusive control over trade in the market. This monopoly created the need for a local government organisation, which evolved into Monmouth's town council when in 1447 Henry VI granted a charter providing for sixteen councillors, from whom one was elected as mayor, plus the right to two maces, which remains in practice to this day. [5]
Shire Hall is the meeting place of the council. Located in the town centre, Shire Hall is a Grade I listed building. It was built in 1724, and was formerly the centre for the Assize Courts and Quarter Sessions for Monmouthshire. It is owned by Monmouthshire County Council, and beside serving as town hall of Monmouth, it is also used as the town's Tourist Information Centre. [6] [7]
The Mayor of Monmouth is the titular head of the council. Incumbent mayor is Tom Kirton, who was elected in the annual general meeting of the council on 15th May 2023. The position of Deputy Mayor is held by David Evans. [8]
Monmouth has five wards: Town, Dixton with Osbaston, Drybridge, Overmonnow, and Wyesham. Four county councillors are elected from these wards for Monmouthshire County Council. Until 2022 the Town Council comprised 16 members. From 2022 it was increased to 19 members, who are elected every five years. Wyesham, Osbaston, Town and Overmonnow wards have four members in the council, while Drybridge has three representatives. [9]
At the May 2017 elections, seven Indy Monmouth councillors won seats on the town council. One of them, Cllr Anna Antebi, resigned from her Town ward seat in September 2017 for personal reasons. [10] Conservative, Rob Caffel, won the seat by two votes at a by-election in November. [11]
May 2017 elections [12] | |
---|---|
Wards | Members |
Town | Anna Antebi (resigned) |
Dixton with Osbaston | Claudia Blair |
Anthea M Dewhurst (resigned) | |
Jane Lucas | |
Richard Roden | |
Drybridge | Mat Feakins |
Felicity Cotton (resigned) | |
Alice Legg | |
Overmonnow | John Fletcher (died) |
Terry Christopher | |
Sue McConnel (resigned) | |
Jamie Treharne | |
Wyesham | Ken Breeze |
Kelly Jackson-Graham | |
Jane Gunter | |
Jess Stephens (resigned) |
Monmouth is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, two miles from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8,877 in 2001. Monmouth was the county town of historic Monmouthshire, although Abergavenny is the largest settlement and Monmouthshire County Council has its main offices at Rhadyr, just outside Usk. Monmouth is in the UK Parliament constituency of Monmouthshire and the Senedd constituency of Monmouth.
Newport City Council is the governing body for Newport, one of the principal areas of Wales. It consists of 51 councillors, who represent the city's 20 wards.
Laura Anne Jones is a Conservative politician who has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for the South Wales East electoral region since July 2020, having previously held the same seat as an Assembly Member (AM) in the National Assembly for Wales between 2003 and 2007. Jones also served as a county councillor for the Wyesham ward in Monmouthshire County Council from 2017 to 2022.
Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the principal areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established in 1996 to replace the previous Cardiff City Council which had been a lower-tier authority within South Glamorgan. Cardiff Council consists of 79 councillors, representing 28 electoral wards.
Monmouthshire County Council is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales.
Torfaen County Borough Council is the governing body for Torfaen, one of the Principal Areas of Wales.
Wyesham is a village and electoral ward in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located less than one mile east of Monmouth, on the opposite side of the River Wye.
The Monmouth Museum, previously known as The Nelson Museum and Local History Centre, was a museum in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It featured a collection of artefacts associated with Admiral Horatio Nelson, and a local history collection. The museum was located in the Market Hall in the town centre. It was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and did not re-open thereafter. In 2021 Monmouthshire County Council announced plans to move the museum collection to the Shire Hall in Agincourt Square. The five-year project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, will see a new museum open at the Shire Hall by 2027. The Market Hall site will be let as commercial premises.
Drybridge House is a large 17th-century Grade II* listed building in Monmouth, south east Wales. It is located to the southwest of the town at one end of Drybridge Street, close to the “dry bridge” over a small stream, which is now buried beneath a nearby roundabout. It is one of 24 buildings on the Monmouth Heritage Trail, and is now managed as the Bridges Centre.
Overmonnow is a suburb of the town of Monmouth, in Wales, which is located to the west of the River Monnow and the Monnow Bridge. It developed in the Middle Ages, when it was protected by a defensive ditch, the Clawdd-du or "Black Dyke", the remains of which are now protected as an ancient monument. In later centuries the area became known as "Little Monmouth" or "Cappers' Town".
Charles Henry Crompton-Roberts was a British landowner and politician. He was briefly a Member of Parliament before his election was annulled in 1880, and was a substantial contributor to the amenities and community of Monmouth in Wales.
The Clawdd-du, also known in historical records as the Black Dyke, Black Ditch or Clawthy, is a mediaeval linear defensive earthwork or moat, constructed as protection for the faubourg of Overmonnow, on the opposite side of the River Monnow from the town and castle of Monmouth, Wales.
Osbaston is a suburb of Monmouth, Wales, located less than 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the town centre. It was the site of one of the first public electricity generating stations in Britain, using water power from the River Monnow.
Great Manson Farm is a property on the northern outskirts of Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales, in the Buckholt area. It is in the Manson Lane neighbourhood, within the electoral division of Dixton with Osbaston. During the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, members of the Clarke, Goode, Clark, Dampier, and Morgan families resided at Great Manson Farm, at which time the reported size of the farm varied from 170 to 200 acres. The property is remarkable for the presence of three grade II listed buildings, including a barn with medieval origins.
Trellech United is a community and electoral ward in the county of Monmouthshire, Wales. It lies south of the county town of Monmouth next to the Wales-England border.
Larkfield is an electoral ward in Chepstow, Monmouthshire. The ward elects councillors to Chepstow Town Council and Monmouthshire County Council.
Castle is an electoral ward in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. The ward elects councillors to Abergavenny Town Council and Monmouthshire County Council.
Drybridge is an electoral ward in the town of Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales. The ward elects councillors to Monmouth Town Council and Monmouthshire County Council.
West End is an electoral ward in the town of Caldicot, Monmouthshire, Wales. The ward elects councillors to Caldicot Town Council and Monmouthshire County Council.
Catherine Ann Fookes is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Monmouthshire since 2024.