Monmouthshire County Council’s decision to rush through the closure of Tudor Street day centre in Abergavenny to get around planning regulations is wrong for several reasons. Prior to Covid, the centre offered a valuable service to adults with learning difficulties and, of course, to their relatives and carers. If the council believes the service could be better provided in a different way or at a different venue, then fair enough - let the argument be made. But the decision to shut it completely and redevelop the site for affordable housing seems to have been taken in order to bypass planning regulations which the council professes to support. The Welsh Government is introducing new regulations in June 2023 on where houses can be built to reduce the number of homes at risk from flooding. If the council believes its colleagues in the Welsh Labour Government are wrong to bring in stricter building regulations, the administration should publicly say so and not try to sneakily rush through the closure of a valuable community resource to evade the rules it otherwise claims to support.

For all the disappointment in Qatar, it was still a first World Cup for Wales in 64 years and the football team is to be rightly congratulated. Wales has another chance to shine next month with the start of the Six Nations Rugby Championship. But national teams can only thrive with the support of local clubs. It was therefore a pleasure to write in support of Abergavenny RFC, which is seeking grant funding from the WRU to save money on energy bills by installing solar panels. Whether rugby, football, netball, boxing or something else, local community sports clubs play a vital role in getting young people interested in taking up a sport and enjoying physical and mental health benefits that go with an active lifestyle. They are dependent on volunteers giving up their time to bring on the next generation of athletes and players and I wish them all the best.

Congestion in Chepstow continues to be a problem.

The long-term solution is a bypass, although there are cheaper short-term options which would help.

There are calls for a public meeting on the issue and while I would happily join, nothing will change without the support of the Welsh Labour Government which, for now, has put a block on new road building for “environmental” reasons. Any public meeting needs a representative from Welsh Government so they can hear for themselves about the environmental problems being caused as a result of the daily congestion in Chepstow.