Open Access Play Opportunities through MonLife

DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, THESE SESSIONS HAVE NOW BEEN FULLY BOOKED

Open Access Play Opportunities empowers children and young people to engage in a wide variety of play activities in a safe supervised environment.

Children will have access to a range of play based activities which will all be based outdoors for the Easter holidays.

The MonLife Open Access Play provision will take place at Abergavenny, Monmouth, Caldicot and Chepstow Leisure Centre.  All sessions are FREE and your child will learn new skills through a range of different activities and develop their confidence through meeting new people.

Following the current Government guidelines these sessions will take place outside and will be 1 hour and 55mins long.  There will be a maximum of 30 children per session per day and will run from 10am – 11:55am.  These sessions are for 5 – 11 years only.

To register your interest please complete the following form – you will then receive a call from the relevant Leisure Centre to confirm your booking.

To register your interest click HERE

Please be advised that if there are any changes following the Welsh Government announcement and guidelines we will communicate the cancellation of sessions.

Please click HERE for a list of FAQ’s

Active Travel Caldicot

Over the next two weeks the Council will be carrying out survey and investigation works along the route of the disused railway line in Caldicot to help inform design development for a multi- purpose Active Travel route from Portskewett to Caerwent. The focus will be on Phase 1 of the scheme as you will see in the link below

Caldicot Links Phasing Plan

These investigation works will start in Portskewett at the Cornfield entrance point (marked on the attached plan). To enable these investigations it is necessary for some vegetation clearance works to be undertaken. We would like to assure you that these works are being undertaken by the Council and other contractors and are being supervised by an Ecological Clerk of works.

The council will be undertaking consultation and seeking community views on the whole scheme in the next few weeks.

If you have any concerns or queries please don’t hesitate to contact us:
countryside@monmouthshire.gov.uk
01633 644850

Council to create community nature spaces for Monmouth’s Rockfield Estate

Monmouthshire County Council is to consult over plans to encourage nature to thrive around Monmouth’s Rockfield estate.  It follows a grant from the Welsh Government’s Local Places for Nature fund to undertake a study that involves residents in developing nine community nature spaces and designing enhancements for nature at four neighborhood play areas across Overmonnow.

Community nature spaces include areas for growing vegetables, flowers and fruit trees and tree planting as well as re-wilding areas into mini meadows, offering opportunities for residents to enjoy nature and for children to play.  In addition to providing benefits for residents, they also present valuable habitats for pollinators and other forms of wildlife.

The council has appointed specialist environmental consultancy Pegasus Group to carry out a detailed survey of the sites, public consultation, planning and design works.  This study will enable the community nature spaces to become a reality during the 2021/22 financial year, subject to further funding approval from Welsh Government.

The project is likely to involve transforming some of the smaller and less well-used amenity play areas into community nature spaces.  Meanwhile, the council will expand the playground at the central open space next to the Rockfield Community Centre to cater for children of a wider age range and provide more accessible play equipment.

Councillor Jane Pratt, Monmouthshire’s cabinet member with responsibility for parks and open spaces said: “Among the lessons that the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have taught us is the importance of a variety of good quality and easily accessible open spaces so families and individuals can spend time together outdoors experiencing nature on their doorstep.”

Councillor Richard John, cabinet member with responsibility for bio-diversity added: “This project is another step in the council’s journey to improve local environments and benefit pollinators.”

In addition to engaging with local residents, the council will involve other project stakeholders including the local county council member, Monmouth Town Council, Transition Monmouth, ACE (Action on Climate Emergency), Gwent Wildlife Trust, Rockfield Community Centre and NRW (Natural Resources Wales).

A short questionnaire about the project can be accessed via the following link: www.monnaturespaces.co.uk – also, anyone wishing to comment on or become involved in the project can forward an email to: naturespaces@pegasusgroup.co.uk

Tree Maintenance at Caldicot Country Park

In order to keep Caldicot Country Park an enjoyable and a safe place for you to walk, you may have noticed that we are currently doing work on some of our trees in our beautiful park. Don’t worry, this is all timed to avoid the bird nesting season and the trees have all been assessed for bat roosts (but none have been found). We won’t be long finishing this work, so please bear with us.

Here’s why we are doing, what we are doing…

• An increase in pressure from footfall and more frequent flooding has placed a lot of stress on some of our trees, and their health is now starting to suffer. Some of the trees we are working on have become a safety risk with branches, and in some cases, whole trees starting to fail.

• As the canopies of trees planted close together are co-dependent, changes in one tree can affect the life of another. So when we need to carry out essential tree work of this nature, we tend to do so in groups of trees rather than individually. This is why we have currently cordoned off a large area of the avenue in the park.

• A lot of these trees that you can see along our avenue today, were first planted at the same time almost 150 years ago, which means that inevitably, they will all start to decline at the same time many years later. This time is now, so for us to ensure that the avenue retains its special value as an important habitat and landscape, we are adopting a phased approach to replacing trees rather than waiting for major failures to occur. We do this through a programme of selective tree removal to create gaps for replanting, and some careful pruning of other trees to reduce the risk of any failure. This all helps prolong their life and the special nature of the avenue.

• Any new trees that we plant may be of a different species to the ones they are replacing. This will improve resilience against tree diseases, and help manage any stresses that may emerge in our country park in the future.

Thank you for your understanding and for helping to look after our country park so that future generations can enjoy it too.

Competition Time, help us name the MonLife Mouse

We need your help to name the MonLife Mouse!

Meet our new Old Station Tintern mascot. This lovely little Dormouse can be found between the pages of our brand new family activity pack – Explore and Create at Old Station Tintern.

The only problem is, our Dormouse doesn’t have a name! We’ve come up with all sorts of ideas but we bet can you can do better than us so we’re launching a competition called ‘Name that Mouse!’

All you have to do is click on the link below and submit your ideas and contact detailshttps://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx…

The winner of the competition will receive:

• A free copy of our new family activity pack
• A free ride on the Old Station Tintern train
• Free Family drinks and cake at our newly refurbished café

Deadline for entries is Friday 12th February 2021

Winner to be announced Wednesday 17th February 2021

This project is funded by The Sustainable Development Fund, a Welsh Government initiative supported by the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership.

MonLife One Year Anniversary

One year on, during these difficult times, we are closer than ever!

And what a 1st year this has been…

“On behalf of myself and my MonLife colleagues, I would like to thank you for being part of our first year since our launch in 2020. We have been humbled and amazed at your continued enthusiasm and support and having received such positive feedback across our wide ranging services, we look forward to seeing you all again as and when Welsh Government confirm it is safe to do so. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to the MonLife team who have worked tirelessly during the last 12 months to support our customers and communities and I know they will continue to do so in the future. ” Ian Saunders, Chief Operating Officer.

In 2021, we will continue to keep our customers at the heart of everything we do and will carry on improving our offer to benefit your health and wellbeing. We continue to explore new opportunities to ensure that you can carry on with your wellbeing journey at home.

We have a fantastic NEW product that will allow MonLife members to carry on training with their favourite instructors and participants they know from their homes with the NEW MonLife LIVE & ON-DEMAND membership. This membership will give you an exciting Virtual Live group and personal fitness experience. Please click HERE for further information.

You can also explore MonLife Countryside by staying local for exercise with members of your household/support bubble.  Please visit https://www.visitmonmouthshire.com/things-to-do/walking-in-monmouthshire.aspx# for further information. 

To keep up to date, follow our social media accounts, like our Facebook Page, follow our Twitter account and subscribe to our Youtube Channel. We also have a MonLife App – click HERE to download.

Stay Home to save lives and protect our NHS.

We hope you all had a safe and healthy Christmas and wish you a very Happy New Year!

MonLife Tier 4 Lockdown

As you are aware following the Welsh Government announcement on 12th March, all MonLife Leisure Centres will remain closed while we await a further update from the First Minister in April.  Therefore, during this period there will be no payments taken for your MonLife memberships.

All other MonLife services are also closed, except for countryside and attraction car parks, outside sites and playgrounds. We are also please to announce that Old Station Tintern is reopening on Wednesday 14th April.

Please see the individual venue and service pages on the website for detailed information.

Countryside Access sites and public rights of way remain open for use.  For a safe and enjoyable visit please follow the guidance and rules which are found here

Our staff, as well as the community, are our priority and we would like to thank you for the support that you have shown MonLife over these last few months.  We have received the most amazing feedback from our customers and we look forward to welcoming you all back following the Welsh Government review in February.

To keep up to date, follow our social media accounts, like our Facebook Page, follow our Twitter account and subscribe to our Youtube Channel.  We also have a MonLife App – click HERE to download.

If you have an enquiry regarding your MonLife membership then please email monmemberships@monmouthshire.gov.uk or call 01633 644499.

As a valued customer we would like to thank you for your continued support and look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Stay Safe