ENVIRONMENT

A walk through Llanmaes either in summer or winter months reflect admirably on the overall commitment, care and attention of all the village residents. Great pride is taken in keeping lawns and hedges trimmed, and with garden borders containing a variety of colourful plants and shrubs.

Members of the local community, of their own volition, have additionally taken on responsibility for specific areas of the village. These range from the planting of bulbs and plants to the entrance/exit of the village, the painting of the bus shelter and maintaining the adjoining verges and shrubs etc., the borders, hedges and lawn surrounding the Village/Church Hall and the overall upkeep of the village green. A project is currently being planned for the younger children of the village to plant a mixture of winter and spring flowering bulbs around the bus shelter and Village/Church Hall grounds. It is recognised that it is important for children to participate in environmental projects, and this gives them the opportunity to be proud of 'their home' village.

There are particular conservation areas in the village which have required more attention to detail, again, with residents giving not only their time but also the materials required to undertake the respective work. Over the past twelve months several people have been focusing their time on a project surrounding the old village pump.

The Culvert takes shape

The work has entailed many hours in attending to necessary groundwork alterations, re-directing a culvert and facing it with capped local stone, reseeding adjoining verges and resiting raised flower/shrub borders. A bench has been sited alongside the pump, now making it an ideal place to relax and a rendezvous point for the many walkers and visitors who pass through the village.

The Re-furbished Village Pump Location

The next project has already been identified. It will address urgent remedial work required for the stream which passes through the village green.

The Village Green .... note the pond!

The village green is the focal point of the village and is utilised for many outdoor events staged in the village. Over the years the stream has been subject to annual work undertaken by residents of the village. In order to overcome weed overgrowth and sludge build-up in the base of the stream, to ensure 'free flow of water' and to alleviate further erosion, it is being proposed to:-

• i. incorporate a concrete lining to the base of the stream, and,

• ii. rectify the slippage along the banking/elevation of the stream by, where appropriate, installing a blockwork or concrete shuttering system. The preferred option would be to construct the retaining walls of 'rockfaced' blockwork, which, following a period of weathering would be more aesthetic.

The Next Phase

It would be unrealistic to expect residents of the village to provide the materials required for this particular project, and therefore a grant or funding would be sought from appropriate bodies. Whilst identified residents would manage the project, as with the 'village pump project', specialist advice would be given by representatives from the Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council.

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