This week, the council’s senior Labour councillors announced a u-turn on a controversial 2.1metre steel fence that was erected in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park without consultation. The fence was put up out of the blue two months ago to the shock of local residents in Gilwern and surrounding villages.

The fence is hideous and has large spikes on the top of each slat, like you might find at an open prison. They had to drill and dig into the road to install the fence posts, doing permanent damage, while the precise location of the fence has made the route difficult for cyclists and pedestrians.

The National Park is one of Wales’ most treasured landscapes and it’s unthinkable that anyone could decide to install an ugly fence there. It has already been subbed by locals as ‘the Great Wall of Clydach’.

Whenever councillors make significant decisions that impact on the residents they serve, it is important to be open and transparent about your intentions, consult widely and reflect on public feedback. These are basic responsibilities that any effective councillor would be well aware of. Unfortunately, this current administration is repeatedly making decisions that have not been through any sort of scrutiny process and they have a nasty habit of keeping the public in the dark until any decision is a done deal. This shows such contempt for the public and makes it impossible for residents to have any impact on the democratic process. This is what happened when the council announced shock plans to downgrade Monmouth Library earlier this year, or when they decided to close and sell Tudor Street day centre in Abergavenny for development.

At a public meeting, attended by several Labour cabinet members, they conceded that they didn’t know the fence was going up. This seems extraordinary that cabinet members didn’t know about, despite being responsible for council services. It has been widely reported that the fence cost in excess of £40,000 and we now understand that the decision to remove the fence posts and replace them with a new lower and painted fence will cost a further £20,000. This is extraordinary.

I can’t think of any job where you could waste over £60,000 of someone else’s money and face no punishment. Surely cabinet heads should roll for the mess they’ve got the council into? This is taxpayers’ money and given how tight budgets are, it’s infuriating to see any money wasted. Our county deserves better.