Road safety strategy by Monmouthshire 'cut and pasted'

A council has been criticised for publishing a report "cut and pasted" from a similar document issued by a nearby authority 10 years ago.

Monmouthshire's long-awaited speed management strategy advocates the greater use of local knowledge.

One resident said it was "sloppy" that the cover and contents were so similar to a report from Caerphilly in 2009.

The council said it had "extensively modified" the original document and would give it a new cover design.

Nick Vincent from Shirenewton pointed out the similarity at a meeting of Monmouthshire's Lower Wye area committee on Wednesday, claiming the document was "80% the same" as the Caerphilly report.

As well as near-identical covers, the contents of both reports are very similar, though some points raised in Caerphilly's strategy have been removed in the Monmouthshire version.

Referring to a photo of school pupils which appears on both covers, he said: "Some of these children are probably now parents themselves."

Mr Vincent added that a reference in the 2009 document to a study carried out in 2002 may no longer apply in 2019, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Not much has been updated, it's just been cut and pasted. It's a sloppy approach," he said.

The meeting heard that councillors had looked through policies produced by other Welsh authorities, including Caerphilly, while drawing up the strategy.

A council spokesman said: "We have adapted Caerphilly council's document as an example of good practice but have extensively modified it to reflect the position in Monmouthshire.

"So far, the proposed policy has been recognised as a positive step to address the concerns of communities regarding speeding.

"When the policy is agreed and approved it will feature a picture of a Monmouthshire scene on the front cover."