Monmouthshire Chairman, Councillor Brian Hood MBE recently brought nearly forty years of history to a close at Cwmbran’s County Hall when he lowered the county council flag for the final time. County Hall was opened in the summer of 1974 and served as the headquarters of Gwent County Council. Following local government reorganisation in 1996 the building was shared by Monmouthshire County Council and Torfaen County Borough Council.
Since the closure of County Hall, Monmouthshire’s staff have relocated to Magor, Raglan and Abergavenny with the majority of council meetings taking place in Monmouth’s Shire Hall. Next year, new headquarters in Usk will open and both councillors and officers based there will apply the innovative ways of working that the council has adopted in its current offices – these include a ratio of two people to one desk and the imaginative use of technology to benefit residents and businesses in Monmouthshire.
Councillor Hood remarked: “Lowering this flag reminds me of Shakespeare’s line Parting is such sweet sorrow. But here the sweet is that everyone looks forward to better working conditions and we are so much more efficient, while the sorrow extends to nostalgic memories gathered over nearly forty years”
