GILWERN pupils put councillors on the spot last week when they sat in on a council meeting and asked pertinent questions.

The school council members at Gilwern Primary School were accompanied by head teacher Roger Guy and members of staff.

Cllr Andrew Crump, council leader answered the questions put by Alex Davies 'What does the county council do for Monmouthshire?' and James Axford "What good things have you done in Monmouthshire in the last five years?"

Cllr Crump explained the functions of the council, which include public services like housing, waste collection and education. He said among the good things the council had done was building two new schools - Archbishop Rowan Williams at Portskewett and Deri View in Abergavenny.

He also mentioned the two new Grass Routes buses which are driven by volunteers and take passengers where they want to go, rather than running the same route like service buses.

Jamie Lee Whitehead asked why all people in Monmouthshire have recycling facilities. Cllr Chris Woodhouse replied: "Children care more about recycling than we do. This morning the Gilwern pupils visited Rebecca Blount who talked to them about recycling.

"The transfer station at Llanfoist is being renovated and will include an education centre for children all over the county.

"Gilwern does not have the complete service of large towns. They have green and white bags and the transfer station, the missing piece is the black box which takes tins, clothing, bottles and papers."

Cllr Woodhouse said they were now looking at a pilot scheme in the south of the county for recycling plastic.

In response to four children's questions about parks and cycle paths Cllr Liz Hacket-Pain said there were 90 play areas in the county and those in the Gilwern area had all been upgraded at a cost of £46,000.

She said the council needed money from developers to pay for new play areas, and there are no new housing developments in the area.