Cyngor Cymuned
Trawsgoed
Community Council
Council meetings are held every six weeks, alternately in Neuadd Lisburne, Llanafan and Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn School. The meetings are open to the public but please contact the Clerk or Chair beforehand if you wish to address the meeting. All are particularly welcome to attend the Annual General Meeting, which is usually held in May, and where there is ample time for questions from the floor.
Trawsgoed is a scattered rural community in north Ceredigion, a few miles to the east-south-east of Aberystwyth, on the northern bank of the river Ystwyth. It borders the communities of Llanfarian, Llanilar, Ystrad Meurig, Ysbyty Ystwyth, Pontarfynach and Melindwr. Trawsgoed Community Council, which has 10 Councillors, was formed in the 1980s by bringing together the former community councils of Llanafan and Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, which now form wards within Trawsgoed Council. It includes the villages of Llanafan, Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, Abermagwr, Cnwch Coch, Y Gors/New Cross, and smaller, dispersed communities such as Trawsgoed and Brynafan. The current estimate is that just under a thousand people (including children) live in Trawsgoed community, Llanfihangel having the largest population. Six Councillors represent Llanfihangel, therefore, and four represent Llanafan ward.
The history of this district goes back a long way, and it has important archaeological sites. There was a Roman fort where Trawsgoed mansion now stands and in 2009 remains of a Roman villa were discovered in Abermagwr, near the site of an Iron Age farm. In the 19th century lead mines were extensively developed and traces of the industry are still visible in various places, including the Pont Ceunant power house. After the gradual demise of the Trawsgoed estate and the lead mines in the first half of the 20th century, the Forestry Commission and the innovative agricultural research institute at Trawsgoed were the largest employers for decades after the Second World War. When the Forestry Offices and Trawsgoed closed some years ago many jobs were lost. A number of local residents still work in agriculture, forestry and related industries, however, whilst others commute daily to work in Aberystwyth, and some work from home despite the shortcomings of both broadband and mobile phone services. Trawsgoed Council is currently doing its utmost to ensure improvements in these services, and is confident that this can be achieved eventually.
Trawsgoed has seen many changes since the 1980s. At the time of 2011 Census, out of 962 residents over 3 years old, 57.2% spoke Welsh, compared with 59.2% in 2001. There was a small drop, from 52.6% to 51.5%, among those aged between 16 and 64, and a decrease from 58.6% to 48.6% among those over 65 – reflecting, no doubt, the number of non-Welsh speakers who retire here. There was an increase, however, of between from 85.2% to 87.9% among children between 3 and 15 years old. This can be attributed to the tireless efforts of teachers at the two small schools, in Llanafan and Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, and to the support of parents. The decision by Ceredigion County Council to close Llanafan School in the summer of 2014, despite opposition from the entire community, was a heavy blow. Now Llanfihangel is the only school within Trawsgoed community.
The Clerk and all of the Councillors are Welsh-speaking. Members of the public are welcome to contact any of them in Welsh or English, in writing or in person. Minutes of meetings are published bilingually on this website, with a brief Welsh report appearing in the local Welsh paper, Y Ddolen, and reprinted in the Cambrian News.