Innovative idea or conceptualised bovine excrement?

What is it about MPs in Pontypridd and art?  Now don’t get me wrong I like a good painting or a bit of sculpture as much as most people, although I can’t say it quite stirs me to the extent of a red jersey diving over the line.  But all things in perspective please.

First we had Kim Howells waxing lyrical about the joys of art (despite his occasional frustration with conceptualised bullshit) and the need for a gallery.  Although his suggestion that one of the Assembly buildings be converted because he was at a loss as to the purpose of the Assembly did little to endear him to those who believe in devolution.

 
Now it is the turn of Owen Smith. Fresh from his failure to get any movement out of the WRU on reintroducing regional rugby, and with some egg on his chops following the collapse of the precinct plans not long after he had assured everyone that everything was fine, he has a cunning plan.

Now that the developers who were to provide a stunning new precinct for high class shops such as Poundland and bring shoppers flooding into the town have gone bust what should happen to the site?   Owen thinks maybe a “contemporary Welsh art museum,”

He then delves even further into the realms of conceptualised bovine excrement with the suggestion that

“Although a private site, I'm sure any developer would be interested to hear what local people would like to see on the site and all ideas should be considered,"

Is he serious?  When we can’t even get the Council to consult with the public over what it is they want then why on earth should a private developer?  And given the reaction on the street and down the pub so far the majority of local people seem to think he has lost the plot just slightly.  Questions as to the colour of the sky on his planet have apparently been asked in many quarters.

Maybe the opinions of local people have been coloured by the offerings they have so far been given in the name of art – such as the Unity sculpture.  Or maybe they think that giving all the existing problems an art gallery comes pretty far down the list of what the area needs.

 

 

RCT Council antics make Yes Minister look like a documentary

Just what size catheter I wonder is being used by RCT Director of Strategy and Public Relations to extract the urine these days?

At least I am assuming it is this gentleman who is giving political advice and direction to the Cabinet.  The position is after all a political appointment – albeit you would never get the Labour party to admit to it.  He is a former Labour Council candidate and son of a Cabinet Member. He was with the Labour contingent at the election count, and is ever present at meetings keeping a close eye on things.

He also somewhere in his department has a responsibility for tourism, although quite why I have never been able to fathom, suppose it says a lot about RCT Council’s attitude to the potential of that for economic development.  The Lido renovation is going to bring tourists to Ponty in droves apparently, so it is only natural he should take an interest.

But I digress. What you may ask has brought about this cloud of wonderment at the ways RCT Council find to extract the proverbial?   Well not surprisingly it is the latest in the farce surrounding the decision to renovate the Lido in Ynysangharad Park and remove the paddling pool.

I am not repeating the whole story as enough has been written about that both here and at www.pontylibdems.org.uk  but in summary the Labour Cabinet made a decision, Welsh Lib Dem Cllr Mike Powell instigated a call in to ask Scrutiny Committee to ask them to look at it again, Labour who have a huge majority on that and every other committee voted no.

There have been doubts expressed all along about the level of public consultation – even the Labour MP for Pontypridd said it was poor.  But it was ok because the Trustees of the Park were fully in favour.  The Director of Regeneration said so – they had been consulted and had no objection at all to the plans.

Why then has a special meeting been called of the Trustees on the 15^th August to look at the same report yet again with a view endorsing the decision?  Or not?  Don’t think Paddy Power will be taking bets on that one.  Who are the Trustees in question?  Why it's a subcommittee of the Labour Cabinet.

You really couldn’t make it up could you?  Yet this is what passes as democracy in the totalitarian state of RCT.

Don’t know what size catheter they are using but I sure know where I’d like to pour what they are extracting.

Labour lied - simple as

Spent a couple of hours this morning handing out leaflets in Ponty town centre about Labour's plans for the Lido.   Nobody I spoke to seemed to realise that the plans mean the loss of the existing paddling pool.  But then why would they, it hasn't been mentioned in any of the Council's press releases.

And of course they had Russell's word on it before the election didn't they?  People thought it was 'all sorted.'  So did Owen Smith MP, according to his remarks in his June Pontypridd Observer column.  He is going to be left with a bit of egg dribbling down his chin.  Any chance of his next column condemning his Council colleagues for lying?

And what of Slick Antoniw?  Where does he stand in this?  Well nobody is quite sure, he hasn't mentioned it, but then living in Newport he probably doesn't realise just how much locals value the paddling pool.

Nobody I met this morning said the paddling pool should go, people were appalled at the idea.  Now many of them will have been the same people who voted Labour in with an increased majority in May.  They were taken in by Labour's lies then, and will unfortunately have to live with the results.

Big Weekend Big Letdown for many

According to the Council’s website

As thousands of people prepare to descend on Pontypridd for the biggest event of the year, the town’s  owners with the aim of promoting the town, a whole host of meal deals are being introduced on the Big Weekend.

Now whilst it is good to see events which promote Pontypridd the Council are a long way from getting it right in terms of the balance between publicity and genuinely bringing trade into the town, or between putting on popular events and allowing local residents to enjoy the Park.

Local traders should benefit from events such as the Big Weekend – but the Council should be taking the lead and doing all they can to support them and enable them to cash in on the influx of visitors.

Last year amongst the complaints the fact that people were not allowed to take food into the Park was amongst the most common. Only bottled water was allowed in, people were instead expected to buy from the franchises inside – who were not local traders and charges in some cases extortionate prices.

This year the Council and its partners are allowing ticket holders to enter the Park along the designated route with their food as long as it is consumed prior to reaching the actual concert area itself.

Wow!  How great is that?  You can buy a bag of chips in town and the Council will graciously allow you to eat them as you walk along the ‘designated route’ – as long as you finish them before you enter the hallowed ground where the concert is to be held.

The same hallowed ground that includes the cricket pitch.  The users of that facility are furious that some un-named person in the Council has decided that the concert should encroach upon the pitch yet again, a move which threatens to rule it out of use for months to come.

The Labour Council have no interest in Pontypridd or in local residents.  Headlines are all well and good but it is what happens behind the headlines that matters.

Hey, Owen, over here mate

Now I know being an MP (or indeed an AM) is not only about constituency business, there is a wider role to be undertaken as well and responsibilities beyond the narrow confines of parliamentary boundaries.

However, a balance needs to be struck, and elected representatives at all levels need to remember who put them there and where their first priority should be.

Owen Smith, MP for Pontypridd, seems to be struggling with that at the moment.  The news section on his website is full of articles in his capacity as Shadow Welsh Minister.  The first mention of Pontypridd comes on page 4, an article from the Ponty Observer on 24^th May in which he promises to ‘continue to work hard for Pontypridd.’

But where is the evidence of that?  This week the leader of RCT Council announced that there were problems with the Pontypridd town precinct development – this in direct contrast to Owen’s assertion just seven days previously that everything was fine and work would start in August.

Maybe a word or two of clarification would help?  Maybe  a few questions from the MP on the subject?  A little of the jumping up and down in outrage that he is so fond of directing at the UK Government these days?

Communication is key - somebody obviously misunderstood

Perhaps Owen Smith was too excited by his recent Shadow Cabinet appointment, his mind was elsewhere?  Maybe Tony Christopher is still stunned at the loss of his mate Russell from the Council and he misheard what was being said?

Either way there seems to be a major gap in communication regarding the plans for the new precinct in Taff Street in Pontypridd.

RCT Welsh Lib Dems last week welcomed what seemed to be good news about the development when Ponty MP Owen Smith assured Ponty Observer readers that he had spoken to the developers and everything was ticketty boo.  The rumours have been going around like wildfire that the development was in trouble - they had failed to find enough tenants for the shops there and could not afford to risk pressing ahead without a guaranteed take up.  Obviously those rmours were ill founded and we could all rest easy knowing that the Labour party had saved Ponty.  Such a relief.

But wait, what is this?  Just seven days later in his column for the very same paper Tony Christopher has the opposite view.

The developers have told him they are in trouble and whilst they are fully committed to the project then they are "facing a number issues with their funding package.”

Did the note taker make a mistake?  Did one of them fall asleep momentarily during the conversation and missed a sentence or two?  Because obviously there is a major discrepancy here.

But I have no doubt that a full explanation will be forthcoming from the cabinet member responsible, Cllr Paul Cannon.  Well now he hasn't got the Police Commissioner election to worry about he can turn his attention fully back to the job.

Good news at last for Ponty?

In his monthly column in the Pontypridd Observer Owen Smith MP gives a brief update on two issues that the Welsh Lib Dems locally have been concerned about for a long time

"First, the baths. The business case for redevelopment is progressing positively and I was delighted to see Labour council colleagues ruling out any closure of the small pool.

"Secondly, the precinct. I am in regular contact with developers and am told plans are on track. Over £6m funding has been secured for the next phase and construction should begin before the end of August,"

I hope this turns out to be the case.  We have been campaigning on the paddling pool issue for some time, and the change of heart by Russell Roberts came very late - just before the May election in fact.  Still we have been waiting far too long for redevelopment of the Lido.  Let's hope we don't have to wait too much longer.

Rumours have been rife regarding the precinct development - mainly that they have failed to attract enough businesses to the project.  This seems to dispel those rumours and again if it the case is good news at last.

Preserve our town centres - online at least

Wales Online reports on ‘A new online archive has been set up to show how Wales’ high streets looked before they came to be dominated by national chain stores.’

The website is collaboration between the National Library and the National Museum and comes at a time when empty shops are becoming more and more prevalent in many of our town centres, Pontypridd being a prime example.

Shops there are closing down it seems on a weekly basis.  The Council’s much vaunted Townscape Regeneration Scheme is having no affect whatsoever, and the regeneration work is taking place in a totally haphazard fashion which makes it a nightmare to walk through the town centre. All this helped by a traffic system which is a seemingly designed by a two year old (I apologize for insulting any two year olds.)

If anyone has any photos of Ponty then they had better upload them to the site fast, before any semblance of what was once was a thriving town centre is completely lost.

 

Read all about it - again and again and again

Yet more Labour propaganda hitting our streets spreading the same tired message.

This time it is the glossy ‘newsletter’ telling people all about the regeneration of Ponty.

The Council PR department have issued a press release about it!  Yep, good innit?  A press release about a newsletter which includes a series of stories that have already been press released anyway.

As the press release says

“The newsletter illustrates the completed areas of work at Mill Street and Church Street along with the ongoing phases in neighbouring Taff Street, High Street and Market Street. It also explains the exciting works taking place at Penuel Square and to the iconic Fountain.”

(which you can read about here and here and here)

“It also celebrates the news that yet another commercial property owner in the town centre has received major financial support to improve his building as part of the Council’s Townscape Enhancement Programme.”

Which you can read on RCT CBC website here

“Readers will learn more about the success enjoyed by a team of Pontypridd High School pupils who are compiling a series of short documentaries regarding the scheme and their recent recognition in attaining a film award for their efforts.”

A story which appeared here

And then there is

“The newsletter includes a series of images of the unveiling of Pontypridd’s Roll of Honour War Memorial which welcomed hundreds of visitors, including war veterans and families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Seen in a whole string of press releases here

“Finally, the newsletter includes articles relating to the many other private sector investment projects taking place in Pontypridd, most notably the £50million Sainsbury’s project, Riverside Shopping Centre and the refurbishment programme at Pontypridd Museum.”

You’re getting the picture by now. Or pictures, all of them of Labour Councillors looking suitably smug.

The whole lot is repeated on the ‘Love Ponty’ website maintained by the Council.

If you are not amongst the lucky few thousand to receive a copy then you can read it here

The Council already spends £65K on its ‘Outlook’ newsletter.  What is the point of this if not to provide Labour with extra election material at the taxpayers’ expense?

And they are putting Council Tax up by 2.5%

The (unofficial) RCT Council minutes 27th January 2012 - part 2

So having endured the sickening sights and sounds of the Labour sheep bleating in unison about how terrible we are I could hardly wait to see how they reacted to the long line of questions that had been submitted by the man they all love to hate - Mike Powell.

Now I am not going into details here as they have already been fairly well covered by Mike here and here and indeed here.  Not to mention a letter from Cllr John Bell here.

Even I was surprised by how blatant their contempt was – it is a shame that there are not more members of the public there to see their playground antics.  No wonder they are not prepared to follow the leave of Welsh Lib Dems in Cardiff and broadcast their Council meetings on the web.  Here in RCT they ban any form of photography or recording of meetings.  Open and transparent Labour.  Got to love ‘em.

The session really showed the Labour Cabinet up for the idiots they are.  They come with their officer prepared statements to answer the original question, but then flounder completely when asked a supplementary because they are incapable of individual thought.  What on earth do we pay these idiots for?

Time and again we heard the words “I’ll respond in writing.”   Paul Cannon’s answer when asked what he was going to do about the low take up of the Pontypridd Townscape Enhancement Programme was classic

“I propose to do nothing whatsoever.”

Sums it up nicely – and this man wants to be the Police Commissioner for South Wales.  Heaven help us.  It’s enough to make me want to campaign for Alan Michael.

The Mayor was nothing short of a disgrace as she hassled Mike, obviously as impatient as her colleagues at actually having to waste their time on answering questions on such non important issues as education and economic development.

The bunch of hypocritical parasites cackled on and heckled from the sidelines, never once brought back into line by the woman with the bling in the Chair.

At least one person answered a straight question with a straight answer.  Russell Roberts confirmed that he doesn’t agree with Ed Balls that public sector pay needs to be frozen. 

Quite what he meant by his follow up remark that “Councillor Powell you could be having difficult questions fired in your direction soon” is anyone’s guess.  But then it is not the first time he has made threats in the Chamber.  It’s the kind of nice guy he is

The debate on the Boundary Commission review tugged at the old heart strings.  Pauline Jarman even brought a photograph along of people from Plaid and Labour getting together before the formation of the unitary authority to save the Cynon Valley.

Russell is ‘appalled’ that the Cynon constituency will be ripped apart under the proposals and the “Cynon Valley will disappear from the map.”  Quite how that is going to be the case I don’t know.

A cross party group is apparently needed to discuss the issue.  Alas whilst Pauline and Russell gave rallying speeches on how politics had to be put aside for the greater good the camaraderie was somewhat ruined by the Deputy Council leader Anthony Christopher stated that ‘the two main parties’ should work together, as he didn’t suppose that anyone of the others would take part ‘given their attitude.’

Any wonder that attitude exists Tony?

Just after this point Mike, who had kept his temper through all the nonsense far better than I think I would have, decide enough was enough, and without any fuss or comment gathered his things and left the Chamber.

Cllr Andrew Morgan (Labour of course) asked that it be recorded in the minutes that he had left.  Now considering that at least four Labour people has left already without comment from anyone this may seem a little strange.  Mike's colleague John Bell pointed this pout, and was actually backed by Plaid's Pauline Jarman, but the Labour lot don't allow little things like consistency to get in their way.

They really are a bunch of ......................

A whole £10 invested in Ponty? Will we notice the difference?

A few weeks ago I wrote of Labour’s lack of a web presence locally.  Well it seems I missed one site – RCT Labour do have a website, and a fine example it is of Labour in action in RCT.

In fact their ‘Delivery In Action’ page is brilliant and really sums it all up as far as Labour in RCT are concerned. Take a look here.  Good isn’t it?

 It is extremely informative

‘Rhondda Cynon Taff Labour Group are made up of the 48 Councillors who represent communities across the Borough

Labour regained control of the Council from Plaid Cymru in 2004 with a commitment to work in a more accountable and more transparent manner and to improve and invest in the frontline services that matter to local people.’

Well would you believe it?  Accountable and transparent?  Think they lost their way somewhere.

But credit where it is due, they do make much of the investment in schools and education in RCT (no mention of the pupil deprivation grant of course) and it seems that investment is very much needed.  In fact whoever puts this site together really could do with a lesson in grammar.

News headlines include

Labour Deliver's Support for First Time Buyers

and

Labour Deliver's 160M Investment in RCT Schools

The first headline has been changed for the Leader’s column section where it reads :

Leader’s Column – Labour Support’s First Time Buyers

But my absolute favourite headline from this site has to be this one:

£10 Regeneration of Pontypridd Underway Thanks to Labour

Silence is sometimes the best option.

Do we need an artificial town centre?

I wrote some months back about a proposal to create a new town centre in Talbot Green.  Well it seems plans are progressing and developers Valad, formerly operating as Scarborough and prior to that Teesland, have now roped in one of their old partners - Sainsbury’s.

The Pontypridd Observer reports that

“The project will see a host of new shops brought to the area including a department store, around 40 shops for high street brands and the major Sainsbury’s supermarket.

A new Leekes store will also be built, replacing their existing building on Cowbridge Road and plans also include a leisure and entertainment quarter with a cinema complex, cafes, restaurants, bars and a hotel.

In addition to the huge new shopping and entertainment centres offices, apartments and townhouses will be built.”

This development is in addition to the already substantial retail centre that exists in Talbot Green.  As I asked previously, what effect will this have on our existing town centres?  The Labour lot in RCT keep bragging about the £10m investment being made in Pontypridd.  Rubbish.  That is nothing but a cosmetic exercise – tarting up a few buildings, shuffling a few businesses around.  Where is the new business coming to the town?  And why on earth will people shop there when they can shop in the ever growing number of out of town shopping areas where amongst other things they can park for free?

Mind you there is no guarantee this will ever come to pass.  Scarborough or whatever they are calling themselves this year don’t have a great record of delivery in RCT as Mike Powell points out in this letter to the press.

They do have a record of producing plans that are not popular with local residents.  The Angharad Walk plans for Pontypridd passed in 2003 were flawed in the eyes of many residents as they encroached upon part of Ynysangharad Park. The plans were opposed by Welsh Lib Dem Councillors (including myself) at the time.

They have planning permission to build at Mwyndy Cross - an application which was met with huge opposition and was turned down by RCT Council only to be granted by the Assembly on appeal. 

So it will be interesting to see how this progresses.  The company seems confident of gaining planning consent – and with good reason, it has been written into the Local development Plan.  Mind you that document also talks of preserving existing town centres!  Everything to everybody – that’s Labour in RCT for you.

Ode to Ponty Town

Just when you think it can't get any more bizarre RCT's Labour administration have now commissioned a poet and two artists to collect bits of local poetry and songs which will then be inlaid into granite and laid as part of the paving in Pontypridd town centre.

The poet is of course essential as there is nobody within the Council capable of using a Google search to come up with some local writings.  And the two artists will then have a major job on their hands in working out an appropriate design.

This will no doubt be of great comfort to the tradespeople of Pontypridd.  The Council who cannot afford to cut car parking charges to help entice people in to the town can afford to employ three people to design a bit of paving.

How about this bit of amateur poetry - think it is worth submitting?

Let’s regenerate Ponty town

By laying brand new paving down

Employ an artist and a writer

To make the street scene that much brighter

Let’s engrave fine words in granite

Are they of this f*ing planet?

The town is dying on its feet

It’s shops we need here in Taff Street

The Labour party spend on art

Whilst we’re going to hell in a hand cart

Common sense prevails – with a nudge from Mike

Well what do you know, it seems a mistake has been made by RCT Council, their arm’s length consultancy company Capita Symonds,  and their ‘preferred contractors’ for just about everything Costain.

The multi million pound makeover of the centre of Pontypridd town run into a slight problem a few weeks ago when a 25mm kerb was installed along a section of Mill Street which quickly became a hazard with a number of falls being reported. 

Trallwn’s Welsh Liberal Democrat Councillor Mike Powell took up the case with Group Director George Jones who argued that disability groups had been consulted.  We did some checking of our own with representatives of Scope and the Guide Dogs association who came to the conclusion that these kerbs were benefiting nobody.

A press release was sent to the Pontypridd Observer and placed on our website on 17^th July.  When it failed to appear we sent it again the following week.

In this week’s issue there was a report on the matter - which somehow failed to incorporate any comment from Mike at all (strangely a lot of our press releases seem to be ignored).

Today there appeared a press release on RCT Council website saying that

“This is a case where all the principles of good project management and design were followed including effective stakeholder consultation, but unfortunately the intended outcome was not as expected. As it happens the design can be amended to remove the up-stand without too much disruption and we can learn from the experience in terms of the design for the remainder of the town centre.”

In other words, somebody messed up.  Still at least they are learning lessons!!!

Mike is awaiting a response from the Director as to who made the decisions, who exactly they consulted, and who is going to pick up the tab for the extra work.  He’s not holding his breath,

Big Weekend gets big thumbs down from residents

Ponty’s Big Weekend took place on July 24rd and 24^th with The Wanted headlining on the Saturday and a ‘free’ concert on Sunday festering acts including Rhondda girl Sophie Evans.

The complaints have been rolling in thick and fast – not about the quality of the concerts, but about the rip off that many people see them to be.

People entering the Park were told they were not allowed to take food in – this had not been mentioned on the RCT website or the Big Ponty website nor indeed was it stated on the tickets. Bottled water was allowed through the gate, but bottles of pop were confiscated.  This to ensure attendees were forced to buy from the vendors inside.

So who benefitted - local traders?  Did this event contribute to the economy of Pontypridd?  NO.

The vendors inside were all from out of the area and indeed outside of Wales it seems and the prices have been described as little short of extortionate.

And this was not the only complaint – or the first time this event has attracted criticism.

As reported in the Pontypridd Observer last year local residents were furious that the entire Park was cut off for this concert to take place, and the fact that the town does not benefit economically at all from this or other such events.

When will the Labour administration in RCT learn? 

Pontypridd redevelopment - a long time coming

Welcome news recently that at last developers have started to tear down the Taff Vale Precinct as a prelude to developing a brand new retail centre in Pontypridd.  But people have every right to be sceptical after waiting for over 30 years for promised redevelopment.

What exactly are we going to end up with here?  The history of the site is long and has promised all sorts – major chain stores, hotels, restaurants, offices.  At one stage even the relocation of the Council HQ to make Pontypridd the county town.

In 2007 planning consent was granted for a scheme that would have provided over 400,000 sq ft of new retail space, residential apartments and leisure accommodation including a hotel.  The Pontypridd Observer reported that ‘PONTYPRIDD’S “ugly duckling” Taff Vale shopping centre could be transformed into an elegant hotel, apartments and offices and modern shopping complex .’

As stated on the developers’ website “shortly thereafter a downturn in the property market began.”  So new plans were cobbled together which provided for a far less attractive development with a much smaller retail area and a ‘budget’ hotel provided for in phase 2.

Six new shops are planned of various sizes – not a lot to regenerate what is supposedly the County Town. Worryingly developers Riddell state they have let only two of the units.  There is no mention at all of ‘phase 2’ or the planned hotel anywhere on either their website or the RCT press release.

Meanwhile we have also seen this past week an announcement of a planning application to build a new town in Talbot Green

At this rate Ponty will be lucky to end up with a couple of new market stalls and a hot dog stand,

New town centre madness for Talbot Green

PLANS for a £200m new town centre for Talbot Green have been unveiled in a project which its backers claim will create up to 1,900 jobsAccording to newspaper reports

“The retail element of the scheme extends to 33,000 square metres.  A leisure and entertainment quarter, covering 5,000 sq mts, will contain a multi-screen cinema as well as cafes, restaurants, bars and an 80-bedroomed hotel. In addition, there will be office space for local businesses, a range of civic and community facilities, residential apartments and town houses.”

For those of you not familiar with the area Talbot Green is a relatively small village in the Pontypridd constituency.  In recent years it has been all but swallowed up by two out of town retail developments which provide a great spot for some retail therapy on my way home from work but have also added considerably to the traffic levels in the area.

A development if the size proposed will surely turn a bad situation into an absolute nightmare.  The infrastructure simply cannot cope with such a concentration of development in one area.

And what of the effect on what is supposedly the county town – Pontypridd.  That is already dying in its feet, and the £10million that us being spent on tarting up the pavements and some shop fronts is a mere drop in the ocean and will do nothing to revive the town.

Interestingly the developers are a company called Scarborough – the company which some ten years or so ago put forward proposal for the so called Angharad Walk development in Pontypridd.  That involved grand plans for the town including large department stores, river walks, office space, etc.  Needless to say they never came to fruition despite gaining planning permission and the backing of the Council.

So what of these plans? Will they come to anything?  And what will the knock on effects be at both ends of the constituency?