The vagaries of the RCT planning System

There were some very odd items on the RCT Development Control agenda this evening.  There was the case of the barking dogs for example.  A planning application had been submitted to retain a kennels in the Cynon Valley.  The opponents were the brothers and sisters of the applicant – all four of them.  They said it devalued the cottage alongside which had been left to them by their father.

One of the brothers offered to play a recording of the dogs barking “it only lasts a minute.”  The Chair declined. 

The application was approved, against officer’s recommendation, when the local Member spoke up in favour.  The applicant and objectors left, and decided to start a fight outside the Chamber.  All made for a lively meeting.

There were other applications equally interesting although for different reasons.  Like the application to build houses in Coedely – the ward of the Chair of Development Control committee Bob McDonald.

The Officer’s recommendation was to turn it down, for solid reasons as far as I could see.

 To quote the report:

“Set in this context it is important to consider that the application site lies entirely outside the settlement boundaries of Tonyrefail and Coedely where new residential development is strictly controlled unless adequately justified as an exception in an otherwise unsustainable location.

Under LDP Policy AW 3 the DAS refers to the proposed 7 dwellings for social rent and the proposed 25 dwellings for first-time buyers as bringing forward an affordable housing scheme. However, there is no evidence of the proposal being linked to a registered social landlord, such as a housing association, or a clear explanation as to the mechanism that will ensure the dwellings will be sold as affordable homes to first-time buyers and remain affordable in perpetuity.”

Yet the Chair asked that the application be deferred as he had no real objections to the plans but wanted more bungalows included.  These would be the bungalows that the developer claims would be linked to a social landlord but which the Planning Officer says there is no evidence of.

 Strange. Perhaps Cllr McDonald knows something the rest of us don’t?

 

 

More half-baked Plaid ideas – more women in politics, by decree.

The BBC reported this week on Plaid leader Leanne Wood’s latest idea – that legislation may be necessary to ensure more women are elected to the Assembly.

Of course she has no real idea of what form that legislation may take – in typical Plaid style it should just happen, the details can be left to someone else.

Her remarks follow on from a call from the Assembly’s Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler for more women to be elected after the percentage of female AMs fell to 44% after the last election, that s 26 out of 60.  (Quite why she has waited until now to point this out is anyone’s guess the election was after all in May 2011.)

Ms Wood said

"Within Plaid Cymru, we have a strong internal democracy which reflects how much we rely on the party membership as a grassroots body.

"The side effect of this is that measures to promote women are not always at their strongest, but must be balanced out with local party control.”

Rather a strange statement really considering that it was only this month after a special conference that Plaid changed their constitution to allow for a one member one vote system. 

Personally I think the whole idea is ridiculos.  Not the idea that there should be more women in the Assembly or at any other level of Government, nothing wrong with that.  But the idea that there needs to be any form of positive discrimination, let alone legislation, to achieve that.

The Assembly in 2006 had 31 women and 29 men, this followed a by election afer the death of Peter Law.  Prior to that it was perfectly gender balanced.  Two out of the four current Party leaders are women – who were elected by an open process on merit not because of any boost given them because they were women.  The Presiding Officer is a woman.  The Cabinet is not as balanced, but to be honest it is difficult to see who they could put in there. 

That was achieved without any engineering so why the panic?

Any form of discrimination is still discrimination.  As long as there is equality of opportunity then the best person for the job should always be the maxim. 

The AM for where was it again Slick?

Newport resident Mick Antoniw was elected in 2011 as Assembly Member for Pontypridd, the constituency he claimed to be living in at the time. 

Yet it is sometimes difficult to tell looking at his twitter feed and press releases which seem to be almost solely concerned with union issues and his asbestos Bill.  Even his website has little to say about his constituency.

Take a look at his news page. Asbestos Bill, Agricultural Wages Board, and article about a Statement of Opinion he tabled on the “injustices suffered by Welsh miners following events at Orgreave Coke Plant, South Yorkshire, during June 1984.”

There are a couple of pats on the back for RCT Council, and only one article which really addresses any of the major issues of concern on his patch – the appalling ambulance response times in RCT.  Bottom of the league yet again according to the latest stats.  They have been way off target for some time, but this is the first mention he has made of them, coincidentally immediately following a series of direct challenges I made via twitter to him about it.

Under the Pontypridd tab is a direct lift form Wikipedia which is solely about Pontypridd town, not the constituency.  His ‘campaigns’ show a similar disregard for the area – a report about Tonyrefail which is 18 months old and about which nothing seems to have been done since.

What about the disgraceful state of our town centres, what about a reduction in business rates for traders there, what about car parking charges, what about health waiting lists, what about the paddling pool, what about the disgraceful Estyn report RCT received last year? What about the proposed new town centre for Talbot Green? Does the Pontypridd AM have any comments or concerns about any of the things his constituents are talking about?  Or is he too busy pursuing his union interests?

Each week in the Assembly AMs get to put questions to Ministers.  Many use this opportunity to bring up subjects that are important in their constituency / region.  Today was their opportunity to question the Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage.  So what would it be?  A question about empty homes which affects wards such as Treforest and The Graig in particular.  Or about  regeneration – how would the new town in Talbot Green, if it gets the go ahead affect existing town centres, should more be done to regenerate existing centres?  Heritage – maybe a question about the paddling pool?
 

Nope.  His question today

"What plans does the Minister have to recognise the 200^th anniversary of the birth of John Hughes next year?”

Who was John Hughes? 

“A nineteenth century industrialist who founded an ironworks and mining town in imperial Russia, named Hughesovka in his honour. Little is known about his early life, but John Hughes was born in Merthyr Tydfil where his father was an engineer at Cyfarthfa ironworks.”

Although reading on you can see where Slick’s interest may spark from

“It is thought Hughes also learnt his trade there before moving to Ebbw Vale and then the Uskside Foundry in Newport in the 1840s.

There he married Elizabeth Lewis, and had eight children, six boys and two girls, all born in Newport.”

I rest my case.

Public Park or Labour Fiefdom?

Earlier this week I was asked by a post grad journalist student if I would film an interview with her and a colleague about the paddling pool as part of a programme being put together on the subject.  The interview was not for broadcast, merely part of their training / assessment.  So I agreed to meet them at the Park this morning.

Just before I arrived I had a phone call saying they had been told they could not film an interview with me there.  They had apparently asked for permission to film yesterday (but my name was not mentioned then, not to hide anything simply because I presume it didn’t crop up.) They arrived today and were doing some general shots when they were approached by a worker who asked if they had permission.  They said yes but he checked with his manager who asked what they were filming. 

When they said they were meeting me to do an interview they were told they could film some general shots but not an interview with me. At this point several thoughts passed through my mind:

• Who the hell do these people think they are?  This is a public park, owned by the people.
• Glad to know they are so concerned about insignificant little me – must be making an impression.
• How stupid are these people, don’t they know that will be the next story – Council censorship.

I wonder what the reaction would have been if they had said they were interviewing Owen Smith or the anonymous man from Newport?

Labour hypocrites all coming out of the woodwork in RCT.

Well we heard today that WEFO have granted the £3million to RCT to “renovate” the Lido in Ynysangharad Park.  I use the word cautiously because I cannot see how the proposed new building bears any resemblance to the historic baths.

They have the planning permission, and now they have the funding so it is difficult to see any way of preventing this from going ahead and the paddling pool being taken away, despite what would appear to be the opinion of most residents.

The Labour hypocrites have been out in force today welcoming the news.

First we had the Council press release.

Deputy Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council Cllr Paul Cannon said:

"We have listened carefully to the views of the community in developing these plans and our aim is to create an environment that attracts visitors, benefits business and where communities can prosper.”

Listened carefully to the views of the public? The 2077 who voted on 1^st November to keep the pool he means?  Or the 151 who voted against?  Has he read the letters page of the Ponty Observer lately?

 In the Council Chamber when the vote was reported back he said

“This was a cynical publicity stunt by the Lib Dems. Pontypridd Town Council have confirmed that the poll cost £11,000 which will be added to the precept next year. Perhaps the people of Pontypridd will thank them (the Lib Dems) for that.

“It is easy for others to try and make political capital but we have to take into account the wider regeneration issues. Amongst the 800 people we consulted the overall regeneration of Pontypridd was their over-riding concern.

“I move we note the result of the poll and take no further action.”

So much for listening to the people.

The local AM and MP congratulated the Council of course – the same Council that Owen Smith had said failed to consult properly on the issue.  Later on his Facebook page Mick Antoniw AM broke his silence on the issue and said

“this is great news for Pontypridd. there will be disappointment at the loss of the paddling pool which we all share, however , it was vital that this major project and investment in the future of Pontypridd was not threatened. the contstruction of an all year tion of an all year round adventure park will be a major long term asset to the park and will hopefully go some way to allay the sadness at the loss of the paddling pool. We must now look to the future and the ongoing and continued regeneration and development of Pontypridd. Still so much to do.round adventure park will be a major long term asset to the park and will hopefully go some way to allay the sadness at the loss of the paddling pool. We must now look to the future and the ongoing and continued regeneration and development of Pontypridd. Still so much to do.”

Really Slick, nice of you to pretend you give a damn.  What facilities do they have in Newport where you live?

One of the best examples though was Treforest Councillor Steve Powderhill who tweeted:

"WEFO funding secured now we'll see what Treforest want me to fight for ‘the dilapidated old pool or the new lido, play area and splashpool’”

Bit late for that.  He was one of those who voted in favour of granting planning permission to enable them to remove the paddling pool.  Didn’t he understand what he was voting for?  I mean I know they only took about eight minutes to make the decision but still.  Surely the Labour leader explained to his group that they were about to break the first of numerous manifesto promises?

When asked on the “you know your from Pontypridd when” Facebook page if it was correct that the lido would only open four months a year he replied

 “could well be but we haven't even had a chamber debate on what the final project will be so far it's only outline planning i'm looking forward to the debate so let's wait and see no point in guessing.”

Is he serious?  Even the limited information that was allowed to be made public about the fading application stated quite clearly that it would only be open around four months a year.

The decision to press forward with the scheme was taken by the Cabinet, there was no debate in Council, so what makes him think there will be for the next stage?

Maybe he should take a little more interest in what is going on.  He says he will “fight” for whatever the people of Treforest tell him to.  I take it he will be carrying out a survey very soon then, although it may be too late to fight for anything.  Still he could always sign our latestpetition!

“

 

Is the stress getting to RCT Mayor?

The Pontypridd Observer today reported that

"THE Mayor of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Doug Williams, has been temporarily suspended from a Pontypridd branch of a fraternal organisation, a spokesman has confirmed. 

Six members of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB) have had their membership suspended following a “disagreement” over how the Pontypridd group was being run."

The piece went on to explain that

"The Grand Secretary of the order, Christopher McMahon, who is based in the Harrogate headquarters, said Coun Williams was “a man of integrity” who was suspended over rules and procedure issues.

He stressed Coun Williams had done nothing wrong and was not suspended for any financial issues or irregularities."

Now I have known Doug for some time  in his capacity as former Elections Officer in RCT, and would not doubt this for one minute, although why the Grand Secretary felt the need to stress it I don't know.

Yet rules and proceure seem to be troubling the Mayor quite a bit lately. Such that in the past couple of weeks he has been the subject of two letters to the press from members of the public about Labour Councillors behaviour and his chairing of a recent Council meeting (see below). 

One resident wrote:

"I was absolutely disgusted by the petty schoolboy bullying that Coun Powell** was forced to tolerate.  Every time he attempted to open his mouth he was shouted down before he could even manage to utter two words.  Every time he tried to speak the rest of the room found it rather entertaining to chat loudly amongst themselves while jeering and booing.   I have rarely been so thoroughly ashamed and embarrassed and found myself bouncing in my seat with anger to find myself witnessing such petty bullying from people who are receiving good money to represent the constituents of Rhondda Cynon Taff.  They even, at one point, threatened to evict him from the meeting.  I would like to know why they are so keen to rid these meetings of Coun Powell. "

(** Welsh Lib Dem Cllr Mike Powell.)

Another wrote

“At one point Cllr Powell was openly insulted by another Councillor but when he attempted to reply he was told he would be removed for the chamber if he dared to speak again.  During the discussion of one item the mayor refused to allow Cllr Powell to make an amendment which I believe is against the rules”

Of course for those of us who have been regular attendees for some considerable time all this come as no surprise, but the current Mayor really is in danger of over-stepping the mark.Maybe the stress of being RCT's first citizen is all getting a bit too much.

 

 

Reduce, reuse, recycle

The RCT Cabinet this week gave the go ahead for changes to waste collection in the County Borough. The plan is to collect black bag waste one a fortnight instead of weekly as at present. This will no doubt spark a great deal of debate amongst residents not to mention in the Council Chamber.

There are two reasons why this move has been made in the majority of other Councils. The first and the reason that is apparently driving this change is to save money. The other is to try and increase recycling rates. The hope is that people will recycle more in order to keep their black bag waste to an absolute minimum. With so many materials being collected for recycling, including food waste, there is no reason why people should not recycle more. The system works quite well in other places.

There are a couple of glitches in the RCT system though – one of the most annoying because it is one that seems so simple to solve is the inability to keep residents supplied with plastic recycling bags. They run out on a regular basis, and despite the Council having various means of ordering them – online, by phone, with stickers on the bags, red lines that denote you have come to the end of a roll of bags – many residents are complaining that they do not get any delivered. As the Council flatly refuse to take away recycling in anything other than their bags then no doubt there is a fair amount of recyclable material going to waste.

Of course there also needs to be a change in the mindset of people in order to drive up recycling rates. Some will not recycle no matter how easy it is made for them, and there will also be those who continue to dump rubbish wherever they feel like. That will not alter no matter how often refuse is collected – although it could be argued that it may increase if people have to store black bags for two weeks. (There are also differences across the County in how refuse is collected. Taff Ely has wheelie bins, whereas Rhondda has black bags.)

The main reason why people will feel aggrieved about this is that they were promised it would not happen – and make no mistake, from a political point of view we will be reminding everyone of just that. The Labour party went into the 2012 Council elections with an unequivocal promise that they would keep weekly collections, they did not say they would try or that they would consider it – they said they would do it.

Now before anyone mentions tuition fees, yes I know. It could be argued that the position is the same. However, we were new into Government, and thanks to Labour’s lack of openness the true state of the nation’s finances were not revealed until the coalition took power. Who could forget ex Labour Treasury Secretary Liam Byrne’s note to his successor “there's no money left".

Labour in RCT on the other hand had been on power since 2004 and knew exactly the state of the finances here. They kept going on about cuts and hard times and pressure on public finances – so why make the promises

Then again they promised to keep the paddling pool knowing they had no intention of doing so. Some could see that as manipulation - or to put it more simply, a pack of lies.

We won't give up on paddling pool fight.

The Council are still determined to get rid of the paddling pool in Ynysangharad Park as part of their plans for the so called renovation of the lido, although quite how it can be called a renovation when the hew build is so vastly different is beyond me.

RCT Welsh Lib Dems and the members of the public who make up the SOS Ponty Paddling Pool group are equally determined that the paddling pool must not go.

A new petition has now been set up to have paddling pool classed as listed building

Despite originally saying that the Council would need listed building consent to remove the paddling pool in Ynysangharad Park, CADW have now changed their minds and said that is not the case.

A new Assembly petition has been set up asking the Welsh Government to classify the paddling pool as a listed building. It can be signed at the official Assembly petition site here, or via www.pontylibdems.org.uk

Antoniw takes the biscuit on employees rights.

Pontypridd AM Mick Antoniw really does have some brass neck.  He has currently been banning the drum on several projects associtaed with employees rights. 

The abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board has been troubling him greatly - despite the fact that this organisation no longer serves any useful purpose as workers are protected by the minimum wage.

Then just last week he reported that he

"Asked Minister and leader of the House about corporate governance in Wales. 111 Welsh workers blacklisted for being members of a trades union or raising health and safety issues. some of these companies have received contracts from Welsh Gov worth millions over the years."

Now I would not suggest for one minute that the practice of blacklisting anyone for being part of a union should be condoned - nor indeed for not being part of a union!  But for Mr Antoniw of all people to be taking this holier than thou attitude is a bit rich.

He is of course a former partner in Thompsons solicitors - reprimanded by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and made to pay costs amounting to £88,000 for irregularities involving miners' compensation claims.

Last week Wales Online carried an article  in which it was claimed he refused to give his own employee - an RCT Councillor - time off to attend Council meetings, even though he is legally entitled to such time.

The double standards shown are quite breathtaking, but then we have come to expect little else from him.  He did after all rent a house on Llantrisant for a couple of months prior to the Assembly election merely to have a Pontypridd constituency address to put on his ballot paper.  He actually lives in Newport.

Those he purports to represent really do deserve better. 

Glad to see Slick Mick taking notice

Mick Antoniw’s Facebook page

 o    Karen Roberts Talking of Health and Safety any comment on the appalling ambulance response figures in your constituency?

31 January at 00:24 ·

   From my twitter feed
 
Karen Roberts‏@KarenClydach

Stats show RCT ambulance dire. Where are our Labour AMs? @MickAntoniwAM@LeightonAndrews@adrianmasters84 @walespolitics @pontyobserver

Having failed to mention anything about ambulance response times over the last year ambulance chaser turned AM Mick Antoniw (Pontypridd) seems to have had his conscience pricked. Well conscience is maybe the wrong word, but nonetheless he has at last woken up to the fact that ambulance response times in RCT have fallen short of the Wales target every month for the past year.

In December they were the worst in Wales with only 43.5% of category A emergency calls being responded to within 8 minutes.  Maybe it was this shocking statistic that finally made him think he had better say something - or maybe it was indeed a result of us bringing it to people's attention that he had said nothing.

Either way he mentioned it in his column in the Ponty Oberver today, and asked a question in theAssembly Chamber apparently. 

Well done that man.  Go for it Michael.  Now, about that paddling pool.........

Self praise is no recommendation Cllr Powderhill.

I have just come across the following post by Treforest Councillor Steve Powderhill on a local facebook group.  The initial post was about car parking charges in Pontypridd,but then he couldn’t resist flexing his over inflated ego.

“Cardiff charge a lot more, so that argument doesn't really hold water out of town shopping is killing our towns, supermarkets, outlets etc wish it was different but it's not perhaps the landlords could do more to help the shopkeepers anyway i've got an early council meeting tomorrow out on site in Treforest it's not easy being a councillor despite what some people might think commitment is a heavy burden and I am committed i've taken one weeks holiday intwo years and lost a stone in weight and I know not every Councillor is the same but remember it's quite easy for people to say things it's a lot more difficult to actually do so on that note i'll say goodnight.”

What a load of bullshit, but how perfectly it sums up the Labour attitude. Pure, unadulterated arrogance and hypocrisy. He obviously has no answers, and as usual is not interested in debating any issue that is of importance to local residents and traders.  “Perhaps the landlords could do more to help” – because Cllr Powderhill and his Labour colleagues are not interested,

Then the change of tack to talk about “me, me, me.” 

“Commitment is a heavy burden” oh come on.  Only one week’s holiday and lost a stone – my heart bleeds.  It is however ludicrous to blame that on Council work. Yes it takes up a not inconsiderable amount of time – if done properly, but it is certainly not time at backbench level. 

 As for the stomach churning line about how “it's quite easy for people to say things it's a lot more difficult to actually do so” that is hypocrisy at its best.

This is the man who on his election leaflets made much about being the only candidate living in Treforest, and then a few months later had his planningapplication for a house in Ynysybwl passed by his Labour colleagues, despite Officers recommending it be turned down.

He spent a great deal of time slamming the previous Welsh Lib Dem Councillor who stood down at the last election.  He told anyone who would listen that he did nothing, that he had no influence, and that the only way to get things done was to elect a Labour Councillor. 

Steve Powderhill was the man to get a crossing for the school – still waiting.  He would champion the community against planning applications that were objected to by residents.  Yet failed to get planning permission rejected on at least two sets of flats.

He has failed to stick up for the people of the area over all manner of things.  He, along with his Labour mates voted for the removal of the paddling pool in Ynysangharad Park.  He attended the meeting at the Muni to decide on a referendum and didn’t have the guts to speak up and defend his position.  When asked about it on the facebook site referred to here he said it was not the place to discuss politics, but refuses to do it elsewhere.

Self praise really is no recommendation – certainly not in this case.

Welfare reform half truths and propaganda not helping

It never ceases to amaze me how many people fall hook, line and sinker for political propaganda based on headlines and hype and not fact.  Many of then allegedly intelligent, thinking, rational individuals.  Some masquerading as ‘independent’ happily spreading blatant Labour propaganda thus saving them the trouble of doing it.

They happily gulp down the half-truths put out by people such as 38 Degrees without really examining the so called facts presented.  Take this campaign for example – to “Stop the Welfare Reform Death Scandal”  which refers to something called Callum’s list

It is headed ‘the welfare reform scandal has to stop’ but most of the links between the stories and welfare reform are tenuous to say the least.

The first report, tragic though it was for the family, was of a man who had already tried to commit suicide once a year before. The letter re benefits may not have helped his state of mind but it was not solely responsible for his death. That is sensationalism.

5 and 6 happened in 2008 and 14 in 2009 – hardly the coalition’s fault then, or the fault of welfare reform.

13 - Jobseeker committed suicide after being rejected for 200 jobs – dated April 2010.

15 - had worked as a supervisor at the Brierley Community Centre in Little Hulton for 16 years before it fell victim to spending cuts. The news tipped her into depression and she had already taken an overdose of pills eight days before she was found dead at her home in Walkden, just before 5pm on May 13. Mrs K, had been offered another post with the council but took voluntary redundancy

16 – this sad tale is of a man who committed suicide immediately after being told he was being made redundant, hardly the fault of benefit cuts then.

All of these tales are tragic to those involved, and I wouldn’t argue there are concerns over ATOS and some of their methods and decisions. Many are tales of people with obvious mental health problems and they should have received appropriate help for that mental health care needs drastic improvement across the UK, but to say they committed suicide because of government cuts is plunging politicking to new depths.   

There are tales of genuine hardship coming forward and they need to be looked at and the system changed if and where necessary, but this nonsense makes a mockery of those who are genuinely struggling.

Message to Labour – not all poor people are on benefits.

I really am getting sick and tired of hearing about how many families are losing out as a result of Welfare reforms.  Now let me make it clear, I firmly believe that the welfare system should provide adequately for all those in need be it the unemployed, the sick, the disabled, anyone who through no fault of their own is unable to earn a living wage and needs help.  That is what it is there for.

I also think that some of the welfare reforms are a step too far – the so called bedroom tax for example.  The whole mess surrounding Council Tax benefits leaves a bad taste, and there are some horror stories coming out about people on disability that give rise to concern.

However, the system had to be reformed, and Labour should have bitten the bullet a long time ago and put the brakes on a benefits system that was rocketing out of control.  But then as was claimed while ago by Kevin Brennan, Labour MP for Cardiff West, poor people vote Labour, so they will keep up their pretence of standing up for them. (Whilst putting up Council Tax in RCT by 4%)

The basic premise is that nobody should be better off on benefits than if they were working.  This is not to say they should not get enough to live on, but surely there should be a base line and above that then the State is right to say ‘no more.’

I have said before, there is a whole layer of society who is seemingly forgotten about – those hard working families who earn just about the limit where they can claim a state benefit.  They have to struggle on regardless and pay full price for everything.

They don’t get Council Tax relief, or housing benefit, or free school meals for their children, or discount at gyms and leisure centres, or even to get their dog neutered!  

So what of those people?  Does Labour, the party of the working class, care about those?  Or would they rather continue to play politics and hope that their voters do not scratch beyond the surface of the spin they are putting out.  Listening to Owen Smith it seems the latter is going to be the case.

 

 

 

Labour Councillor takes bovine excrement to new levels

There is a group on facebook called 'you know you are from Pontypridd when...'   mostly full of harmless chatter and people reminiscing about Ponty.  Amongst them is the Treforest Labour Councillor Steve Powderhill.

Now things rarely get too political on there, but now and again someone will pipe up with a comment about the Council or something it is or isn't doing, to which Cllr Powderhill's inevitable answer is that political debate should be taken elsewhere.  The subject of a few such comments has been the paddling pool fiasco which has stirred anger amongst a large number of Pontypridd residents in all wards - including Powderhill's.

When said Councillor started bragging about what a good job he is doing for Treforest and what dreams he has for its future (pass the sick bucket please) paddling pool campaigner (and non party political resident) Amanda Jones decided to question him on why he didn't support keeping it.

His response gave me almost as good a laugh as tonight's Mrs Brown's Boys and was certainly more inventive than Coronation Street

“Amanda, anyone who knows me knows I am my own man and will stand my ground when I believe in something, My area is Treforest and I intend to do my best to clean it up and turn it around and it is probably the most difficult ward in RCT. Ok because you don't read about me and see me in the newspapers every week other than irresponsible journalism and cheap political swipes at me doesn't mean I don't care, i'll do my talking when it is the right time and that's not now, when the time comes maybe you'll understand why I seem quiet I can assure you it's not because i'm afraid of anything, more I don't want to jeopardise anything like the grant funding etc now I respectfully ask you to put your comments about the pool on the page set up for it and when the time comes I will fight for what the people of Treforest tell me to fight for regarding the pool and everything else even if I sometimes don't agree with things I will vote in the way my electorate tell me to and actually the only thing we have voted on to date is outline planning to secure the grant funding. As i've said a few times I love this group, the chat, the memories old photos etc I don't want to spoil it with politics and neither will the majority on here so please keep politics for the right time and place not here. Thank you.”

Now the people of Pontypridd, including Treforest, have made their opinions clear.  A 2077 vote to 151 in the referendum on keeping the pool seems pretty clear to me.  So at what point exactly does Powderhill intend starting to listen?

He says the only thing they have voted on to date is planning permission.  Yet he voted in favour of that, knowing it would mean the removal of the paddling pool. There won't be another opportunity for him and his fellow backbenchers to vote and keep the paddling pool.  His chance has passed.

He attended the meeting in the Muni in October,but didn't say a word for or against holding a referendum.  So when is his self  enforced silence going to end?

As for posting "on the page set up for it"  there is one slight problem there for anyone wanting to question him or any of his Labour colleagues - they are too cowardly to go online even and face the public never mind doing it in person.

We don't need more Councils but more creative ones

Earlier this week it was reported in the media that the Mayor of Llanelli Town Council was leading an attempt to break the town away from Carmarthen County Council and establish Llanelli as an Authority in its own right.

The proposal fell at the first hurdle when he failed to get the support of fellow Town Councillors, but it was not likely to have got much further anyway.

The story of course planted a seed in the minds of others, or in some cases reawakened an idea they had earlier tossed into the air – what about doing this in Ponty?  Pontypridd is similar in a number of respects to Llanelli, and there are residents in both towns who will argue that they get the short end of the stick from the County Council.

Yet there are people in the Rhondda who will argue that all investment goes to Taff Ely, Cynon residents who says it is all spent in the Rhondda, and no doubt people in Carmarthen town who claim all the money goes to Llanelli – you get the picture

Of course even if Llanelli Town Council had voted in favour then the proposal was a non-starter, mainly because of the reasons given by the Council Chief Executive to the media.  You cannot just declare independence for one town without having knock-on effects and you are then talking about complete reorganisation of local government boundaries.  That is going to happen at some point but when it does it is going to result in bigger authorities not smaller ones. The Minister would simply refuse permission.

There is merit in the idea of delegating more responsibility (and the budget that goes with it) for some aspects to Town and Community Councils – many of which at the moment are little more than talking shops.  Devolution of power closer to the people is an idea that could work in certain instances if done properly, but random declarations of independence will not help.

It is not a breakaway Council and a battle with nearby towns that either Llanelli or Pontypridd need.  It is a Unitary Authority – wherever that may be based – that has both officers and elected members with vision and ambition for the whole area, and maybe Town councils that are more pro-active. 

We're still standing

It's been  tough year to be a Lib Dem - but then that is nothing new.  We appear to be getting battered from all sides, but stubborn beasts that we are we keep bouncing back.

It must be absolutely infuriating for the Labour party here in Rhondda Cynon Taff.  We gave them a hell of a fright in 2010 when we slashed the parliamentary majority in Pontypridd from more than 13000 to less than 3000.  Then of course it all started to go downhill as the perils of being in Government became apparent.  They did plenty of crowing after the Assembly election when through no fault of our own locally we saw a lot of our hard work go down the drain - although we still retained our second place in Pontypridd.

The Council election this May was a low point.  We saw the Labour majority shoot up so they held 60 out of the 75 seats on the Council.  Meanwhile we slipped from three Councillors to just one - a situation not helped by two of our former Councillors standing down and new candidates taking their place.

The joy of the Labour lot was all too evident - they thought we were down and out and they could carry on doing what they wanted undisturbed. 

It must then be really galling for them to realise that they were wrong.  We haven't given up and gone away, but instead have remained the biggest thorn in Labour's side.  Despite battling on times with a local media that finds itself indebted to the Council for a significant amount of advertising revenue (Over £90k last year to GTFM radio, a similar amount to the local paper) we punch above our weight publicity wise.  Our online presence is growing, and attracting more attention - not least from the Labour party!

And the really bad news for them is that we intend it to continue. 

Why do so many Welsh people reject their own language?

I cannot understand why there are so many Welsh people who appear to have such animosity towards their own language.  The 2011 census for the first time provided a tick box for people to describe themselves as Welsh if they so wished. Results showed that the sense of national identity is strong, with two thirds of people describing themselves as Welsh on average across Wales and 73% in Rhondda Cynon Taff.

The demand for Welsh medium education continues to rise – in RCT the Local Authority have struggled to keep up, so the demand is obviously there.

 Yet the census figures also showed that there is a decrease in the number of Welshspeakers which has led to calls on the Welsh Government from opposition parties to get their act together and look again at strategies which are obviously not working.

The political attacks are predictable, but what I find more surprising is the level of attack from some members of the public who claim that money spent on the Welsh language is wasted.  Take for instance this thread on the Pontypridd Town Forum. Just look at some of the comments on there:

 

·         This pointless Welsh language is quite simply the most underhand, calculating,and divisive stunt imaginable. A classic example being the appalling spreading of rumours that unless your child can speak Welsh, they will find it much more difficult to find employment.

·         There is no need for Welsh as an everyday language, Wales won't die because everyone doesn't speak Welsh. If the money and time spent on Welsh language promotion, was put into attracting business and industry to Wales we would be a damn site better off

·         Welsh is dead - admit it.

Admittedly much of what is said on this particular forum is designed to needle and cause argument, but the basic messages show a disturbing amount of animosity. I know a significant number of people who think that bilingualism is a waste of money, many see it as inextricably linked to a nationalist agenda.  They don’t speak the language and so do not see why any else needs to. Yet these same people would class themselves as ‘Welsh’ and fly the flag with pride.

I am not a fluent Welsh speaker, although I have a reasonable degree of understanding of the language.  I don’t read information other than in English, I can’t fill in forms in Welsh.  I wish I could, and yes it is my fault for not making the effort learn more and upgrade my level of understanding and ability to speak the language.  But this is and should be a bilingual country. 

The argument that by having Welsh taught as a compulsory subject in schools we are affecting the quality of education in other subjects is nonsense.  The question is whether what we are teaching is adequate.   Are we merely paying lip service by insisting on throwing the odd Welsh phrase into conversation in our schools?  Does it actually instil any love of the language?  Forcing students to take exams in it is not going to endear them to the subject. Forcing teachers some of whom may themselves have no love of the language to teach it isn’t going to build enthusiasm.

Encouraging growth in the language needs more than Government policies and strategies and forcing businesses to put up bilingual signs. It needs a change in people’s attitudes – and no, I don’t know how we achieve that!

 

Taxpayers money funds Plaid research by MEP's husband

Well this article on Wales Online explains one thing – where hissing Syd as he is not so affectionately known by many - has been lately.

Syd Morgan is the husband of Jill Evans, Plaid MEP. The article states that he “was until September last year a member of the controlling “bureau” of the Centre Maurits Coppieters (CMC), a Brussels-based organisation that researches European issues from a nationalist perspective” and continues

“During his time as a CMC bureau member, the organisation funded a project undertaken by the Welsh Nationalism Foundation, a body founded by Mr Morgan and his friend Alan Sandry, the author of a book on Plaid Cymru. Mr Sandry is currently a bureau member.

The Welsh Nationalism Foundation is an unincorporated body and does not publish accounts. Potential donors are invited on the body’s website to send cheques to Mr Morgan at the home he shares with Ms Evans in Tonypandy.”
A look at the Welsh Nationalism Foundation website reveals the following statement:

“Objectives- The Welsh Nationalism Foundation is an autonomous association engaged in the research and dissemination of all aspects of civic nationalism in Wales and the rest of Europe. It is affiliated to the Centre Maurits Coppieters (CMC), a European political foundation associated with the European Free Alliance, of which Plaid Cymru is a founder member. The Foundation supports the objective of Wales becoming a member state of European Union at the earliest opportunity.”

There are links to Plaid, and to Jill Evans’ website.

It is not the first time that this subject has been raised. Martin Shipton wrote back in June 2010 about the two day conference the Foundation was holding at which a Plaid line up addressed an audience of Plaid members. The suggestion then, as now, was that public money should not be funding such openly party political ‘research’

Of course it is a bit rich of Labour of Labour to be criticising pubic money being spent for political purposes, they are certainly not whiter than white there, but in this instance they appear to have a point.

Wales Online says that Mr Morgan when asked how much European money the Fundation had received from Centre Maurits Coppieters he said he did not have the information readily at hand, and they should ask the CMC. Yet he is the Treasurer, surely he knows a ball park figure?

Something just does not gel here.

Tories true colours showing on subject of same sex marriage

The subject of same sex marriage is one which is causing a bit of upset within the Tory party.  David Cameron has said he wants churches in England and Wales to be allowed to conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies, but this is not finding favour with some of his party’s more hard line traditionalists.

 The BBC reports today that Monmouth MP David Davies says the plans are ‘barking mad.’

Tory MPs are to be allowed a free vote on the issue, but up to 130 of them are thought to be unhappy with the plans which obviously don’t fit in with their ideas of just how society should conduct itself old chap.

Former Assembly member Mr Davies is apparently afraid that the party will lose support over the issue – which suggests that a lot of his supporters have the same somewhat bigoted attitude that he displays.  It also raises the question of whether doing what is right comes before appeasing the party’s supporters in the minds of some.

Mr Davies' homophobic tendencies show through as he tells the BBC that

"I think most people are very tolerant and have no problem at all if people are gay but, and I hate to say this in a way because I expect it's going to cause controversy, but I think most parents would prefer their children not to be gay, knowing most parents want grandchildren if nothing else.”

 Maybe the Chair of Conservative Future who recently wrote about how proud he is of his party’s position on LGBT issues ought to ask himself whether he is really in the right party.

 

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Excuse me Mrs Clwyd – have you heard of devolution?

Now I have every sympathy with anyone who suffers or sees their friends or family suffer due to a lack of appropriate care in the health service in any form.  That sympathy extends to Anne Clwyd, MP for the Cynon Valley who is in the news this week complaining about the poor standards of care experienced by her husband who passed away in October.  If the quality of care he received at the University Hospital of Wales was as poor as she described then indeed there is much to be improved.

What I can’t understand, however, is quite why, as reported by Wales Online, she was challenging David Cameron over this in the House of Commons.

The Health Service is of course devolved.  The Minister responsible for it in Wales is Mrs Clwyd’s own Labour colleague Lesley Griffiths.  Maybe she should take her very real and understandably very strongly felt concerns up there.  There are far too many people not getting the care and treatment they deserve in Wales for all manner of reasons, but nobody can lay this at the door of the Westminster Government.