No tears to shed over Leighton

So Leighton Andrews has resigned his position as Education Minister, and not before time.  His arrogance it seems has finally got the better of him – his refusal to listen to anyone on education matters has ensured Wales has remained way down the education league tables, he has a reputation of being smug and arrogant, and his determination to have it all ways has been his downfall.

 
TheBBC report that he “resigned following a row over his defence of a school which faced closure under his own surplus places policy.”  A line which allows Mr Andrews to play on the “I did it all for my constituents” sob story.  In his resignation letter he said

"I regret that my commitment to my constituents may have led me to an apparent conflict which led to difficulty for the government."

Nonsense.  It was his commitment to try himself, his own career, and to trying to play the game according to a set of rules he made up himself.

He was a Government Minister.  He knew full well that meant he had to be very careful with what he said about the Royal Glamorgan.  He made a big mistake – the ‘Labour for Royal Glamorgan’ signs and website were never going to go down well elsewhere.  A schoolboy error one may say.

But even worse was thinking he could get away with openly backing a campaign to keep a school open in his constituency whist telling Authorities they had to deal with surplus places and being the man with the final say over whether closures go ahead.

That was sheer stupidity.  If he felt so strongly then he should have resigned his Ministerial post in order to fight for the school.  Or if he really had concerns over the process RCT were following then why, as Minister, did he not openly question them about it? This is the Authority, after all, that he wanted to hand control of Merthyr schools over to.  It raises serious questions about competency on both sides

Still at least the news has livened up Twitter today, even if some of the comments were a little strange.

Adrian Masters points us in the direction of the Director of the ATL Union who says

“It is vital that Mr Andrews' successor is both credible, and more importantly, competent. With PISA looming, and GCSES and A level results pending, we need someone who commands the confidence of the profession and parents.”

Credible and competent – a big ask from amongst the current Labour contingent, and has Leighton ever fulfilled those requirements? 

Labour AM Jenny Rathbone raised a few eyebrows with her assertion that “.Resignation of our Education Minister poses lots of questions re direction education policy.”

Really?  He had only just gone, surely if there were questions as to the direction of Labour education policy someone in the party would have picked up on them before now?  Is she suggesting that there will be a change in policy – or that there should be?

Tory MP and Welsh office Minister Stephen Crabbe obviously hasn’t taken the views of his colleagues in the Assembly on board and tweets  “Sorry to see @LeightonAndrews leave Welsh Gov. One of the few with genuine ambition for ending the slide in Welsh educational standards".

Really?  He may have had ambition but he wasn’t achieving a great deal as the man responsible for PISA assessments pointed out recently.

Oddly enough @fmwales  has been silent since lunchtime.

Plaid AM confused over health service plans – aren’t they paying attention?

Bethan Jenkins AM tweeted this afternoon, presumably from the Assembly Chamber, that:

 “I am not against centralising specialised services. A and E is NOT a specialised service, is it??”

Has she any idea the range of specialities which are covered in an A&E department?  More to the point maybe has she paid any attention at all to what has been said about the South wales Programme hospital reorganisation?

Now whether or not you agree with the concept what is being recommended is that critical care services are condenses into fewer hospitals.  There is no suggestion that A&E as a whole will be removed from any hospital.  What is being talked about is the top level ‘emergency’ medicine – heart attacks, strokes, brain injuries, severe trauma.

Is Ms Jenkins seriously suggesting that none of these are ‘specialist’ services?  Because if, heaven forbid, I ever needed emergency brain surgery I certainly wouldn’t want an obstetrician carrying it out.

How can reasoned arguments be made and put forward to the Health Boards. and indeed the Health Minister, that will hold water if such misinformation is being spread?

Will Labour MPs stick up for constituents on health issues?

Anne Clwyd,  the Labour MP  for the Cynon Valley seems to have become the caped crusader with regard to the health service and in particular patient care. This after the alleged abysmal treatment of her late husband at the University of Wales.

At that time she chose to make her complaint via the media and in Westminster, even though health is of course devolved and run in Wales by her own Labour colleagues in the Welsh Government.

Inexplicably she was asked earlier this year to head up a review into the way that the English NHS deals with complaints which no doubt will be of huge benefit to her constituents. During this exercise she says she received hundeds of complaints from Wales and met the Welsh Health Minister to talk about them.

This  week she is addressing Westminster's Welsh Grand Committee of MPs on the subject of the problems she has been told of in Wales.  What I wonder will the Labour Members of that committee do with the information?

Given their recent overwhelming interest in the health service locally and their now aborted campaign to save services at the Royal Glamorgan, which has caused more than a bit of bother within the Labour party, will they now demand better patient care?  Will Owen Smith and ChrisbBryant actually stand up for their constituents and demand answers from their Welsh Labour colleagues?

I think we all know the answer to that.

Labour party should hang their heads in shame

The supposedly grass roots, all political parties and none, all fighting for the same cause campaign to retain services at the Royal Glamorgan is well under way. It seems, however, that some are taking the idea of there being no overt political involvement less seriously than others. 

The Labour party in RCT,  not content with leaping aboard a bandwagon that had been rolling long before they even knew it was in existence, are determined to take over the reins and are addressing their with an almost evangelical zeal, much to the dismay of head honcho, First Minister and Welsh Labour leader Carwyn Jones.

Carwyn got into a spot of bother at First Minister’s Questions last Tuesday over the matter. He appears either not to know what his colleagues are up to, or is in denial. Of course it doesn’t make things any easier that the Princess of Wales hospital in Bridgend is in his constituency and residents there will be just as keen to make sure that is one of the five chosen critical care centres.

Labour set up a campaign website called Labour4RoylGlamorgan which they soon changed – no doubt after a few words from above pointing out that in fact only RCT Labour were in favour of keeping the Royal Glam as is.

They then decided the way forward was to take over the genuine grass roots campaign that had been set up by numerous people.  Some of those people had been involved in the fight against the downgrading of the neo natal unit at the hospital in 2008, a campaign we were pleased to have helped out with.

At the first rally in Pontypridd two Labour MPs, an AM and a variety of Labour Councillors were present.  The MPs and AM disappeared as soon as the photo opportunity was over. A standard letter had been prepared – totally non-political – for residents to sign opposing the taking of services from the Royal Glam.  Labour members were going around getting people to sign their own Labour campaign forms.  I took a bundle of letters at the end of the day to put around in various places.  When I took them out of my car boot a few days later I found only the top one was actually the letter we had all agreed on.  The rest of the bundle was made up of Labour leaflets.

Yesterday was the Treorchy protest – this time two Labour AMs and one MP turned up, and again several Labour Councilors. Instead of the black T Shirts with yellow writing that members of the campaign group had designed and had made to sell to supporters, the Labour contingent turned up with their own version.  Red T-shirts bearing the logo and message from their Royal Glam website. So much for pulling together and being part of a genuine grass roots campaign.

The Parliamentarians were all keen to make their voices heard to the crowd.  Our only RCT Councillor could not make it, so we had no elected representative there even if we had wanted to vie for the crowd’s attention.

Chris Bryant made a sickening speech which as usual made no mention of the fact that his own colleagues in the Bay are responsible for this reorganisation.  During his political broadcast he announced a donation of £150 to the campaign from the Labour party.  Playing to the crowd?  Of course not!!   It must have been disappointing to find that the subsequent TV report left out anything from Mr Bryant and pals.

The most disgusting part of this display, however, at least to my mind, came when a heckler from the crowd started to have a bit of a dig at the Rhondda MP.  His exact words were not audible form where I stood, but he began with something along the lines of how he was an ex miner and how he didn’t regard Chris as his MP.

Instead of dealing with the interruption in a manner becoming someone in his position, the Labour MP told the man to “shut up” and then encouraged the crowd to chant “shut up, shut up…”   Disgraceful behavior – free speech not a concept the Labour party understand obviously.

The whole nauseating scenario is of course made so much worse by the sheer hypocrisy of it all.  Health is devolved, it is the responsibility of the Welsh Labour Government, the appalling state of the NHS in Wales is down to them. The Labour party in RCT should be hanging their heads in shame.

Paddling pool removal little short of vandalism

Had an hour or so to spare in Ponty this afternoon so did what many people do when the weather is this good and headed for B&M to pick up some bargains! Well it is a Sunday and everyone is free to park on the newly installed £10m pavements in the semi sort of sometimes pedestrianised town centre.

Having availed myself of some bits and bobs in the aforementioned store I then took a wander across to the park. As to be expected it was fairly busy lots of families having come along, as they have for generations, for an inexpensive afternoon in the sun

At a rough estimate there were around 80 kids happily splashing about in the paddling pool - the very one the Labour council wants to take away. It was a very rough estimate as more kept running in and out, whilst several enjoyed the slide. Many more on the grass wore bathers, obviously taking a brief respite before jumping back in.

I would have taken a photo but a large sign says it is strictly forbidden, along with diving and jumping and running and excessive splashing and anything else that could make playing a little too much like fun

One of the things that struck me was something we have mentioned previously during our campaign to save the paddling pool. That is the number of groups with one or two children and four or five adults.  What happens when the new Lido is open, with its 'free to use' pool for children, and one adult accompanying each child. Every only of those 'extra' adults would have to pay to enter.

Even if by some miracle they chose to do that there is no way they would fit in the number of people here enjoying this facility today.

 The Labour plan is beyond bonkers, it is outright vandalism.

Maybe First Minister should check facts on hospital claims

A bit of  row broke out last Tuesday at first Minister's questions over the hospital reorganisation plans, and more specifically the campaign to keep services at the Royal Glamorgan.

As reported by the BBC there was an exchange between Carwyn and the leader of Plaid Cymru in which he accused her of misleading the Assembly by stating that A&E would close.

Conservative Health spokesperson Darren Millar referred to this a few minutes later and asked

"Do you agree that your Labour colleagues, including a member of your own cabinet are also misleading the assembly, if you use the same yardstick?"

The First Minister got on his usual high horse and replied

"That has never been suggested by anyone in this chamber, by any Labour Minister, only by members of Plaid Cymru."

He cannot have seen the leaflets being put out from the office of Leighton Andrews. Education Minister and AM for the Rhondda then.   It asks people to sign a letter stating that they

"believe that there must continue to be Accident & Emergency Services at the Royal Glamorgan."

It also explains that the reorganisation is necessary to maintain standards but that

"It is inevitable that certain services includign accident and emergency will be based in fewer hospitals."

So Mr Jones, no Labour Minister has been misleading the public?

Can someone explain to Labour’s elected members what is going on?

I know the whole political scene, devolution and everything is sometimes a bit difficult for the average man / woman in the street to grasp, often made none the easier by the media.  However, you’d think that elected members would have some sort of grasp of what is happening.  In the case of the Labour party locally at least it certainly doesn’t seem that way.

In recent days with the furore surrounding the health service reorganisation several have left me wondering whether they have any idea at all what is really going on or what the reasons around it are.  It seems that not only do they not communicate within the Labour party, but some are too disinterested to even read up on subjects which are of vital importance to many of those they represent.

As a result not only are they unable to make any credible case for not cutting services, but they  end up spreading misinformation amongst the public which does nothing to help the cause.

Take the report in the Wales on Sunday today about the rally in Pontypridd yesterday.  There is a quote from a Labour Councillor, Tina Leyshon, who is certainly no newcomer to the world of local politics. She says

“Everyone knows someone who’s been to this hospital. Really, it’s nothing to do with politics. It’s so important that we get out and show our support for our local hospital.  I think national health needs to make cuts but they need to look at it wisely and make cuts that are safe. Taking money away from services like A&E is not the way to do it.”

Now first off it is of course everything to do with politics – who does she think governs the Health Service – the tooth fairy? The decision to reorganise services is a political one, and it is the Labour Health Minister who will have the final say.  Political decisions affect how money is spent and on what. 

More importantly this is not about cuts – although cuts could certainly be made on the management side.  It has been very clearly stated that the reorganisation is about staff shortages and clinical safety, not money.  The reorganisation in fact with cost money.  Her colleagues in the Welsh Government are not taking money away from these services.  That is not their failure; their failure has been in not addressing staff shortages which have been apparent for years, and in not addressing the very real concerns about the Health Service in Wales.

Of course in some ways she could be forgiven for being confused – after all the Labour MP for Pontypridd has been peddling the sameline, although of course he has been adding in the well-worn phrase about it being all the fault of the UK Government  (y…a…w…n)

Leighton Andrews added to the misinformation, being quoted on Wales Online as saying that

“It could take hours and several bus changes” for people in Rhondda to reach Bridgend’s Princess of Wales Hospital or Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr. In practice, people would go to Cardiff and that would lead to congestion at the University Hospital of Wales,”

This is of course complete nonsense, because the people who would be accessing the severe trauma services they are talking Labour centralising would be travelling there by ambulance and not have a choice about where they were taken.  Yes transferring services would make it more difficult for patients’ visitors, but there would still be no choice involved.

Then we have Chris Bryant.MP for the Rhondda adding his thoughts.  Well, they are in his name anyway, although they don’t quite gel with what he has said elsewhere.

According to a piece on Slick’s blog,

Rhondda Labour MP Chris Bryant said: “The A&E at the Royal Glamorgan is an essential service to the people of the Rhondda. When you are severely ill and requiring urgent medical attention, you want to receive the best care as quickly as possible – I hope that the health board will see sense and realise that closing an accident and emergency unit at a hospital that is only 13 years old and accessible to both the communities in the Rhondda and Pontypridd is not the best use of NHS resources.”

Now when Chris came along to a campaign meeting last Thursday he said that care should be taken to ensure that the correct facts were put out to the public.  That the consultation only spoke of certain critical care services – something that RCT Welsh Lib Dems have been keen to point out all along.  Why then is he quoted talking about “closing an accident and emergency department?”

They really should take more care about what is being put out in their names.  Maybe the same staff are writing their press releases as put together their campaign website referring to them as “your Labour representitives”  - a Freudian slip some may say.

 

 

And in the red corner fighitng for,,,, err,,,,,

People across South Wales are at last beginning to wake up to the fact that there are substantial changes proposed in health provision across the region.   The grandly named ‘SouthWales Programme’ will see a centralisation across five centres of specialist services.  Consultant led maternity, neonatal, in patient paediatric and severe trauma services will be lost from some hospitals.

The ‘best fit’ option as described in the consultation document means the Royal Glamorgan in Llantrisant would lose these services.  The health board have become very touchy when people have described this as their preferred option, they say it is not, it is just the ‘best fit.’  Go figure!

Over the coming weeks there will be a territorial battle between supporters of the Royal Glamorgan and  the Princess of Wales hospital in Bridgend.  Not only residents will be taking to the streets, but politicians of all hues will be locking horns, not just party against party, but internal clashes too. 

In the red corner, fighting for the Princess of Wales, we have the Labour party, and in the err red corner fighting for the Royal Glamorgan we have, err, the Labour party.

Strange really as the party responsible for setting all this in motion and indeed for failing to do anything about staff shortages for years is, um, the Labour party.

The idea of devolution still has not hit home with many people in Wales.  Aided by a UK dominated media and a Labour leaning local press there is much confusion as to who is responsible.  The Labour party like to add to this confusion blaming the UK Government for absolutely everything.  Pontypridd MP Owen Smith is leading the pack in this, to the extent that it is getting really boring. 

Meanwhile Leighton Andrews and Slick Mick Antoniw have leapt forward like Batman and Robin, underpants outside their trousers, to fight for their local services.  Bit late really, especially in Slick’s case.  He couldn’t even be bothered to put in a submission to the original public engagement exercise, although is trying to claim he did.  Problem is the letter he says he wrote is on the RCT Labour campaign website and is dated a month after the consultation ended.

Along with Chris Bryant MP for the Rhondda (who knows a thing or two about underpants in public) they came dashing across our tv screens like the four horsemen of the apocalypse launching their campaign  - Labour for the Royal Glamorgan. 

Except of course ‘Labour’ weren’t, just RCT Labour.  Someone apart from me obviously cottoned on to this problem pretty quickly, because the Labour4royalglam Facebook and Twitter accounts they had set up disappeared as quickly as they had arrived.

Having set up the so called campaign in a flurry of tv activity what have they done since?  Precious little it seems. Away from the glare of the tv cameras Chris Bryant is already saying he thinks it is all a done deal anyway.  So much for fighting our corner.

Slick is a little upright about the while issue, so much so that he threatened to block me from his twitter account if I didn’t stop posting in his opinion ‘inane’ comments - apparently direct political questioning is ‘trolling’ according to him.  Not something I’ll be losing any sleep about.

The State of Independents

Finally in the list of candidates for the Rhondda ward by election we have the ‘Independent’ candidate Bob Fox, a former Town and County Councillor in The Graig. Well, sort of independent, because this is where lines get a little burred.

Mr Fox is part of a local group known as RAG -  the Ratepayers Action Group.  Their Facebook group refers to ‘our candidate’ without naming him, yet there is little else relating to him or to the election.

As I have raved a little about on previous occasions, RCT RAG seem to be a little confused as to their purpose.

They don’t seem to have achieved a great deal at all, nor really become involved in anything locally.  Their Facebook site consists of posts from their Chairman on his own personal anti Tory crusade attacking the UK Government on anything and everything.  The Labour Council’s hike in Council Tax has gone unremarked, as has the Labour Police Commissioner’s 7% rise in the Police precept. 

The cutback in services in RCT has not brought forward a murmur of dissent from this group whose intention is allegedly to stick up for the Ratepayers of RCT. 

They have apparently not noticed the appalling statistics regarding the ambulance service in RCT, nor the unacceptable waiting lists for hospital treatment which are the responsibility of the Welsh Labour Government. Oh yes, they are Independent all right!!

I haven’t seen the latest election leaflet from their candidate but am told that in it he is jumping on the bandwagon of the paddling pool campaign, claiming to have been fighting to save it.  Well if that is the case he has been pretty quiet about it until now.

RAG appears to be a collection of misfits who are not at all sure about which direction they wish to proceed in.  Two of their members were elected to the County Council last year, in Tylorstown and Tonyrefail, but there seems to be little interaction between them and the group these days.  One of their Councillors sits in a group with Welsh Lib Dem Councillor Mike Powell and Tory Joel James. The other sits alone, not aligned to any group.

There really needs to be some clarification.  Is Mr Fox an Independent or is he standing on behalf of a group? And if that group is standing candidates at election then no matter how much they try to deny it then they are political. 

The Pluralist party – coming soon to an election near you – or not!

The ‘Pluralist Party’ appears on the ballot paper for the forthcoming Rhondda ward Town Council  by election.   Their website states:

 “We are different from other parties in that out members don’t support us – we support our members. Our members consist only of those who are elected or standing for election. This makes it easier to avoid conflicts of interest between the party members and the public.

“Each of our candidates stand on their own manifesto and then the party’s agenda for government comes out of win-win bargaining that takes the best bits from the manifestos of those who were elected – in other words it is the people who decide our policies through voting for the candidates we field. Unlike most other parties, we don’t mind supporting more candidates than there are positions as it should be for the people to have the final say who they vote for and not a political party.”

“Different” they say – oh yes they are definitely that. Officially registered with the Electoral Commission The ‘Party’ membership seems to consist of one person at present, as members ‘consist only of those who are elected or standing for election.’ 

They were registered in 2012 as a minority party with Jonathan Bishop as the Party Leader, Mark Beech as the Nominating Officer and no other officers at all. 

Mr Beech is a former candidate for the Raving Monster Loony Party (I kid thee not) who, according to the ‘Crocels News’ site (yet another one of Jon Bishop’s many guises)

 “ [Mark Beech] has put himself down on a ballot paper as ‘BEECH, MARK WILLIAM (commonly known as ‘The Good Knight, Sir Nos Da’)”

 Now I am all for democracy and getting as many people involved in the electoral system as possible, but really, does this further the democratic cause?   I can't see this one catching on.

Another day, another election...

Well campaigning in the Pontypridd Town Council by election is well under way.  The Rhondda ward vacancy came about following the death of the sitting Labour Town Councillor in January this year. In contrast to many town / community council seats last May this one is hotly contested with a grand total of 6 candidates.

Our candidate is Amanda Jones who joined the Party earlier this year having worked closely alongside Cllr Mike Powell and myself on the campaign to save Pontypridd paddling pool.  She took the decision to join because she said we were the only ones trying to do anything positive in the area.

The Labour party are of course contesting the seat, and both the local MP and AM have been out on the streets there, with photos appearing on twitter to prove it, and presumably remind people what Slick Antoniw in particular looks like.  The photos include the person who is presumably the candidate, and two members of staff which suggests maybe that their active membership base is a little low at present.  The last time Oily and Slick and their team took to the streets in such force was in Trallwn last May to try and unseat Mike Powell – it didn’t have the desired effect.

The Tories are standing a candidate in what is previously unknown territory for them, their current vote share coming more from the western end of the constituency.  We haven’t heard reports of their activity as yet.

The Plaid candidate stood for them in the Cilfynydd County Council election last May and the Rhondda ward at Town level.  Plaid have been wiped out at County Council level in the Pontypridd constituency, and almost lost their deposit in the 2010 general election, so will be keen to make any sort of gain.

Then we have the two ‘non mainsteam’ candidates to coin a phrase, which quite frankly make me wonder about the democratic process, but I think they are deserving of their very own entries, so more later!

Educational standards slipping in RCT

I don't mean in our schools, I mean within the Council  - yes the same Council that is responsible for delivering education and keeping up standards.

It may seem to some a little thing, but the humble apostrophe matters.  To coin a phrase it is the difference between knowing your s**t and knowing you're s**t.

Now we all make mistakes, the odd typo here and there, I am certainly not immune to that, and am quite certain someone will find one in this little rant.  But when the Council has a PR and strategy department that costs over a miilion pounds a year in staff alone, and an in house design and print service you would think that someone, somewhere would be responsible for proof reading.  Especially for posters and exhibition boards which are going to be distributed widely amongst schools.

I was dismayed this evening to see a poster on the wall at Council HQ advertising the re-uniform scheme.  Now the scheme itself is great - parents are encouraged to drop off old unwanted items of school uniform which are then washed, ironed, and de-bobbled before being offered for sale at a cut down price to other parents. It saves parents money and helps the environment by recycling.  Well done RCT Council.

It is a pity that such effort isn't put into checking what is put out in the public domain. 

Same old Labour, same old bull……

As if the people of North Wales haven’t had enough to put up with being snowed in the past few days they have also had to put up with an invasion of Labour Party members all keen to be seen and heard at their Llandudno Conference.

With practised lines about swingeing cuts and protecting the people of Wales they collectively delivered the biggest load of b******t to have hit the North Wales coast in some considerable time.  No need for us Southerners to feel too left out though, apparently the Westminster Shadow Cabinet are going to visit their colleagues down the Bay because, apparently, they think they have a lot to learn from them.

Quite what that is may be difficult for many of us to fathom.  We have a failing education system, a Health service that does not meet the need of the people, and higher unemployment than anywhere else in the UK.  So what do they hope to learn?

Apparently, according to Wales Online,

‘First Minister Carwyn Jones’ Labour government in Cardiff Bay has often won praise from Mr Miliband and party members across the UK for how it is protecting working families from swingeing cuts coming via Westminster’

So they would protect us from the raised tax threshold, the fuel duty freeze, the cut in duty on beer, etc.  They don’t want to see businesses benefiting from the employers allowance which will mean small businesses will not have to pay National Insurance Contributions (NICs) under £2,000.

Ed Milliband spoke of how Labour are doing a great job protecting families in Wales.  He spoke of what they are doing in relation to the Council Tax Benefit proposals – no mention of labour controlled Councils such as RCT putting up Council Tax for those hard working families by 3.95% and increasing charges for services by way over inflation, around 7 / 8%.

Some of the tweets from Welsh Labour, presumably unintentionally, showed how shallow the Labour ideas pool really is. 

‘Ed: What they did to Remploy was disgraceful. We're going to need some sort of system to help people into work.’

Some sort of system?  Any clues as to what?

‘Ed: we have to cap payday loans and work out a way to provide alternative lines of credit.’

Going to start on that any time soon are they?

Same old Labour, same old bull……

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.