A Megga Busy Few Days This week,

 

I have been on holidays from my main employment this week but I seem to have been even busier during my holidays than when I’ve been in work,

Mainly because its been the local Carnival week, and I’m on the Carnival Committee, the busy week started last Friday, I had been on site visits for Carmarthen County Council, which I have already blogged about

http://grasscarper.bravejournal.com/archive/06/21/2009 

and then in the evening I was up the Pontarddulais Comprehensive School watching and supporting the White Springs Football tournament, before going into work for the night shift,

below are some of the photo’s of the winning school team and my dad presenting the cup to the team captain

 

 

I had a scrutiny in the week so I was in County Hall Carmarthen during the week,

So the next activity was the annual quiz night organised by the Pontarddulais Town Council

but unfortunately this year my team didn’t come first, but it was still an entertaining evening

Thursday I was up in Ebbw Vale for most of the day and we ended up having a meal in The Mountain Air in Tredegar, I had gone up earlier to Ebbw Vale because there were men cutting down the five tall conifers in Amandas Garden

They were huge and once down there was loads more light in Amandas windows and there were better views for every one. Trevor the neighbour across the road said "he hadn’t been able to see the view across the garden for more than twenty years",

The tree surgeons counted the rings and they were 54 year old and they obviously hadn’t been cut or trimmed much in that time as they were taller than Amanda’s house.

At 11.45pm after the meal, I decided that rather than staying up In Ebbw Vale I should pop home because I had a really early start Friday morning, there was going to be a site visit and the committee were told that they would be leaving County Hall at 7.15am,

The journey home was pretty horrendous (it was bone dry when I had left) because there was thunder lightning and the rain was sleeting it down and even though the roads were empty I had to drive slower because of the conditions.

I was up at 6.15am Friday Morning and I was in County Hall by 7am and thankfully the weather had settled, The appeals committee which I am a member of were off to Whitland to walk a school route,

We arrived at the farm at about 7.55am and we walked down this long country lane, with various officers of the county and we waited for the school bus to arrive which arrived at approx 8.20am, luckily the rain held off,

After discussing the route we were back in county hall to meet the resident who was appealing to the school transport department, where we went through their case and read all the letters regarding the appeal.

Following the closure of the appeal I was off down to Llanelli to attend an Assembly public consultation about flooding with Nia Griffith MP, Alun Davies AM and Joyce Watson AM and there were more than 85 residents in attendance and some stated they were up most of the night because of the flash flooding and stormy weather, one brought a photo of their lawn which was submerged in a couple of inches from Thursday nights down pour

 

I spoke up for Hendy because there have been occasions where Hendy has suffered flash flooding when drains couldn’t cope with the excessive rain,

I made reference to the time all the surface water was running off the M4 slip road, down Bryngwilli Road and then congregating at Hendy Green with four houses being flooded out.

I also asked the Officer before the meeting started could they identify any funding or a department that I could contact for drainage problems at Hendy Cricket Club, as the Cricket Field Drainage needs improvements

 

From Llanelli I was back in Hendy to meet a resident with John Mc Envoy the Highways Safety Officer to discuss their concerns and then when Mr Mc Envoy left I had to meet another resident about another issue

and I found out they had spoken to Mr Mc Envoy who stated he would arranage a site visit, if I had known this earlier I could have arranged with him, to have held the two site visits in one afternoon,

It now means Mr Mc Envoy will be back out in the village in the near future.

Following these two meetings I had a short period to have a wash change and a quick snack as I had a meeting in Llanelli at 7pm which finished at 9.15pm.

I then called for a social drink after this meeting and I ended up getting home at 11.30pm, so I was quite knackered with the long day

And I had another early and long day booked in Saturday. As it was carnival day most of the photos are on my face book account

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3054508&id=704278135#/album.php?page=1&aid=128134&id=704278135  

but here’s a few samples

 

After helping set up the field I was back home for about an hour to wash change and grab a bite, but unfortunately I was up to my neck in crap,

my back patio was flooded,

I live in a terrace row and four houses were effected the drains were blocked,

I had to rod my manhole and next door down and eventually all the drains were running freely.

So I had to wash and change for the third time in one day and it wasn’t even lunch Time.

 

Any way I was back up the field a little later than planned with about twenty minutes to spare and I would be there for most of the day and I ended up being the last to leave the field,

 

Carmarthen County Council had supplied a Marque and some table and chairs and the tent erectors turned up at 7.30pm to take the tent down to come and pack up

They also took the best part of an hour to pack the marquee down.

I was well and truly tired by the end of the night, but it was a enjoyable day by all roll on next year

The weather was kind although I’m now suffering from sun burn

 

Here’s the results of the Carnival

Carnival Results 2009.

Floats

1st Overall Hendy RFC Jnrs 6 Nations

2nd Fforest Tractor Antartica

3rd Ysgol Bryniago It’s a small world

 

Gordon Lamprey Trophy – Best Float based on carnival theme

Pontarddulais Primary Around the world in 80 days

 

Wilf Leyshon Cup – Best Float from a School

Ysgol Bryniago

 

Brace’s Bread Shield – Best float based on carnival theme

Hendy RFC Jnrs Walkers

 

Brinley Lewis Trophy – Best dressed child on a float or walking

Alex the Lion

 

Abel Thomas & Sons Trophy Best dressed Adult on a float or walking

Fish on Antartica float

 

Groups – 4 or more persons

Pontarddulais AFC Jnrs – French Onion Sellers

2nd – Merched Y Wawr – Rameses & Harem

 

Individual or single

1st – Little Bo Peep

2nd – Aunt Artica

 

Odd Bod

1st – Davy Jones

2nd – Children of the Nile

 

Llanedi Community Council Cup for Best dressed on a stall

Ladies on Glynhir W. I.

 

Photography Competition

 

1st –   Linda Wellington

2nd –  John Davies

3rd -   Matthew Griffiths

 

Colouring Competition

 

1st – Sarah O’Neill

2nd – Abigail Hier

Joint 3rd  Melody

 

Winning Carnival Programme

2028 Reserves No's – 1142, 1248, 1374, 1247, 80,

Please Tel 01792 - 883337 if you have any of the numbers listed.

 

Window Dressing Competition

1st – Care Charity Shop

2nd – Sweet Sensation

3rd – Elwyn’s Pet Shop

 

Carnival Sports Day 

1st – Pontarddulais Primary School

2nd – Ysgol Bryniago 3rd – Hendy C. P.

 

School Tug of War

Ysgol Bryniago Football

 

Football Tournament

White Springs “Croeso Cup”

Ysgol Bryniago

 

Town Council Quiz

Pontarddulais Partnership

After a long campaign the final days of the pool finally came to an end, i know i've written a lot on here about the campaign, but i believe, i haven't published any of the photos of the final week

 

A campaigner for lido's contacted me and has now put some of the photos of the demolishment onto his forum and web site about lido's and their campaigns to save them

 

 

 

2268	hendy pool for four days ... the areas that attracted top swimmers from all the area around and now the grand children of the speaker has to travel out of hendy today to those areas. talked about the height of the diving board and how cold it was in the pool some times in their wooly ...	steve Slloydjanes@... stevelloydjanes	Jan 15, 2009 3:16 am
2264	Hendy Pool Campaign - final chapter Steve Lloyd Janes wrote to <poolingresources@yahoogroups.com> on Sun 11 Jan 2009 Those following the Hendy Pool Campaign will be aware that the end of the historic lido and ten year battle is drawing to an end. It was not an easy decision ...	Oliver Merrington oliver@... lidos_org_uk	Jan 12, 2009 3:50 pm
2145	Lido campaigners end long battle(Hendy) This must have been very, very hard Steve, after such a dedicated battle. I hope that Carmarthenshire Council will keep their pledge. When you see billions going into the bank rescue, the Olympics etc you do wonder why it's such an uphill struggle to save ...	Sally Wainman broomhillsaved@... broomhillsaved	Oct 10, 2008 6:52 am
2144	campaign draws to an end ... archive/10/10/2008 the end draws to a piece of history there was rather an emotional and difficult decision made about the future of hendy pool story has been covered in my blog above plus yeterday on the 4 to 6pm radio wales show there was a live interview made at ...	steve Slloydjanes@... stevelloydjanes	Oct 10, 2008 6:08 am
2119	BBC NEWS: Portishead Pool ... 1000 a day) The Executive will meet on 28th October 2008 Meanwhile........Carmarthenshire Council want to start filling in the Hendy Lido on October 27th and the two open air pools in Beccles and Halesworth are also to be closed unless the community takes them ...	Sally Wainman broomhillsaved@... broomhillsaved	Sep 27, 2008 6:53 am
2049	Lottery bid to restore welsh lido Hendy Pool had a mention in todays Western Mail http://tiny.cc/nV6e8 Move to restore ... former glory, including the Grade II-listed Ynysangharad in Pontypridd and Hendy in Llanelli. Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council has unveiled plans for ...	steve Slloydjanes@... stevelloydjanes	Aug 13, 2008 8:15 pm
2023	Gayton pool campaigners win court case ... producing placards which read, "Don't B-Foolish, Save Gayton Pool." I hope that those fighting for Portishead Open Air Pool, Hendy Lido etc will feel encouraged to keep going. http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Council-landed-huge-legal-ordered-repair ...	Sally Wainman broomhillsaved@... broomhillsaved	Jul 19, 2008 11:00 pm
1963	New member - Will Woodhouse ... metre demonstration pool in Weston Colville, near Newmarket, which is open to try on Saturday 21 June (2-10pm). Please contact me (or him via their website) if you would like an invitation. Numbers are limited. Oliver PS What about Hendy, I wonder?	Oliver Merrington oliver@... lidos_org_uk	Jun 4, 2008 9:03 am
1943	Re: [lidos] BBC - Search results for lido videos ... most recent is the one from Hilsea Lido where they have been working on an archive project called "No Diving." (Feb/March 200 Hendy Lido, Cheltenham, Droitwich and Hathersage also feature in the link below. I know there are others: for instance in Aug 2005 the ...	Peter Bradley petermartinbradley@... petermartinb...	May 19, 2008 1:50 pm
1942	Re: [lidos] BBC - Search results for lido videos ... most recent is the one from Hilsea Lido where they have been working on an archive project called "No Diving." (Feb/March 200 Hendy Lido, Cheltenham, Droitwich and Hathersage also feature in the link below. I know there are others: for instance in Aug 2005 the ...	Peter Bradley petermartinbradley@... petermart

On Saturday i started a blog about my busy day which started really early Friday morning, for full story scroll down or read entry http://grasscarper.bravejournal.com/archive/06/20/2009

Anyway taken aback by the stropping of a resident we all walked down to the community hall in trimsaran.

Where Tea and Coffee with some biscuits were supplied and it was the first time I had ever been inside and I was impressed with the gym for the local boxing club, 

It made me start thinking about Hendy, which doesn't even have a meeting hall let alone a hall with a boxing ring and a theatre stage

 

 

One of the councillors who snaped the photos on my mobile phone said

"hey if you had known this facility was here you could have said to the boy racer lets get down to the gym and short your problem"

Anyway it was back onto the bus to go to the Llanelli Town Hall to drop off the four Housing Officers and Staff and to pick up the county council members on the social and health scrutiny.

Our next visit was going to be a real eye opener. We had been discussing in the chamber the management and funding of one of the counties travellers sites, because there has always a problem when travellers pitch illegally on the sides of roundabouts or on open land, and there's new Assembly guidelines on this issue?

Carmarthen already has a dedicated site where they can pitch and Swansea City Council has just been discussing a similar issue http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=29281  

Taken off above link

"

Have your say on gypsy traveller policy LOCAL people who want to have their say on Swansea Council's new draft policy for Gypsy Travellers have until May 15 to make their voices heard.

The policy has been revised in the light of fresh guidance from the Welsh Assembly Governement on how local authorities manage unauthorised camping by gypsy travellers.

On top of that the Commission for Racial Equality published its Common Ground Report in 2006 which set out ways in which Councils should develop strategies for promoting positive engagement and good relations between Gypsies and Travellers and other members of the public.

The draft policy is available on the Council's website and residents can respond either by email or via an online questionnaire. But responses must be submitted by May 15.

Full details are available at www.swansea.gov.uk and clicking on the

Have your Say section on the front page.

"

 

CARAMARTHEN has thirty three pitches in the bynea site with only nine being used and it looked like there were only three or four that could be used immediately, because as the photos show it was a depressing sight

 

Which I think will be discussed at a later date when the two committee's hold their next joint meeting,

It was definately well worth the visit as many of the councillors had never been to the site and now that we've visited it first hand I think it will help the councillors when they discuss the Welsh Assembly's guide lines and the county council officers report and guidance,

The Housing Scrutiny requested that they would like to see where the county council had been spending the large sums of money in housing, so yesterday we eventually met to visit the renewable areas in kidwelly and Trimsaran. Because over the last four years Carmarthenshire has received 1.6million each year from the assembly and the housing minister is Labours Jane Davidson. See link for her profile from the assembly’s web page

 

http://wales.gov.uk/about/cabinet/cabinetm/janedavidson?lang=en

 

On getting on the bus at 8.15am at Llanelli Town Hall, we were all given a briefing pack, it’s quite lengthy so I’ve on copied the very first page which gives the background to the work done to win the assembly funding and some before and after photos.

 

We stopped first in Kidwelly to walk around the estate and then off to Trimsaran and something shocking happened to me whilst walking through the estate which will change the context of today’s blog entry away from politics.

 

For those followers that have been reading this blog on a regular basis, will be aware that I am a union rep working in retail, and that I have written several blog entries about USDAW’S  www.usdaw.org.uk award winning freedom from fear campaign.

 

One in 10 shopworkers physically assaulted

27 October 2008

One in every 10 shopworkers has at some point been physically assaulted, according to shopworkers’ union, Usdaw.

The union revealed its shock survey results in the run up to 'Respect for Shopworkers Week' at the beginning of November.

Besides store robberies, many staff are being assaulted whilst trying to get on with their daily job. Many of these incidents are motiveless and random attacks, whilst many more are customers getting angry at being asked for ID or refused alcohol.

John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary, said:

"It is an outrage that so many of our members can't get on with their daily job without the fear of abuse from customers. That's why Usdaw is running its 'Freedom From Fear' campaign again this year - to show that no abuse, either verbal or physical, of shopworkers is acceptable.

"Our survey shows that incidents of verbal abuse are going down. This is due in large part to our campaign, which has encouraged many employers to take the issue of staff safety much more seriously. However, the British Retail Consortium forecasts a possible rise in incidents of violence due to the economic downturn, coupled with increased stress over the Christmas period.

"Therefore we urge employers to make the security of their staff a top priority and for customers to keep their cool at Christmas and show due respect to shopworkers."

Freedom From Fear Further Information
Current Stories Archive by Date Archive by Category

 

 

 

Here’s a previous blog entry on usdaw’s campaign http://grasscarper.bravejournal.com/archive/11/4/2008

 

I think the next entry is probably the best one as there’s dozens of photos and stories, of me campaigning in the assembly, outside Carmarthen a Tesco, Llanelli Tesco and Llanelli Town center with several other Usdaw members

 

http://grasscarper.bravejournal.com/archive/11/10/2008

 

Anyway back to yesterday’s event why do people get so abusive without any cause?

 

Where was I, AHHH YES,  we were in Trimsaran and the leader of the county council Meryl Gravell joined us, we were greeted by the contractors and had a guided tour around some houses ready to be handed over to the tenants and we were walking up the street looking at half finished houses.

 

There were two workmen digging a hole in the middle of the pavement and the resident was leaning on his gate talking to the workmen. One of the men obviously knew Meryll and there was some harmful banter between them, I think he lived in the next ward because he was complaining about his councillor Tysul as the harmless banter continued they had started talking about Meryl’s Donkey still running, FOR INFO the new race course had held its first race the day before.

 

Anyway a guy came walking up the street and walked between them and as he approached his car door, he commented in an abrupt tone OI MATE don’t touch the car!

 

Stunned and shocked as there was nobody touching his car I was closest to his car and there was a good 18” between me and the car.

 

Meryll, myself, the contractor’s boss, a housing officer and two fellow councillors were standing on the road talking to the men, his car was half parked on the pavement and half on the road.

 

Excuse me What did you say?

 

You f….ing heard don’t touch the car, just because you are a bunch of councillors you all think you are big people.

 

Nobody’s touched your car.

 

Are you chopsing, you councillors you are all the same.

 

There was a deadly silence and the resident said That’s enough of that..

 

He jumped into his car revved it up as if he was in poll position on a formula one grid and pulled off trying to pull a wheel spin but the only smoke was not of rubber burning it was black carbon out of his exhaust pipe, he swerved around the park car about 10 yards up the road and then squeezed between a second park car and an oncoming car, he had about 6inches of clearance 3 inches on both sides.

 

If a child had stepped out they would have had no chance, what made the workmen laugh because one of them made a comment about the car being old on the W PLATE and the fact that it was smoking like a trooper

 

On that note I’ll think I’ll continue with what happened next later today or tomorrow as I’ve got things to do

 

 

 

 

 

This morning I went over to the local school, because I had had a consultation letter from the planning department, asking for my opinion on a planning application made by welsh water, for those that are observant and wondering why have they been digging up Hendy Green, they are modernising the sewerage  system.

 

Welsh Water had applied for planning and had consulted over the Hendy Green site , and next job they want to do is over the school, they want to replace a chamber in the sewerage system up there by the dissussed  gate way and have been consulting with the school and the education department over the work, so i went to look at the site this morning, because I have a scrutiny site meeting scheduled for Friday in Llanelli when some of the school govenors will be meeting to discuss and I had asked the Head Master to send my appologies.

After this meeting with the head master at the school I then went and attended a second meeting i had in my dairy with two county council officers in the Tumble Ranger's Office, to review the regeneration of the park and the grant application process which i blogged about earlier in this blog, and i'm hoping there will be only one meeting scheduled in July to finalise the particular application process although there will be more the first stage grant is closing in August. So watch this space

Nia Griffith MP had emailed me late last night for a Carmarthen Tesco employee's telephone number,  because she wanted their help to leaflet drop for the Labour party in the morning in their village they lived,

When i told Nia Griffith my schedule and that i would be in Tumble today, she said that after they had done the first village in the morning, the team would be in Ponthenri after lunch leaflet dropping for her 4.30pm to 5.30pm surgery in the afternoon, with the Ponthenri, Labour Rose and I was asked would I finish in time to pop over to Ponthenri from Tumble.

So off I went to join the team that had almost finished their quota of leaflets although they had saved a few streets for me,

As well as the usual surgery notice they were putting out the news letter

 

Tory proposals to scrap free prescriptions condemned

 

Labour AMs today condemned Tory proposals to scrap free prescriptions for all in Wales.

 

The Welsh Tories have confirmed that they would abolish universal free prescriptions and re-introduce prescription charges for some as a way of

“prioritising the health budget”, if they gained power in the Welsh Assembly. The proposal follows previous attacks on what they call a “freebie culture” – Tory code for policies which are making a real difference to people’s everyday lives.

 

Labour Assembly Members are warning that scrapping free prescriptions for all would be the thin end of the wedge if the Tories ever got back into Government

that free school breakfasts, free bus passes and free swimming schemes could then be within their sights.

 

Universal free prescriptions have been in place since 2007 and following the success of the policy, both Scotland and Northern Ireland are now following the lead of the Labour-led Assembly Government.

The scheme is also due to be extended from the autumn to compensate Welsh patients who have to pay for prescriptions at English hospitals following treatments.

 

The Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government said in a statement today that:

“Free prescriptions are a long-term investment in improving health. If people aren't put off seeking the appropriate care, due to financial reasons, their health will improve.  

If patients are able to get the treatment they need, it will ultimately help to reduce the long term cost to the health service.  

They remove the unfairness in the previous system where people with conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, or those who have had an organ transplant were not entitled to free prescriptions, despite being able to benefit significantly from them."

 

An online petition was also launched today to defend free prescriptions for all, and can be signed at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freescript/

 

 

Plaid Cymru lodge complaint which is political spin

 

 

I Just read the article in the Guardian, where one of Plaid Cymru’s Assembly members has made an application for a complaint to the public Ombudsman

 

 

 

http://www.southwalesguardian.co.uk/news/4435710.Plaid_lodge_complaint_against_Kevin_Madge/?ref=mr

Plaid lodge complaint against Kevin Madge

1:18pm Friday 12^th June 2009

“

KEVIN Madge, deputy leader of Carmarthenshire county council and leader of the Labour party, has been reported to the Public Service Ombudsman over alleged "misleading and inaccurate accusations" relating to the work of AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas.

The complaint, lodged by Plaid, claims Cllr Madge has made several public statements and written letters to local newspapers, attacking Mr Thomas for doing nothing on the issue of European Convergence Funding for Carmarthenshire, even though he has been well aware of the extensive work undertaken by the AM.

"In spite being well aware of evidence to the contrary Cllr Madge has been happy to make defamatory statements in the press which are wildly inaccurate in a bid to damage the well respected reputation of a fellow politician, in what is quite a cynical and cheap political point scoring exercise," said a Plaid spokesperson.

Mr Thomas said he was "disappointed" such a complaint had to be made, but insisted he was the subject of false allegations.

Cllr Madge was unavailable for comment.

 

“

 

"This is just another attempt by Plaid Cymru to stifle the legitimate concerns that have been raised in the county council chamber.

 

The county council had seen unacceptable long delays in getting convergence money through to projects across Carmarthenshire and as one of the local AM’s and a former Assembly Minister, Rhodri Glyn Thomas had a duty to do something about this.

 

We are already two and a half years into the six year Convergence programme,   (the funding was announced that it was coming to wales in october 2006 when Rhodri was a minister)

 

Yet in February of this year no projects in Carmarthenshire had actually received any funding. 

 

 

The clock was ticking and Rhodri Glyn Thomas had only recently woken up to this issue, thanks to the fact Kevin Madge raised it after concerns were raised In the chamber of county hall on February 11th. 2009

 

http://online.carmarthenshire.gov.uk/agendas/eng/COCO20090211/MINUTES.HTM

 

Quote taken from above link MINUTES OF FULL COUNCILL

 

"(Update on the EU Convergence Programme), a question was asked as to whether there was any progress with the release of funding? The Chief Executive replied that unfortunately, the WAG had still not released funding to enable the payment of grants to the various approved projects to commence. Council was informed that representations had been made to the WAG, including Ministers and individual AMs, and to the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) regarding the difficulties caused as a result of the delay in release of funding and urging the release of funding as this was now the third year of the programme.

In response to a question as to the reasons for the delay in release of funding, the Chief Executive was of the view that this was partly attributable to the more strategic approach adopted by the WAG. This meant that fewer schemes would be approved than under Objective 1, as the type of projects invited to bid for convergence funding were large regional projects, rather than individual bids. He stated that the WAG regulations governing collaborative projects of this nature were extremely complex and this had created a great deal of confusion, both within WAG and with partners.

It was proposed that the Local and Regional AMs, together with representatives of WEFO, be invited to attend a meeting or seminar to discuss the Convergence Programme and the delays in issuing funding to enable projects to proceed. In response to a suggestion that the AMs and WEFO representatives should be invited to attend a Council meeting, it was suggested that another option might be to organise a meeting of the Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee and that any member wishing to do so could attend the meeting of the Committee.

" end quote

 

The most important thing in all of this now, is to clear the blockages in the system and get this Assembly led convergence funding flowing down to these projects in Carmarthenshire. but Plaid choose to channel their efforts into time waisting with this application to the ombudsman.

 

If Plaid Cymru were serious about this then they should be spending their time on getting this money through, rather than wasting their time and the Ombudsman's time in a blatant attempt to stifle legitimate political debate.

 

All they seem to have done prior to concerns being raised in the chamber was very little in fact one Plaid member was quoted in the press as stating I have offered help there is a big difference between offering and taking action and doing something,

 

And in fact when all the Assembly members from across all political parties representing Carmarthenshire were invited to attend a meeting with full council to explain why funding had not been released, after almost two and half years one of the Plaid’s AM went on record in the Evening post that they would not attend any meeting and stated that quote from article

 

"It is not the role of councillors to scrutinise AMs, and that she would not be accepting any invitation to attend council, any more than she would expect members of the executive board to appear before a meeting of the Assembly"

 

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/Assembly-slammed-cash-holdup/article-728055-detail/article.html

 

I am wondering will PLAID be releasing a public apology to Councillor Kevin Madge If the Ombudsman decides there is no case to answer "   

 

The EVENING POST link above is pasted below

 

 

 

 

 

Assembly slammed over cash holdup

Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 16:30

Comment on this story

UP to 27 projects are being held up in Carmarthenshire because European money meant for regeneration is in Assembly bank accounts, according to council bosses.

Carmarthenshire Council has invited Assembly bosses to come to County Hall to explain why none of the grant cash handed to Wales to help deprived communities and create jobs has yet reached Carmarthenshire. As the recession tightens its grip, they branded the situation scandalous and demanded answers.

Council chief executive Mark James said: "The scheme has been going for more than three years and not a penny of convergence money has been spent in Carmarthenshire, despite 27 applications being submitted."

Convergence funding is worth around £1.4 billion to West Wales and the valleys.

All eight AMs from the region and representatives from the Wales European Funding Office (Wefo) are being invited to a full council meeting to explain what has happened to it.

Councillor Clive Scourfield said: "It's extremely devious for the Wefo to say it is expert at distributing money — it is not.

"Lord help us in 2015, when this money has to be spent by. I'd hate to think we will carry any blame for non-distribution."

Deputy leader Kevin Madge said: "This money could be used to save a lot of jobs. We need to arrange a special meeting, a bit like the House of Commons did with the banks, and get them to appologise to the electorate and explain why they're not delivering."

Anthony Jones, chairman of the regeneration and leisure scrutiny committee, said: "For some strange reason, they feel the money is better in their bank accounts than being used to better the economy in Wales, not just Carmarthenshire."

However, the town's Plaid AM Helen Mary Jones said: "I have repeatedly offered the local authorities my support to ensure that convergence funding bids and any other bids to the Assembly Government are dealt with as quickly as possible.

"However, I have also made it clear that in order for me to be able to do this effectively, I need to be informed of all the details of each bid so that I know which ministers and officials to approach. On the occasion where the information has been forthcoming, I have been able to assist in getting a speedy decision. My offer of help stands.

"It is not the role of councillors to scrutinise AMs, and I will not be accepting any invitation to attend council, any more than I would expect members of the executive board to appear before a meeting of the Assembly."

Carmarthenshire Council officials were unable to give the Post any further details about the applications submitted to the Wefo for convergence funding. No-one at the Wefo was available for comment.

 On a final note and thought, in the article Helen Mary stated she had assisted in getting a speedy decision  if no money had materialised as at February of this year, what speedy decision had she achieved,

 

Congratulations  are in order to Cllr Tegwyn Devichand of the Bynea Ward in Llanelli, at this years AGM of the full County Council, she became the first women from within the Carmarthenshire Labour group to be elected as the Vice Chair of Carmarthen County Council.

 

The normal protocol is that the vice chair normally becomes the chair when the outgoing chair retires and this position also rotates on a three year rota on political balance.

ie Independent followed by Plaid and then Labour, so when the outgoing Independent chairman retired, last years Vice of the plaid Cymru group became this years chairman and Labour then had to pick and elect a vice chair and we choose Tegwyn.

Anyway because the Chairs and Vice Chairs have a very busy schedule representing the county council, Tegwyn resigned from one of her committees and I was elected by the group to take her place and today I went to my second meeting on that new committee that I was elected to.

 

http://www.mawwfire.gov.uk/fire_authority_eng/member_details.asp?member=12

 

	Councillor Stephen Lloyd-Janes - Carmarthenshire Labour   95 Iscoed Rd Hendy Pontardulais Swansea, SA4 0UW 01792 882018 SJLloyd-Janes@carmarthenshire.gov.uk
Committee Membership Committee Role From To Resources Committee Member Fire Authority Member

The FIRE Authority is also made up of several councillors from several councils and polital groups within those councils.

A - Z Z - A Key:   Conservative   Independent   Labour   Liberal Democrat   Plaid Cymru   Social Democrat

Councillor Area   Councillor A.P. Davies Neath Port Talbot   Councillor J.J.J. Davies Carmarthenshire   Councillor D.J. Davies Carmarthenshire   Councillor J. Dinham Neath Port Talbot   Councillor J. Dudley Neath Port Talbot   Councillor T.E. Evans Ceredigion   Councillor D. Fellows Pembrokeshire   Councillor J. Holmes Powys   Councillor P. James Ceredigion   Councillor A. Jopling Swansea   Councillor R. Lewis Swansea   Councillor D.J.R. Llewellyn Carmarthenshire   Councillor P. Llewellyn Pembrokeshire   Councillor S.J. Lloyd-Janes Carmarthenshire   Councillor J. Newbury Swansea   Councillor G. Phillips Swansea   Councillor C. Philpott Swansea   Councillor G. Seabourne Swansea   Councillor R. Smith Swansea   Councillor D.G. Thomas Powys   Councillor D. Thomas Carmarthenshire   Councillor F.A. Torrens Powys   Councillor T. Tudor Pembrokeshire   Councillor J.M. Williams Powys   Councillor A.N. Woodcock

But my morning was eventfull and it was full of misshap, my first meeting was the Fire Service's AGM which was earlier in the month, and on attending I found out that Tegwyn was on two committee's and serveral sub committees within those committees and she would have been in the Fire service HQ at least two or three times a month and every meeting takes place on Mondays?

 

Which was going to prove difficult for myself because I'm contracted to work Monday's at my full time employment, I made this clear and was told I would be expected to sit on at least one committee as a minimum and I was elected at the AGM by the full group to sit on one committee.

I therefore wrote in my dairy the dates of the meetings and arranged some time in Lieu form my full time employment to attend this morning.

On arriving today I found that I had written the wrong committee dates down, I was on a different committee who were meeting in a couple of weeks time. However my journey wasn't waisted, I sat in as an observer and I found it very informative recieving various reports and listening to the debate and updates around the reports.

Never mind I've now got the correct committee dates pencilled into my dairy

 

 

On returning home I called in the CO-OP in Crosshands and was greeted by a very pleased Store Manager, when I met him when Rhodri Morgan was out campaigning with the European candidates, I had emailed an enquiry on his behalf and he stated he had seen some action as a result and the issue is now being looked into, he stated an officer from County Hall had contacted him on the back of my email and had made a visit to his store to discuss ways in which the county could help address his concerns, so at least I got one thing correct

 

http://www.carers.org.uk/

 

 

 

The booklet has some usefull contacts of organisations that can help and support carers

 

Following my article earlier in the week about councillors expenses, I was not suprised to see the article in both the local Star and Carmarthen Journal today, where John Jenkins of Llanelli attracts headline news about his 15 appearances for the year.

 

 

 

 

There's been dozens of training and special seminars held throughout the year as well as all his committees

I made it 46 he's on planning and the social justice committee and below are the agenda's and minutes of the meetings

http://online.carmarthenshire.gov.uk/cccapps/english/councillors/councillor_details.asp?CouncillorID=60 check his profile out on the county council web site

http://online.carmarthenshire.gov.uk/agendas/eng/SJSC.asp

 

County Council

12/06/2009	- County Council
20/05/2009	- County Council (AGM)
13/05/2009	- County Council
08/04/2009	- County Council
06/03/2009	- County Council
24/02/2009	- County Council
11/02/2009	- County Council
14/01/2009	- County Council
10/12/2008	- County Council
12/11/2008	- County Council
07/10/2008	- County Council
10/09/2008	- County Council
18/07/2008	- County Council
04/06/2008	- County Council
15/05/2008	- County Council

There are comments on the evening post web site one reader reckons its spin and a slur on a hard working councillor

"

 

Another Busy Week

Over the weekend I attended the European Election Count and whilst there I had a discussion about an article that appeared in two of the local press papers. The full paper version which was some what longer that the online version named a few councillors and had a well known Llanelli Councillor making a comment about the expenses in one paper and the leader of the opposition group making a comment in the other sister paper.

http://www.thisiscarmarthenshire.co.uk/news/1k-week-councillors-food-travel/article-1043069-detail/article.html

"CARMARTHENSHIRE councillors cost taxpayers more than £1,000 a week just for food and travel. While MPs are being hauled over the coals for blowing taxpayers' cash on everything from duck islands to bath plugs, the Post can reveal that county councillors have also been dining out on the expenses gravy train — albeit to a lesser degree "

 

Obviously I was told by some senior officers and members that they felt the story was some what unfair given what the press release given with the figures had stated the county has been working to reduce the total costs claimed.

There were some concerns that the member in Llanelli jumping on their soap box, at how they don't claim expenses very rarely attends meetings even though they sit on two committees,

and that they have sent far more appologies throughout the year for abscence to meetings, than what they had attended, which ment that ineffect, they were letting the electorate down, because their ward was not represented by an empty seat in the chamber when he was abscent from meetings and seminars? There's a list below of councillors names and the number of meetings they had attended and some of the llanelli councillors are noted as the worse attendees.

There were also concerns about the Carmarthen member who also jumped on the soap box by going on record that they don't claim expenses when they live within walking distance of the chamber in Carmarthen.

Press release that was sent with the figures is below.

 

 

I was 40th out of 74 councillors with attendance at 76 official meetings, throughout the year,

 

Talking about meetings and attendances, I hold down a full time job at Tesco's working 36 hours a week and I managed to attend 76 meetings last year.

This week I was nights on Sunday and Monday and attended a special seminar on Monday afternoon, it was quite interesting as there were nine speechs by officers throughout the seminar

and in all fairness there was a reasonable turn out of councillors about 2/3rds of the full council were in attendance,

I have been to other seminars where there has been a very low turn out?

 

 

Another busy week with more meetings

 

This week I have Five meetings scheduled throughout the week so I will have another busy week, on Wednesday I'm meeting the planning officer in Hendy with the Highways officer to discuss a planning proposal in the village

Thursday i'm off to my second seminar of the week its all about Carers in Carmarthen and is being organised the county council,

This is something that really interests me because my union are acively campaigning for better rights for carers

http://www.usdaw.org.uk/equality/news/1244212515_29087.html

Carer calls on Government for better support 08 June 2009

Working carers will be meeting MPs in the House of Commons on Carers’ Day, 9 June.

The meeting has been arranged by Usdaw in order to demonstrate to the Government the need for better support for carers.

The Union has organised an Early Day Motion (EDM), to be tabled by Michael Foster, Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, thanking carers for their invaluable contribution to society and calling on the Government to provide them with more financial help.

Poonit Deepala is one of the carers meeting MPs on Tuesday. He is an Usdaw member who works 32.5 hours a week for a supermarket.

Poonit’s mum was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago, and is currently recovering from her second operation.

His dad is also medically retired, so Poonit takes main responsibility for the care of his parents.

However, he can’t access Carers’ Allowance because of his earnings.

Poonit Deepala said: “It is emotionally and physically draining having to work whilst looking after two ill parents.

Working all week and then caring all weekend leaves me no time to myself.

But I need to work to have enough money to live.

If the limit on earnings was increased for the Carers’ Allowance, the extra money would make a real difference to my finances.”

John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary, added:

“The Government has done much to help carers like Poonit who have to or choose to work.

However, in the EDM we are calling for the extension of Carers’ Allowance to low-paid working carers earning more than the current threshold of £95 per week.

“Currently Carers’ Allowance only pays £53.10 a week for a minimum of 35 hours caring, equivalent to just £1.52 per hour.

Many Usdaw members combine their caring responsibilities with work, which can be physically exhausting as well as limiting how much they can earn.

“We also urge the Government to bring forward the pledge in the National Strategy for Carers that, by 2018, ‘carers will be supported so that they are not forced into financial hardship by their caring role’.

A lot has been done but there is much still to do.”

 

 

 

On the back of my regeneration meeting last week

which i blogged about last week, I found out there's new grants that the county have aquired and i have arranged a meeting with the grants officers to discuss grants for the Hendy Park project and that meeting is going to take place on Thursday afternoon,

and then finally there's a full council meeting scheduled for Friday.

 

 

Another busy week I Started this week off by attending the monthly local community PACT meeting in Llangennech,

 

 

After this finished I called in the Urdd Hall to speak to the two community youth workers employed by Carmarthen County Council that run the local youth club for the Hendy, Cllr Buddeg Thomas also showed an appearance.

It was then a quick dash to change and get ready for my nightshift job in Tescos. I Finished there at 7am and was home by 7.10am, i had a very short sleep setting my alarm for 9.30am because I had a meeting scheduled for 10am in Ammanford.

Todays session was a meeting with five of the county council officers who work in the European grants department and regeneration department, they were briefing councillors on the Carmarthenshires regeneration plan and funding from the assembly to achieve some of the projects in the plan

 

I had had a few messages left on my answer phone and I dealt with these enquiries before getting home at about 4.30pm Wednesday was going to be a special day because at the AGM of the County Council and the AGM of the Labour group with various councillors moving positions

I was selected as the Group representative for the local fire authority and it would be my first meeting at the Fire Authorities AGM in the morning with a special training seminar in the afternoon

 

During the buffet lunch break the whole group of the Fire Authorities Membership for 2009/2010 had a group photo on the lawn plus individual photos for the Authorities web page Electronic copies of the AGM papers are also available for viewing through the links provided below:

Cymaeg http://www.mawwfire.gov.uk/fire_authority_cym/meetings/fire_authority/2009/03_june/index.htm  

English http://www.mawwfire.gov.uk/fire_authority_eng/meetings/fire_authority/2009/03_june/index.htm

 

Following the closure of the seminar it was off home to change and to get ready for the evening's Community Councils meeting in Tycroes, some of the enquiries i had dealt with on Tuesday were by residents enquiring about Issues to be raised in the community council.

I eventually got home at 9.30pm in time to watch the Apprentice your fired? and caught up on some of the programs I had sky+  in the week.

And then i surfed the web because i the local paper the expenses for councillors had been released and i had a quick nose at the story on line about them. 

 

In my entry yesterday to this blog, I touched upon anti poverty strategies a workshop that I took part in to help shape policy and ideas on how to help address this issue in the current global economic turndown.

One of the workshops was about fuel poverty, I was reading my email alerts of whats happening in polotics and the assembly and whilst speed reading I came across a piece on fuel poverty, which is under a public consultation until June 5th.

A major shake-up in the way the Labour led Welsh Assembly Government provides support for those in fuel poverty has

been announced as part of new plans to make Wales more energy efficient.

 

The plan includes:

 

• New rules for the home energy efficiency

scheme

 

• Better, joined up, advice for members of the

public on where to get help

 

• Support for small businesses to become more

energy efficient

 

• Helping credit unions provide low cost loans for

energy efficiency

 

• No more public investment in high carbon

home heating

 

• A key part of the policy is changes to the Home

 

Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) so that it

helps the people who need it most.

 

To find out more about the new Energy

Efficiency & Savings Plan, which is out to

consultation until 5th June

please click here.

 

Labour has already led the way in tackling poverty, in its 2001 manefisto they promised to tackle loan sharks?

 

After several pilot schemes in 2004 they rolled out a new agency to tackle the loan sharks

 

Following this in 2007 a new multi agency task unit was rolled out in Wales, its a confidential hot line that will take action and prosecute these illegal operations, many use vilionce to force extortionately high interest rates leaving victims paying back more than 100% of the original loans and often in bigger financial difficulities than they first started.

 

There was also a workshop that I took part in on Friday where I learnt about this new service.

 

 

I haven't really blogged much in this blog lately, there's two reasons mainly one because I've been really busy, but I think its because I spend a lot of time spare internet time on facebook, so I decided tonight i'd give face book a miss to catch up with some activities in this blog.

 

I think I'll start with Tuesday, I finished work on Monday night, Tuesday morning at 7am and went straight to bed to set my alarm for 9.45am. I had a meeting penned in my dairy to meet a county council officer in Hendy at 10am, I struggled to get out of bed and turned up at the Arlan Gwili complex, there was already a large gathering of senior citizens arriving for their weekly coffee morning, I rung the county officer, only for him to appologise, he thought he had copied me in on an email that the meeting had moved to Thursday,

So i reluctantly went back to bed for a few hours to catch up on my beauty sleep, as I had a very busy schedule booked for the rest of the day starting at 2pm.

I was back up washed and ready for our monthly tesco union reps meeting and was back in work by 1.40pm ready for the 2pm start, Nigel Davies the Area Organiser arrived bang on time at 2pm for the meeting along with the group of store reps.

Normally the meeting would have lasted till 4pm but at 3.15pm I had to tender my appologies and leave the group, as I had a meeting scheduled for 3.30pm in Crosshands, in the newley refurbished co-op,

Rhodri Morgan the first minister was going to be present looking around the new smart store, he had about fifteen followers with him, made up of staff and party members, and press photographers i counted about 5 professional photographers and recognised two from the star and evening post

Rhoddri also had the European Election Candidates standing in next weeks election with him.

 

After a coffee in the new coffee shop, with Rhoddri and the Store manager and the various candidates, I went out with Nia Griffith MP and the Llanelli Assembly Labour Candidate Kieth Price Davies, knocking a few doors and delivering the European Election Leaflets in the Crosshands area.

I had to finish this at 6.30pm leaving the party members continue in their good work, because I had a further meeting scheduled with the clerk and the survey of the community council and the local Cricket Club.

The club needs new drainage for their pitch, after the old concrete drains had collapsed, we managed to get the county council out last June to renew the drains, because the highways road surface water also used these collapsed drains

The clubs pitch drainage system also fed into the collapsed drains, unfortunately the new drains placed by the highways don't connect to the old drainage system. The cricket Club and the community council are therefore exploring grants to solve the drainage and to get the pitch drainage system into the new highways drains, because currently the pitch is unplayable?

I eventually got home at about 8.45pm and was ready for bed early.

Wednesday i stayed in all day because i had ordered SKY plus and an engineer came to upgrade my old system, however I had a meeting scheduled for Wednesday night which was a public meeting I had to attend. Which I blogged about earlier in the week, which i will summorise briefly as there's a large piece already covered on Wednesday night,

It was a meeting to try and save the local adult learning centre in Pontarddulais.

I tried out my new toy with the very first recording being the Manchester United European Championship final against Barcelona. Which was being played during the meeting. Being a Man U fan I won't even touch on this sore subject?

Thursday I eventually met the officer that I was suppose to meet on Tuesday, along with PCSO Steve Lloyd and the three of us walked around Hendy looking at the Housing Stock of Hendy and various footpaths and pavements.

 

Friday was just as hetic as Tuesday? I woke up at 8.30am and checked my dairy and suddenly realised my meeting was due at 9am (i checked the online council dairy to realise the time) and it was not the usual 10am start, 99% of the time the county council meetings start at 10am, but today it wasn't a scrutiny it was a seminar?

I got into Carmarthen at about 9.20am and the funniest thing happened to me, the meeting wasn't in the usual county hall chambers it was in a hall in the town centre, I was pleased that whilst I was late there were at least 6 other councillors who arrived after me. But here's the real funny thing that happened on route.

Whilst I was walking down through Carmarthen Town a young lady in her mid twenties came up to me and stopped me and asked

"Are you the Real Radio Renegade?", because she caught me unaware, I mean its not often a smart young lady comes up to you in the middle of a street I said "Pardon?", "Are you the Real Radio Renegade?" mmmm I had heard correctly "No I'm sorry love" and I carried on walking to my destination as I was aware I was twenty minutes late,  

Then all of a sudden two men both wearing a fire service uniform, they both had a shirt with the fire service logo on, stopped me and asked me the same question mmmmmm YES i think the Real Renegade must have been in Carmarthen today?

Anyway when I arrived at my destination hummered by this, I told the receptionist signing us in, and they said get back out there and start asking and we will share the bounty if you find him

Anyway I joined the seminar about two thirds the way through the speeches, just in time to take part in the four work shops, it was a seminar about benefits and fuel poverty and how to help people manage debt, It was a forum to set the counties anti poverty strategy. 

I think the most interesting one out of the four workshops that i learnt the most was the one where the fraud officers involved with and who tackle loan sharks on the street and illegal debt companies, gave an insight into their role in the community, there was also a representative from the local credit union taking part in this work shop and they gave a detailed break down of how the union works.

After a buffet lunch I was back over to the county hall to pick up my emails and my mail from my pigeon hole and then I dashed off to put deisel into my car at a shocking £1.039 a litre,

I was off up to Ebbw Vale for the evening so I only put a tenner in because lately Deisel has been cheaper up there and i was correct again today, in Asda Merthyr on the heads of the Valley Road it was 99.9p, How can they justify 4p difference

Anyway I was off to Blaenau Gwent because I had been invited by one of the councillors up there to a book launch

 

 

Canolfan Y Bont Five residents living in Hendy who use the Canolfan in Pontarddulais had contacted myself to attend the recent public meetings to discuss the future of this much needed facility in the community, On Wednesday of last week I once again attended one of the meetings having attended the first demonstration with Nia Griffith MP. who spoke at the meeting and she's written letters of support the college responded to her letter

 

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8016873.stm

At the third public meeting which i attended last night, there were sixty concerned members of the public who attended the meeting to receive feedback from the delegation who had met with the principle of Gorseinon College the previous week.

Three of the Pontarddulais Town Councillors along with Hendy student Tammy O'conner gave a very informative feedback of what was discussed and gave their views and feedback from this meeting. The governors of the college are meeting at the end of June to discuss the closure and the campaign to keep it open, but the feedback from the meeting was that the governors had already previously made the decision that the Pontarddulais centre is to close.

What was upsetting and shocking is that Gorseinon college has three external adult learning centres in gorseinon itself and all three of these centres are remaining open, Residents of Gorseinon will have four venues if you include the college itself whilst Pontarddulais with have no centre if the Canolfan closes? Pontarddulais only has one centre which serves, Pontarddulais, Hendy and the Pontlliw area attracting learners from all three villages and it is understood the Principal of the college was not prepared to close one of the gorseinon centres.

There are 19 members on the governors of the college and it was agreed that concerned residents and students of the Canolfan should write to them before the June meeting, The Chair of the governors is a R Kirby of Douglas Jones and Mercer Solicitors. Below is a list of the governors

 

 

The Town Council Clerk was also going to forward all the letters of support received from the various AM's and MP's. Tammy O'conner moved a proposition and the meeting agreed to step up the campaign on Thursday, several of the students including Tammy O'conner and myself will be outside the various polling stations in Hendy and Pontarddulais on the European Election day next Thursday collecting further signatures to add to the current petition to save the centre.

There was also a suggestion to set up a stall on the carnival field and some were prepared to walk in the carnival parade to drum up support for the adult learning centre. If you are concerned about the future of the Canolfan and can help in the campaign please write a letter to the chair of the governors or to the clerk of the town council who will then forward any correspondence on, or drop me a line if you can help during election day or during the carnival and i will pass your details onto the campaigners.

slloydjanes@aol.com  

 

 

Having conducted a feasibility study last year for the pool and park area, and analysing the results, the outcome was that a community park was definately the prefered option with 98% of the respondees stating they would prefer a community park.

As a result of this the county council and pool committee have since drawn up plans for redevelopment of the park, with the top items selected in the feasibility consultation included in the plans.

We set up a public exhibition for one week in the rugby club, and on the very first evening two families had arrived and spoke to myself before the plans were even set up for display and i've had 8 more phones calls by residents to discuss the proposals, i was told by staff at the rugby club that hundreds had called to the club over the week to view the plans.

I had leaflet dropped more than 800 houses advertising the public exhibition plus the event was advertised on face book and the llanelli star.

 

Having received two phone calls plus one email from three residents I attended the public demonstration in the Bont to try and save the Canolfan adult learning centre.

The email I had received is pasted below.

 

" 

I am writing to ask for your help in saving the closure of our Canolfan.
I am a retired woman living in Hendy and value highly the time I have spent
learning and socializing in the Canolfan and think its closure would be very
detrimental to our community.

1.We do not have this facility in Hendy and would have to travel to
Gorseinon/Llanelli/Ammanford for similar service and many of people in the
community are unable to do this for mobility and other commitments.

2.The Canolfan is more than an Adult Training Centre it is also a social
centre members have made friends there and the friendships endure and
continue long after specific courses have finished, many then join up
together for an alternate course.

3.This cut back is short sighted. The population has now a very high
proportion of elderly people and will eventually be a drain on the social
services. One way to alleviate this is to teach people how to use computers
which can be used to enrich their life style and keep their minds active
which will support their overall health

a. keep in touch with friends family by email
b. using on line banking
c. do their shopping on line as many of the supermarkets now deliver
groceries
d. keep up with the news
e. search the net for various information
f. join on line courses
g. learn to make personalised greeting cards which can involve a lot of
research

Please help as the Canolfan enriches our lives and by association our
family/friends/ community lifestyle. It helps all adults to gain new skills
which in some cases is used to advance in employment.

Please help us in our campaign to keep the Canolfan open


"

As a result of several requests I managed to secure the support of Nia Griffith MP who pledged help to support the campaing. Whilst there bbc wales arrived and conducted a live interview with a local resident, the news bulletin can be seen by clicking the link. They also interviewed Nia in Welsh for a welsh documentry on the campaign.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8016873.stm

Carmarthen County Council had a similar situation which threatened 89 jobs but after campaigning and meetings there was a reprieve, and extra funding made available, hopefully Swansea City Council might get their act together and win some funding to save the Canolfan in Pontarddulais.