Ceredigion Councillors Overclaim £12,000 in Allowances

This week's Cambrian News has reported on this story in which two Ceredigion Councillors have been overpaid £11,787 in expenses over the past 11 years.

The report notes that the overpayments have been paid back and that a shake-up of the allowances system should ensure that such errors are not made in the future.

However, because neither Councillor has been named, it does cast a shadow over the remaining Councillors on the Council. I know for example of one Councillor who has already been upbraided in the street by a local resident, accusing him of over-claiming on expenses to which he categorically responded that he was one of the 40 innocents out of a Council of 42.

This of course is the concern - that the errors made by two Councillors could reflect badly on the remainder of the Council. I would therefore take this opportunity to state that I am not one of those two Councillors. Indeed, I have not claimed a penny in expenses since my election so over-claiming on them is in my case, a particularly implausible likelihood!

No Lighty, No Likey

In Victoria Gardens

A number of confused and bemused residents have contacted me in recent weeks, asking why a number of lighting lamp posts in the town have been cut in half.

At the time of these happenings a few weeks ago, even I didn't have an answer. But on enquiring with the Council, it soon transpired that there was of course a reason. As it happens, the Council had sent me a letter which crossed in the post and which explained that on evaluating the street lighting across the county, many needed to be removed for safety reasons and will be replaced as soon as is practically possible.


On North Road



It would've helped of course had us local Councillors been sent these letters of explanation before the lamps were removed and not after.

As you can see in my photos here from North Road and Victoria Gardens in Cardigan, the lamp stumps have been covered over for the time being with yellow taping.

In the meantime, I have copied the letter that I received from the County Council's Highways Department and along with a covering letter from myself, have posted it through the 150 or so houses that live in the immediate vicinity of the 5 such lamp posts that have been cut in half in my ward during the past month. The letters aren't only for information but also note that the Council have requested that residents get in contact if they want to prioritise any of the lamps to receive the remedial works in the first instance.

This is why I love my job

I returned home to my Aneddfa home in Cardigan today after a few days away to find the usual pile of post waiting for me. Most of it was junk mail, some of it was Council paperwork for future committee meetings.

One piece of post stood out - a card shaped envelope with my name and home address hand-written on the front.

I opened it to find a lovely 'Thank You' card inside from a local resident who I helped recently with a housing problem. Without naming names (caswork confidentiality of course), this lady got in touch with me a few months ago asking for help in her quest for a housing transfer. Her current flat was not suitable for her as the neighbouring tenants were causing her much trouble and she was at her wits end.

I receive a number of housing requests for support and write in to the housing list officer in the Council giving my support but ultimately the final say rests with the officials and not myself.

I bumped into this lady a few weeks ago in the middle of town and was delighted to here her tell me excitedly that she had been offered a transfer and she was moving the next day.

A few weeks later, she has gone to the effort to send me this thank you card. Today, I received it in the post.

A part of it read as follows...

"Thank you lots Mark.

"Without your help I would never have moved from the hell I was living. I no longer have to wear ear plugs on a daily basis. I love my new home and the people are lovely and friendly"

"Wishing you well and look forward to you popping in".

It's a lovely gesture because whilst it's my job to help residents like her in their dealings with the Council, it really is incredibly uplifting to receive a card like this. There's always a difficult and problematic issue to deal with and not everything runs as we would like in local government. It often feels like a case of banging my head against a brick wall. But then that's bureaucracy for you.

But this is what it's all about. It's a simple gesture that reminds me why I entered local government in the first place 7 years ago and why I hope to continue doing this job for more years to come.

It's a basic matter of helping people to live their lives as happily and as comfortably as possible.

If I were to be run over by a bus tomorrow, it could at least be said of me that I have helped improve the quality of life of local residents by doing my job as a local Councillor.

What job could be more rewarding and fulfilling than that?

Planning Application Success for the Highbury

I was pleased to be able to convince my Ceredigion County Council colleagues on the Planning Committee this week to support the application made by the Highbury Guest House in the middle of Cardigan for disabled parking and access.

The Highbury is a popular local business in town and particularly on a Sunday when its fantastic Sunday Lunch Carverys (I should know, I've tried them often enough!) are booked out week after week. So this application will support a local business and will do so by giving a boost to those who require disabled access.

History
The problem we have is that the building is listed as it stands on the location of the old 18th century Cardigan gaol and despite the worthy merits of the application, the planning officers recommended refusal for an application that would open up the front wall to alllow room for two disabled parking bays and a disabled ramp up from the street level to the ground level of the building.

Cardigan's Highbury Guest House

Indeed, under the Council's relatively new system of delegated powers, they have the right along as long as the local member is in agreement, to refuse an application without it needing to go to full committee. As the local member for Pendre, I therefore received a call a few weeks ago from the planning case officer asking for my permission to allow them to throw the application out on the grounds that the building was listed and that changes would be out of step with a conservation area.

Full Planning Committee
I refused the request and asked for it to come to full committee which is how it ended up doing so this past Wednesday. As a historian, I'm happy with the design put forward by the applicants of retaining the original front wall fabic by re-instating it alongside the new proposed parking area. I said as much on Wednesday.

I also noted that there were no objections whatsoever for the application. No objections from the Highways Department to the new access point, no objections from the Town Council and no objections from any local residents.

I also picked up on some glaring errors in the planning report that presented the application to full committee. It mentioned that there was ample parking spaces in car parks at Market St and off North Road and that there was a bus stop outside the property. I had to made the point that all 3 were factually incorrect! Indeed, there is no Market St in Cardigan! I think the report meant the car park at Greenfield Square behind the Guildhall. There is also no car park off North Road but the Fairfield Car Park does lie at the end of Napier St which comes off North Road and whilst it may be possible to hail a bus from the Highbury area of Pendre depending on the bus driver, there is no designated bus stop there - as one who regularly uses the buses, I should know!

Success - but now for CADW
With this support for a local business and for improved disability access in town, as well as picking up on needlesss and self-defeating errors in the planning report, I managed to convince the voting members on the committee to oppose the recommendation and to suppot the application unanimously which was highly pleasing.

But that isn't the end of the matter. Althought the Council now support the application, because it is a listed building, it must now go forward to CADW (the Welsh National Trust if you like) for their support. They could still turn it down but I hope that they will see sense and support this application for the reasons that I have stated above.

Will common sense prevail? We will see. But for now, positive progress at least.

Cardigan Cenotaph TLC

I may be a bit of a pedant at times but then I like to see things in their rightful place.

I therefore saw something catch my eye when I walked past Cardigan's Cenotaph a few weeks ago and noticed that one of the small border pillars that encompasses it was out of sync. It was so much so that it was almost falling onto the pavement and as a part of a link-chain boundary fence around our monument to the fallen, could eventually have pulled the rest down with it.

I therefore contacted the Highways section of the County Council and within a short space of time, they have re-set the pillar back into place and on checking it out as pictured, found it to be as soild as a rock which was pleasing.

Cardigan takes its responsibilities to our servicemen and women very seriously and be it Anzac Day, Armed Forces Day or Remembrance Sunday, the town always pays its respects to those that gave their lives for our today with great solemnity.

It is therefore only right that our own monument to them is kept in good condition and whilst it may only be a small thing, I'm glad that this small anomoly was rectified.

Napier St Flood Alleviation Improvements

I was contacted recently by residents living in Cardigan's Napier St concerned about flooding incidents in the street which was not being dealt with adequately by the highways infrastructure there.

At the new flood alleviation culvert in Napier St

As it happens, Ceredigion County Council had begun streetwork improvements and residents queried whether as a part of that work, a better flood alleviation system could be introduced to deal with the river of water that comes down to Napier St from Napier Gardens in times of heavy downfalls.

I got onto the Highways Department as a result and requested satisfactory alterations and they duly and very helpfully obliged. As the above photo shows, a new and sizeable culvert has been introduced underneath the road to deal with any excess water that will arise from such future occurrences.

Residents have responded positively to the works and to the fact that after much complaining without success, a resolution was found so swiftly once they had contacted me with their concerns.

Bodlondeb Residential Home to Remain Open

A Ceredigion County Council budget workshop today decided to shelve plans to re-locate residents from Penparcau's Bodlondeb Residential Home to Waunfawr's Hafan Y Waun.

It follows a heated public debate on the issue and a recent Cabinet decision that was split on the matter as I blogged about at the time.

Today's all-party workshop looked at the current and future budgets to seek common ground on where savings can be made.

On arriving at the Council's Penmorfa HQ in Aberaeron this morning, we walked past a number of campaigners and their 'Save Bodlondeb' banners at the entrance. I spoke to them and told them that they had my complete support. Meanwhile, in the Chamber, it was clear that the decision to close Bodlondeb was deemed to be a step to far and it was proposed by Deputy Leader Cllr Ray Quant and agreed to use £75,000 out of the Council's reserves to fill the gap left by this decision to keep Bodlondeb open as it is.

This is to be greatly welcomed. Whilst difficult decisions have to be made to balance the books, the needs of the most vulnerbale sections of our society must not be overlooked. For their dignity and well-being it is therefore a relief to know that they will not be forced to move from their home to another at their time of life.

This is a victory for common sense in Ceredigion.

The Peculiarly Secretive World of Carmarthenshire County Council

A few weeks ago, I blogged here about the #daftarrest-gate happenings down in nearby Carmarthenshire.

Whilst Councils such as ours in Ceredigion have, as there reported, began to investigate ways of opening up local government to modern technology and greater scrutiny, it would seem from developments this week that Carmarthenshire are regressing even further backwards.

At its meeting on Wednesday, members of the public found themselves confronted for the first time with security provisions which stopped them from entering the public gallery without having to go through new and rather draconian procedures.

Jacqui Thompson who has found herself at the centre of this furore reported here in her Carmarthenshire Planning Problems blog at how she was effectively stopped from accessing the public gallery. In addition, Y Cneifiwr then tells us more of the inredulous hoops that members of the public had to go through as he himself at least managed to eventually make it to the public gallery.

Meanwhile, Cllr Sian Caiach added her take on the actual Council meeting on Wednesday in which she attempted to change the minutes from that infamous previous meeting to note what actually occurred but Councillors overwhelmingly voted against the facts.

Ceredigion's Bodlondeb Debate
In contrast to this incredible new twist in this ridiculous farce, Ceredigion County Council's Cabinet met this Tuesday and were faced with a packed public gallery as the future of Aberystwyth's Bodlondeb Residential Home was up for debate.

The issue of the future living arrangements of Bodlondeb's residents has been the centre of argument and heated debate over recent weeks as public meetings and newspaper comment has put pressure on the Council's Cabinet to refuse the option of transferring these vulnerable elderly residents to a new home at Waunfawr's Hafan Y Waun.

Whilst Carmarthenshire Council sought to limit the way in which the public could gain access to watch its public meetings this week, here in Ceredigion, dozens upon dozens of local residents took the opportunity to walk up the stairs at County Hall in Aberaeron and to sit, unencumbered, to watch their elected representatives vote on this most delicate of issues. They cheered those Cabinet members who spoke in favour of their plea and eventually witnessed the Cabinet defer the decision which amidst the contention surrounding the debate, is the bare minimum that they should've done.

But the point is that those who pay their taxes and wanted to see the local government decision making process in action, were able to do so without any question.

In Carmarthenshire, it's clearly not so straightforward.

Milford Haven Coastguard Centre is Saved

Excellent news this afternoon from London as the UK Government have announced a much welcome u-turn in its original decision to close Milford Haven and Holyhead Coastguard Stations.

The original plans were widely condemned as 11 of the 18 UK-wide bases were earmarked for closure under extreme measures to cut down on costs with only 3 remaining open 24 hours a day. But now, 11 will remain open and all of them will be open 24 hours a day.

A large campaign to save our station here in west Wales has proved successful as this BBC News article states. Holyhead will also remain open in north Wales to ensure that this part of the union is well guarded but the bad news is that Swansea station which was to be downgraded is now to be closed all together under these revised plans.

For us here on the fringes of the Welsh coast however, it is vindication of the campaign to ensure that we are not forgotten here in rural west Wales.

Local Pressure
The centre of the campaign to save Milford Haven was of course concentrated in Pembrokeshire itself but here in Ceredigion, we more than did our bit. Mark Williams MP wrote to the Government calling on it to change its decision as did Ceredigion County Council. We even sent a strongly felt and worded letter from Cardigan Town Council to the same end.

It's therefore very gratifying to see that public pressure and concern has been listen too by the powers that be and that this essential resource is to remain open and will allow the invaluable service that it helps provide to go unimpeded in the years ahead.

Ceredigion to Trump Carmarthenshire Council in Filming Meetings?

My Ceredigion County Council colleague Cllr Alun Williams blogged here yesterday about the Council's decision on Thursday to investigate opening up its public meetings to film recording after the furore surrounding Carmarthenshire County Council a few weeks ago.

For those who missed it, Carmarthenshire County Council found itself in hot water for the way it dealt with a blogger who filmed a Council meeting.


Jacqui Thompson's arrest after filming a meeting of
Carmarthenshire County Council recently

The blogger in question was Jacqui Thompson whose critical blog on Carmarthenshire County Council can be found here. The full story and details of this incredible event was originally broken and can be viewed here on Carmarthen Journal journalist Alexander Smith's media blog.

It has since been taken up by the New Statesman, BBC Wales, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and many bloggers.

A number of friends have asked for my thoughts on the matter as a Councillor from neighbouring Ceredigion County Council. I can only apologise for the delay - having been away at Andrew Reeves' funeral in Edinburgh when the news broke, I've had a rather fraught few weeks since with more funerals to attend. This blog post has remained partly written since and only now have I had the time to complete it fully.

Ceredigion County Council's Position
I've been a Councillor in Ceredigion now for 7 years and more often that not, there aren't any members of the public in the viewing gallery when we have our Council meetings. There are times to the contrary of course when emotive subjects like contentious planning applications are in front of the committee or the full Council is considering the future of small local schools, when the community turns out in force to listen to the debate.

I say that there are times when the gallery is empty but that isn't quite right. We do have one keen local resident, James from Borth, who sits in on every single public meeting. It might seem overly enthusiastic for some, but to me it's the mark of a democracy that anyone who has the time and inclination to attend every Council meeting, is allowed to do so.

There are of course occasions when sensitive issues are being discussed and when the Council decides to go into 'committee' which is when the press and memebrs of the public are excluded. As a rule, we only do so when necessary and there are very rarely complaints from those present in the gallery when we do - it is understood and accepted that there are times when this must be done.

But if the public can watch public meetings, why can't they film them if they so wish? The House of Commons finally allowed the cameras into the Chamber in the late 1980s and of course with the modern, devolved nature of politics, we are well used to watching our elected representatives in the chambers of our Welsh Parliament in Cardiff and likewise in Edinburgh and Belfast.

Why then is this not always the case in local government and certainly not so in Carmarthenshire? We complain about a lack of engagement between local residents and local authorities and bemoan the often low local government turnouts and yet, if there is an old-fashioned tendency to think ill of technology then we're going to find ourselves continuing to fall behind the ways of modern Britain. It was not that long ago that I can recall a colleague of mine, Cllr Amy Kitcher finding herself in hot water for Tweeting during a meeting of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council - the horror of it! It does strike me as being completely backward that we can not grasp the opportunities that technology gives us to open up local government and to rid ourselves of the image of being old fashioned and averse to change.

On this point, I must admit that whilst not being the biggest of 'Tweeters', I did actually Tweet live from a Ceredigion County Council meeting last December when the Council voted to support the Yes for Wales extra powers referendum. I was so excited at the vote that I just couldn't contain myself and had to tell the world!

Having contacted the senior officers within the Council to clarify Ceredigion's position, I have had it confirmed that at present, the Chair has the discretion to allow the filming of Council meetings. In my memory, filming has been allowed for the BBC prior to the beginning of a conentious debate in recent years (I can recall now retired BBC journalist John Meredith taking shots of the Chamber in the minutes leading up to the start of a Council meeting) but was not continued during the meeting itself.

Support from Swansea
A more recent development came from a call by Swansea City Tory Councillor Rene Kinzett for Wales to follow the UK government's lead in allowing the public to film meetings of local Councils. I know Rene from when he was a Liberal Democrat member and though he defected to the dark side, it's good to see that he still has good liberal tendencies! His comments on the BBC Wales website make much sense.

He says:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"As long as the filming itself does not interfere with the good order of the meeting, then there should be no objection to a taxpayer filming the proceedings of those we elect to spend hundreds of millions of pounds of our money at a local level.

"The involvement of the police and the arrest of a member of public and her removal from the public gallery in handcuffs is a deeply worrying development.

"The United Kingdom is a democracy and the right of electors to watch their democratically elected representatives at work, from the House of Commons, to the Senedd and down to our county and town halls, is a hard won right."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Perfectly sensible words Rene. I couldn't agree more.

We've never had in my memory, such an embarrassing situation in Ceredigion as was experienced recently in Carmarthen. It does not do anything to enhance the reputation of local government and those within it to see what happened, occur.

There are as Alun said in his blog, differences in opinion within the Council as to whether the authority should film the meetings itself for the public to view or whether those in the gallery should be given the ability to film the Council meetings themselves if they so desire. These discussions will be debated when the report comes back to Council in the autumn I'm sure but the principle now seems set and positive progress, from Ceredigion's side of the border at least, is being made to open up local government to those we represent.

Because at the end of the day, if we can not embrace modern technology in local government, then we may as well all pack up our bags and go home.

Carl Sargeant, the WLGA Conference and Ceredigion's Party Political Truce

For a dew days this past week, I was down in Swansea for the Welsh Local Government Association annual conference.

Ceredigion County Council usually sends up to 10 delegates, comprising mainly of elected members and some officials. I've never attended before in my 8 years on the County Council but as the newly elected Vice Chair of Council, felt that it was worthwhile for me to put my name forward.

So, along with fellow Welsh Liberal Democrat colleague Cllr Paul Hinge, the Independent Leader and Deputy Leader of Council Cllr Keith Evans and Cllr Ray Quant and the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Plaid Cymru opposition Cllr Ellen ap Gwynne and Cllr Paul James as well Plaid Cymru Councillors Ian ap Dewi and Lyndon Lloyd, I spent an informative few days at the heart of Welsh Local Government.

The Speakers
The main conference was on Thursday and was chaired by the BBC journalist Rhun ap Iorwerth . We heard first of all from First Minister Carwyn Jones and then from his Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant. Now I have some time for Mr Sargeant because unlike some of his predecessors, I feel that he at least has a feeling for local government having been a Councillor previously before he was elected to the Assembly. The fact that he turned up to the pre-conference reception the evening before as an example, for a small thing, went down well. His message though was quite forthright and he pulled no punches.


Carl Sargeant AM

Councils must collaborate closer with each other to ensure a better level of service and for better value was the thrust of his speech. If we didn't do so quickly enough, he would willingly legislate to do so. But how? By forcing upon us the local government re-organisation which he stated was not on the table at this time? He had I felt a reasonable reception for his words but then those that were expressed immediately following in the panel debate afterwards by Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams AM, Plaid Cymru's Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM and the Conservatives' Janet Finch-Saunders AM were even better received and they were critical of his no nonsense stance.

Because here's the thing. Councils are collaborating (what an awful word with negative war-time conotations!) with each other more so than ever before and here in Ceredigion we can see that with greater workings with Powys on issues such as Social Services and Highways related matters. No one size solution fits all here so his protestations were perhaps ill-placed no matter how well meaning his sentiments may have been.

We had a speech as well from the leader of the WLGA, the Independent leader of Pembrokeshire County Council Cllr John Davies. John spoke very well and also spoke magmanimously for Aled Roberts and John Dixon - two former hard-working members of the WLGA who face a critical week in their political lives as they wait to see whether the Assembly re-instate them as Assembly Member this coming Wednesday. John also announced his intention to stand down as leader of both the WLGA and of Pembrokeshire County Council when those terms end next May. I was surprised to hear him say that but then I'm told that he did state back in 2004 that he would only serve two terms as leader of Pembrokeshire County Council and he's keeping to his word. It was a very statesmanlike speech though I probably should declare an interest here as John is my second cousin!

We had an useful workshop on collaboration in the afternoon and another panel discussion, this time on Wales' political place within the United Kingdom. In all, it was a worthwhile and productive day.

A Party Political Truce
What was also very pleasant was the atmosphere surrounding the conference. As a Ceredigion unit, we were all stationed in the Ramada Hotel (after the Marriott Hotel admitted to over-booking and having to move our reservation!) and on the Wednesday evening following the pre-conference reception, we all came back to the Ramada for a meal. I'd been told that in years past, the Ceredigion contingent would always eat together in perfect harmony even though as members of opposing political parties and none, we'd often bark at each other across the Council Chamber floor from time-to-time.

But the atmosphere between us all was great and it followed the following evening at the formal Conference Dinner at the Marriott when again, 7 of Councillors along with our Chief Executive Bronwen Morgan, all had an enjoyable evening in each others company. This is how it should be because the one bound that unified us all there was a desire to serve our respective wards and its residents in the county of Ceredigion.

It must be said that I don't think that every Council in Wales could've done the same as us. I certainly saw Powys share a table to their credit but I very much doubt what with all of the seemingly personal animosity between the main protagonists that the same could be said of Carmarthenshire.

Indeed, the evening and conference finished very nicely with an impromptu gathering of enthusiastic singers from across Wales and from across the party political spectrum in the corner of the bar as we sang Welsh hymns, rugby songs and popular tunes from popular culture. A rather surreal but enjoyable part of it was harmonising with a Plaid Cymru Councillor from Caerphilly as we led this mini-Glee Club gathering into a rendition of the Beach Boys hit 'Sloop John B'!

We sang then that 'I want to go home', but now that I am back here a few days later in Cardigan, it'll be back to the day-to-day political reality of Ceredigion politics. But it was nice to have that truce in the WLGA conference and to remind ourselves that at the end of day, we are all just human beings doing our best for our communities.

Cardigan's Tesco Extension Approved - But at what cost?

After all of the arguing and claim and counter-claim, this current round in Cardigan's Supermarket Wars came to an end yesterday in Ceredigion County Council's monthly Planning Committee meeting.

I've already gone into some depth about the background between the feud between Tesco and the new Sainsbury's store here and here. Sainsbury's finally got their permission last month after years of paralysis on the controversial Bath House site.

Well yesterday, having withdrawn their original plan for a huge extension to their current store alongside the by-pass to the north of the town, Cardigan's Tesco narrowly won approval on a smaller plan to extend their current store despite objections from the Town Council and concerns from local traders on Cardigan'a High St.

I spoke up against the extension in-line with the comments of the Town Council. Having agreed to the new build for Sainsbury's, I didn't feel that there was any need to give an extension to Tesco. There will now be, as well as Aldi and the Co-op in town, plenty of competition. Adding to the amount of non-food conveniance goods that Tescos can sell would I feel, only be to the detriment of the town centre.

The feeling I garnered as the debate unfolded in the Council Chamber yesterday morning was that Tesco for once would end up losing this battle. There were committee members (I, not being a member of the planning committee didn't have a vote but was allowed to speak) from both sides of the chamber speaking against the need to expand so I felt it would fall comfortably. I was therefore rather stunned I must admit when the vote ended with 11 in favour, 9 against and with 2 abstentions.

So Tesco, against the odds I would say, have got their extension. It's akin to going 2 goals down in their fight against Sainsbury's but somehow managing to conjur up an injury-time equaliser.

In the meantime, whilst they fight it out between themselves, I worry for the town centre traders and the impact that this larger out-of-town Tescos will have on them.

A 'Green Light to Go' for Cardigan's Bath-House Sainsbury's Development

The on-going saga surrounding the controversial commercial development in the Bath-House area of Cardigan is coming to a conclusion.

As I mentioned in my blog here back in February, the tit-for-tat supermarket war between Sainsbury’s, who are seeking to move into the Bath-House development, and the current Tesco’s store at the top of town has prolonged the issue. Indeed, a late letter sent in by Tesco tried to thwart today's discussion once more as they requested a further deferral so that this Sainsbury's application could be dealt with in tandem with one of their own.

Thankfully, the committee saw sense today to wave away that plea and made a decision on the application in front of it this morning on its own merit.

As I mentioned in that blog post in February, I raised two specific concerns and I raised them again this morning:

"I raised my concerns regarding the proposed petrol station and the Environment Agency's concern about how its sub-surface tanks may have an adverse impact on the water course in the River Mwldan. I also raised my concern of the proposed 65% food retail / 35% non-food retail split in the store when the Town Council called for a 80% / 20% split to limit the effect felt by the High St non-food retailers"

Concerns Placated, Concerns Remain
Today, Ceredigion County Council’s Planning Committee dealt with the application once more and I was pleased to see that the Environment Agency Wales objections have now been removed. This is because Sainsbury's have for the time being, removed the petrol pump station from the application. They had an opportunity to move it to another part of the development so as to placate the Environment Agency's concerns but instead decided to remove it completely at this stage. This doesn't preclude them from putting a new application in, in the future for a petrol pump station so this may well only be a delay on their part with this.

But what it meant is that the Environment Agency have, with conditions, given their approval and this is to be welcomed.

My second point that I raised in February's meeting however has not been allayed. The proposed food and non-food split for the new supermarket remains at 65% and 35% and not the more reasonable split proposed by the Town Council of 80%-20%. I raised the concern of the Town Council and of local High St traders to this in this morning's meeting as a larger percentage of non-food retail in the new Sainsbury's could have a more detrimental impact on the town centre. Unfortunately however, whilst these concerns were noted, the 65%-35% split remains.

Green Light to Go for Bath-House and Sainsbury's

So, when it came to the vote, after years of debate and discussions and disagreement and after meetings after meetings after meetings, it was agreed by those voting members of the committee (as I'm not a member of the Planning Committee, I didn't have a vote) this morning, to support the recommendation of giving the planning officers the powers to approve the application once final conditions have been confirmed.

Indeed, the recommendation was supported unanimously.

So after years of debate and disagreement in town about this controversial plan, today, May 11th 2011 would seem to me to be the day when Bath-House was given the 'green light to go'. I still have concerns regarding the development as mentioned above so I will be keeping a keen eye on developments over the weeks and months ahead.

Vice Chair-Elect of Ceredigion County Council - Cllr Mark Cole

It's been a hot day. A beautiful April day. Just right for donning some summer clothes. I however, have been wearing my suit - all day long!

This evening, Cardigan Town Council had one of it's two annual grants evenings in the Guildhall where the Council gives out cheques to worthy local causes. It's a lovely occasion and I had the great fortune during the last municipal last year of being able to chair both occasions when I was Mayor of Cardigan.

The Chains of Ceredigion
It was quite apt because this morning, we had a full meeting of Ceredigion County Council in Aberaeron and at the end of the agenda, it was that time of the year once more to choose who the Chair-Elect and Vice Chair-Elect of Ceredigion County Council would be for next year - 2011-2012.

In Ceredigion, more often than not, when it comes to choosing our Chair, we take the party politics out of the equation and ensure as far as possible, a reasonable rotation of this important position between the respective Welsh Liberal Democrat, Plaid Cymru and Independent groups on the Council (there is in addition, 1 Labour member of the Council who sits on the Cabinet). I'm not so sure that every one of Wales' 22 authorities are as fair in the way that it decides on which political parties or none should be given this position.  It is to Ceredigion's credit that we do.

The current Chair is Cllr Haydn Lewis, a highly respected and long-standing Independent Councillor for Penparc ward which happens to border my own Cardigan Rhyd-Y-Fuwch ward. Our current Vice-Chair, Cllr Catherine Hughes is the Plaid Cymru Councillor for Tregaron. As is the custom, she was unanimously supported today in Council from all sides of the Chamber, to become what will be Ceredigion County Council's first female Chair, at the Council's AGM on Friday 20th May.

This meant that the next Vice Chairman should come from the Welsh Liberal Democrat benches - the last from our group being Cllr Fred Williams who was Vice Chair in 2006-07 and Chair in 2007-08. It was with great humility that I found myself in the unexpected position of being proposed and seconded for the role by my fellow colleagues today.

Why unexpected? Well, perhaps because for one so young, I didn't expect to be given the opportunity to be Vice Chair at such a relatively tender age. Indeed, when at the last AGM in May 2010, the then out-going Chair, Lampeter's Independent member Cllr Ivor Williams asked me to give the official vote of thanks, I was incredibly touched at the gesture. For it was the first time in my 6 years on the Council that I was to play a formal role in the AGM. I honestly thought at that time that it may well be the only time that I may ever have a formal part to play at that annual event.

Yet having said that, I was elected in 2004 at the same time as Catherine Hughes so we have now both served as County Councillors for 7 years - giving us both ample time to have learned the Council ropes with its procedures and formalities. In that time I have already served a two year term as the Chair of the Environmental Services and Housing Scrutiny Committee and of course at a community council level, I proudly served as both Deputy Mayor and then Mayor of Cardigan between 2008-2010 and in doing so, became at the age of 26, one of the youngest known Mayors in Cardigan's history.

So it was a humble experience today to find my colleagues putting forward my name to become what will be the youngest Vice Chair in Ceredigion County Council's history, at the age of 28. My Welsh Liberal Democrat group leader and Cabinet Member for Education, Aberystwyth's Cllr Ceredig Davies proposed me and the Independent Councillor for Capel Dewi ward near Llandysul, the Cabinet Member for Finance Cllr Peter Davies seconded the proposal.

There have been times in years gone by when opposing candidates have been put forward against the unwritten Ceredigion code mentioned above. Today however, it was a real pleasure to have the Council support the proposal unanimously with my Plaid Cymru Council colleagues putting their hands in the air in unison with my Welsh Liberal Democrat and Independent colleagues. It was a particularly nice gesture for the Plaid Cymru Councillors for Llanbadarn Sulien and Beulah, Cllr Paul James and Cllr Lyndon Lloyd to come over to congratulate me on my election as Vice Chair-Elect. It doesn't happen every year but when it does, like today, it shows that we can as a Council put aside party political differences. It's gives me an uplifting sense of humanity.

So having served as Deputy Mayor and Mayor of Cardigan, I'm now looking forward to working as the new Vice Chair of Ceredigion County Council alonsgide our new Chair, Cllr Catherine Hughes and I will give her my 100% support in that role once we assume our new positions on May 20th.

I'm going to be wearing that suit more often once more - no matter what the weather!

London this and London that - it isn't the centre of the Universe you know

It frustrates me and it frustrates me greatly.

I have my personal gmail.com e-mail account and also my official Ceredigion Council .gov account. When I go through my official e-mails in the latter, I usually find myself faced with countless e-mails inviting me to conferences in London.

It drives me absolutely spare. They're all well intentioned yes, but getting an e-mail inviting me to the Barbican as an example, for a policy conference at an extortionate rate really does leave me wanting to pull my hair out.

Hello?
Check where you're sending the e-mail too - ceredigion.gov.uk. Yes, that's C-E-R-E-D-I-G-I-O-N. Look it up on a map. It's in mid and west Wales you know - not exactly a quick car ride down the M1 to our fair capital city.

Now don't get me wrong, I love London. I try and visit at least once or twice a year and will usually mix a necessary business visit with the opportunity to catch up with friends. I love the Underground in particular I must admit and as a historian, there's plenty for me to feast upon when I'm there (to my amazement, I still have yet to visit the Tower of London).

But let's get a reality check here. Councillors like myself here in the far west or my colleagues I'm sure down in Cornwall or up in northern England aren't just going to suddenly drop everything because we've received yet another invitation to an event...IN LONDON.

No, we're going to get on with the work that we've got here at home thank you very much.

Experimentation Maybe?
Why don't these organisers try something radical - and I mean really radical.

Why don't they consider holding their events, just once in a blue moon even, OUTSIDE OF LONDON? Is it such a ridiculous, revolutionary thought? How about Cardiff? Or Bristol? Or Shrewbury? Or for my south western friends, how about Exeter or the like? What about Sheffield or Leeds or Derby for those with a more northern geographic base?

Because for as long as I receive e-mails from the LGA and the like asking me to yet another event in London, the response will be the same as for those requests that have gone before - the 'delete' button.

End of rant.

HLF Approve £4.7m grant to restore Cardigan Castle - Birthplace of the Welsh Eisteddfod

Today is a bloody good day for Cardigan, Wales and for anyone who values Welsh culture.

Cardigan Castle in 2014?





For today it was officially announced that the Heritage Lottery Fund have given their approval to a £4.7m grant application submitted by Cadwgan Building Preservation Trust on behalf of Cardigan Castle.

This is absolutely brilliant news for the castle and for us all here in the town. It is the moment when a great campaign to bring our historic castle back into full, open, public use, crossed the rubicon from being one of hope to one of expectancy.

A Potted History
Cardigan is a Welsh castle built in stone in 1171 - built by the native population and not by the Norman occupiers. It is a castle that, in 1176, witnessed a feast of celebration as poets and musicians competed for a chair at Lord Rhys's table.

As recorded in Brut y Tywysogion...

"...at Christmas in that year, the Lord Rhys ap Gruffydd held court in splendour at Cardigan, in the castle. And he set two kinds of contests there: one between bards and poets, another between harpists and crowders and pipers and various classes of music craft. And he had two chairs set for the victors. And he honoured those with ample gifts".

It was the first incarnation of our modern day Eisteddfod. After the final Norman conquest of the castle during the 1240s, the castle was reconstructed. Two towers, a new keep and the town wall were all built to create the stronghold, the ruins of which are visible to visitors today. A peaceful four centuries however came to an abrupt end when Oliver Cromwell took it upon himself to storm the battlements. The castle was uninhabitable from then on until the 19th century, when it breathed a new lease of life as it was converted into a residence with Castle Green House built inside the walls and incorporating the North Tower. A pill box was built overlooking Cardigan Bridge during WWII but the castle fell into disrepair after its final private owner Barbara Wood failed to keep up with the maintenance required on such an old and vast site. After threatening a CPO, the castle was sold to Ceredigion County Council in 2003 and it's re-emergance into the public consciousness moved into top gear from then until the present day.

Cardigan Castle and me
As I've previously blogged here, as a historian, Cardigan Castle has always been a special place for me.

As I said in that post back in September...


"I can remember as a child crossing the old bridge and always wondering what lay behind those great walls. Never in a million years could I have thought that I would one day become Mayor of Cardigan and donate my Mayoral Fund donations to the Cardigan Castle Fund. If current plans being pursued by local Building Preservation Trust Cadwgan are successful, then the castle could well be totally renovated and open to the public by 2014".

Well, they were indeed precient words because that final sentence is now a great step closer to becoming a reality.


Cardigan Castle as I have always known it



"...the end of the beginning".

But it hasn't been easy. After the Council bought the castle back in 2003 after a campaign led by the local Tivy Side Advertiser, it entered into discussions regarding the future 'end use' of the castle. It was at this stage that I became directly involved in the development of this story having been elected to the County Council in 2004.

I sat in many a meeting that dealt with the 'next steps' in bringing the castle into full public use. A viable, sustainable 'end use' was required with which to bid for grant funding. I can well recall the Keen Report which the authority spent a good deal of money on but which came up with no credible plan. We then had the Peter Lord proposal of housing a new Welsh Museum of Art in the castle. I recall a passionate public meeting in the town (which public meeting in Cardigan isn't passionate?!) to discuss the options in which I as a local member was sitting on the 'top table'. It was chaired by then County Council leader Dai Lloyd Evans and local residents didn't hold back from giving their opinions.

It eventually became clear that the County Council had gone as far as they could with the castle and when Cadwgan Building Preservation Trust requested the opportunity to take charge of this ambitious project, it was a welcomed change of direction. Since then, around 2007, they have put together financially sustainable options that have been welcomed by local residents. Along with their partners, they have worked with great patience to put forward a detailed bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for what is a £9.2m scheme.


Castle Green House

It was important as a part of their detailed bid that they could evidence public support for their bid. It was with great pride therefore that during my Mayoral year between 2009-2010, my Mayoral charity was the Castle Fund.

I felt that I needed to give them this support because if their bid proved unsuccessful in this difficult economic climate where grants are drying up, it would probably mean the moth-balling of the Cardigan Castle project for a generation.

You can imagine by sheer delight therefore, after years of increasing hope but nagging uncertainty, when I heard last Wednesday morning that we'd got the full grant request of £4.7m! But it was embargoed until today so I can only give my sentiments today! But it is wonderful news. This now means that we're half-way to raising the £9m+ necessary to making our dream a reality.

But this is only a work-in-progress. The remaining money is still required but this positive news will I am sure, act as a magnet to draw down the match-funding required to bring us to our financial goal. It is now more than feasible that works on the site could begin before the end of this year and the 2014 completion date is still a very much hoped for reality. Seeing the removal of those awful stanchions will be a good start!

As Jann Tucker, the Chair of the Cadwgan Building Preservation Trust, in quoting Churchill said at today's official announcement in the castle:

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning".

It is indeed. There's much work ahead of us but the light at the end of the tunnel has just got that big bit brighter.

Anarchy in Ceredigion

That's what there may well be if Dyfed-Powys Police withdraw their traffic wardens from patrol in the coming months as they've said they will do.

That was the message coming out from this morning's Ceredigion County Council Cabinet meeting from a number of Councillors from across the chamber - including myself.

De-Criminalisation of Parking
This issue arose in the discussion on the merits or otherwise of Ceredigion County Council taking over the responsibility of parking enforcement from the police by de-criminalising parking and making it a civil matter.

This Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) has some potentially great benefits. One is that it will increase the number of enforcement officers from the current 3 Traffic Wardens that cover the entirety of Ceredigion to 8 and the money from parking fines that will be collected would go back to the Council and can be re-used for local highways priorities whereas the current fines from parking tickets simply go straight to central government.

Neighbouring authorities in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire already operate this CPE model and Powys will be going ‘live’ with it on April 1st. Ceredigion’s decision today to support the principle of adopting this system will make us the 12th out of 22 authorities in Wales to work under this civil scheme.

Anarchy in Ceredigion?
The concerns raised today were in relation to the intervening period between Dyfed-Powys Police’s withdrawal of their enforcement at the end of May and the commencement of the Council’s enforcement which will not come into being for at least 12 months (what with the need to consult and receive the consent of the Welsh Assembly Government).

We were told that the Chief Constable does have powers to ensure that there is coverage in such an interregnum and I requested in the meeting today that the Council continues its dialogue with him to ensure that there is enforcement coverage in the period up to when the County Council officially takes control.

Otherwise, as stated with concern by myself and colleagues from across the chamber, there may well be anarchy in Ceredigion where there will be no enforcement of parking at all. Imagine that? A scenario in Aberystwyth or in Cardigan where we have plenty of parking problems as it is, or in Lampeter where people will park where they like and for however long a length of time they like in the knowledge that no-one will enforce the traffic regulations against them.

This can not be allowed to happen and a partnership approach must be ensured between the Council and the police to guarantee that this 12 or so month void is filled.

Progress
But thankfully, the vote today by Cabinet, after what I am told by my Plaid Cymru colleague Alun Williams (who represents Aberystwyth’s Bronglais Ward) has been at least a 13 year wait, agreed in principle that we finally go down this path.

The Labour member for Lampeter Hag Harris, who sits on the Cabinet did joke at the end of the discussion that it was rather far fetched for a number of us to speak of anarchy – the Sex Pistols he said, it wasn’t! But I reminded him afterwards that the definition of anarchy is disorder or lawlessness and that is what would prevail if the unpalatable situation mentioned above were to come into effect in the months ahead.

Here’s hoping that common sense will prevail and that it won’t. But in the meantime I welcome today’s decision and look forward to the hoped for implementation of the CPE during the course of 2012.

It is with great relief that I don't have to resign

As I mentioned in a blog post here a fortnight ago, I've had a real conundrum to deal with, with regards to the Cardigan Primary School planning application.

The issue as stated previously is that whilst I sit on the Governing Body of the school, the plans and the impact of the new entrance onto Pont-Y-Cleifion in particular, have aroused concerns from local residents. As their local Councillor, it is my duty to represent those concerns at the necessary level. However, as a Council appointed member of the primary school's governing body, I have had a clear conflict of interest.

Dispensation Granted
Well, thankfully, the planning committee deferred the application to give me time to seek dispensatrion from the Standards Committee to speak at the meeting next month and in the meantime, sought a site inspection panel to meet on-site next week to further look into the application.

This is the first time in 7 years on the Council in which I have felt obliged to go in front of the Standards Committee to request the dispensation to speak. Not doing so would mean that I wouldn't be able to fulfill the basic task of being an elected Councillor - representing the views of local residents in my ward.

So the Standards Committee met this morning and I attended to give my take on this complicated predicament. I'm pleased to report that they granted me my request of speaking in both the site inspection panel meeting next Monday and in any subsequent planning committee meetings that deliberate on this issue for the next 12 months.

It would've been a sad day for local democracy had the standards committee decided otherwise and forced me to resign from the governing body to do my job. But thankfully, it hasn't come to that. Today's decision means that I can do my job of representing local views whilst retaining my place on the Governing Body of Cardigan Primary School.

It is with great regret that I must resign

As a Ceredigion County Councillor, these past few days have been some of the most bemusing and frustrating since I was first elected, 7 years ago.

The Code of Conduct, which we all sign up too on our election and which has always been a bone of contention for local members because of its sometimes draconian and tight restrictions, has this week really struck home with me.

Cardigan Chamber of Trade
It all began on Monday with the Cardigan Chamber of Trade bi-monthly directors meeting.

For many years now I have been attending the Chamber of Trade meetings in town in an observing capacity and as a link to the County Council. So I have for many years now worked alongside the Chamber to further the needs of local traders in the town. A prosperous local economy after all leads to a prosperpus Cardigan in the whole.

Well, last summer after my year of Mayor during which I further cultivated a strong working relationship between the Town Council and the Chamber, I was invited at the AGM to become a Director of the Chamber. I was delighted to be asked and said yes. Now, looking back I must admit that that was an error. Because ironically, I've been of less use to the Chamber since joining its board. Why? Because as a locally elected Councillor, I have had to declare an interest at any time since last summer when dealings with the Chamber have arisen in Council meetings. This is quite right but what it means is that I have been unable to represent the traders interests as I used to when I merely attended their meetings in an advisorial role.

So it was with great regret, having been considering my position since before Christmas, that I had to resign from the Board of Directors of the Chamber on Monday night. My resignation was accepted and I will now revert back to my old role of attending their meetings as an observer to support them as a County Councillor. I will also do the same, on an equal basis, with the new Cardigan Traders group that have recently formed itself in town.

Cardigan Primary School Governing Body
But that was only the tip of the iceberg.

If Monday for me was a rather sad day, then yesterday went down as one of the most bitterly frustrating days that I can recall as a County Councillor.

On returning from a weekend away in Cardiff on Monday, I found the monthly agenda for the Ceredigion Planning Committee waiting for me in the post. To my complete surprise, I found that the primary school's application to build a new car park on its ground was back on the agenda having seemingly been in the verge of being withdrawn only a month ago. Whilst I support the school in the principle of the plan, the devil of course is in the detail and there are technical concerns regarding the proposed new access onto Pontycleifion by the hospital roundabout. The Welsh Ambulance Service which currently use this quiet cul-de-sac, along with local residents and the Trunk Road Agency have all expressed safety concerns. As it falls within my Rhyd-Y-Fuwch ward, my first responsibility is as an elected member and to represent those views at the planning committee. However, as a member of the Board of Governors at the primary school, I have a clear conflict of interest. But because the agenda came out so close to the meeting as is the case and because I was not warned in advance that this application was likely to be on it, there has been no time available for me to put in an application for dispensation to speak on the application to the Standards Committee.

I therefore contacted the Head of Legal Services and her office within the Council for advice and I was told that I could not speak on this issue because I have a personal and prejudicial interest in the matter.

So, for the past 48 hours, I've been wracking my brain for a solution to a situation that I have never, in 7 years on the Council, found myself in. On the one hand the school has an application that is recommended for approval but which on the other hand has still illicited safety concerns from local residents who I have a duty to represent and responsible authorities. One of these, the Trunk Road Agency, have referred the application to the Welsh Assembly so there is clearly still a need to hold back to see what their observations are on this matter.

In the meantine, yesterday saw me calling around friends and colleagues, asking for advice on what should be my best course of action.

Eventually, it struck me that the only way that I could represent the views of residents in my ward on an official basis as their democratically elected County Councillor, would be to resign from the primary school's Governing Body. I've been a member of this body since the junior and infants schools merged back in 2008 and was on the infants school's governing body before that since 2004. That's 7 years on the governing bodies of these schools and it is a fantastic, popular school which has done well in its Estyn inspections. Such a decision, again because of the strict enforcement of the Code of Conduct, is one that I therefore came too with the heaviest of hearts.  I therefore spoke to the Head Teacher last night to explain the impossible corner into which I'd been positioned by the Code and he understood perfectly the position I found myself in.

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However, this morning the planning committee saved me from making this final decision by reading out my request to defer the item to allow me the opportunity to apply for dispensation from the standards committee before the next committee in April. They also decided to hold an on-site inspection meeting in the meantime to hear the views of all concerned which is wise move.

So after 48 hours of soul-searching, I'm pleased that the committee has saved me from having to resign from my second committee this week by giving me the opportunity to request the right to speak on this issue. It'll be the first time that I've asked for dispensation in my time on the Council and I hope that it will be granted. If not, then I may have to re-visit the soul-searching mentioned above...

Working with the (Plaid Cymru) Enemy # 2

Ceredigion County Council has a budget.

It's a rather dry statement but behind the words there's a story.

I've been a County Councillor now for 7 years and our full council budget setting meeting yesterday morning was the first in my recollection in all of that time where the budget was agreed unanimously by the entire council.

This really is quite something.

I wrote here in my blog back in December of co-operation between the ruling Independent-Welsh Liberal Democrat-Labour group with the Plaid Cymru opposition at that seasonal Christmas period. It doesn't happen often. As with any Council across the land, the moments of agreement between the aisles are usually clouded out by the often rancorous and ill-tempered debate and disagreement. But having said that, it very rarely gets personal in the Council chamber and the tone of debates are very often of a high and constructive standard.

A Budget for 2011-2012
Well yesterday saw one of those rare occasions when unanimity broke out across the Chamber to support, without any opposition, a budget for the next financial year.

Over the years, the annual budgetary debate has often been heated. In my earlier days, the debate was usually about the level and extent of the increase in Council Tax. In more recent years the issue has been on specific issues of policy and changes in particular lines in the budget. The most controversial was in 2007 when the changes to the Meals on Wheels service resulted in rightful uproar both in the council chamber and across the county.

2011 however has been a much more reasoned affair. Why? Well, the Council has worked more effectively and with input from all members from an earlier starting point this time around. There's a more 'collective' feeling of ownership now to the budgetary process than there has been in earlier years. There's also an acceptance across the chamber to the fact that cuts have got to be made and that grown-up approach and realisation is to be applauded.

This year there was one questionable part of the budget which could've been contested yesterday morning. The draft budget had reduced the community grants pot of cash from £90,000 down to £30,000. This is the valuable pot of cash which local community groups can apply for to contribute to projects that they may be undertaking in their communities. After discussions, the Council Leader Cllr Keith Evans yesterday annoucned to the full council that an additional £30,000 had been found to put into this pot to take it up to £60,000. This news was welcomed by all in the chamber as a reasonable compromise to allay concerns that had been raised by members.

So, when the final vote was taken yesterday, instead of having contentious ammendments thrown in on specific issues, the whole council votes in one voice on what was in front of them.

At such a difficult economic time, this mature way of working out a complex budget is to be commended. It doesn't happen often but on this most important of annual issues, it's a welcome departure from the more contentious arguments of the past.