News

Badger on the bins

Published

9 years ago

March 4, 2015

AFTER trying to find any number of ways to avoid stating what is obvious to everybody about the utterances being evacuated from the mouths of the IPPG at the last Council. Badger decided to have a lie down with a good book and bask In some of the recent good weather. Badger. who is not a creature fond of taking risks. decided to leave his choke of reading material to chance and – with his head turned away -reached into his groaning bookshelves to pull out what he sincerely hoped would he a plum. After picking out Fifty Shades of Beige: the Bryn Parry Jones Story and Jamie Adams’ Bumper Book of Fun with Sums, Badger decided that dumb chance was just that and, with his eyes a-peeping through his paws. Badger reached into the more interesting section of his bookshelf. Imagine his pleasure when he pulled out a battered and weil-thumbed copy of Pembrokeshire Humour by Brian John.

seagulbadg Badger flicked through his volume, chortling away. when one story in particular gave him pause for thought. Summarising a joke is rather difficult, but Badger will have a go A restaurant in Tenby was famed for its rabbit pie. During the myxomatosis scourge, the quality of the pie declined until one customer asked the restaurateur: “Give us an honest answer an you using horse-meat in the pie mixture?’ Answering yes. the restaurateur explained that he was using half and half. “What?” the startled customer asked poking at his rapidly cooling pie. “filly-fifty?’ Replied the restaurateur “That’s right. One horse to one rabbit.” Nowadays, of Mane. such a restaurateur would he hauled off before the beaks for any number of heinous crimes against food hygiene and trading standards.

It is the passing off as one thing as another that exercises Badger. however. When Badger lifts up the crust of an Old Ratty’s Hedgehog and Gravy pie, he expects to find rich wont’ and weasel gravy seething around large chunks of prime hedgehog. Anything else would be just wrong. That is a basic consideration. Badger likes things that – as the advertising slogan goes – do what they say on the tin. Badger loves books. but he would be appalled to open a volume marked “de Bello Civili: Lucan” to discover it was many Katie Price’s Love, Lks & Lipstick. So. when the County Council says that experiments with new gull-proof black hags in Tenby mean that they might be rolled out around Pembrokeshire you have to look al it and think -good news”, But when one peels back the crust of this story, there is more hobbling underneath than you might expect. Pembrokeshire is a coastal county. There cannot be a settlement that is not Happy badger more than twenty minutes from the sea, Pembrokeshire has lots and lots of sea birds. Lots and lots of those sea birds are gulls. At which point in the year since Pembrokeshire adopted this benighted box-ticking green policy on our behalf did the Council think gull-proof bags might be a good idea? No poop.

Mr Holmes! Since the Council decided upon its policy of collecting black bin hags from louses in Nmbrokeshite, the number of households taking reeking rubbish to the tip has increased. Badger has visited a few tips in the last year and traffic has steadily increased. All the council has done is force people who do 1104 have an airtight outbuilding in which to store rotting garbage to transport the stuff themselves. In addition, and Badger speaks from experience. vermin intrude into garages. sheds and even into homes to pull bin bags apart and get at their contents. The Council has simply shuffled the problem elsewhere and shuffled the money round in inventive ways to get away with it. Bins would he answer. Most councils provide them fur black bag waste. Pembrokeshire doesn’t.

And when one lifts up the crust of the gull-proof bags story, it is not difficult to find out why that is the CMG. The Council claims: “Research has shown that the quantity of waste collected from households with % wheelie bins is significantly higher than households that use sacks only.” When the County Council introduced garden waste bins to replace green sacks. Tenby ‘s Town Council was most miffed at the thought of residents in the town’s narrow and hustling streets having to haul a wheelie bin through their house instead of a sack of rubbish. In addition, it is thought that tourists – bless their sunburnt little white socks • don’t want to see wheelie bins in the street. It is better to present a romantic. twee and cod-genteel image of Pembrokeshire life to tourists. perhaps. than an accurate picture of living communities. Badger has been told at different nines that it was the National Park Authority or Tenby Town Council that put the kyhosh on thereat of us getting wheelie bins to keep our homes rat-free.

Badger offers no opinion on the truthfulness or otherwise of the allegations about Tenhy’s burghers or the Park’s enforcers. If true, however. it is monstrous that those of us who live in areas less adventitiously endowed with otherwise superfluous photogenic attributes. have to lump it as the Council will not provide us with bins and others with bags. Being members of the INC. most Cabinet members are used to being surrounded by rats and other vemiin. But members of Pembrokeshire’s public. those who receive public services provided by the Council, deserve better than walking into a garage to find a rat half way into a can of tuna while maggots happily wave hello from an empty bacon packet. If. like Badger. you are unlucky enough to have a member of the IPPG as your Councillor all one can expect when you complain is the equivalent of a pat on the head and a soothing word that we’re all in the same how.

A year on and a household with children. more than four people in it, or with a baby is lumped in the same boat as the singleton at home with a couple of moggies, the collected works of Polly Toynbce. and self-righteousness for company. That is not right. It is not fair. And the policy is wrung. But – and take a deep breath readers – it is not all the 113136’s fault. Badger realises that this might come as a surprise to some readers – and even some IPPG councillors – but Badger wants to point the finger at the real culprits. The Welsh Government is forcing councils to cut down on black bag collections because it is run by urban quangocrats who have little or no idea of life outside their little magic circle of self-congratulatory chums. And certainly little idea of life north and west of the M4 corridor. They have no idea what it is like to see a week’s rubbish strewn across the street by a hungry fox. In place of incentives, the Welsh Government is using a bloody big stick to beat Council’s unto doing what it wants. it is doing this because it does not believe in local communities’ ability to manage themselves and meet their own needs. It is part of the culture that wants to drag power away from local democracy and force people to do what it thinks is for their own good. Rather like the Tenby restaurateur’s reeking pie, it seems to Badger that the upper crust is well out of it.

Health

Pembrokeshire residents suffer severe health decline ‘due to landfill gases’

Published

8 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Tom Sinclair

A PEMBROKESHIRE couple, Mr Richard and Revd Patricia Rogers of Crud yr Awel, are experiencing severe health issues attributed to emissions from the Withyhedge Landfill, resulting in drastic lifestyle changes and severe symptoms.

Revd Rogers, who has managed asthma since childhood, reported a significant deterioration in her condition following exposure to landfill gases. Despite having controlled her asthma with minimal medication for years, she now requires intensive treatment including increased doses of Symbicort and Salbutamol Sulfate inhalers, alongside courses of steroids and antibiotics. Her symptoms have escalated to include extreme breathlessness, a hacking cough, frequent nosebleeds, continual headaches, and vertigo, culminating in a severe impact on her ability to perform daily tasks and care for her disabled daughter.

The couple’s health is closely monitored through their doctor’s surgery, and they attend the asthma clinic regularly. However, feeling powerless to directly change the situation, they have taken a stand by cancelling their council tax payments, a decision they plan to maintain until the landfill issue is resolved.

Revd Rogers has also prepared a letter to the Coroner, outlining the severity of her health issues as potentially life-threatening due to the landfill’s impact. This dramatic step underlines the gravity of their situation and their desperation for a resolution.

The Rogers’ story is not just a personal tragedy but a stark example of the broader environmental and health challenges faced by the community surrounding the Withyhedge Landfill.

They are calling for punitive measures against those responsible, including compensation for the financial impacts of their ordeal.

Their story has surfaced on the same day we reported that Natural Resources Wales is taking further enforcement action against the firm running the site.

NRW has issued site operators Resources Management UK Ltd (RML) with a further Regulation 36 Enforcement Notice which requires the operator to deliver a series of actions by specified deadlines to address ongoing smells from the landfill.

You can read more about the Enforcement Notice on the NRW website.

Outgoing Council Leader, Cllr David Simpson, said in a statement this week: “The smell from Withyhedge is having a major impact on residents and visitors. This situation has gone on too long and it is unacceptable.

“We now need to see RML act on the demands of the Notice and within the deadlines.

“The Council fully backs NRW’s stance that nothing is off the table in terms of further enforcement, including suspending the site’s environmental permit if appropriate, and we remain committed to working with NRW to ensure a long term solution to these issues.”

NRW issues new enforcement notice at Withyhedge

Entertainment

Fishguard Festival of Music launches at the Senedd in Cardiff

Published

8 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Tom Sinclair

Paul Davies MS for Preseli Pembrokeshire hosts event to promote major programme of summer concerts.

THIS year’s Fishguard Festival of Music/Gwyl Gerdd Abergwaun was officially launched at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay this week (Wednesday) in an event hosted by Paul Davies MS Preseli Pembrokeshire. Guests attending heard from the festival’s artistic director Gillian Green MBE about the 18 events extending over three weeks that will be staged at venues across Pembrokeshire from 18 to 31 July, including a concert by the Welsh National Opera Orchestra at St David’s Cathedral.

Paul Davies MS, said: “I’m truly honoured once again to sponsor the launch of the Fishguard Festival of Music. Over the summer, Fishguard will host world-famous musicians like harpist Catrin Finch and fiddle player Aoife Ní Bhriain, and the festival also includes performances from the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, the National Youth Choir of Wales and the Welsh National Opera Orchestra – so there really is something for everyone! Tickets to these performances sell out quickly and so make sure to head over to the Festival’s website and secure your tickets before it’s too late.”

Gillian Green MBE, Artistic Director of the Fishguard Festival of Music, added: “The Fishguard Festival plays a significant role on the cultural map of Wales and our mission to bring world-class music to Pembrokeshire is as strong as ever. This year we will have a real feast of music awaiting audiences in West Wales. The local community’s work in producing this fantastic festival is nothing short of a small miracle.”

Artists performing at this year’s festival include Peter Donohoe, Catrin Finch and the Marmen String Quartet. The full programme is available to view on the festival’s website www.fishguardmusicfestival.com

Climate

NRW to reduce mowing in May to help pollinators

Published

8 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Tom Sinclair

NATURAL Resources Wales (NRW) will reduce mowing as much as possible on the land in its care during May to help tackle the nature emergency and in support of Plantlife’s ‘No Mow May’ campaign.

The scale and rate of biodiversity loss across Wales is accelerating. Every third mouthful of food we eat has been created by pollination, and without pollinators our food supply would collapse.

Half of the UK’s 27 bumblebee species are in decline, and of the 43 species of butterfly seen in Wales, 10 are in severe decline and 17 are declining.

There are several reasons for the decline in pollinators, such as climate change, pollution and pesticides, and change in how land is managed.

Throughout the growing season, NRW cuts grass and vegetation in areas such as forests, nature reserves, river banks, flood defences and reservoir embankments.

Reducing mowing in May will help biodiversity by allowing spring plants to set seed and grow to provide nectar and pollen for pollinators, such as bees and butterflies.

NRW will reduce its mowing activities in May as much as possible, but essential grass cutting will continue in some areas across Wales.

There are several reasons for this, for example:

to manage access to forests and nature reserves to make sure people are safe when they visit.
to easily inspect flood defences and repair them if needed, helping to reduce flood risk to communities.
for nature conservation, for example to manage an invasive species or to benefit species in a certain area by cutting the vegetation.

David Letellier, NRW’s Head of Operations South Wales Central, said: “We’re committed to tackling the climate and nature emergencies and helping nature and people thrive together.

“We will reduce our mowing activities in May as much as possible to support pollinators, but we want people to understand that we may carry out essential grass cutting to benefit certain communities or species.

“For example, we may continue mowing flood defences to make sure they are in good working order, or if mowing some sites in May would leave wildflowers to recover and bloom throughout the late summer to benefit certain pollinators.

“We need to act now to protect our pollinators. This is why we manage all of our sites to make them as pollinator friendly as possible and to provide food and shelter for other species.

“There are things we can all do to make it easier for pollinators to survive. These can be relatively simple, such as managing grass verges in a more sensitive way, or leaving wild areas around our offices, homes and public buildings.

“We can all help by making our gardens pollinator-friendly by not using pesticides, not mowing the lawn as often, and growing pollinator-friendly plants.”