News

Badger and the difference

Published

10 years ago

March 5, 2015

badger84image AND SO, readers, the massed forces of law and order have spoken and determined that there is no evidence of criminal conduct by anyone involved in the unlawful scheme to allow local authority fat cats to cash in on the supine and crass stupidity of those councillors charged with assessing whether they should be paid in guineas or gold doubloons. Now: Kevin Maggs, the Beloved Leader of the People’s Republic of Carmarthenshire, of whom Badger has written before, and a man renowned as one who cannot see a belt without hitting below it, is full of praise for the Police’s good sense in agreeing with the opinion that he says he held all along. Never one to miss out on the opportunity to place his own spin on events, the Council’s very own “Mr Expenses”, Jamie Adams, claimed: “1 have always maintained that though the decision in question may have been procedurally flawed, no individual had used their influence improperly.”

He then invites people to believe that – even though he rolled over and asked the Wales Audit Office to tickle his belly when faced with the prospect of defending the indefensible in Court — there was nothing “inherently unlawful” about allowing Bryn to avoid tax on his publicly-funded pension pot. What a weasel-word “inherently” is, readers! Let’s try a sample sentence to see how it works: There is nothing inherently dishonest about Jamie Adams’ intellectual position. There is nothing inherently immoral about rewarding
failure. There is nothing inherently wrong in giving a tax break on pensions to those at the top while screwing down the wages of those at the bottom. Yes: I think we can all see Jamie’s point. Weasel words for a weasel, after all.

Like most of his IPPG comrades, Jamie lives in a world devoid of ideals, idealism or principles. The ends, for Jamie, ALWAYS justify the means. Jamie likes to say that “It’s all about outcomes not processes.” Well Jamie, a flawed processes of which you were part had an outcome that landed the authority with legal bills and experts’ fees running into tens of thousands of pounds; the same flawed process has exposed the moral bankruptcy of your administration and its grovelling dependence on officers; the same flawed process has put local government in this county into disrepute. Yes, Jamie: it’s all about outcomes.

If Jamie didn’t think that Mac O’Velly was an Irish manufacturer of agricultural machinery, you’d think that his proclivity – like a Renaissance prince – for dishing out patronage and remunerated favours like sweeties was derived from actually doing his own reading, rather than being told what to think by reading about it on the back of an officer’s fag packet. How dim must Jamie be not to realise that the issue is not about what is lawful or unlawful? The issue is a moral one. There is not so much a moral vacuum in Jamie’s political understanding ‘°’ a moral black hole from which no light can escape. When it comes to political principles and moral choices, Jamie may as well be asked to translate Parsee into Linear B. He’s a bit like Mr Heslop in Porridge, in that regard, is Jamie.

“I read a book once. Green it was.” And that, readers, is the difference between Jamie and those like him and the rest of the world. Badger watched Huw George a few months back as he claimed — in Welsh — that Bryn had to be in the meeting discussing his pay to advise the Senior Staff Remuneration Committee. Not actually advise, you understand. But there so his advice could be called upon if required. Sort of being influential without offering any direct influence. An entirely novel approach to the issue which his leader has, rather pointedly, not repeated. And almost certainly not repeated to the Gloucestershire plod. Even on the !PPG benches there are those who can tell the difference between right and wrong. On those benches there are those uneasy about the contortions of language their leader and others have used again and again to defend a policy they know is both morally wrong and politically disastrous.

Even Huw George cannot be that stupid. Not with one head. They are rather like Tory backbenchers in the dying days of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. Aghast at the unwinding of a policy that was an unmitigated failure and a political canker, Tory backbenchers were loyal in public — to a point — but fretful in private. That festering realisation of impending doom, focussed a lot of Tory minds in November 1990. Suppurating away with resentment on the IPPG side of the Council chamber, there are decent people who are the prisoners of Jamie’s patronage.

In hock to allowances both internal and external, they have realised that whether they vote for Christmas or not, the turkeys don’t have much of a future. Jamie cannot easily lance that infection, not least because he publicly continues to defend an officer – and a policy affecting that officer — who has not so much lost the confidence of the Pembrokeshire public, as he has become a byword for a complacent, self-serving and self-regarding approach to local government. Mary Tudor, Bloody Mary, it was who is alleged to have claim that the word “Calais” would be found engraved upon her heart after death, as a memento mori of her greatest failure. Jamie and the !PPG will collectively be found with the words “Bryn Parry Jones” upon theirs.

News

New 45-metre wind turbine set to be built near Fishguard

Published

16 hours ago

January 16, 2025

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A CALL to replace a Pembrokeshire community wind turbine which has raised more than £76,000 for local groups with a larger one has been backed despite a recommendation to refuse.

In an application before Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee meeting of January 14, Abergwaun Community Turbine Ltd, through agent Machynlleth-based Dulas Ltd sought permission for a larger turbine to replace the existing Abergwaun Community Turbine.

The proposed turbine, in a pasture field at Trebover Farm, to the south of Fishguard, would be 67m tall, the existing 2015 one being 45 metres.

In supporting statements, parent company Transition Bro Gwaun said: “The Community Climate Fund (CCF) is the mechanism by which Transition Bro Gwaun (TBG) is fulfilling our ambition of funding projects in Fishguard, Goodwick and across North Pembrokeshire, using income from the community wind turbine.

“The core themes for grants are climate change mitigation and adaptation, enhancement of biodiversity and improvements to community resilience through promotion of community engagement and resource sharing.”

Profit generated by sale of electricity from the turbine is split 50:50 between TBG and Parcy-Morfa Farms Ltd through the jointly-owned trading arm, Abergwaun Community Turbine, with community grants awarded through TBG’s Community Climate Fund, amounting to £76,036 to date.

2024 awards of £20,917 were made to six projects, including Theatr Gwaun, Parc Cerrig Growers, Caerhys Organic Community Agriculture, and Nevern Valley Veg.

The scheme was recommended for refusal on the grounds including “significant detrimental visual impact” on the area, “including areas of high sensitivity in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and in Fishguard,” on the Conservation Areas of Goodwick, Fishguard and Lower Town, Fishguard.

At the January meeting, local member Cllr Jordan Ryan made a call for the scheme to be approved against officer recommendations: “I think it’s a good application, I think it’s good for Pembrokeshire; a single wind turbine isn’t going to affect people in the area too greatly.”

He was backed by Cllr Alistair Cameron, who said he supported the scheme due to “the need to tackle climate change and the economic benefit to the area,” adding: “We have to accept some visual consequences from that, that’s the reality we are in.”

Another in support was Cllr John T Davies, himself the owner of a windfarm scheme, who pointed out the existing turbine was granted on appeal, with any refusal of the latest scheme potentially being overturned by a planning inspector.

The committee’s unanimous backing of the proposal takes the form of a ‘minded to’ support, meaning the proposal will return after a ‘cooling-off’ period to a future meeting as it is against an officer recommendation, and, if supported a second time, will ultimately have to be decided by full council at a later date.

News

Landslides close section of Pembrokeshire coastal path once again

Published

16 hours ago

January 16, 2025

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A SECTION of a south Pembrokeshire beach-side coastal path has been closed once again after a number of landslips in the last week.

The fall happened towards the western end of the Wisemans Bridge to Coppet Hall cycleway, between the Coppet Hall and Wisemans Bridge tunnels, and affects access between Wisemans Bridge and Coppet Hall beach.

The top path remains open.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s geotechnical advisor has recommended that the path be closed until a remedial solution can be implemented.

***Previous works on the landslide-hit coast path. Picture: Gareth Davies Photography. (Image: Gareth Davies Photography)***

A council spokesperson said: “Given that we are in the middle of winter, there are a number of triggers that could reactivate the partially failed sections of the rock mass, such as frost and heavy rain in the short term – and the likelihood of rock fall reaching the path is high.

“The Authority has engaged a specialist to assess the cliff face where a detailed survey of the slope will be undertaken to determine the nature and depth of the rock fall. This will allow the design of remedial works, which could include removal and regrade of the rock fall, plus the installation of a catch fence.

“A review into the rock fall and necessary remediation work, which is subject to affordability, will now be evaluated. This is likely to take a number of months.”

The coastal path, known as the Tramway, was previously closed after it experienced ‘substantial rock falls’ in late 2023 and early 2024

Last March Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet backed works expected to cost some £600,000, with a hoped-for finish date of the start of the summer holidays.

Reopening was delayed until early August “as a consequence of additional works required, including the occurrence of another landslip along the path,” with additional remedial works needed.

During last year’s works, local councillor Chris Williams hit out at “selfish” path users putting others at risk by repeatedly cutting open safety barriers and fencing while the repair works were being undertaken.

Barriers and warning signs were put in place at the entrance to the ‘short tunnel’ – the first of the two which lead from Coppet Hall to Wisemans Bridge, along with fencing on the Wisemans side.

But because the signs have been ignored by some people, along with damage caused, a gate was put in place on the Coppet Hall side.

Fencing on the opposite side was also targeted, with a hole cut through.

Education

New resource to support Welsh medium pupils

Published

17 hours ago

January 16, 2025

Tom Sinclair

EDUCATION researchers have published a special booklet to support pupils in Welsh medium schools from homes where the language is not spoken.

Entitled Partner, Promote and Provide, the booklet was co-created in workshops led by Aberystwyth University which brought together education partners from Ceredigion and Powys, with input from parents and pupils.

It builds on a series of research studies by the School of Education which began during the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and which explored the impact of the pandemic on pupils along with the additional challenges facing Welsh-medium schools in extending support to children from non-Welsh-speaking homes.

Dr Siân Lloyd-Williams Director of Research at Aberystwyth University’s School of Education, said:

“Based on the studies we carried out between 2020 and 2024, it was clear we needed to continue the work so that we could evaluate, identify and measure the impact of our recommendations on supporting non-Welsh speaking families.

“We set out to organise a series of workshops, bringing together representatives from the local education authorities, teachers, parents and others to hear their experiences and gather evidence. As a result, we have co-created a special booklet that teachers can use to support pupils from non-Welsh-speaking homes who attend Welsh medium schools.”

Another member of the research team at Aberystwyth School of Education, Dr Rhodri Aled Evans, said:

“This is an example of effective and purposeful collaboration between academics and practitioners on the ground. We hope this booklet, together with the recommendations of our previous studies, will be a valuable resource for the education sector and beneficial for teachers, pupils and families alike.”

The Director of Education for Ceredigion County Council, Elen James, said:

“It has been extremely valuable to collaborate with the University’s researchers to create dedicated resources that offer practical help on how to further improve the experiences of Welsh-medium pupils from non-Welsh speaking homes. This work is important and an excellent starting point for further collaboration. We look forward to developing the project further in the future.”

The Partner, Promote and Provide booklet was launched at a training event for teachers held at the University on 16 January 2025 and can be downloaded from the University’s website as a PDF or hard copies can be sent on request.

Pictured: L to R: Susan Ferguson (Research Impact and Knowledge Officer, Aberystwyth University), Prysor Davies (Interim Head of the School of Education, Aberystwyth University), Dr Rhodri Evans (Lecturer in Education, Aberystwyth University), Rhiannon Salisbury (teacher), Alwyn Ward (Ceredigion County Council)