News

Badger and the little yellow god

Published

11 years ago

March 5, 2015

Badger0 THE LONG-FORGOTTEN J. Milton Hayes it was originally who told the story of Mad Carew and his attempt to steal the green eye of the little yellow god. Honestly: Badger had to look it up — especially after the great Keats/ Shelley debacle: Badger thought the tale of Mad Carew was by Harry Champion (who popularised such music hall classics as “I’m Henery the Eighth, I Am” and “Any Old Iron”). For those of Badger’s readers born into the great slough of despond that was education during the last thirty years or so, Badger recommends dipping into poetry now and again. it illuminates and entertains in equal measure.

Sitting in his sett on a chill evening, while above spring has sprung and young rascals take long refreshing walks with their (frequently temporary) beloveds, Badger likes to read poetry. One thing that Badger has realised is that poetry often provides uncanny parallels with life in Pembrokeshire. Who can read the lines “The boy stood on the burning deck, when all but he had fled”, and not be touched by the plight of “popular” one-time yoghurt salesman Jamie Adams as he heads full speed into an iceberg to try and douse the flames? But it is to Mad Carew we turn. Badger does not mean the estimable IPPG member for that ward. Councillor David Neale is a man who listens to his constituents’ his unfailing support for Jamie and the officers’ club that make up Meibion Bryn.

No Badger speaks of the protagonist of Hayes’ verse. You see, in the poem Mad Carew is set a dreadful task to perform by the object of his affections, his commanding officer’s daughter. Braving disaster he acquires the green eye of the little yellow god, only for her to refuse to take it from him and leaving him to a gloomy fate: “the vengeance of the little yellow god”. And so it is, when Badger sat in his sett pondering the words of the poem, he thought about the officers who are involved in the ongoing grants imbroglio that is rumbling its way on to a no doubt messy conclusion involving the weasel words that “lessons will be learned”. Consider them in the role of Mad Carew. Seized by the illusion of their acumen and vim, the County Council sent them out to grab the green eye of European funding.

With a healthy rake off the top for the Council, it was in its interests to encourage the officers to get as much as they could and then hunker down in County Hall while their gains were counted out. They have succeeded handsomely in grabbing oodles of Euro-swag. All in exchange for far too few questions asked. But the cost! What — apart from too-fat salaries, that is — has been Dave Pugh, Jamie-no-mates and the rest of Meibion Bryn to launch their scurrilous and untrue attack upon him in an attempt to stop the truth coming out, breached the code of conduct for Council staff which prohibits favouring one party over another, or acting in a manifestly self-serving way to cover-up their own inadequacies.

Those officers are now left gently swinging in the breeze; hoist by their own arrogance, unjustified self-belief and a failure to tell right from wrong and how many beans make five. Badger has pointed out before the actions of the person at their head, Dr Steven Jones, who was rapidly out of the blocks at January’s Audit Committee meeting to say, in terms, “the buck ain’t gonna stop with me!” Now Badger discovers that officers have been reduced to tampering with minutes of meetings to shore-up their desperate failure to properly scrutinise tenders, documents and bills of quantities: the officers, rather like Mad Carew, have returned panting and tattered from the ordeal of gaining their prize, only to find themselves objects of derision and despair. Desperate to shore up their tattered reputations and cover up further abject failure in scrutiny, officers have “creatively adjusted” the minutes of meetings to make it look as though they undertook scandal overseen by complacent and over-confident officers and a compliant and over-confident IPPG Cabinet, Badger does not know. But one thing is certain, an attempt to rewrite history to exonerate or exculpate officers from the consequences of their (in) actions is unlikely to be smiled upon by the rozzers. Links between evidence are vital in putting together events.

Move a link or adjust its setting, and the whole chain is jeopardised. For self-serving reasons, a senior manager at the Council thought it necessary to fiddle the record and attempt to mislead whoever depended upon the documentary record to make an informed decision. At worst they have tampered with evidence; at least, they are guilty of being idiotically self-centred and arrogant. In Pembrokeshire County Council terms, of course, Badger believes that the officer (and Badger has three strong sources who name the officer responsible) will be regarded as most culpable for getting caught. Much will be Bryn’s displeasure, no doubt. Mighty Bryn’s wrath.

The Eleventh Commandment of the little tin god in County Hall (Thou shalt not get caught) has been broken. it is only by the merest chance that this person’s attempt to establish that scrutiny that he realises with the benefit of hindsight should have been undertaken at the relevant time — i.e. now the grants scandal has been rumbled — was done when it mattered. Hayes’ verse warns that just because something glitters and is valuable, does not make it a prize of worth and prestige. For Hayes’ hero the reward for his exploit in seizing the green eye was a sticky end. Mad Carew, Badger ponders … A person who confuses his own self-interest with the public interest must be off their bloody rocker!

Local Government

Pembrokeshire Council faces backlash over £2.5m housing ‘buying spree’

Published

5 minutes ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

Critics say policy inflates numbers while new-build programme stalls

PEMBROKESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL is under growing pressure over its multi-million-pound programme of buying back former council houses, with critics warning that the strategy gives the illusion of progress while long-promised new-builds remain stuck on the drawing board.

The latest criticism comes from Haverfordwest councillor Mike Stoddart, who has accused the authority of “standing still” by funnelling Housing Revenue Account (HRA) cash into purchasing properties that were once part of the council’s own stock. In an email to fellow councillor Tom Sinclair, seen by this newspaper, Stoddart said the council’s approach “doesn’t increase the housing stock – it merely moves people from the private sector into the public sector”.

He added: “It would be much better if the money was spent on building anew.”

A temporary fix that became permanent

The buy-back scheme began in 2017 when the council adopted a new inflation-linked rent regime that delivered sizeable HRA surpluses. At the time, officers described buying ex-council homes on the open market as a “stop-gap” measure until the new-build programme ramped up.

But that programme has repeatedly faltered. Major schemes in Johnston and Tiers Cross have been hit by cost overruns of around 66%. In Milford Haven, new flats on Charles Street are costing close to £300,000 each for a one- or two-bed unit, before adding land costs, architects’ fees and planning expenses.

***Unhappy with the council’s home-buying spree: Cllr Mike Stoddart***

Stoddart said the pattern amounted to a “disaster”, arguing that buying existing homes had become the authority’s default option. “It gives the impression of making progress while actually standing still,” he said.

Brownfield sites left idle

In Stoddart’s own ward, three former school sites have stood empty since 2018. Their redevelopment is not expected to begin until 2027 or 2028. Meanwhile, the council’s purchasing programme has accelerated.

A Cabinet report for late 2025 shows more than £2.5 million spent on acquisitions in just the first half of the year.

The most striking deal was a bulk purchase of five homes in Harcourt Close, Hook, for £1.851 million — almost £400,000 each. Stoddart said the developer would think “all his birthdays have come at once”, with the council avoiding estate agents’ fees, reducing legal costs and allowing the seller to immediately stop paying interest to the bank.

Thirteen high-value purchases

All properties were bought for over £100,000 and moved into the council’s HRA stock:

Address	Location	Price	Completion
32 Southdown Close	Pembroke	£115,000	29/07/2025
8 Hyfrydle	Letterston	£115,000	01/08/2025
6 Precelly Place	Milford Haven	£120,000	22/09/2025
50 Heywood Court	Tenby	£125,000	02/10/2025
33 Croft Avenue	Hakin, Milford Haven	£130,000	20/10/2025
7 Hyfrydle	Letterston	£135,000	05/09/2025
18 St Clements Park	Freystrop	£140,000	14/07/2025
55 College Park	Neyland	£140,000	28/10/2025
26 Baring Gould Way	Haverfordwest	£146,000	15/08/2025
25 Station Road	Letterston	£170,000	10/10/2025
16 Woodlands Crescent	Milford Haven	£283,000	31/10/2025
26 & 27 Harcourt Close	Hook	£744,000	22/10/2025
23, 24 & 25 Harcourt Close	Hook	£1,107,000	30/07/2025

All purchases were made from HRA reserves with no borrowing, a point the council highlights as prudent financial management.

Fears over market distortion

Stoddart also warned that the authority’s deep pockets may be pricing out young families by outbidding first-time buyers for entry-level homes. “If classical economic theory is to be believed, it’s forcing up the price,” he said.

House prices in Pembrokeshire have risen around 15% in the past year, according to recent ONS data. Local estate agents, speaking anonymously, told this newspaper that council intervention “definitely nudges prices upward” in hotspots like Hook, Neyland and Milford Haven.

Council defends strategy

A council spokesperson said the approach was necessary to deliver homes “immediately” amid chronic shortages.

“Acquiring existing properties allows us to respond quickly to housing need,” they said. “New-builds remain a priority, but delays in planning, construction and funding mean we must use all available tools to meet demand. All purchases represent value for money and are compliant with our HRA strategy.”

Housing charity Shelter Cymru took a different view, arguing that “recycling stock is not a substitute for expansion”. The charity says Pembrokeshire needs around 500 new affordable homes a year to meet demand.

‘Residents deserve homes, not headaches’

Social housing waiting lists in Pembrokeshire now exceed 2,000 applicants. With another Cabinet briefing due later this month, Stoddart says he will push for a fundamental rethink.

“It’s time to stop standing still,” he told this newspaper. “Our residents deserve homes, not headaches.”

News

Angle RNLI launch stood down after false distress beacon alert

Published

1 hour ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

ANGLE RNLI were paged at 10:47am this morning after an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) was triggered on a local fishing vessel in the Dale Roads area.

Dale Coastguard Rescue Team was also tasked to investigate the alert.

As the lifeboat crew prepared to launch, further checks by HM Coastguard — along with direct contact from the vessel’s skipper — confirmed the beacon had been activated accidentally.

With no-one found to be in difficulty, the launch was cancelled.

Business

Cardiff Airport announces special Air France flights for Six Nations

Published

2 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

Direct services to Paris-Charles de Gaulle launched to cater for Welsh supporters, French fans and couples planning a Valentine’s getaway

CARDIFF AIRPORT and Air France have unveiled a series of special direct flights between Cardiff (CWL) and Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) scheduled for February 2026.

Timed to coincide with two major dates — the Wales v France Six Nations clash on Saturday 15 February and Valentine’s weekend — the flights are designed to offer supporters and holidaymakers an easy link between the two capitals.

For travelling French rugby fans, the services provide a straightforward route into Wales ahead of match day at the Principality Stadium, when Cardiff will once again be transformed by the colour, noise and passion that accompanies one of the tournament’s most eagerly awaited fixtures.

For Welsh passengers, the additional flights offer a seamless escape to Paris for Valentine’s Day, as well as opportunities for short breaks and onward travel via Air France’s wider global network.

Cardiff Airport CEO Jon Bridge said: “We’re thrilled to offer direct flights to such a vibrant and exciting city for Valentine’s weekend. Cardiff Airport is expanding its reach and giving customers fantastic travel options. We’ve listened to passenger demand and are delighted to make this opportunity possible. There is more to come from Cardiff.”

Tickets are already on sale via the Air France website and through travel agents.

Special flight schedule

Paris (CDG) → Cardiff (CWL):