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Welsh council discusses CAP building blocks

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be53d2bbabd9ffaeb9777e1d47e84d73WELSH Government, through the CAP, is committed to supporting a productive agriculture industry in Wales with a strong emphasis on family farms helping to deliver this aim.
This was the key message from both the Minister for Natural Resources and Food, Alun Davies and Andrew Slade, Welsh Government Director of Agriculture, Food and Marine, when they addressed the autumn meeting of NFU Cymru Welsh Council in Cardiff earlier this week.
Speaking on Monday night to Welsh Council delegates over dinner, the Minister said: “The challenge we all have together, in making decisions on this round of CAP negotiations, is articulating a vision of our industry at the end of this CAP period – in seven years’ time. We have to put the building blocks in place for the future. We all need to think about our community, our county and our nation and what will sustain this industry into the future.”
In response NFU Cymru President Ed Bailey said: “NFU Cymru fully respects the challenge ahead for Welsh Government in implementing and delivering the new CAP in Wales from 2015 and we hope the Minister’s commitment to our industry will manifest itself when it comes to the issues that he has the flexibility to decide upon for Wales.”
Members at Council were however frustrated by the lack of detail from Welsh Government on how it intends to deliver support to farmers under the Wales Rural Development Plan (RDP) from 2015.
The Welsh Government is currently consulting on proposals for delivering direct payments to farmers from 2015. It is NFU Cymru’s view that at the same time the Government should be providing farmers with the ‘full picture’ and providing similar detail with regards to the schemes it intends to deliver under the Wales RDP from 2015.
Mr Bailey said, “We have always seen the two pillars of CAP as being complementary. Pillar one delivers a level of income stability to help farmers cope with market failure and pillar two delivers wider social and environmental support.
“Farmers are rightly asking that Welsh Government signals its intentions for both pillars of the CAP to help the industry fully consider how the new CAP will impact on their farming business in what is now just over 14 months’ time.
“The Minister states that he is prepared to move up to 15% of resource from Pillar 1 to Pillar 2 and that this money will be focussed on the improvement of farm and forestry businesses. He also states that he is considering an ANC (uplands) scheme under Pillar 2 but on all these issues no more detail is yet available.
‘’We urgently ask the Welsh Government to provide more clarity on their thinking. I cannot see how they can be contemplating shifting this amount of resource unless they have firm ideas of how and where it will be spent. This information needs to be shared with industry.
“We have real concerns with regard to the possibility of up to 15% of direct payments being siphoned off to rural development measures. This would be on top of resource required to be set aside to fund the National Reserve and Young Farmers elements of Pillar 1 and will put enormous pressure on Welsh farming businesses, businesses that on average already receive some of the lowest levels per hectare of direct payments in Europe.”

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Rugby Weekly – Tenby’s promotion push continues

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It’s crunch time for all rugby clubs around the county, whether promotion is their aim or fighting relegation or even just trying to improve their league position, it’s now or never. 

Last weekend saw an important win for Fishguard in division two west which should put any relegation fears to bed completely. James Griffiths added an impressive 18 points for the Seagulls as they defeated Nantgaredig 33-19. 

Elsewhere in the second division, Milford were beaten 32-8 by a good Lampeter outfit. The Mariners are still a little too close for comfort with the drop zone but should have enough quality to see them safe. 

At the other end of the table Tenby sit in second place and have played fewer games than leaders St Clears and third place Lampeter. They won impressively again last weekend, beating Pontyberem 64-19 at Haywood Lane. Fletcher Broadhurst impressed with two tries as did Hywel Baker who also grabbed himself a brace. Another excellent performance in an outstanding season so far in which promotion would be the absolute icing on the cake. 

In Division Three West, Pembroke were well beaten by Laugharne 74-15 in which the outstanding Liam Price and Nico Setaro both crossed the whitewash 4 teams a piece. The latter also added 7 successful conversions. 

There was a local derby at Pill Parks where Llangwm hosted Pembroke Dock Quins and it was an exciting clash. The visitors won narrowly 28-23, Craig Barnett and Gethin Bradney both scored two tries for the Quins. The Wasps battled hard and will be proud of their performance, Gethin Thomas impressed for the hosts with two tries of his own but it wasn’t enough to secure the points. 

St David’s hosted the high flying Cardigan outfit and were unable to score in reply to the visitors 20 points, with it ending 20-0. The Saints however won’t be losing too much sleep over it as they have had a great season so far. 

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Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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