News

Superfast broadband rollout criticised

Published

10 years ago

April 19, 2016

Ed Hunt: Superfast boss was grilled by audience

A MEETING was held on Wednesday for those living in rural communities to express their concerns over the BT Superfast internet rollout.

The Director of Superfast Cymru, Ed Hunt, attended the meeting, held at Whitland Memorial Hall, to answer questions from those concerned about delays and omissions from rollout. BT has claimed that 95% of the population of Wales will have access to fibre broadband.

Although the meeting started at 6pm, the hall was packed to capacity, with more than 80 people in attendance. It was immediately evident that the topic resonated with many in the area.

Most of those present were from the rural west Carmarthenshire and east Pembrokeshire area, where a number of communities are hampered by very slow internet speeds – down to less than a megabyte per second (MBPS). By contrast, those receiving the full benefits of the Superfast upgrade will reach speeds of 24-32 MBPS.

Mr Hunt began by pointing out that the reason that the Welsh Governmentsubsidised scheme had been rolled out was ‘because no communications company wanted to take the risk.’

“I’m not the problem – I’m fixing the problem,” he added, stating that without BT there would be no Superfast Broadband at all in the region.

Defending criticisms that the rollout was too slow, Mr Hunt claimed that the Welsh rollout by BT was the fastest in the UK. He added that New Zealand, which he described as a similar kind of country to Wales, aimed to have reached 85% of people by 2023. “Wales will have achieved that by next year,” he said.

It was also claimed that Wales was in a better position in terms of Superfast coverage than France, Germany, the United States, and the rest of the UK.

However, Mr Hunt acknowledged that ‘you guys are here because you haven’t got it – I understand.’

He explained that the contract with the Welsh Government did not cover 100% of Welsh houses, and expressed doubt that in some cases it was even possible to provide a service. “Some people here are not going to get good news,” he added, before explaining that there were certain grants available from the Welsh Government to assist in these cases.

Mr Hunt also pointed out that those present were in a minority in more ways than one, and that only around 12% of the population of Carmarthenshire had taken up the Superfast option. In Pembrokeshire, around 25% had.

“Providers won’t come down here, because there is not the clamour for the service that people think there is,” he claimed.

However, a number of residents present seemed less-than-convinced with the glowing picture painted. Whether or not, as was implied, this was because most of those present were among the have-nots, the questions from the floor offered a wide-ranging criticism of the rollout and general BT policy in the region.

Simon Hart MP, who organised the meeting, pointed out that vagaries in the rollout times had stopped people taking up temporary solutions like satellite internet for fear of losing out financially.

In response to a point made by Mr Hunt, who had said that BT was willing to work with customers in locations outside the rollout if they were willing to carry out some of the infrastructure work or costs themselves, he pointed out that a pensioner in his constituency had been quoted £180,000 by BT to get the full service.

Mr Hunt said that this ‘illustrated the difficulties of the project.’ He suggested that possibly a local resident with a JCB might like to lend a hand to keep the costs down.

BT was accused of neglecting the existing network in the race to install fibre-optic cable, with a number of people claiming that they had been without the internet for lengthy periods over the winter due to repeated cable breakages.

One Whitland resident pointed out that they were unable to get even 1MBPS ‘one-and-a-half miles from the A40’ and asked why it wasn’t possible to get even 2MBPS through the existing copper network.

Mr Hunt’s claim that ‘we don’t have a reliability problem’ was met with a chorus of ‘no, we do’ from the audience. He pointed out that he was ‘not in business to provide a 2MBPS service’ and advised the questioner to ‘take it up with the Welsh Government.’

An audience member from Meidrim pointed out that work there had been delayed for several months because the cable had to cross a level crossing.

In response, Mr Hunt said: “I don’t have to deliver to your house by the end of March, but I have to deliver to a certain number of properties across Wales. If we have snags, I am entitled to move engineers when I see fit.”

Another Meidrim resident was somewhat disgruntled that a fibre cable between two exchanges ran past her garden gate, while she was only able to get 2KBPS internet in her house.

The number of properties which would actually benefit from ‘Superfast’ speeds of more than 15MBPS was also questioned, given that any property more than 1.5km from a cabinet would only get fast broadband. The Village Clerk for Martletwy claimed that she had checked online, and out of 300 properties in the area only 15 would get the full Superfast benefits.

Several representatives of the business community pointed out that good broadband service was essential for attracting and running businesses in the region. Given the focus on tourism in west Wales at present, it was also noted that decent internet speeds were a priority for those booking holiday cottages, which often tend to be in more remote areas.

In response to those who asked why south east Wales had received the service upgrades first, Mr Hunt replied that due to the project being delayed by external forces at the beginning of the rollout, BT had been forced to concentrate on areas with higher population density in order to meet the targets set and avoid jeopardising EU grant money.

As the tone of the questions became increasingly heated, Mr Hunt said: “I can’t give all the people the answer they want tonight. I didn’t have to come here, but I am happy to.”

He also reiterated that: “if it wasn’t for BT coming in and putting money on the table, you would have nothing.”

It is worth noting that BT has made a £220m investment in the project, which has an estimated payback time of 15 years.

Mr Hart pointed out that in his opinion, given where internet provision was in this region 5-10 years ago this was ‘still a good news story’. He also refuted Mr Hunt’s claim that all those present were there because they didn’t have access to the service: “We are all here not just because we don’t have Superfast broadband, but because of confusion about when we are going to get it,” he added.

However, the last word was had by a gentleman who referred back to previous concerns about copper cables from exchanges to houses: “Superfast broadband is theoretical, and will remain entirely so for everyone in this room until the copper cables are replaced,” he said.

After the meeting, a number of one-to-one sessions were had with audience members, who received answers to specific questions about service provision.

Speaking to audience members, a number believed Mr Hunt had been somewhat arrogant in his approach, and his remark that he ‘didn’t have to come here’ was quoted more than once. However, others were more encouraged, with one lady saying he was ‘a brave man for coming!’

A common theme was a perceived lack of maintenance to the existing system – something that Mr Hunt had earlier refuted – and the communication between the company and residents was described as ‘abysmal’.

Simon Hart said that he hoped the meeting had been ‘the first of a process’.

When we suggested that these problems were only experienced by a small minority of residents, he said: “I don’t buy the argument that most people are happy. As long as one person is left out in the cold we should pursue this vigorously.

“We have heard quite legitimate concerns tonight. People understand that this is a slow, expensive process, but want to hear the truth, and to have things explained to them.

“I hope that the BT representatives leave here tonight realising that it is not all a good news story.”

However, Mr Hart refuted criticism of Mr Hunt’s perceived ‘arrogance’: “If I was in their shoes, if your life is spent working for BT, I think you will be quite defensive,” he said.

“What tonight was about was saying that yes, we are grateful, but there are areas that need to be addressed.”

News

Conservatives reject calls for more Senedd powers amid Labour devolution row

Published

11 minutes ago

December 5, 2025

Tom Sinclair

WELSH CONSERVATIVE leader Darren Millar MS has dismissed renewed Labour calls for further Senedd powers, warning that the Welsh Government should “stop making excuses” and focus instead on tackling crises in health, education and the economy.

His comments follow an extraordinary intervention earlier this week by 11 Labour backbench MSs, who wrote to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on 3 December accusing his government of “rolling back” devolution. The signatories — including former ministers Mick Antoniw, Lesley Griffiths and Lee Waters — said they were “increasingly concerned” by the lack of progress on key commitments such as reforming the Barnett formula, devolving rail infrastructure, policing and justice, and transferring the Crown Estate to Wales.

The letter singled out the UK Government’s new “Pride in Place” funding scheme — which sends regeneration money for town-centre improvements directly to Welsh councils — as a “constitutional outrage,” arguing that it sidesteps devolved powers through the UK Internal Market Act 2020. Although First Minister Eluned Morgan has raised the issue with Starmer, no Welsh ministers added their names to the letter, laying bare internal tensions as Labour falls back in polls ahead of the 2026 Senedd election.

Opposition parties seized on the dispute. Plaid Cymru’s Mabon ap Gwynfor MS said it showed Labour “falling apart,” while Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds criticised Westminster’s “deep lack of understanding” of the devolution settlement.

At a Council of the Nations and Regions summit on Thursday, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones — standing in for Starmer — defended the UK Government’s record, saying Labour in Westminster had been “delivering at pace” in partnership with Wales. The 26 November Budget provided £508 million in additional resource and capital funding for Wales over the Spending Review period, alongside commitments to Port Talbot brownfield remediation, a South Wales semiconductor cluster, nuclear investment at Wylfa and a £547 million Local Growth Fund devolved to the Welsh Government. Welsh ministers welcomed many of these as having “generational” value, though the Labour MSs’ letter said they fell short of promised constitutional reform.

The Welsh Conservatives have consistently opposed further Senedd powers, arguing that Cardiff Bay already holds significant authority under the existing settlement established in 1997 and expanded in 2011, 2014 and 2017. Millar, who became Welsh Conservative leader in 2024, has previously ruled out abolishing the Senedd as unrealistic, while urging ministers to “transform people’s lives with devolution” by using existing powers more effectively.

Pointing to record pressures in devolved services, Millar said Labour was fixated on constitutional arguments while outcomes worsen. NHS waiting lists in Wales stood at 789,929 pathways by mid-2025 — nearly one in four residents — with first outpatient waits in parts of Rhondda Cynon Taf stretching from 28 to 68 weeks or more. Public satisfaction with the Welsh NHS averaged 5.1 out of 10 in the year to March 2025, down from 6.3 in 2021–22. Education attendance figures for 2023–24 showed slow post-pandemic recovery, while youth employment (16–24) fell to 52.5% in the year to March 2025. Wales’ unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in the year to June 2025, slightly above the UK’s 4.0%, with areas such as Swansea reaching 8.2%. Economic inactivity among 16–64-year-olds remained high at 24.1%.

Darren Millar MS said: “One Labour Government damaging Wales was bad enough — now we have two, and things are twice as bad.

After two damaging budgets, Welsh Government ministers are focused on infighting about Senedd powers instead of fixing the everyday problems families are facing.

The Senedd doesn’t need more powers. What we need is a government that accepts responsibility, stops making excuses, and uses the extensive powers already available to get to grips with the crisis in our NHS, improve standards in our schools, and tackle Wales’ spiralling unemployment.

Only a Welsh Conservative Government will fix Wales.”

The dispute reflects wider public debate on whether devolution is delivering results. Polling suggests consistent support for having a Senedd, but growing frustration over service performance. With the 2026 election approaching and Reform UK and Plaid Cymru gaining ground, Labour’s internal split over devolution exposes fresh vulnerabilities as the party tries to navigate its relationship with Westminster.

Entertainment

Capturing the stories of the stars at the Torch Theatre

Published

16 minutes ago

December 5, 2025

Tom Sinclair

RENOWNED storytellers Daniel Morden and Hugh Lupton are bringing a new intimate theatre experience to Wales next spring, exploring classic myths inspired by the night sky. Stars and their Consolations, produced by Adverse Camber Productions, will tour Wales in Spring 2026 and arrives at the Torch Theatre in March.

The production reimagines well-known Greek star myths through a blend of live storytelling, projected animations of the night sky and a mesmerising electro-acoustic soundscape created by award-winning Welsh composer Sarah Lianne Lewis.

The show has evolved from an earlier collaboration between Adverse Camber, Morden, Lupton and Lewis. Its first incarnation premiered in west Wales at the Beyond the Border Storytelling Festival 2021, and the company further developed the piece in 2022. This enhanced touring version promises a majestic, hypnotic experience that brings ancient tales to life with fresh theatrical energy.

Described as a beautiful way to reconnect with stories that have been shared around fires for thousands of years, the production explores familiar constellations such as Orion, Pegasus, the Pleiades, Sirius and the Milky Way.

Storyteller and co-creator Daniel Morden said: “Stars and their Consolations is a way of restoring the night sky. When we listen to these myths, we are connecting with our ancestors. It is as if a hand has reached out from the past and taken our own, and we feel less alone.”

The two-hour show, suitable for ages 12 and over, invites audiences into an enthralling world where gods toy mercilessly with mortals, and stories of pride, lust and passion unfold against the vast canvas of the cosmos. The epic sweep of the sky, the creators say, offers a grounding and consoling perspective on human troubles.

Producer Naomi Wilds added: “Stories shared together bring people together. We all live under the same sky, though it looks different depending on where you stand. Star-related stories help us remember constellation patterns, mark the seasons and even warn us about issues such as light pollution. They remind us why the night sky is valuable, and why we must protect it for future generations.”

Six-month bilingual storytelling project across Wales

Ahead of the spring tour, Adverse Camber—supported by Prosiect Nos Partnership, Theatrau Sir Gâr, Arts Council Wales, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Colwinston Foundation, The Darkley Trust, Welsh Government, Literature Wales and People Speak Up—is launching a six-month initiative: Cysur y Sêr (The Comfort of the Stars).

This Welsh-led, bilingual project will develop new Welsh-language stories, explore the environmental impacts of light pollution and climate change, and leave a long-lasting storytelling legacy. Ten bilingual storytellers will work with communities near venues across Wales in the lead-up to Dark Skies Week in February 2026, before linking into the touring production in March and April.

Although Stars and their Consolations focuses on Greek mythology, the creative team emphasises that Wales itself has some of the best protected night skies in the world—and a largely forgotten tradition of celestial storytelling.

Morden noted: “The Welsh landscape used to be populated with stories. We’ve forgotten many of them—on the ground and in the heavens. If STARS helps make the night sky magical and precious again, perhaps we will do more to protect it.”

Dani Robertson, Dark Sky Officer for the Prosiect Nos Partnership, added:
“Interest in Dark Sky watching across Wales is growing. We suspect many of the star stories once told in rural and coastal communities have been lost, but Cysur y Sêr may uncover memories people still hold. Sharing them helps pass this knowledge on to the future.”

How to watch

Stars and their Consolations will appear at the Torch Theatre on Tuesday, 24 March.
For more information and tickets, visit www.torchtheatre.co.uk
or contact the Box Office on (01646) 695267.

Community

St Davids lights up for annual Christmas tree and wreath contest

Published

22 minutes ago

December 5, 2025

Tom Sinclair

Menevia WI, Girl Guides and local groups among the winners at a packed Cross Square event

CHARITIES, schools and community groups lit up St Davids on 29 November 2025, showcasing creativity, craftsmanship and festive spirit as hundreds gathered in Cross Square for the annual Christmas Tree and Wreath Competition.

The winners were chosen by public vote. Taking first place in the adults’ category was Menevia WI, whose extraordinary tree, nativity scene and decorations were ingeniously created from a clothes airer and wooden pegs.

Second place went to the City Council Coffee and Chat Group with a thoughtful Christmas-and-Remembrance design, featuring hand-knitted red, white and blue decorations. St Davids RNLI secured third with a lifeboat-themed tree celebrating their lifesaving work.

In the children’s category, St Davids Girl Guides took the top spot with a charming design featuring “Girl-Guide-ified” Santas, tents and the iconic Guide logo. Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi (YPD) came second with a colourful puzzle-themed tree carrying the message: “In this school you are a special piece of the puzzle.” Close behind in third place was Brawdy Hayscastle YFC with an inventive cow-themed Christmas tree.

The wreath category also highlighted the community’s talent. The Drifters claimed first place with a striking star-shaped wreath, while Lego Church secured second with a brilliantly crafted Lego design. Third place went to Rebecca Thornton for her beautifully knitted wreath featuring Santa and his reindeer.

As the Christmas lights were switched on and Cross Square filled with families, the event once again showcased the creativity and community spirit that make Wales’s smallest city shine at Christmas.