The Party for the people of Wales

It is looking clear from canvassing that Plaid Cymru’s support is set to swell in Bridgend and membership is on an increase. What is even more encouraging is the increase in support from people outside of Wales, especially those from Wales’ nearest neighbour and closest friend England.

Within the Bridgend Constituency we have always had a significant number of English members who have chosen to make Wales and indeed Bridgend their home. However, in the past I have been left frustrated by some people’s misconceptions that Plaid is a party only for Welsh people or even more frustratingly only for Welsh speakers.

The reality of course is that there are more non-Welsh speakers than Welsh speakers within the party’s membership and many of our current politicians themselves were born in England. Plaid is a party for the people of Wales and not just Welsh people, which is why we can boast a diverse and talented range of candidates for this Welsh General Election.

The misconceptions on the doorsteps of Bridgend have been less and less frequent during this campaign. Perhaps testament to how Plaid have benefited all people’s lives while in government.

Time to give the BNP a hammering

Only back in January, the BNP claimed that they were the only party able to solve the economic crisis across the UK. Fascist parties have always made stringent efforts to prosper in difficult economic times. It is highly unlikely that fascist parties headed by both Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini would have dramatically risen if it were not for the Wall Street Crash of 1929, of course, other factors did contribute towards their rise in popularity, but using scapegoats for Germany and Italy’s difficulties was significant.

Just like the Nazi’s of the past, the BNP will look for scapegoats as services are hit and unemployment may rise. They will target disenfranchised workers with racist bile and misdemeanor. The bottom line is can we trust thugs with our health, education, environment and employment schemes – the message I am receiving on Bridgend and Porthcawl doorsteps is a firm no!

Notwithstanding their obvious political inability, their claims that they are the only party who could solve the economic crisis is equally laughable given the dire financial mess that their own party have find themselves in.

With decreasing membership, the party is increasingly in debt and was fined £1,000 by the Electoral Commission for the late and inadequate submission of their 2008 accounts. Indeed, they were fined no less than five times over a two year period for financial irregularities.
Even more farcical, their resent Treasurer has no reclamation of local branch funds of £90,000, which is presumably lost while the party is being crippled by numerous court costs including the inappropriate use of Marmite in an election broadcast.

I hope that the people of Bridgend and people across South Wales West will create a further financial headache for the BNP, by giving them a hammering in the polls and making sure they lose their deposits.

Porthcawl Regeneration shambles

It certainly looks like Bridgend County Borough Council will drag their shambolic handling of the Porthcawl Seven Bays Regeneration Project well in to the year and beyond.

Citizens of the town have every right to voice their concerns over BCBC’s shortfall in meaningful public consultation, the lack of planned public facilities and not to mention the arrogant handling of the local town council and campaigners, which included county councillors voting to exclude community groups from the a recent Regeneration Forum meeting.

I support Porthcawl SHOUT in their decision to call in the Welsh Audit Commission to look into the financial handling of the sale of land to retailers Tesco. The Council’s lack of business acumen was exposed when it was revealed that ratepayers would only receive 30% of the £6.5m profit. The remaining 70% or £4.7m will go to the Evans family despite the fact that the family only own 20% of the land area. All of these discussions were conducted during secret cabinet meetings, when the Council are only custodians to local land.

I recently met a number of people when I set up a street stall on John Street and the overwhelming number of people I spoke with was extremely disgruntled over the lack of facilities on offer in the town. Examples included a cinema, a theatre and a swimming pool. Of course, the demand for a local swimming pool is well documented with the annual Pool-less swimming gala and a petition containing in excess of 5,000 signatures. Alas, these valiant efforts have been ignored by County Councillors.

Porthcawl is an attractive town with the potential to become Wales’ premier seaside tourist venue – if not the UK’s. With stunning sandy beaches, attractive coastlines and ample green land surrounding the town, the natural resources ooze potential for a buoyant tourism industry. However, the regeneration should provide facilities for local people and to draw in a wider number of tourists. Compare the project with the proposed development of Barry a few miles down the road. The Barry regeneration project will bring a major improvement to the town; children’s play facilities, improved transport infrastructure and facilities to improve local health through sport initiatives.

Building a better Bridgend town centre

While talking to people on their doorsteps across Bridgend and Porthcawl, one of the major themes that they want to discuss is the future of our County Borough town centres, which have often been sadly neglected by our Council’s administrations. I believe a Plaid driven government could deliver a better Bridgend town centre and restore similar areas to their former prosperity.

In discussion, one resident described Bridgend town centre as ‘going to the dogs’ and like a ‘ghost town’, which saddened me as this is the town where I live and have chosen to bring up my family in. While I am somewhat more upbeat on the area’s future, town centres like Bridgend would benefit from Plaid’s plans to improve access for local people and visitors, use empty shops as commercial offices, promote local produce, and create more living space in town centres. This would give the area a more vibrant feel and promote small businesses.

If regeneration investment is directed to include facilities for residents and tourists, I believe Porthcawl can unlock its potential to be a major tourism hub pulling in thousands of jobs and boosting the local economy. I am also positive that following the work of Plaid’s Deputy Housing Minsiter, Jocelyn Davies, who succoured a £9m EU backed funding package for Bridgend town centre, we can create a more prosperous, more vibrant and quite simply a better Bridgend town centre.

Improving Bridgend's business potential

One of the main challenges facing, Bridgend, is improving the business infrastructure to help local businesses flourish and grow.

With this in mind, I was slightly disappointed that the UK Government has announced that the electrification of the Swansea to Paddington line will end at Cardiff, missing out Bridgend completely. The people of Bridgend will miss out on quicker, cleaner and quieter transport, while local businesses will also lose out.

Plaid have been proactive in developing an approach to adapting a 21st century business infrastructure for Wales including better mobile, broadband and free Wi-Fi as well as a modern transport system to move Wales forward. Our technological improvements include linking every business and home to fast broadband and creating Wi-Fi hotspots across the country.

Implementing broadband lines will enable speeds of 100 Mbs, which will help make Wales a truly wireless nation, giving Welsh businesses the tools to be competitive. Plaid also has plans to improve mobile reception and to electrify many of our rail lines. Improving Broadband is fundamentally essential in developing the Welsh knowledge economy, which involves economists, computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians, chemists and physicists and any other information based service. Our plans will ensure businesses and individuals can network and innovate.

Bridgend’s geographic location nestling between both Wales’s two major cities, Swansea and Cardiff, often means that businesses overlook Bridgend to favour locating their businesses to areas that have a more advanced infrastructure. However, our plans will open up new opportunities and will make more Welsh communities appealing to businesses. We also have plans to establish a voluntary scheme called Wi-Fi Wales, where social areas such as train stations, pubs, cafes and libraries will sign up to providing Wi-Fi for the community. In a relatively densely populated area like Bridgend, this could allow many businesses and individuals to benefit.

Mobile phone reception has also been identified as a problem. A Plaid Government would lend money to local community groups in order to give them the power to tackle mobile phone signal problems. This has already been a major success in Ceredigion, which is home to the university town, Aberystwyth. A local community not for profit group has received a £164,542 grant to pay for a signal mast, which will benefit 1,500 people. This is an exciting opportunity, which I hope can be put to use in Bridgend and Porthcawl.

With a local train station and nearby motorway, which connects the people of Bridgend to Cardiff, London and to the west, Swansea, Bridgend is already well equipped to support business’s transport needs. We will improve this experience with a new stock of trains and buses that will include free Wi-Fi making commuting in and out of Bridgend an enjoyable experience.

People before profits

Nobody is in any doubt, that following Labour’s laissez faire attitude to financial regulation and an over reliance on the City of London, the economy inevitably overheated resulting in an eye watering national debt. However, the cuts imposed on Wales from the Tory led Government have been too savage and too deep, which has put essential Welsh frontline services in jeopardy such as care for our most elderly and needy.

Many Plaid run councils have showed innovative solutions to not only protecting public services against Welsh local government’s most challenging financial settlement, they have also kept Council tax low -and in the case of Caerphilly- council tax has been frozen. Compare this to the Labour run administrations that has used bullyboy tactics with cuts to hard working public sector workers pay, threats of redundancies and the ripping up of contracts for worse terms of conditions. Meanwhile, Bridgend County Borough Council remains steeped in bureaucracy and top heavy in senior management. Is there any surprise that this tired Labour administration is proposing the privatisation of three care homes and leisure services?

The administration also continue to employ seven officers on a salary in excess of £100k, while the tax payer forks out on a 3.5% increase in council tax. I am delighted to be working with Plaid Cymru Candidate for Ogmore, Danny Clark and South West Wales Regional AM, Bethan Jenkins in a campaign for the restoration of public services in Bridgend. The overwhelming number of residents I have spoken to are completely against privatisation. Even in these difficult times, we must ensure our most needy are put before profiteering.

At a packed public meeting in Tondu, my Plaid colleagues and I raised the concern of what assurances will the Council put forward to ensure private organisations are acting accordingly in their obligations to the elderly and how will the private sector maintain quality of care in these difficult economic times when their primary goal is to maximise profit.

We look forward to discussing the future of care homes and leisure facilities at our next public meeting on Wednesday 6th April from 6.30 pm at the Hi-Tide, Porthcawl.

Calling time on cheap supermarket alcohol

Saturday evening was spent at my local pub in Brackla where I settled down to watch Wales verses France, with the faint hope of Wales clinching the Six Nations Championship following Englands’ defeat to Ireland.

While the chances of Wales achieving glory grew fainter and fainter, I was pleased that my local pub was packed full of people. Although the pub is well frequented, the obvious attraction of the rugby drew a number of additional punters in.

Some time ago, the local media had reported that the Bridgend area had witnessed a number of pub closers, which is obviously as a direct consequence of not only the difficult financial climate, but also the difficult regulatory and taxation burden put on pub landlords. I am glad to say, that many of the closed pubs have since found new landlords and they continue to draw on custom.

Behind every thriving community, there is usually a responsible landlord running a well-run pub. The pub offers a safe environment where adults can chat, meet and discuss the day’s events over a pint. Not only do pubs have social benefits, but also they provide a significant amount of income to the local economy and they employ local people.

In these difficult times, many people are turning their back on pubs and drinking cheaper alcohol from supermarkets. The increase in unregulated drinking has created a significant increase in alcohol related health problems. With this in mind, I am strongly in favour of supporting a minimum price for alcohol. It is simply no surprise to me at all, that when a certain supermarket charges as little as 20p for a can of larger, many of our pubs are calling time on trade.