Nadolig Llawen

A packed Owain Glyndwr Square for the switching on of Aberystwyth's Christmas lights.

Nadolig Llawen i bawb
A Merry Christmas to all

Aberystwyth honours Mandela

The flags of South Africa and Wales have been flying at half-mast over Aberystwyth Town Hall this weekend to mark the passing of Nelson Mandela.

The flag was raised during a ceremony attended by, amongst others, Ceredigion Council Leader Ellen ap Gwynn and Alec Dauncey, the last secretary of the town's anti-apartheid group. 

Aberystwyth had an active anti-apartheid campaign throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s. In 1989 they organised two demonstrations in the town against sportsmen breaking the widely accepted boycott of South Africa. The first was against a 'rebel' Welsh rugby team training in the town and the second against a boycott-breaking cricketer.

The day Mandela was released, in February 1990, dozens of people gathered on the steps above and sang 'Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrica', the anthem of the African National Congress which uses the tune 'Aberystwyth' by Joseph Parry and which has, since 1997, become part of the new South African national anthem.

Meanwhile, to complete the Aberystwyth anti-apartheid links, at the other end of town, on the wall of the old Unitarian Chapel in New Street,  is the plaque below:

Although David Ivon Jones died only six years after Mandela was born, he was an important figure in the gestation of the African National Congress, Mandela's party which ultimately triumphed in South Africa's 1994 General Election.

Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire bus services restored with local operators

Cyngor Sir	NEWYDDION  NEWS
CEREDIGION
County Council
SICRHAU GWASANAETHAU BWS CEREDIGION A SIR GÂR	CEREDIGION AND CARMARTHENSHIRE BUS SERVICES RESTORED
Datganiad ar y cyd gan Gyngor Sir Ceredigion a Chyngor Sir Gâr. Mae Cyngor Sir Ceredigion a Chyngor Sir Gâr yn falch o gyhoeddi, yn sgil penderfyniad Arriva i ddileu’r gwasanaeth 20 rhwng Aberystwyth a Chaerdydd, y gwasanaethau 40 a 40C rhwng Aberystwyth a Chaerfyrddin a’r gwasanaeth 50 rhwng Aberystwyth, Ceinewydd a Synod Inn, ein bod wedi dyfarnu contractau i Lewis Coaches o Lanrhystud, First Cymru a’r Brodyr Richards i ddarparu gwasanaethau yn eu lle hyd at ddiwedd Mehefin 2014. Mae’r ddau Gyngor yn ddiolchgar i Lywodraeth Cymru a’r Gweinidog Trafnidiaeth am gyfrannu’r arian sydd wedi ein galluogi i roi’r trefniadau hyn ar waith. Byddant yn awr yn edrych ymlaen at gydweithio â Llywodraeth Cymru wrth ddatblygu gwasanaeth Traws Cymru a fydd yn cadw’r bysus ar y ffyrdd ac efallai’n cyflwyno rhagor ohonynt ar ôl mis Mehefin nesaf. Meddai’r Cynghorydd Alun Williams, Aelod Cabinet Cyngor Sir Ceredigion dros Drafnidiaeth: “Mae wedi bod yn gyfnod anodd i ddefnyddwyr y gwasanaethau bws yng Ngheredigion a Sir Gâr, ar ôl i Arriva gyhoeddi eu bod yn tynnu allan o’r ddwy sir. Ar ôl trafodaethau dwys, rwy’n eithriadol o falch o fedru cyhoeddi y gallwn ddal i ddarparu’r gwasanaethau 40, 40C a 50. Bydd y gwasanaeth 40/40C rhwng Aberystwyth a Chaerfyrddin yn debyg iawn i’r hyn sydd eisoes ar gael, ond mae’n rhoi pleser arbennig i ni fedru cyhoeddi y bydd y gwasanaeth 50 rhwng Aberystwyth ac Aberteifi yn un llawer gwell, ac ni fydd angen mwyach i bobl gyfnewid bysus yn Synod Inn. Rydym hefyd wedi sicrhau y bydd modd defnyddio tocynnau’r gwahanol gwmnïau ar bob bws 40, 40C a 50. “Fe wnaethom ddewis gweithio mewn cydweithrediad â’r gwasanaeth 701 i Gaerdydd, yn hytrach na chystadlu ag ef, a dylai pob gwasanaeth elwa ar hynny. “Mae pobl oedd yn arfer mynd ar y bws 20 i Gaerdydd yn awr yn medru defnyddio’r 701, neu fynd ar y 40 neu’r 40C i ddal y trên yng Nghaerfyrddin. Bydd y gwasanaeth 701 hefyd yn cludo teithwyr ar ddydd Sul. “Rwy’n arbennig o ddiolchgar i’r holl gwmnïau lleol a gyflwynodd dendrau ar gyfer y gwasanaethau hyn, i swyddogion y ddau Gyngor sydd wedi bod wrthi mor ddiwyd yn y cefndir, ac i Lywodraeth Cymru am y cymorth ariannol.” Diweddariad: amserlenni bws newydd ar gael yma	Joint statement by Ceredigion County Council and Carmarthenshire County Council. Ceredigion County Council and Carmarthenshire County Council are very pleased to announce that, following Arriva's decision to terminate the 20 service between Aberystwyth and Cardiff, the 40 and 40C services between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen and the 50 service between Aberystwyth and Synod Inn, via New Quay, that contracts have been awarded to Lewis Coaches (Llanrhystud), First Cymru and Richards Brothers to provide replacement services until the end of June 2014. Both authorities are grateful to the Welsh Government and the Minister for Transport for their financial contribution to enable these arrangements to be put in place. We hope to be working with the Welsh Government to develop a Traws Cymru service which will further develop and solidify these routes beyond June. Councillor Alun Williams, Ceredigion County Council Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “This has been a difficult time for the bus service users in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire following the announcement of the Arriva pull-out. After a period of intense negotiation, I am delighted that we can announce replacement services on the 40, 40C and 50 routes. Whilst the 40/40C service between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen will be very similar to the current service, I am particularly pleased to announce that the 50 route between Aberystwyth and Cardigan will now be a greatly enhanced through-service that will avoid the need to change in Synod Inn. We have also negotiated through-ticketing between the different companies operating the 40, 40C and 50 services. “We have taken the opportunity to work in co-operation with the existing 701 service to Cardiff rather than in competition and all services should benefit as a result. “The 20 service is currently being covered by the 701 service or by using the 40 and 40C services and connecting to the rail service at Carmarthen. Sunday services will be provided by the 701.  “I am very grateful to all the local companies who tendered for the routes, to the Council officers who have been working very hard behind the scenes and to the Welsh Government for its financial assistance.” Update: New bus timetables  available here

Funding agreed for Ceredigion bus routes

The Welsh Government  has agreed to fund alternative contracts for the Ceredigion bus services due to be lost when Arriva pulls out on 21st December.

The routes involved are:

• The 40 service from Aberystwyth to Carmarthen  via Lampeter
• The 50 service from Aberystwyth to Synod Inn

The announcement that £162,000 revenue funding will be made available to the end of June comes after several weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations during which Ceredigion Council made a very strong case for the vital economic role the services play in Ceredigion.

The 40 and 50 services run on previously unsubsidised commercial routes and it was very difficult to see how the Council could be expected to take on their funding at a time when it is being asked to make huge savings in the next financial year due to grant money being lost from central government.

The news will be a great relief to the many people entirely dependent on these bus services to get to and from work who had been viewing the planned pull-out with trepidation. Transport Minister Edwina Hart has also pleased campaigners by saying that in future the routes will be regarded as nationally strategic.

Ceredigion Council will now proceed with the tendering arrangements for the routes. 

The 585 service from Aberystwyth to Lampeter via Tregaron, which Arriva has announced it will pull out of on February 15^th, is already subsidised by the council and new tenders for this will also be sought.

By-election to Aberystwyth Town Council - The Result

Bronglais Ward
Lucy Huws (Plaid Cymru)  204 (58%)
Bryony Davies (Lib Dem)  128 (36%)
Huw Fox (Independent)  17 (4%)

Turnout 35%

The story of this election is how Plaid Cymru emerged unscathed after their main opponents poured astonishing resources into this Town Council by-election caused by the forced retirement through illness of a sitting councillor.

The Lib Dems who, like Plaid, had selected a likeable, committed candidate, saturated the area with no fewer than eleven different General Election-style leaflets during the four weeks of the campaign compared to the three produced by Plaid. To place this in perspective, even for the nationally crucial Assembly By-election in Ynys Mon this summer, Plaid produced a total of seven leaflets. 

During what remained a good-natured election at the personal level despite the ferocity of the leafletting, residents in many streets became used to receiving nightly repeat visits by senior Lib Dem politicians whilst the more modest Plaid campaign simply concentrated on the candidate talking to each household once. 

The result is given all the more credibility by the relatively high turnout for an election at this level where no polling cards were published by the Town Council in order to save money. 

The outcome is a tribute to the quality of Lucy Huws (below) as a candidate and to the resilience of the Plaid support in the ward.

Bronglais ward by-election to Aberystwyth Town Council

There’s a by-election taking place this week in the Bronglais ward of Aberystwyth Town Council. The election has been caused by the stepping down of Cllr Chris Griffiths due to illness.

Plaid’s candidate - one of three contesting the election - is Lucy Huws, pictured above in the Buarth area of the ward where she lives. Lucy was brought up in the area and is a gifted language teacher, being fluent in Welsh, Mandarin, German, French and English

Already a community activist, this year she has been spearheading the campaign to save St Winefrides Church in Queens Road and has spoken out against Royal Mail privatisation. More recently, as part of her election campaign, she has distributed survey forms to every house in the ward in support of an hourly rail service to Aberystwyth. The returned forms have contributed to the record 6,500 that have been completed across the central Wales region.

Town and Community Councils are the lowest level of government in Wales and, in contrast to similar sized communities in much of Europe, have very little power. Nevertheless they do have a voice. In recent years Aberystwyth Town Council has campaigned successfully for tighter regulations on HMOs in order to help both their tenants and neighbouring residents. It was the first organisation to install recycling banks around Aberystwyth and was successful in registering Aberystwyth as a Fair Trade town, eventually leading to Ceredigion becoming a Fair Trade county. The campaign for the Rheidol and Ystwyth cycle paths we're now used to also started in the Town Council. All these campaigns were led by Plaid Cymru councillors.

Aberystwyth Town Council makes scores of donations each year to local community groups, many of which would be greatly restricted or not survive at all without this help. It’s also been a starting point for local activists who have gone higher in the political process, most notably our Assembly member, Elin Jones.

Lucy Huws says:

“As someone who lives in Bronglais ward, I know many of the issues that concern us locally such as parking, hospital services, improving student housing, protecting our green spaces and maintaining the unique character of the area. This election campaign has allowed me to knock on every door in the ward, talking to people and sharing ideas about how to improve our fantastic community.”

The Town Council By-election in Bronglais ward takes place on Thursday November 7^th in the Buarth Hall, Stanley Road 7am-10pm. Voting cards have not been distributed by the Council as a cost-saving measure but anyone on the electoral roll can turn up and vote.

Aberystwyth's new bandstand

These artist's impressions have been submitted with the planning application for the new bandstand on Aberystwyth Prom. 

The plans are described in the application as, "a new two-storey public performance space and restaurant building". They include, on the top floor, a 72-seat cafe/restaurant with an outside balcony containing a further 29 seats. The ground floor is a 150-seat public performance space, with room to also walk around the outside and a public toilet. The development will be funded by the Welsh Government as part of Aberystwyth's Regeneration Area status.

The current, somewhat more modest, bandstand is below.

Update 15/10/13

Just received - a manufacturer’s photo of the material.  I'm told this, "Illustrates its suitability for this water’s edge location where the building will reflect the subtly changing tones of light from both the sky and the sea.

"Rockpanel Chameleon is finished with a unique crystal layer which means that the surface of the material appears to change colour depending on the angle it is viewed from and the changing effects of light.

"It has unique sustainability properties being manufactured from a minimum 30% recycled material, and is 100% re-cyclable with no downgrading of the product in the re-usage recycling phase. It is also highly efficient in the use of natural materials for its manufacture and the product has been developed in parallel with the passive housing concept. Rockpanel has also been developed to resist all weather conditions and to limit maintenance requirements to a minimum. The boards do not rot or delaminate and have a 10 year warranty and an expected  minimum durability of 40 years."

By the way, since this is the subject of a planning application, I'm not expressing a view, just providing information.

Rail survey for central Wales launched

A new survey has been launched aimed at demonstrating the demand for an improved rail service to Aberystwyth.

Following the backtracking on the previously agreed introduction of an hourly train service on the Cambrian Line, the Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth Rail Liaison Committee has been funded by the Welsh Government to conduct an exercise amongst the public of central Wales to gauge demand.

It’s very important that anyone who cares even slightly about rail services in the region fills in the survey either on-line or on a hard copy which will be available at various places. It's very clear to me that there are a wide range of people - commuters, students, shoppers, business travellers, tourists - who would use a more regular service and that this could significantly benefit the local economy, not to mention the environment. We need a big response to this as the outcome could shape our rail services for many years to come. 

The survey is here  (click on the linguistic choice in the left hand column) and is open till October 20th. Hard copies can be filled in at Aberystwyth Tourist information centre and many other places.

Arriva to pull out of Ceredigion

Arriva have announced the ending of their bus services in Ceredigion and the closure of depots in Aberystwyth, New Quay, Lampeter and Dolgellau. 

The company’s commercial services though the county will stop on 21^st December and the 585 subsidised route, which Ceredigion County Council helps to fund, will finish on 15^th February next year. 46 staff have received redundancy notices. 

The closures look like this:

From 21^st December:
20  Aberystwyth - Cardiff
40  Aberystwyth - Carmarthen 
40C  Lampeter - Carmarthen
50  Aberystwyth - New Quay
x94  Wrecsam - Dolgellau - Barmouth

From 15^th Feb 2014:
585  Aberystwyth – Tregaron - Lampeter

Details of all bus services running in Ceredigion are here

Whilst Arriva have fulfilled their statutory duties in terms of giving notice of the cuts, it’s very disappointing that more warning couldn’t have been given to allow other companies and agencies time to see what could be done to maintain these key routes through the county. In fact, at the time of writing, Ceredigion County Council had still not received formal notification of the plans.

As I've blogged about before, the Welsh Government have cut bus funding  by 25% this year and the effects of this had already started to be noticed with Arriva pulling out of some more minor services at the end of July. 

In a sane transport environment, everyone would be given plenty of notice and enabled to plan ahead for these kinds of changes. However the 1985 Transport Act, in which bus services were de-regulated, enables commercial companies to make decisions like this at very short notice and without consultation.

Arriva’s abrupt announcement actually makes a very strong case for the re-regulation of bus services and full devolvement of transport to Wales. Although transport is a devolved matter, the laws that govern it unfortunately aren't and this ties our hands in developing the kind of coherent bus system most of us in Wales would support.

Although, as a fairly regular bus user, I don't normally have problems using Arriva, there's no denying that the company are very unpopular with local bus campaigners who have accused them for years of running a poor service. 

The best case scenario now is that local bus companies, of which there are several and who Ceredigion Council has a very good relationship with, could pick up the routes that are being lost and bus users could actually end up with a better service than Arriva has been providing. The County Council will certainly be doing anything it can to help facilitate this.

Update 5/10/13: Constructive talks held with Welsh Government yesterday. Ceredigion, Gwynedd and Carmarthenshire Councils are actively pursuing solutions together for maintaining these routes

Somewhere to create...in Aberystwyth

San Francisco 1967? No, Northgate Street, Aberystwyth last night where a vacant shop has been refurbished to stage events for people aged 16-25. 

The initiative, at what was previously Andy's Records (prior to it moving up the road) and more recently an ink cartridge shop, is part of the Somewhereto_re:store campaign aimed at providing access for young people to otherwise empty retail space. In Wales this is being led by a partnership between Aberystwyth's own Arad Goch and Promo Cymru, based in Cardiff. 

4 Northgate Street will be available until January and Somewhereto_re:store (I think I've got the punctuation right) will be staging a variety of events there as well as providing space, support and advice to others with creative or entrepreneurial ideas. If you've got ideas or want to help people who have, pop in for a chat or e-mail restoreaberystwyth@live.com

Bus consultation for central Wales

I’ve blogged before about the severe cuts to bus funding across Wales and won’t go through it again now. However I wanted to remind people about the public consultation that lasts until the end of the month on the best way to manage bus routes in the central Wales region in the light of the changed circumstances.

This is being conducted by TraCC (Trafnidiaeth Canolbarth Cymru – the transport consortium for central Wales) who are now responsible for managing the Regional Transport Services Grant (RTSG) from the Welsh Government. 

The consultation is intended to work out how best to prioritise the reduced funding. Anyway, here’s the link to it. 

On the subject of public transport consultations, there's a survey on usage of the Cambrian Train Line on the way in October. Details will also be on this blog.

Plaid Cymru in Ceredigion launches campaign against Royal Mail privatisation

Plaid Cymru in Ceredigion has launched a campaign and petition against the Westminster Government’s plans to privatise the Royal Mail.

On 12th September, the Lib Dem Business Minister, Vince Cable, announced the details of the plan for the mail delivery service to be sold off. The move comes despite widespread opposition from the public and postal workers.

It's feared that the privatisation will be particularly bad news for areas such as Ceredigion. Currently, the Royal Mail charges the same for its services in urban and rural areas, and ensures daily deliveries for almost all customers. In the long-term, there are concerns over whether new private owners will guarantee the same service to homes and businesses in rural areas.

The local campaign against privatisation was launched this week by Elin Jones AM, Plaid’s MP candidate Mike Parker, and party volunteers across Ceredigion. A petition is being collected, drawing attention to the particular dangers of this policy locally, and is available to sign online here

Mike Parker, the local author and broadcaster who is Plaid Cymru’s Ceredigion candidate at the next Westminster election (pictured right), said,

“The Royal Mail’s universal service is vital to areas such as ours. At the moment, it costs the same to send a letter in Ceredigion as it does in London, and we get the same daily deliveries. New private owners will of course want to cherry-pick the most profitable parts of the business, and that will not be rural Wales. Under private ownership, profits for shareholders will always come first. We’ve already seen huge rises in the price of stamps to make the Royal Mail more attractive for buyers; if this carries on we could soon see prices rise to £1 or more.

“Talking to people on street stalls and on the doorstep right across the county, I’ve been struck by the strength of feeling locally on this issue. This is a bad idea and I call on the Westminster Government to drop the plan.”

Elin Jones, Plaid Cymru AM for Ceredigion, added,

“Privatising the Royal Mail is something that even Thatcher didn’t dare to try. No wonder that 70% of the public are opposed, and that postal workers voted against it by a huge margin. As well as threatening price rises and service cuts for our area, the plans are a new threat to the future of our Post Office network, and could lead to centralisation of delivery services and local job losses.”

Further information on the campaign against privatisation can be found here 

Crossing Great Darkgate Street

The work on the new pedestrian crossing point in Great Darkgate Street – the main street in Aberystwyth - has confused many people.

Being a trunk road, Great Darkgate Street is the responsibility of the Welsh Government, with some input from the County Council. A few months ago the Welsh Government were seriously questioning whether a controlled crossing was needed here at all. Aberystwyth councillors, including this one, protested and the idea of getting rid of the crossing was dropped. Then the lights disappeared overnight and councillors feared the worst.

However the story is that the lighting column had suddenly become unsafe and needed to be removed immediately. The new arrangement, where new, somewhat utilitarian, railings have been put up and the road narrowed to one lane, looks temporary and it is. Apparently the lead-in period for new lighting of this sort is twelve weeks so something had to be put in place to safeguard people crossing in the meantime.

When the new lights are finally ready the fencing will be removed, including the longstanding blue railings on the left of the picture that have always seemed misplaced as they restrict pavement space. The pavement will then be built further out into Great Darkgate Street, roughly in line with the new railings, keeping the new one-lane traffic configuration. This reflects the reality of the road usage anyway and will give more space to pedestrians at this busy spot. From the sound of it, I think this will be an improvement on the previous situation. We'll know within twelve weeks.

Brakes on the Cambrian Line hourly service

The Welsh Government’s Transport Minister, Edwina Hart, has disappointed everyone pushing for an hourly train service on the Cambrian Line by declaring that evidence of demand must first be provided.

Politicians in Central Wales had always understood from the previous Minister that the provision of an hourly service was a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ and was only being held up by the need for infrastructure improvements.

In a written statement the new Minister said last week:

“I have asked the Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth Railway Liaison Committee to co-ordinate work with the other rail interest groups to investigate the demand for rail services.”

Everyone involved sees this as a considerable setback.

In reporting this, it would be wrong not to also give the Minister’s explanation:

“In addition to capital budgets being increasingly constrained following UK Government budget decisions, revenue budgets are under considerable pressure. The Welsh Government prioritised a series of rail service enhancements in 2011 on the basis of the revenue budgets being available. A consequence of the challenging economic climate and in-year revenue reductions from the UK Government is that I must be realistic about our ability to provide the funding for new or additional services.”

There’s no doubt that Westminster cuts are hitting both the Welsh Government and (consequently) County Councils hard and this looks set to continue and increase for the foreseeable future. Ceredigion has been given the task of saving £12.5 million in the next three years [Update 2/10/13: now looking like £20 million]. Nevertheless, the statement prioritises improvements to various lines and stations in North, South and East Wales (and, to be fair, Aberystwyth station), so it’s a question of the Cambrian Line service not receiving that same priority.

Some of the thinking revealed in the Minister's statement is also concerning. The statement says:

“Initially for the Cambrian Line and the Heart of Wales Line, my tourism sector panel will provide a view on the feasibility of proposals for summer tourist trains on a trial basis”.

This misses the point that commuters, students and business visitors are key users of the service all year round. 

Image source: http://www.thecambrianline.co.uk/

The Aberystwyth Labyrinth

Although it might not be obvious at first glance, this is the new Aberystwyth Labyrinth. The site is a former bowling green, next to the current green just to the left that's very well-used by North Road Bowling Club. The second green was surplus to the club’s needs. 

A few years ago the Town Council put the idea of constructing a labyrinth here to residents living around the site at a meeting held in the bowling club hall (top left). The residents said they just wanted it left as a grassy area for people to play on so the Council said fair enough and backed off. 

However, over time, the area became a muddy quagmire and an eyesore that residents complained about. People playing on it would naturally lose their ball at times over onto the real bowling green and were known to walk across the pristine green in their studded boots to retrieve it. 

After a few years of this, the Town Council decided to go back to their original idea of constructing a labyrinth as an amenity area and an attraction, both for local people and for tourists. Because the site can be looked down on from North Road above, it's a very suitable site for some kind of visual attraction.

So the Council ordered 670 wooden poles from local sawmills and 1200 metres of hemp rope. One councillor in particular (who's too modest to want his name mentioned, but it wasn't me) then put in most of the work of constructing the whole thing himself.

The finished article is a rope labyrinth 900m long. That is, 900m to the centre and another 900 back again. If you walk the whole thing it will take about 20 minutes to the middle and back. In the middle is a Mountain Ash tree, donated by Aberystwyth's twin town of Kronberg in Germany, with a seat around it.

The theme of rope was chosen because the area was used to make rope a couple of hundred years ago. A 200 yard passage going right through this area was used to twist the rope. The gap between the houses in Faenor Street where this took place can still be seen.

A quick word about definitions; with a maze, you have different choices of path and can't see the end. With a labyrinth there's one path and you can see where you're aiming for. So what we’ve got here is a  labyrinth.

  

Grass is being allowed to grow in the gaps between the pathways so it’s becoming a more natural area again and, since the work started, 16 species of wild flowers have been found to have seeded. The labyrinth is accessible to the disabled who have an access to start halfway along if they want. There are no concrete foundations so the site can eventually return to how it was. 

Now I know this project has incurred the wrath of those who regard anything artistic, quirky or cultural as 'frivolous' or a 'waste of money'. But I think this sort of thing is what makes the world interesting so I hope you'll pop along to walk it.

The Aberystwyth Labyrinth in North Road is due to have its official opening at 11am on Saturday 20th July.

Info about other labyrinths here and here

Oriel Nwy - Aberystwyth's new art gallery

I'm going to do a bit of trumpet-blowing here. For many years some of us have been asking for permission for this inviting empty space on the main thoroughfare into Aberystwyth to be used by the strong group of local artists we have in Aberystwyth but we had always received a firm 'No' from the County Council who own the building. 

Empty shopfronts never look good and using this vacant space to showcase the work of local artists always seemed like an obvious win-win situation for everyone. The opening of this new Gallery, including work by Mary Lloyd-Jones, is directly the result of intervention since last year's election by Council Leader Ellen ap Gwynn and the arts-friendly Plaid Cymru-led administration. 

It's certainly going to give a classier feel to the entrance into Aberystwyth and I'm sure  many people will take the time to pop in and view the work as they walk past on their way into town.

It's Mike Parker for Ceredigion

Mike Parker has been selected to represent Plaid Cymru at the next Westminster election in Ceredigion. The result was announced last night after the second of two crowded hustings meetings held in the constituency over the past eight days. 

Mike Parker is a self-employed writer and broadcaster. He moved from his native Kidderminster to Ceredigion in 2000, has lived in west Wales ever since and has learnt Welsh. He has written several travel books, and has presented series such as Coast to Coast and Great Welsh Roads on ITV Wales, and the 10-part series On The Map on Radio 4.

On winning the nomination, Mike said,

“The three main UK parties lack ambition for areas such as ours. Ceredigion has a strong tradition of entrepreneurship – self employment here is double the national average – as well as two universities and rich natural and cultural resources. I believe I can offer a genuine choice to people; the current Westminster government has achieved so little for Ceredigion, and I’m passionate and ambitious about the county’s future.

“I was born in Birmingham and grew up in Kidderminster; my life and writing proves that it’s possible to love both Wales and England with an equal passion, while believing that there’s a better way to organise the relationship between them than the creaking political structure that we have.

“I’m thrilled and very grateful to have been selected to try to win back the Ceredigion seat for Plaid, and look forward to working hard over the next two years to take our positive message to everyone in Ceredigion. I can’t wait.”

Mike is pictured here after the result was announced with Ceredigion's Assembly member Elin Jones who last night was also re-selected to contest the Ceredigion Welsh Assembly election in 2016. 

Elin said,

"Mike Parker is a man of great talent, honesty and integrity; it’s obvious he has a passion for our area and its people, and has great ideas for its future. I look forward immensely to working with him.”

The next Westminster election is expected to be held in May 2015. 

Ceredigion councillors to be cut by five

The new Welsh Local Government Minister, Lesley Griffiths, has agreed to proposals to cut the number of county councillors in Ceredigion by five, from 42 to 37. 

The proposals were contained in a report by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales published in May 2011 but were put on hold by the previous Minister before last year’s elections. The changes are slightly altered by the Commission from those reported by this blog in 2010.

The five seats that will now be lost at the next council elections in 2017 are as follows:

·    *  Lampeter will reduce from two councillors to one

·    *  Cardigan will reduce from three councillors to two

·   *  Llangeitho ward will be split between expanded Tregaron and   Llangybi wards

·   *  Capel Dewi ward will be split between expanded Llandysul and Troedyraur wards

·   *  The four wards of New Quay, Llandysiliogogo, Llanarth and Llanfihangel Ystrad will have their boundaries altered to become three.

This blog has previously identified that the southern half of Ceredigion is significantly over-represented compared to the North. Although the Minister probably doesn't read the blog,  this is the issue tackled by the proposals, the intention of which is to produce a more equal number of electors in each ward.

Other more minor changes are:

Padarn and  Faenor wards on the outskirts of Aberystwyth to combine into one ward with two councillors

Aberaeron ward to take in the Aberarth section of Llansantffraid

Llanfarian ward to take in a small part of Melindwr

By my calculations, if the new boundaries had been applied to the 2012 elections, Independents would have lost three councillors and Plaid Cymru two. However 2017 is a long way off...

The map shows the distribution of councillors following the 2011 election. Plaid are in green, Independents   in light blue and Lib Dems yellow. Image source: Wikipedia. 

Choosing Plaid Cymru's candidate for Ceredigion

Plaid Cymru will choose its new prospective Westminster candidate for Ceredigion at hustings meetings in June.

These are the three people seeking the nomination, in alphabetical order:

Owain Davies – a County Council worker who lives near New Quay. As Chair of the Ceredigion branch of Unison and an active member of Ceredigion Against the Cuts, he says he’s particularly concerned at the threat to universal health and education services from successive Westminster governments.

Doug Jones was born and brought up in Aberystwyth, and is Chair of the PCS union at the National Library. He was one of the founders of Ceredigion Against the Cuts and has been involved in campaigning for tax justice and against the Iraq war. An interview with him was published on the Planet website last year.

Mike Parker is an author of several books and a broadcaster. He was born in Birmingham, moved to Wales in 2000 and has learnt to speak Welsh. He believes that the three main Westminster parties deliver very little for places like Ceredigion. His website can be found here and his blog here.

Elin Jones, Plaid's AM for Ceredigion, says about the contest:

“I’m delighted that Plaid’s selection process, which was designed to be more open and inclusive than ever before, has produced such a strong shortlist of candidates. All three would be passionate and independent-minded advocates for our area, and would speak up for the many people who feel let down by the cuts of this present Westminster Government. We need someone in Westminster who will put Ceredigion first, and I look forward to working with whoever is selected.”

Rob Phillips, Chair of Plaid in Ceredigion, says:

 “A number of new members have joined Plaid Cymru recently in Ceredigion, especially people who have been active in opposing Westminster’s cuts which affect our local communities so deeply. We look forward to choosing a candidate who will offer a real, positive alternative to people in Ceredigion.”

The two hustings meetings will take place in Aberystwyth on June 6^th and Synod Inn on the 14th. Barring an earlier collapse of the Westminster government, the next UK election will be held in May 2015.