Ceredigion refuse collection suspended

Domestic refuse and recycling collections have been suspended across the whole of Ceredigion until further notice.

Ceredigion Council's Highways, Property and Works staff are working 24-hour shifts with refuse collection and other staff being redeployed to help with clearing secondary roads and pavements.

Residents are being asked to take back from the kerbside bags they have put out in the expectation of them being collected.

Many areas have not received their scheduled refuse collection in the last 24 hours but it's only today that a decision has been taken to suspend the service for the foreseeable future.

From Monday 11th Ceredigion's website will carry daily information noting whether or not services remain suspended.

Ceredigion gritting latest

Latest report on Ceredigion's winter maintenance situation received at 10pm tonight:

"Brief update for past 24 hrs. Our salt stocks are approx 725 tonnes. We received 80 tons today and hopefully we may receive 120 tonnes tomorrow. We have spread approx 195 tonnes in the past 24 hours.

"All primary routes remain open though the police requested closure of Clarach to Borth and the Buarth area in Aberystwyth. Ploughing and gritting of some secondary routes was carried out today. Secondary routes still require extreme caution with some minor roads still heavily iced with some overlain snow.

"The refuse collection service has been suspended as manpower has been diverted to winter maintenance duties. This will be reviewed on Monday. Residents are advised to retain the rubbish until the next scheduled collection. Those who live near civic amenity sites always have the option of taking their rubbish to the site.

"The department has deployed 172 workers during the last 24 hrs with about 40 vehicles being deployed. Some local contractors are being used for snow clearance using JCB’s.

"Manual staff are engaged in delivery of meals on wheels. We are also assisting in maintaining services to the Residential Homes and agreed protocols for assisting the Social Services Department. Protocols have been set up with the Local Health Board to assist where possible in the delivery of essential drugs."

Ceredigion saving its salt

Cyngor Sir Ceredigion has announced it will prioritise keeping the county's primary road network open over the coming days and will not be salting minor roads at all.

A spokesperson for Ceredigion County Council explained,
"Before each winter, stockpiles of salt totalling 5,750 tonnes are accumulated and stored at the two Ceredigion Depots located near Llandysul and at Aberystwyth. We currently have 1,500 tonnes remaining but it is important to conserve those stocks as very many areas of the UK have much less stocks remaining and may need to be re-stocked before we do”.

The Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Ray Quant, said,
“At this time we have approximately enough salt to see out the week should the cold weather continue and we are unable to obtain further salt supplies. To conserve salt supplies to concentrate on the primary routes we have stopped salting secondary routes.

“There are seven local authorities in a worse position than Ceredigion in terms of salt stocks and therefore it is anticipated that the Assembly may reintroduce ‘Salt Cell’ this week, where they co-ordinate the supply of salt to and between Local Authorities.. The overall situation for the wider UK is gloomier for some authorities recently hit by the heavy snow falls.”

One farmer last week had to pour away 2000 litres of milk and expects to have to do the same again because the milk tanker is unable to travel on an un-gritted unclassified road.

Ceredigion councillors to be culled

Ceredigion is set to lose at least seven and maybe up to twelve of its 42 councillors at the next local elections in 2012 – that’s likely to be the conclusion of the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales when they complete their review into the county’s electoral arrangements in 2011.

This is a long post with a few figures in it so zip up your anoraks and settle down. The Commission, which is reviewing a number of other Welsh county councils at the same time, is conducting its review on the basis that no councillor should represent fewer than 1750 electors, a new, nationally agreed figure. Even though the review uses the projected increased county population for 2014 as its benchmark, only ten of the current council wards achieve that figure, meaning that we are set for wholesale changes in Ceredigion’s political structure.

Dividing the expected 2014 electorate of 62,703 by 1750 leaves 35.8 councillors. But because the review needs to avoid cutting across community boundaries whilst also trying to find rough parity between the different wards , most of the new wards will need to have a significant number of electors over the 1750 figure. Even taking the number of councillors down to thirty, the minimum possible to form a Council, the average number of electors for each ward would be 2090, not considered an unreasonably large number.

In Aberystwyth the likely outcome of the review is that the town will lose one councillor (click on map of current wards to enlarge). We currently have six, down from eight after the last review in 2002, but the figures show we should be entitled to no more than 5.5. There is perhaps a remote possibility that, because of recent housing developments, the commission could decide to expand the boundaries of the town and keep the number of councillors as it is. But the likelihood is that the town’s representation will be cut down to five. In fact most town wards already do, or will, exceed the 1750 figure. The exception is Penparcau which is currently ‘over-represented’ by having two councillors for an electorate of 2277.

If that might seem bad for the representation of Aberystwyth on the Council it’s nothing compared to other parts of Ceredigion. Whilst the population numbers in Aberystwyth might be a bit borderline, the situation in other towns and the rural areas is much clearer. The figures show that Cardigan will be reduced from three to no more than two councillors whilst Lampeter will be reduced from the current two down to one. The sole councillor for Llandysul, Council Leader Keith Evans, currently represents just 1149 people and is likely to see his ward greatly expanded at the expense of one of his rural neighbours. The councillors for Tregaron, New Quay and Aberaeron are all in similar positions where neighbouring rural wards will undoubtedly be lost.

In terms of party politics the effect of the review is hard to predict because the figures show that Plaid Cymru wards and Independent/Lib Dem wards will be impacted more or less equally. The key power change brought about is likely to be geographic. For years people in Aberystwyth have puzzled as to why what is by the far the largest town in the county seems to exert so little influence. The figures show that the more rural south of the county currently wields undue influence for its population.

During a recent presentation, the Boundary Commission were particularly emphatic about one thing. “The idea that rural wards should have fewer electors because of the distance the councillor has to cover is completely undemocratic”, said the Review’s Chair. His emphatic tone indicated that this was an idea that had been seriously suggested to him but rejected.

If the current number of councillors was allowed to continue the average councillor in the north of the county would represent 1636 people whilst their equivalent in the south would represent 1374 – a clear democratic deficit. A starker figure is that, by 2014, of the nine councillors currently representing ‘greater’ Aberystwyth (i.e. the town, Llanbadarn Fawr and Waun Fawr) 55% will fulfil the 1750 mark the reviewers are looking for. In the rest of the county that figure is 14%. Although councillors will be lost everywhere, the review looks set to correct a serious imbalance against the north of the county.

The pending reduction in county councillors will be following a pattern around Wales where reviews of four other councils, using the same criteria, have already begun with more to follow. Older councillors may take the opportunity to retire at the next election, leaving the rest to battle over a diminished number of council seats. Whilst the process may fill councillors with trepidation, many of the electorate will regard cutting their numbers as a jolly good thing, especially since reducing councillors will save money. Next to the public purse, the other winner from the process could be Aberystwyth.

The best dressed shop window in Aberystwyth

To go into Christmas with a good news story, here’s the winner of the Best Shop Window in Aberystwyth, as chosen by the town’s mayor, Trevor Shaftoe, on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce.

The winner was Polly’s in Chalybeate Street.
Second was Ty Gemwaith/Jewellery House in Terrace Road.
Third was M & Co in Great Darkgate Street.

Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda i chi gyd.

Cliff could collapse says council report

The cliff behind the old North Road Hospital site in Infirmary Road Aberystwyth is far more dangerous than previously thought and poses a serious threat to the half-completed flats below. That’s the conclusion of a report by council engineers submitted this week.

The report was commissioned by Ceredigion Council after major cracks developed at the top of the cliff during the summer. A report by engineers commissioned by the developer in October had previously concluded that the cracks only extended down a few metres to the bedrock. This new report points out that the cracks are in line with a fault line exposed near the bottom of the hill in an earlier small landslip and concludes that the whole cliff side could collapse.

Land at the top of the cliff is part of Parc Natur Penglais, a conservation area owned by the Council and overseen by an active committee of local people. They have been continually warning of the dangers of the developer cutting into the hill to make more space for flats. The Council’s report says,
“It is unlikely to be merely a coincidence that they have opened up shortly after the excavation at the top of the slope".

The report concludes,
“There is the potential for a very large rockfall to occur which will affect the amenity of the nature reserve and also impact the buildings and workers below. What is clear from our inspection, and our reading of the available documents, is that there is a serious risk of a large scale landslip occurring which requires urgent attention. The landslip will endanger members of the public accessing the park and workers on the building site.

"The nature reserve is crossed by a number of paths, some of them informal, and it is
possible for members of the public to get to the top of the unstable area quite easily. We suggest that, as a minimum, immediate measures should be put in place to warn members of the public of the possible unstable area.

"We also recommend that the housing developer is made aware of these findings so that they may put in place appropriate safeguards – at least for their workers and any suppliers etc who may have access to the site".

After receiving the report the Council yesterday wrote to the developer threatening an injunction if immediate action was not taken to obviate the danger to their employees and the general public. Warning notices and fencing were installed on the cliff today.

Aber University plans new environmental research building

Aberystwyth University have applied for planning permission for a new building on the Penglais campus for the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS).

This is part of a planned £25 million investment in IBERS on the Penglais and Gogerddan campuses over the next five years. IBERS conducts biological research from the level of molecules up to the impact of climate change and bio-energy on agriculture.

The building is apparently designed to BREEAM ‘excellent’ standard, the highest standard for environmental sustainability in large buildings.

2.5% Council Tax rise in Ceredigion

Ceredigion Council voted on Thursday for a 2.5% rise in Council Tax in the coming financial year. The Plaid Cymru group proposed keeping the rise down to 2% on the basis that a substantial amount of money is now available from the Housing Revenue Account which could be used to keep the increase down. This money was set aside for spending on council house maintenance but remained unspent (why, you may ask) and now cannot be used for its original purpose following the transfer of council housing to Tai Ceredigion. However the ruling Independent/Lib Dem group argued that savings such as this should be kept back in order to soften expected serious public sector cuts in future years.

The meeting, held at St Peter’s Church Hall in Lampeter, was highly contentious with the Chair being accused of showing favouritism by frequently asking Plaid councillors to keep their contributions brief whilst allowing his own side to speak unhindered.

Elin Jones wins AM of the Year award... and Rhodri's reflections on Ceredigion

Ceredigion's Assembly Member Elin Jones won the Assembly Member of the Year Award during a ceremony in Cardiff last night.

She received the recognition during the annual Welsh Yearbook Awards, "for developing into a Plaid Cymru heavyweight through her highly competent running of a department not usually seen as an obvious portfolio for a woman" (what on earth can they mean?).

Elin responded,
“I’m privileged to receive this award in recognition of my work as the Assembly Member for Ceredigion and the Minister for Rural Affairs. The people of Ceredigion are demanding and challenging of their politicians, and that's exactly how it should be. They keep me on my toes everyday in the Assembly and in Ceredigion”.

Shortly afterwards Elin paid tribute to Rhodri Morgan following his formal resignation as the Assembly's First Minister earlier this week,

“Rhodri Morgan has made a great contribution to Wales during the past decade and, under his leadership, our political process in the Senedd has become mature and stable. I wish him well now that he has decided to resign as First Minister and I hope that he will have more free time to spend on having restful holidays at his caravan in Mwnt”.

During his final address to the Senedd as First Minister, Rhodri Morgan had highlighted his fondness for spending time at his caravan in Mwnt, just north of Cardigan. He also expressed his gratitude to Ceredigion residents for their continued warm welcome and for respecting the fact that he was on holiday during his periods in the area,
“In the future, of course, Julie and I and the family—especially Julie and I—will have more time to spend a few extra weekends in Mwnt. Mwnt has been extremely important and I would like to convey my thanks to the very kind people of Ceredigion and North Pembrokeshire, and especially the people of Cardigan, Aberporth and Mwnt, where we have the caravan. It has been an eye-opener for me to see how considerate people are in thinking, if the First Minister is on holiday for two or three weeks over the summer, that you should not bother him with your personal problems or your own political ideas.

"To be honest, everyone has always respected that. For 10 years running, no-one from Ceredigion, Aberporth or Cardigan has bothered me while I'm on holiday. That is quite incredible and it means that I, Julie and the family can spend three weeks of genuine holiday time without the need for some entourage to protect me from the people because they are so considerate. They understand that anyone who shoulders the burden of being First Minister is under strain. It is as if they think, 'Leave him alone—he's on holiday’. On occasions, I've heard people saying that when someone is perhaps thinking of approaching me on the beach or when I'm out walking”.

Tai Ceredigion up and running

Now that the new housing association Tai Ceredigion is up and running (with their newly decorated vans zooming everywhere) a few people are asking how to get in touch with them. These are the details:

General Enquiries: 03456 - 067654

Repairs and out of hours: 0800 - 1114228

E-mail: post@taiceredigion.org.uk

Uned 4, Parc Busnes Pont Steffan, Llanbedr Pont Steffan, Ceredigion, SA48, 7HH

Ceredigion's Credit Union wins £100,000 grant

Ceredigion’s Credit Union, CredCer, has been awarded a grant of £99,995 by the National Assembly.

The money was awarded so that the organisation can buy its own property, computer and office equipment. Brian Gibbons, the Assembly’s Social Justice Minister announced that CredCer would receive a tenth of the £1 million being made available to credit unions across Wales to enable them to reduce their costs by purchasing their own properties. This in turn will boost their balance sheets by ensure that they have long-term ownership of a substantial asset.

Elin Jones, Ceredigion’s Assembly Member, said about the award in her press release,

“During the current economic difficulties, credit unions have become increasingly important both as a way of providing a local and safe place for savings as well as tackling financial exclusion. By providing this funding, the Assembly Government is ensuring that CredCer has an even stronger financial footing through the ownership of its own office”.

Penri James, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster candidate, said,
“I know that CredCer’s presence in Ceredigion has made a great effort to tackle financial exclusion and poverty in the Ceredigion. From my work on the need to address child poverty levels in Cardigan, I appreciate the positive contribution which a credit union like CredCer can make and I hope that this additional funding can allow the union to further extend its activities”.

CredCer, which is based in Cardigan but operated throughout the county, was formed in 2005 as a way for people in Ceredigion to save and borrow money at beneficial rates of interest whilst retaining the money saved in the local community. It’s a not-for-profit organisation and is owned and controlled by its 1,200 members.

Aberystwyth street parking control breaking down

Street parking around Bronglais Hospital and other areas of Aberystwyth has broken down, with car drivers openly flouting double yellow lines. That’s the only conclusion that can be drawn from pictures like those above, taken outside Bronglais Hospital yesterday.

In the photos, not only is a row of five cars parked on double yellow lines but the pavement is blocked to pedestrians. Most of the cars were still there several hours later.

Aberystwyth has two traffic wardens who both work extremely hard and also have to cover other areas of the County. The problem is that a town the size of Aberystwyth needs far more than this. Anyone working in the field, like the police and council highways officers, will tell you that the police have no more resources to provide extra traffic wardens and that what’s needed is for parking control needs to be transferred from the police to the County Council. That’s what local authorities across the country are increasingly doing. Instead of parking fines going straight to the UK Treasury, as do those from Aberystwyth at the moment, this enables them to be collected by the Council who can then recycle the money into more wardens and improved facilities.

In a sense it’s working in Aberystwyth already. When Ceredigion Highways Officers walk along the Prom in yellow jackets the tourists parked illegally all clear off sharpish. This is because they’re used to Council Officers booking them at home. The locals know better and stay put. It's time Ceredigion caught up with the rest of the country.

Housing transfer goes ahead on Monday

The transfer of Ceredigion’s 2600 council houses and flats to the new housing association Tai Ceredigion will go ahead on Monday following a meeting of the Tai Ceredigion board today.

Although the date of transfer had been announced two weeks ago it became apparent that there were still considerable negotiations to be undertaken before all aspects of the transfer could be agreed. From their point of view, Tai Ceredigion were determined to avoid a financial settlement that would have restricted their ability to undertake the £40 million worth of improvements needed over the next five years to fulfil the all-important Welsh Housing Quality Standard. Agreement on the key issues was finally reached this week after officers and legal representatives of both organisations worked round the clock.

A formal signing of documents and transfer of the council’s housing staff will now take place as hoped on 30th November, a year after tenants voted to accept the idea.

More can be less when it comes to leaflets

Penri James's blog quite rightly draws attention to Ceredigion Council’s recently published ‘Highways During Winter/Priffyrdd Dros y Gaeaf' leaflet. This was sent out to absolutely everyone on the county’s electoral roll, resulting in some households receiving four separate copies in different envelopes.

The issue was raised in last week's Highways Scrutiny Committee who were told that the Council employed a private contractor to distribute the leaflets for a fixed fee on the basis of one for every household. For their own reasons the contractor chose to send their leaflets out the way they did without any additional cost to the Council.

This led to a bit of head scratching in the committee followed by the supposition, and it was supposition, that the contractor must have had the software to send one leaflet to each elector very easily but that employing someone to manually reduce their electoral list down to single households would have cost them more than the extra leaflets. Still, as one councillor pointed out, although the additional leaflets didn’t cost the Council any more, there’s been some wastage somewhere and four identical envelopes on the door mat didn't look good. When you’re a local council, being seen to be economical is almost as important as actually being economical.

Council officers accepted that, as part of any future contract, they’d actually have to spell it out - that one leaflet for every household means just that, and more is less in the eyes of the public.

Ceredigion 'acting in the interests of the taxpayer' shock

In the wake of the opening of the new Council offices – Canolfan Rheidol - in Boulevard St Brieuc many people have asked when details of the prices obtained for the seven now redundant former council offices in Aberystwyth town centre will be released.

Ceredigion Council has come in for criticism for refusing to disclose the price of the sales made so far with doubts being cast as to whether the best price is being obtained on behalf of ‘the taxpayer’. Yesterday the Council defended their silence as good sales strategy adopted on the advice of the two estate agents working for them, one local, the other based in Cardiff.

Now it's too easy for Councils to use 'commercial confidentiality' as an excuse for keeping the public in the dark. But, to be fair, you don’t have to be a corporate estate agent to appreciate that the price of one large building in a small town like Aberystwyth will affect the price of similar others. And that disclosing any sales figures before the whole package has been sold could result in a lower return to the council and hence the taxpayer. That’s the thinking of the Council and their estate agents anyway, and it seems to make sense - a case of the taxpayer's interests outweighing open government (an interesting essay topic for politics students). My criticism is that, with a bit of imaginative thinking, one or two of the buildings could have been retained for renting to the numerous local charities desperate for space.

Two of the properties, which can all be seen here, have been sold so far with negotiations on others at an advanced stage. I’m assured that once all seven offices have been sold the prices obtained will be made fully public and that this may happen in a matter of weeks.

In a related development, the Council’s Highways Property & Works Scrutiny Committee heard yesterday that the new Council offices will save an initial £30,000 a year in energy bills compared to the old offices and that these savings are likely to increase over the years as fossil fuel prices rise.

New Co-op opens in the supermarket shuffle

I don’t much like supermarkets. I prefer to shop in small independent shops. But there is one exception – the Co-op. It’s ethical, environmental and customer involvement policies set it apart from the rest of the field. So, for those who like to temper their supermarket shopping with some ethics, it’s good news that today the Co-op opens a large new food store in what was previously Somerfields at the Ystwyth Retail Parc off Park Avenue in Aberystwyth.

The Co-op bought Somerfields in July. Under competition rules, they then had to sell their smaller supermarket at Waun Fawr to avoid monopolising trade in the Aberystwyth area, already owning a further small shop in Penparcau. The Co-op on the Waun was bought by CK Supermarkets, an independent chain based in south Wales. This is the latest addition to the supermarket shuffle in Aberystwyth but unlikely to be the last as Aldi are still awaiting the outcome of their planning application to build on the old Quik Save site on the other side of Park Avenue.

At some stage the question has to be asked how many supermarkets does a town need? Whatever the answer, the Co-op look to be here to stay.

Ceredigion Housing Stock Transfer Date Announced

Ceredigion County Council and the new housing association Tai Ceredigion have released a joint statement announcing the date for the transfer of the Council’s housing stock. This will be Monday 30th November. Negotiations have been quite difficult at times but the parties feel confident enough that agreement can be reached on exactly which properties and associated land will be transferred to give a transfer date. Many staff in the Council’s housing department will also be transferred over to the new organisation.

The transfer comes a year after Ceredigion tenants voted by 58% to 41% to support stock transfer so that funds could be found for the repair and maintenance necessary to bring the stock up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard.

Assembly to bring in plastic bag charge by 2011

The National Assembly’s Environment Minister, Jane Davidson, has announced legislation to charge for plastic bags by the time of the next Assembly elections in 2011 following a consultation over the summer. All money collected will be distributed to good causes, with an emphasis on those involved in environmental projects.

Despite the problem of plastic bag pollution now being well known, many shops still seem reluctant to take initiative on their own, even though some of those doing so have seen a 90% reduction in bags used. Pontypridd was a rare exception when last year it became the first plastic bag-free town in Wales but still an astonishing 13 billion plastic bags are given to shoppers in the UK each year and these can take up to 1000 years to break down.

Ceredigion’s Assembly Member Elin Jones said today,
“I know that businesses in some Ceredigion communities such as Cardigan have been working together to introduce local ‘bags for life’. “However, even though good progress has been made over recent years to decrease the number of single-use plastic bags handed out every day in Wales, it’s increasingly evident that a mandatory charge must be introduced in order to lower our use of plastic bags even further."

Some things can't be left to the market. Voluntary schemes amongst major retailers have produced only modest results so actual legislation at the Wales level is probably the most effective way to make a substantial difference. Well done Jane.

Ken Jones book signing

Ken Jones's writing is a unique combination - haiku poetry about the Cambrian mountains.

His booksigning is in Ottakers, Great Darkgate Street in Aberystwyth

Parc Natur Penglais - residents consider the damage

Following up on the last post about the cliff top in Infirmary Road, Aberystwyth made unsafe by a developer cutting into the hill, I’ve now received comments and photos from local residents concerned about the effect on the nature park at the top of the cliff – Parc Natur Penglais.

One local resident, Moira Convery, takes up the story,
"This land is not just a bit of waste ground as the developer would like to think. Parc Natur Penglais was created as a Pocket Park in 1991, received a Prince of Wales Award in 1993, was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 1995 and in June 1997 was selected by UNESCO for inclusion in its network of the best urban reserves. At the time it was the only Welsh site on the list. These honours and designations should imply that PNP would be protected against encroachment for purely commercial gains.

"The bank is clearly unsafe but any remedial action must take into account the conservation of the park. Removal of the moving material will destroy a large area of vegetation. Because of the presence of the partially completed buildings, it is now difficult to remove the unstable ground by pushing it down the slope. It will have to be pushed backwards into the valley behind it - more complete destruction of trees and other vegetation. Heavy machinery will be required. There is no present access so more of the park will be trashed taking it in.

"It is important that restoration is left in the hands of the conservation bodies. Who would be happy to entrust it to a company which has demonstrated such a complete indifference to the nature reserve? Expert advice and most of all an interest in the end result is required. All costs must be met by the developer.

"However it is done, permanent visual damage will occur. The area is a significant part of the scenery of Aberystwyth. The view from the town will be of a wire netted cliff face with the trees and the old wall vanished."

Another resident, Laurie Wright, has sent the pictures below illustrating digging which took place two years ago leading to the long hilltop cracks over a metre deep illustrated in the last post. The space at the foot of the cliff has since been built on.