Aberystwyth loses its traffic wardens

Ceredigion, and Aberystwyth in particular, has come in for an unaccustomed spot of UK-wide publicity recently (here and on tonight's One Show) with the story about the breakdown of street parking control (covered regularly on this blog). This is my take on it:

Councils across the country are taking over control of street parking from the police. It’s called Civil Parking Enforcement. All of Ceredigion’s immediate council neighbours have either already done this or have announced firm plans to do so.

Money that police traffic wardens claim in parking fines goes straight to the UK Treasury. It’s not even retained by the local police force. The great advantage of Civil Parking Enforcement is that, unlike the police, Councils can use the money from parking fines to reinvest in local traffic management according to local needs. It’s a complete no-brainer.

Ceredigion Council have, uniquely, over a period of many years, and for reasons of what I’d describe as stubborn conservatism (others have described it as burying their heads in the sand), simply refused to take up these powers.

The police, under increasing financial pressures, and having given up on the nice approach, finally lost patience with Ceredigion Council and announced it was withdrawing its traffic warden service.

Shocked out of their complacency, and never actually believing that the police would take such drastic action, despite all the warnings, the Council then belatedly agreed to take on the responsibility for street parking that they’ve tried for years to avoid. The problem is, the whole scheme takes a year to put together.

I must admit I thought that, once the police had a firm date from the Council for taking on their enforcement role, they might delay their withdrawal. Apparently not. The police have stuck to their decision and made their traffic wardens redundant on May 31st, although have said they will still prosecute people causing an actual obstruction.

Some people have initially welcomed the loss of wardens. My feeling is that they’ll change their minds as the realities unfold. Already the disabled are finding people parking in their bays. Shops are starting to worry that cars parking all day in the two-hour parking bays meant for shoppers will start to affect trade. One or two narrow streets have already come close to being blocked to large vehicles by cars parked on both sides. In the remaining ten months or so before the Council gets its act together, the streets of Aberystwyth look like being an interesting experiment in anarchism.

Bodlondeb

Around 90 people packed into St Anne’s Church Hall in Penparcau, Aberystwyth tonight for a meeting on the possible closure of the much valued Council-run Bodlondeb residential home. This has arisen because the current building doesn’t meet CSIW (Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales) standards.

The meeting, called by Ceredigion Against the Cuts, heard there were three possible options being considered:

1/ Upgrade the current building at a cost of around £300,000

2/ Close the place and move the residents to Hafan y Waun, the Methodist Homes Association accommodation at Waun Fawr, by leasing a wing from them under the control of the local authority.

3/ As above but transfer residents and staff to the Methodists Homes Association.

Council Officers who attended to present the issues, together with the Cabinet Member, were on the ropes for much of the meeting and it was made very clear that Option 1 was the overwhelming preference if the meeting.

The next key date in the process will be when the feasibility study is presented to the Council’s Cabinet on 12th July in Aberaeron. Concerned residents were encouraged to lobby their councillor with their views leading up to that meeting.

The photos show Elin Jones, Assembly Member, holding forth and Hag Harris, Council Cabinet Member for Social Services, explaining the Council's position.

New Park & Ride for Aberystwyth agreed

A major new Park & Ride car park for the north-east side of Aberystwyth was today agreed by Ceredigion’s Development Control Committee.

The site will be a 200-space extension of the current hospital & university car park in Clarach Road, near the top of Penglais Hill, which opened earlier this year. This has proved to be well-used by hospital staff, many of whom have stopped using the shuttle and now use the walk from the car park to work as part of their fitness regime. The new extension will be opened up for use by the general public

The new car park, which will be funded by the Welsh government, is intended for long-stay commuter parking to relieve traffic congestion on the northern approach to town and to reduce the pressure on street parking which makes the lives of town residents very difficult and has led many people to move out of town altogether. It's viewed as a key part of the traffic management programme for Aberystwyth.

The plan is that the car park will operate from 6.30am–8pm with a bus service into town to support it.  The site will be barrier-controlled with no access after 8pm and car park lights switched off to avoid nuisance to local residents. The parking area will be shaped to preserve the wood close by.

The next priority for the Council’s Highways Department is now to find a site for a similar Park & Ride to the south of the town.

Aberystwyth Street Cycle Race 2011

The televised Halfords Tour Series street cycle race came to Aberystwyth on Thursday with professional cycle racers, including some expecting to be in the Olympics, competing around a tight track along the Prom and through the old town. Cold, gale force winds hampered the event, with the main race having to be shortened. However, although those from further afield were put off by the weather, there was a good turnout of  local people to watch what turned out to be a really spectacular event for the town. Televised on ITV 4, The race, organised by the Ystwyth Cycle Club, will be returning to Aberystwyth again next year. 

Photos of the event here
ITV 4 iplayer here
Full report from a cycle sports perspective here

Aber is Green 2011

Lib Dem town councillor resigns

As if the Lib Dems didn't have enough trouble elsewhere, one of their town councillors in Aberystwyth, Martin Shewring, has resigned from both his party and the Council. It's understood that the resignation is due to internal tensions within the local party and that he now intends to call a by-election in the town's Rheidol ward and stand again as an Independent.

New Court planned for Aberystwyth Harbour

The Courts and Tribunals Service has earmarked Y Lanfa in Aberystwyth harbour as the proposed new County and Magistrates Court for the area. Detailed conversion and extension plans have been drawn up to convert half the building, which has been vacated by the Welsh Assembly, into a combined court to serve Aberystwyth and Mid-Wales. A formal public consultation is due to take place in the next few months. Plans to site a new court on derelict land next to the Welsh Assembly Government office in Boulevard St Brieuc have now been abandoned in favour of the new proposals.

Ceredigion Against the Cuts Rally

Ceredigion Against the Cuts staged a highly successful rally in Aberystwyth yesterday when 250 people marched through the town centre led by the local samba band before holding a rally at the Castle.

Newly elected Assembly Member Elin Jones was one of the speakers, alongside members of the PCS and Unison Trade Unions who had organised the rally together. Other speakers included Huw Diprose from Aber Students Against the Cuts, Bethan Williams from Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, Jill Evans the Plaid Cymru MEP, Mark Ferguson from Unison Scotland and Sian Wiblin, Wales TUC President. A group of campaigners for the retention of Coastguard services in Wales travelled up from Milford Haven.

40% of the Ceredigion workforce are employed in the public sector. More photos of the event can be seen here

Elin wins Ceredigion again

Plaid Cymru's Elin Jones retained her Ceredigion Assembly seat fairly comfortably last night with a majority of 1,777 over the Lib Dems. The turnout was 51.9%, the second highest in Wales.

Elin is pictured above making her victory speech at Aberaeron Leisure Centre. Liz Evans (Lib Dem) and Luke Evetts (Conservative) are standing behind.

The Plaid and Lib Dem candidates showed there was no personal animosity with kind words about each other in their speeches. Liz Evans said Elin Jones was, "Someone I like and respect". This picture was taken of them together after the result was declared. More photos of the night can be seen here

Both Plaid and the Lib Dems lost some of their vote share with Labour, Conservatives and Greens all increasing theirs. The Greens, with candidate Chris Simpson, scored their highest ever stand-alone vote in Ceredigion, saving their deposit for the first time. However they did not achieve their aim of winning a Regional List seat anywhere in Wales. 

On the Mid & West Wales Regional List, the big story is former Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion Simon Thomas getting back into front-line politics after he was elected on the top of the Plaid Cymru list for the region. Nick Bourne, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, lost his seat. Labour's Joyce Watson was re-elected whilst Rebecca Evans (Labour) and William Powell (Lib Dem) were newcomers elected on the list.

Four good reasons to vote for Elin Jones in Ceredigion on Thursday

1/ All outside observers agree that Elin has performed extremely well as an Assembly Government Minister. Having relaxed into the role, she has developed an engaging combination of being utterly committed to Ceredigion, the seriousness and gravitas expected of a minister, alongside a refreshing and sunny informality unusual amongst politicians.

2/ The One Wales Labour-Plaid coalition government in Cardiff has worked well for Wales because it has provided a vital balance between urban and rural areas. If Labour win this Assembly election outright that balance will be lost. Attention will be focussed on the geographically small urban areas of the country and the gains made for Ceredigion in the last few years won’t happen again. Labour are unlikely to go into alliance with any other party. It’s vital for Wales as a whole that Plaid are back in government.

3/ If it wasn’t for Plaid Cymru we wouldn’t even have an Assembly to vote for. If it wasn’t for Plaid activists we wouldn’t have won the Yes vote to devolve more powers from Westminster in March. If it wasn’t for Plaid over the last 80 years the Welsh language would be all but finished. This is a party with vision that achieves things.

4/ I don’t know of any perfect political parties. But Plaid give a much-needed alternative and left-of-centre perspective to the stale, moribund Tory/Labour/LibDem parties who have increasingly coalesced until it’s hard to tell the difference . It’s only us here in Wales who can vote for Plaid Cymru. Let’s make sure we do.

My top six reasons for voting Yes to AV

1/ Looking at the people who support a Yes vote (Plaid, Greens, most of Labour, oh yes the Lib Dems) and those campaigning for a No vote (Conservatives, BNP, Rupert Murdoch), it’s very clear who the good guys are.

2/ The Conservatives have been in power in the UK for two-thirds of the last 100 years. And yet only once in that time have they actually won a majority of the vote. Is that how democracy should work? AV would keep the Tories out for good unless they can get over 50% of the vote – that’s why they’re funding the No campaign. Anyone even mildly left of centre should vote Yes to AV

3/ The BNP know they’ll never get more than 50% of the vote anywhere. They can only get elected under First Past the Post (FPTP) – that’s why they’re backing the No campaign.

4/ The utterly dishonest and scaremongering tactics of the No campaign.

5/ If the No campaign wins that’ll be the last chance to get a better electoral system in a generation. The idea of voting No in order to hope for a referendum on a better system next time is absolutely mistaken. There won’t be a next time, at least not in the next decade.

6/ First Past the Post may work best in a horse race but politics is about real life, and too important to be treated like a sport. Most people agree our political system is not working well. We need a better way of finding a genuine consensus on how we want to be governed. Instead of electing an MP who the majority oppose, as in most FPTP elections, AV produces that community consensus in each constituency. Instead of sticking with yah-boo politics, we can then work together for genuine solutions.

Super Saturday in Owain Glyndwr Square

Aberystwyth's Owain Glyndwr Square was turned into a political and cultural festival this morning as, in the space of a couple of hours, no fewer than eight different groups spent time there on the Saturday before election Thursday. The groups included Plaid Cymru and Elin Jones, Yes to AV, Ceredigion Against the Cuts and two choirs.



Parti Dawns yr Aelwyd show their steps. Elin Jones, Plaid Cymru's Assembly Election candidate, can be seen chatting on the far left.

More photos of the morning in the square can be seen here

Ceredigion Poll - Plaid well ahead. Big swing from Lib Dems to Labour.

A dramatic poll on the Assembly Election in Ceredigion, which local activists have been talking about for days, has tonight been published at Wales Online.

It puts Plaid Cymru, represented by Elin Jones, well ahead on 42% but also shows a huge loss of support by the Lib Dems to Labour.

The Conservatives and 'Others' (predominantly the Greens) also increase their share of the vote, bringing the constituency closer to the four-way contest it was a few years ago when all the main parties regularly achieved double-figure percentages.

Plaid Cymru  42% (-7%)
Lib Dems  23% (-13%)
Labour  20% (+15%)
Conservatives  11% (+3%)
Others  4% (+2%)
Figures in brackets compare to the last Assembly election in 2007

The poll hasn't been conducted by a conventional polling company but by students at the International Politics department at Aberystwyth University, bringing it some detractors. I understand the Lib Dems have been furiously contesting its validity and trying to prevent publication, as might be expected. The Wales Online article is transparent in including discussion on how the poll was conducted. Nevertheless, the University's record of getting similar polls right in the past, and the very large number of voters questioned (1,195) in a constituency with a small population means it will be taken seriously by most.  

The poll is also backed by canvassing results from different parties which are showing that the left-leaning swing voters who helped the Lib Dems win Ceredigion in last year's Westminster election are dropping the party like a stone since their alliance with the Conservatives at Westminster.

Ceredigion Against the Cuts

The new organisation, Ceredigion Against the Cuts / Ceredigion yn Erbyn y Toriadau, staged a successful rally  in Owain Glyndwr Square, Aberystwyth yesterday against cuts to public services. The rally was organised by trade unions and community groups within the county.

Around 40% of Ceredigion’s workforce is employed in the public sector so it’s clear that financial cuts imposed by the Westminster government are likely to affect us much more than most. This high proportion means that cuts would have an enormous knock-on effect on the private sector here also.

Three Assembly Election candidates were there to support the rally - Elin Jones from Plaid, Richard Boudier from Labour and Chris Simpson from the Greens.

As an alternative to cutting into the public sector, the rally called for the Westminster government to raise money by clamping down on tax evasion and non-payment of taxes coupled with a small tax on international financial transactions.

Public sector workers in Ceredigion include people working in:
Ceredigion County Council
The Welsh Assembly Government
Tai Ceredigion
Health
Schools
Aberystwyth and Lampeter Universities
The National Library
Aberystwyth Passport Office
Job Centres
The Post Office

Ceredigion Against the Cuts can be contacted at ceredigionagainstthecuts@gmail.com

Further Ceredigion Against the Cuts events in the next month will be:
Thursday April 21st – Assembly Election Hustings in the Old College, Aberystwyth 7-9pm
Saturday May 7th – March and Rally in Aberystwyth

Diolch i Iolo ap Gwynn am y llun

Major Cycle Race for Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth is set to host a major pre-olympic street cycle race next month, with another likely to follow in 2012.

Following the successful round-the-houses races last year involving local riders (see photo), a consortium led by the 140-member Ystwyth Cycle Club looks to have succeeded in getting Aberystwyth designated as the only Welsh leg of the Halfords Tour Series. This is a professional series of races for top riders, including Olympic athletes, taking place in ten towns and cities around the UK and will be televised on S4C and ITV 4. Last year, when there were no Welsh legs, the various events attracted between 4,000 and 18,000 spectators. An average of 130,000 people watched the races on TV, attracting considerable attention for each town.

The Aberystwyth event, which has yet to be formally announced by the Halfords Tour organisers, is due to take place on May 26th. The televised professional race, which will take place on a street circuit around the Prom and Old College area, will be held at 7pm, at the end of a day of cycle races which will include local youth groups and schools.

Ceredigion Cabinet finally says Yes to Civil Parking Enforcement

Ceredigion Council’s Cabinet voted on Tuesday to take on Civil Parking Enforcement. The decision, some 13 years after it was first discussed by the Council, will next year see the Council taking over the role of traffic wardens from the police, who have said they will withdraw their service from the end of May due to the lack of Council progress on the issue.

During the debate, the Cabinet Member for Highways, Ray Quant, acknowledged that he had begun to feel, “like King Canute” in trying to hold back the tide of opinion running in favour of the measure, whilst surrounding Councils all adopted it. He also acknowledged that it had been the action of the police that had finally made the decision unavoidable but also mentioned that Council officers had been, “pushing me and pushing me” on the issue.

Although non-Cabinet councillors like myself aren’t allowed to vote on the issue, we were allowed a peripheral role in the Cabinet debate on Tuesday. Although I’ve been a constant critic of Ray Quant on this issue, I did try to strike a striking a conciliatory note by acknowledging that he had made the right call on some other controversial issues (like weekly recycling collections and street lighting). I also asked the Council to seek a meeting with the police in the hope that they may find a way to maintain their traffic warden service until next year now that they are assured the Council will take it on after that.

As discussed here, here and here, Civil Parking Enforcement will allow the Council to recycle money from parking fines into improved local traffic management, whereas fines currently go straight to the UK Treasury. Civil Parking Enforcement is now likely to be introduced in Ceredigion around June 2012. It is also hoped that the measure will eventually enable the Council to adopt residents parking schemes around Aberystwyth town centre.

One interesting anecdote from the debate; In Blackpool, Civil Parking Enforcement was opposed by shop owners as they believed that improved parking enforcement in streets with short-term parking would discourage trade. When a survey was done, it was found that the majority of parking spaces in these streets were actually taken up all day, not by shoppers, but by the shop owners and workers themselves. When Civil Parking Enforcement came in and the shop workers had to park in the car parks, retail increased by over 15%. 

Major Bronglais funding announcement

Press statement on Bronglais Hospital released today:

MAJOR INVESTMENT IN BRONGLAIS HOSPITAL

"Plans for improvements to west Wales health services also move forward.

"The Welsh Assembly Government will invest £38million in Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth, Health Minister Edwina Hart announced today [Tuesday, 22 March].

"The final plans include:

• New emergency department, clinical decisions unit, and GP out-of-hours services – speeding up access to treatment and reducing inappropriate hospital admissions;

• Purpose-built day surgery unit, incorporating two day case theatres;

• New short-stay surgical ward;

• New maternity unit, including relocating antenatal and paediatric clinics;

• Refurbish existing accommodation to relocate pathology services to establish an integrated blood sciences department to improve turnaround times; and,

• Refurbishment of the main theatre suite.

 "Work to demolish old workshops and stores and the development of a new multi-storey car park and off-site car park has been completed to pave the way for the major improvements.

"Construction work on the new build is expected to begin in May 2011 and completed by February 2013 followed by refurbishment of the existing emergency department and outpatients and the development of the new maternity unit.

Mrs Hart said:

“This major investment in modernising Bronglais Hospital secures its long-term future. This demonstrates the Welsh Assembly Government’s commitment to provide first class district general hospital services for the residents in mid and west Wales.

“The new facilities will improve patient care by ensuring the Health Board can sustain and improve on our waiting times targets and improve the working environment of staff.”

Hywel Dda Health Board is developing business cases to improve health and social services in West Wales including plans for:

• £20m for new critical care and emergency assessment facilities at West Wales General Hospital, Carmarthen;

• £6m for a new renal unit at Withybush Hospital, Haverfordwest;

• £20m for the development of a new hospital in Cardigan;

• £18m for increased capacity for Prince Philip Hospital, Llanelli to improve facilities for short stay and day surgery;

• Developing an integrated health and social care facility in Aberaeron to replace Aberaeron Hospital; and,

• Plans are progressing on the development of a new health and social care facility in Tregaron.

Chris Martin, the Chair of Hywel Dda Health Board, said:

“This is wonderful news for the people of Ceredigion, South Gwynedd and North Powys. This significant funding approval made by Welsh Assembly Government secures the future of Bronglais as a District General Hospital. I hope this will reassure the public about our commitment to ongoing investment into the future of health and social services in Ceredigion.

“The Health Board’s other business cases in development will make sure that patients in Hywel Dda healthcare area are provided with modern, high quality services for the 21st century.”

Notes:

The Health Minister, Edwina Hart, has approved the Final Business Case (FBC) for the re-development of Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth. The Welsh Assembly Government is fully funding the £37.978 million capital cost of this development.

The FBC is the final phase of a three-stage business case process for significant capital investment in the NHS in Wales. "

Update 23/3/11

Ceredigion’s Assembly Member Elin Jones has now also commented:

“I’m very pleased that this project has been signed-off by the current One Wales government.

“In going into government in 2007, Plaid Cymru ensured that the then hospital centralisation plans were dropped and I’ve fought hard to ensure that Bronglais remains as a District General Hospital.

“This funding confirmation now ensures Bronglais’ future as the major hospital serving all of Mid Wales and it will be almost impossible for the next Assembly Government to reverse a decision of this magnitude.”

Welsh tweeters at number three in the world's small languages

Welsh has the third highest number of Twitter users of all the world's minority languages, according to the blog Indigenous Tweets, with users in Aberystwyth being central to the scene.

The most prolific minority language group on Twitter is Haitian Creole with Basque next and then Welsh, followed by Frisian and Setswana,  a South African language. The site, which lists all Twitter users of minority languages in incredible detail (for example, apparently 29.5% of my tweets are in Welsh), records 1598 people as using Welsh on Twitter. The next highest Celtic language is Irish Gaelic on 771.

The Indigenous Tweets project aims to increase further the use of minority languages on Twitter. Any Welsh tweeters not on their lists can get themselves added. More information here.

Diolch i Hacio'r Iaith am adnabod y stori.

Assembly agrees funding for five more projects in Aberystwyth

The Welsh Government's Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration, Jocelyn Davies, has announced that the Aberystwyth Regeneration Area Partnership Board have approved a variety of projects for the town, including an ‘Adizone’ and multi-use games area at Min y Ddôl, Penparcau and a £1 million scheme to improve housing and living conditions in properties along the promenade.

Funding for improvements to Aberystwyth’s bus station and the area around the town’s train station was also granted, as well as an approval in principle for the development of the Mill Street car park site.

Following the announcement, Ceredigion's Assembly Member, Elin Jones, said:

“I’m very pleased that the Deputy Minister is now in a position to officially confirm that five projects in Aberystwyth have been approved for funding under the town’s SRA scheme.

“These are very welcome projects which will improve the town’s amenity for both local residents and visitors alike, and I look forward to seeing tangible progress on these schemes in the near future”.

Ceredigion votes Yes by 2:1

The Yes for Wales campaign in Ceredigion achieved two thirds of the vote in yesterday’s historic referendum to extend law-making powers for the Welsh Assembly. The decisive victory for the Yes campaign across Wales, in which 21 of the 22 local authorities voted Yes, greatly shifts the balance of power from Westminster to Wales and paves the way for Wales to plough a much more distinctive political furrow than we’ve previously been allowed.

Ceredigion achieved the second highest turnout in Wales, just 0.29% behind Carmarthenshire, with what Radio Wales today described as, “one of the best organised and disciplined Yes campaigns”. This maintains the county’s tradition as a good participator in the democratic process. Ceredigion also had the second highest turnout at the referendum which established the Assembly in 1997.

In keeping with the pattern across Wales, the gap between the Yes and No votes in Ceredigion widened by 14% compared to 1997 to over 32%.

Although the referendum question appeared to be something of a technicality, and the campaign a low-key one due to the No campaign’s refusal to allow government funding for a proper debate, the long-term significance of the vote will be far greater than that of the coming Assembly elections on May 5th.

The result in Ceredigion:
Yes 16,505 (66.24%)
No 8,412 (33.76%)            Turnout 44.07%

1997 Ceredigion Result
Yes 18,304 (59.2%)
No 12,614 (40.8%)       Turnout 57.1%