PLAID MONMOUTHSHIRE MANIFESTO 2017

Plaid Cymru is a party for local communities, based entirely in Wales. We fight against downgrading and selling off local services.

Where Monmouthshire services are good, Plaid councilors will support them; where they need improvement, there will be open constructive criticism and proposals for better ways of working.

Plaid Cymru candidates are committed to:

• Protecting our services by fighting for fair resources, delivered by fairly treated frontline staff.
• Clamping down on executive top-level pa, but paying all staff above the “living wage”.
• Putting peoples needs first instead of ticking boxes. This has transformed services in Plaid run Gwynedd.
• Supporting teachers and reducing bureaucracy to give more time with pupils. Plaid run Ceredigion is ranked No 1 in Wales, the only authority classed as ‘outstanding’.
• Acknowledging that bilingual education is of enormous benefit therefore making it accessible to all.
• Buying council goods and services locally; investing council reserves locally where possible but always responsibly and ethically.
• A cleaner, greener Monmouthshire, supporting sustainable working and local renewable energy projects.
• Working for planning reform, towards sustainable, affordable development meeting the needs of local communities.
• Working in partnership to invest in social housing. A decent home is everyone’s right.

A GLASS HALF FULL...

Now don’t get me wrong, I warmly welcome the news of the 12 priority (out of 46) stations announced today by the Labour in Wales government, which include:

·      Cardiff: Ely Mill/Victoria Park

·      Cardiff: Newport Road/Rover Way

·      Cardiff: St Mellons

·      Newport: Llanwern

·      Swansea: Cockett

·      Swansea: Landore

·      St Clears

·      Deeside Industrial Park/Northerm Gateway

·      North Wrecsam

·      South Wrecsam

·      Llangefni

·      Bow Street

It’s certainly a step in the right direction, if one that is somewhat limited by a combination of a lack of ambition and the fact that the Conservative Westminster government consciously chose not to devolve any control of Network Rail in Wales to the National Assembly.  This failure by Westminster to standing up or to even represent our national interests by giving us here in Wales the tools to do the job to improve our poor public transport system is nothing new.

While you would not have expected the Conservative Liberal Democrat government to strengthen devolution or protect Welsh interests because it was probably too busy privatizing everything that was not tied down. It is also worth remembering that the Party formerly known as New Labour also did not devolve control of that portion of Network rail to Cardiff when it controlled Westminster with a significant majority.

It is also worth remembering that the extension of the electrification of part of the Great Western line to Cardiff (originally it was Swansea) is only taking place because of the hard graft put in by Ieuan Wyn Jones, then Deputy First Minister in the Plaid driven One Wales Government.  Originally it had been suggested that the electrification work on the Great Western would stop at Bristol and Wales would be left out of this plan entirely.

A glass half full is better than an empty glass, but, more locally there is significant room for improvement, and many local residents would welcome a public commitment to new railway stations at Magor, Caerleon / Ponthir and significant improvements to services and facilities at Abergavenny, Caldicot, Chepstow, Cwmbran, Pontypool, and Severn tunnel Junction – including safe, secure, reasonably priced (if not free) parking. Not to mention a public commitment to actually reopening the Ebbw vale rail link to Newport.

TELLING IT LIKE IT IS!

Responding to Theresa May's comments in Wales, Plaid Cymru's Parliamentary leader, Hywel Williams said:

"The people of Wales will see through this deceptive rhetoric by Theresa May. This is the most important election since Margaret Thatcher first swept a weak and limp Labour Party aside and the impact that that election had on communities across our country continues to take its toll.

"Plaid Cymru will not allow another deliberate destruction of Welsh industry and for the future of generations of young people to be blighted. Unbearable poverty continues to exist where economic activity once thrived and Plaid Cymru will not sit on its hands and allow history to be repeated. 

"The Tories will win this election. The weak and divided Labour Party are not fit to form a government so what this election is about is sending the strongest people to Westminster to stand up to the Tories and defend Wales. It is between the Tories and Plaid Cymru - the Destroyers and the Defenders. Labour MPs are too weak and divided to fight the Tories. Plaid Cymru is the only party that will stand up in Westminster and make sure that the Government's actions work for Wales, not just for the south east of England."

FLY-TIPPING - OUR SHARED PROBLEM...

Recent fly-tipping in Allt-yr-yn

Whether you live in Allt-yr-yn, Pill, Tredegar Park, St Julians or anywhere else in Newport - fly tipping is a problem – with rubbish and waste being dumped in quiet streets, nature reserves, in fields or in the drainage reens on the levels (something which aggravates drainage problems and flooding). Newport City Council is directly responsible for removing dumped items from any council owned land, including housing estates, grass areas, parks and reens, canals and public highways.

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Recent fly-tipping in Allt-yr-yn

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The South Wales Argus (back in July 21015) reported that there were more than 7,000 fly-tipping reports but only five prosecutions in the last four years in Newport, a Freedom of Information request showed. No-one was taken to court in the city between April 2011 and March 2014 and the five offenders the council prosecuted in 2014-2015 were handed fines totalling just £2,600, the Argus reported.

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It was noted in 2015 that fly-tipping costs Newport council tax payers £300,000 a year. Fly-tipping in Newport by and large fell in the four years between 2010 and 2014, with 2,014 reports in 2011-12, 1,982 in 2012-13, 1,578 in 2013-14 and 1,672 in 2014-15, totalling 7,246, the Freedom of Information request showed. In February 2017 the South Wales Argus reported that 135.8 tonnes of waste was picked up by the Pride in Newport team since it was launched.

Recent fly-tipping in Allt-yr-yn

It remains one of those anti-social problems that plagues all of our communities across Wales affecting both relatively well off and less affluent communities of our country and our city. It affects both rural and urban areas equally and despite the best efforts of financially strapped county councils shows little sign of being discouraged or curbed.

Domestic waste aside much, but not all, a significant amount of the dumped waste appears to be construction or builders waste – something that may well be aggravated by the charge that commercial concerns face at some refuse sites (including Newport). What’s needed is to develop a realistic all agency approach, which can bring an end to the problem of fly tipping – something that may involve accepting commercial waste at the tip for no fee.

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