Plaid Cymru Assembly Members Leanne Wood and Chris Franks have hit out at job cuts and the closure of the Cynon Valley’s Leader office in Aberdare by Media Wales.
Valleys based AM Leanne Wood said:
“My thoughts are with the workers who have lost their jobs; I sincerely hope that they can find alternative work soon. I [...]...
Lefty nice guys the Bevan Massive Crew is havin a Blogging Gig in Cardiff Bay.
It be happenin soon.
DJ Peter Black be there.
Boom boom, shake the room.
He big nice tie man, wear me shades.
Vicky W of the Bevan Massive Crew be there.
Betsan Bloop be there. She be be be by the sea woman.
Tea be there…. “re fresh ments provided”.
You be there......
I am not an actor so I can not stand upon a stage and act the story of my child at Rhydfelen.
I can not use song or dance to convey my school experiences using my body.
I can but try to ‘write it out’ and be true to myself as a child who attended Rhydfelen school.
As part of the process of ‘digging up’ the past in preparation for the Clywch legal case, I have had to burrow deep down.
Read the Story by a School......
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There is no ‘Recovery Manual for Rhydfelen’ to help former pupils who were victimised at the school.
We patiently piece together the truth of our own personal histories.
We write our own recovery manuals, each and every one of us in our own quiet way.
I am not a tourist flitting from classroom to classroom, job to job, relationship to relationship, pill to pill, glass to glass.
It has been four years since the publication of the Clywch Report.
Click Here to Read the Full Article......
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clywch report,
welsh assembly
A Public Meeting will be held in Aberdare on Thursday 9th October 2008, at the Sobells Sports Centre.
At the Meeting Rhondda Cynon Taf Councillors will decide on the new Gloucesters & Ironworks site planning application.
All Welcome.
A Planning Application has been re-submitted to the local Council. The plans are for 130 houses to be built on the Hirwaun Gloucesters and old Ironworks site. This area is much valued and used by the community as an area for recreation and leisure and home to an abundance of wildlife and flora.
Councillors voted to refuse planning permission in July 2008.
Local Council Planning Officers are trying to persuade Councillors to change their minds and approve this application, despite overwhelming objections from residents over the last 3 years.
The...
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rhondda cynon taf council,
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planning permission,
piper homes,
exploitation,
sobells sports centre,
People,
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This is a decidedly difficult sculpture. An imposing steel rocket-like structure on the edge of Merthyr town.
When the late Charles Sansbury created this massive installation way back in 1975, little did he realise how unloved his gangly child would become.
Logic and reason suggest that it is difficult not to notice this work at a height of approximately 20 feet. On the other hand most people don’t notice it.
The sculpture was installed at the edge of Merthyr main car park, in front of Merthyr College, and at the entrance of the main footbridge leading into St Tydfil’s shopping centre.
Although it was guaranteed a daily audience of thousands of passers-by, few noticed when it was recently moved to the Caegarw roundabout as part of a town landscaping project.
And the colour...
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t mobile,
welsh assembly
Small grants of up to £1,000 are available for projects that improve the local environment…
The Cleaner Greener Communities project, is available to community groups this year within the Heads of the Valleys area.
Cleaner Greener Communities is a partnership project between Keep Wales Tidy, BTCV Cymru and Groundwork Wales, to encourage local communities to take responsibility for their own environment. This has been made possible through funding from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Heads of the Valleys programme.
As part of the project, small grants up to £1,000 are available for community groups to help cover the costs of insurance, tools, equipment, publicity and training in order to carry out environmental improvement projects.
In addition, a local Project Officer works with...
Plaid Cymru AM Chris Franks welcomed the Hirwaun Mothers’ Union to the National Assembly in Cardiff Bay.
Over 500,000 visitors have visited the National Assembly last year, according to the latest report by National Assembly for Wales Commission.
Chris Franks said: “I was very pleased to welcome Hirwaun Mother’s Union to the Senedd. More and more citizens [...]...
alkers and cyclists of all ages celebrated the completion of a cycle route at the county boundary between Rhondda Cynon Taf and Bridgend.
The Cwm Ogwr Fach section of the Celtic Trail between Tonyrefail and Blackmill was officially opened by Bridgend AM Carwyn Jones.
The attractive traffic-free route near the entrance to Lakeside Farm Restaurant on the A4093 forms part of a trail stretching across the breadth of Wales.
The five-mile section follows the former railway line and parish road, and prevents walkers and cyclists having to drop onto the busy A4093 to continue along the Celtic Trail.
The scheme is part of the Celtic Trail Phase 2 Project funded through the Welsh European Funding......
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welsh assembly
It is with considerable sadness we announce that Huw Lewis AM has joined the Mumbo Jumbo Cult.
On 3rd July 2008, he announced on his blog that he has “joined the revolution”. This is a common phrase chanted by new Cult Members as they ritually affirm that they belong to their new ‘family’.
The Mumbo Jumbo Cult has swept through the Welsh political landscape claiming many other Assembly Member casualties.
Symptoms of Cult Membership include excessive references to brand names and imagery in a not-very-subtle attempt to recruit more people to the Mumbo Jumbo ’cause’.
Huw Lewis History
On July 18th 2007, Huw Lewis was sacked as Deputy Minister for Transport and the Economy. Two months later he published his Winning for Wales pamphlet on the future...
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Plans for a national cycle training standard across Wales were announced this week in a bid to improve safety and the take-up of cycling amongst children and young people.
At a Walking and Cycling and Conference in Cardiff, the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing, Jane Davidson, said the Welsh Assembly Government would be investing £250,000 to train more than 100 instructors to teach the new standards across Wales.
The aim is to increase the number of qualified instructors that can deliver cycle training to a consistent standard that prepares children and adults to cycle on today’s roads. Ms Davidson said:
The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to getting more people to cycle – as a form of transport; as a means of becoming more physically active; and as a...
The Planning Application to build one of Wales’ largest Wind Farms in Cynon Valley was rejected by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council in April 2008. The developer, Pennant Walters, are appealing against the decision via the Welsh Assembly.
The Welsh Assembly are considering the Appeal… If you wish your views to be heard please write in triplicate to:
The Planning Inspectorate,
REF A/07/2058755
Crown Building,
Cathays Park,
CARDIFF CF10 3NQ
BEFORE 1st MAY......
There is only one week left to Have your Say on the Windfarm Plans for Hirwaun …
The Application to build giant Wind Turbines across the Cynon Valley was rejected by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council in April 2008. The Developer appealed against that decision and this Appeal is being heard via the Welsh Assembly’s Planning [...]...
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Leighton Andrews boasts “I am now on Twitter”. Congratulations, bach.
This statement was published via his website (see screenshot, left) .
For us it it provoked an image of a comic conversation between the generations. Something one might hear in a play by Rhondda dramatist Frank Vickery.
“I’m on Twitter” claims the politician. And in reply, the elderly grandmother says, “Oh, poor dab, you must be baad. I’m on Co-dydramol for my knees. I’m still under the doctor waiting for the op.”
Every few weeks, Mr Andrews telegraphs another message via his blog about his latest online toy. In January, the toy of the month was Facebook, an online social networking site.
The constant name-dropping of American brand names eg. You Tube,...
Cylch - the Welsh community recycling network - announce that the Welsh Assembly Government has awarded the community recycling sector in Wales £3 million over three years to help build capacity.
This will be designed to help member organisations achieve the investment necessary for them to be sustainable long-term social enterprises. Cylch has been working with the Assembly to secure this fund for the sector and are delighted with the outcome.
The fund will be used to provide suitable investment that will help the sector in Wales deliver waste minimisation, reuse, recycling and composting activities. In order to avoid any conflicts of interest the Cylch Capacity Building Fund will be administered independently of Cylch, following selection of a contractor by the end of......
Arg! There be a grand, grand mutiny aboard HMS Senedd this week …......
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chris franks
Turning to another Chapter in the Adventures of Leanne Wood in Cyberspace …
In January, Leanne Wood’s blog disappeared from the Internet.
This happened shortly after her last blog posting attacking Queen Elizabeth II at Christmas.
And shortly before the Welsh Assembly Standards Committee issued ‘blogging guidance’ to all Assembly Members.
Did Leanne Wood take a Vow of Silence ?
Did the spin doctors from Ty Gwynfor make her an offer she couldn’t refuse ?
It appears that some one else is to blame for the disappearance of Leanne Wood’s blog.......
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According to Welsh Assembly Government First Minister, Wales is rising to the challenge of the changing world of energy and leading the way in the UK.
At an Energy Summit this week the First Minister said that since he last met delegates at the annual summit, the pace of change in the energy sector has continued to accelerate at European, UK and Wales levels culminating last week with the publication of the Wales Renewable Energy Route Map, the first to be published by a UK administration. Mr Morgan said:
The energy world has been a tremendously busy one, both at project and policy level, since we last met a year ago.
The key to our aims is to maximise Wales’ contribution to the abatement of global warming, not to produce a set of strategies that make the Welsh figures look good.
I am...
Jane from Mountain Ash blogs here with a story on the proposed opencast plans for Mountain Ash…
We had a knock at the door last night from a nice man called Ian. It was -3*C and he was going door to door with a petition. Ian was collecting residents signatures for his petition to raise awareness of one anonymous landowners intent to dig for coal on a small plot of land behind the graveyard in Caegarw, Mountain Ash.
We had been wondering about the sounds of heavy machinery and the Apex Drilling vans seen on our street over the past few weeks.
It appears that the plot of land was sold by Lord Aberdare in the ’60’s to this man and he has twice been denied permission to excavate the coal from a 100 year old tip.
We understand that the land has a preservation order on it...
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tree planting,
energy,
caegarw,
Environment,
planning,
Overdevelopment,
planning permission,
Blogging,
welsh assembly
The people behind Y Byd project had some not very nice things to say about Rhodri Glyn Thomas today.
Dyddiol Cyf. the company behind the project to launch a Welsh language daily newspaper today published a News Release today attacking the Welsh Assembly’s Culture Minister.
Rhodri Glyn Thomas’ decision not to give them the grant they wanted - around £1 million - to set up a daily Welsh language newspaper has irritated them. So they’ve hit back hard and low.
They invoke the One Wales political agreement of 27th June 2007 between Labour and Plaid Cymru, claiming that Rhodri Glyn Thomas has reneged on a “promise” within that manifesto.
And they claim (in Welsh) : Rydym fel cenedl yn haeddu papur dyddiol. Mae angen llais newyddiadurol ychwanegol ar Gymru er...
Today the Welsh Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan celebrates eight years leading the Welsh Assembly Government.
He seems like a physically fit man. We reported a film clip of him swimming around Cardigan Bay, in August 2007 not long after his heart operation.
The important question is, whether Mr Morgan is politically fit to lead Wales in 2008.
Journalist Patrick Hannan - raised near Aberdare - comments on Rhodri Morgan in his recent book, When Arthur Met Maggie (Seren, Bridgend, 2006) :
Mrs Thatcher brought a ball and crane and other items of demolition machinery into industrial Britain. Almost fifteen years after she left office, Rhodri Morgan, marking his fifth anniversary as Welsh First Minister, told the press : “My own personal ambition is to try to undo the damage that...
Oh, hallelluia. The Welsh Assembly Gets Tough on Bloggers this week.
We noted some weeks ago the sudden disappearance of a Plaid Cymru Assembly Member’s blog in mysterious circumstances.
We called for Guidelines on the use of the Internet by Assembly Members, especially after dastardly projects like Natwatch - an anonymous blog - apparently funded by a Labour Party Assembly Member and his young researcher.
Today, leading Assembly Member bloggers Peter Black AM (in Blogging AMs) and Glyn Davies AM (in Bloggers Beware) discuss a Guidance Note sent to all Assembly Members via the Welsh Assembly’s Standards Committee.
Although parts of this missive are being discussed online, there is no copy available in the Transcript of the Standards Committee meeting of 29 January 2008 on the...
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Blogging,
Peter Black,
welsh assembly,
Leanne Wood
Leanne Wood seems to have disappeared down a virtual rabbit hole in cyberspace.
This week the Plaid Cymru Assembly Member’s blog disappeared off the face of the Net.
It is like a Lewis Carroll story with the eponymous heroine disappearing into another world.
So therefore we dub this news story, Leanne Wood’s Adventures in Cyberspace.......
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Would the last Employer to Leave Aberdare please switch off the lights.
It’s no joking matter … Aberdare’s biggest employer is apparently a plastics-factory now threatened with closure.
The news that Everwhite Plastics are in dire financial straits has triggered a predictable political response.
Start of the Funny Season
Politicians have started making wild promises.
Unlike Pinocchio their noses will not grow longer.
They will, however, attempt to out-lie each other.
We can smell your Cant
If you can smell the Cant from Cardiff Bay it’s due to one fact : In May 2008, only four months hence, there are elections for the local council. Nearabouts the factory threatened with closure are some of the most marginal and contested seats in the County Borough of Rhondda...
The Wikipedia article for Rhondda’s Labour MP Leighton Andrews is being vandalised.
Interesting elements of Andrews’ career are being removed from the article only to be restored by conscientious editors.
It is like a virtual tug-o-war played out publically in a small niche of Welsh cyberspace.
So what is this Wikipedia thing ? Wikipedia is the world’s largest encyclopaedia and it’s all available for free online.
The encyclopaedia was created by a collaborative effort involving people from across the world.
If there isn’t an article on a noteworthy subject, then create it.
If you want to contribute or edit an article, you can.
Thus in the example of the Leighton Andrews article, certain facts have been removed.
References to political researcher David Taylor...
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Local Campaigners have won a crucial battle as the Welsh Assembly Planning Inspectorate dismiss the appeal of property developers.
Property developers Piper Homes sought planning permission to build 128 new homes on land near the old Gloucesters and Ironworks site however they faced opposition from local campaigners who argued that Hirwaun’s road infrastructure could not sustain [...]...
At the Bridgend Eisteddfod in August 1998, Ron Davies was made a member of the Gorsedd of Bards in a special ceremony. He was Secretary of State for Wales at the time. It was rare praise for a politician and it came in recognition of his work steering through the devolution plans. In September 1997, the Referendum was won by only a whisker (around 6,000 votes). Without Davies’ contribution convincing the conservative British Nationalists within the Labour Party the Referendum result would have been a “no”.
Ron Davies had reason to feel confident at that Eisteddfod. He was truly the ‘architect of devolution’. Thus during the week he made a very confident appearance at a meeting organised by Cymdeithas yr Iaith (Welsh Language Society) to discuss the...
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Wandering around Abercynon a year ago we were struck by a small post office in Glancynon Terrace. The street scene we stumbled upon seemed like a typical scene from the post-modern South Wales Valleys. The terraced houses knitted together tightly with so very few shops… a newsagents on the corner, a chinese take-away, and - thank the heavens! - a friendly post office.
Now fast forward a year to the news announcing the list of Post Offices that the powers-that-be would like to close in Glamorgan and the Valleys. On that list is poor old Glancynon Post Office, in the village of Abercynon, Rhondda Cynon Taf. It’s almost like putting the heart of the village on Death Row for the Post Office is at the heart of the village.
There are a few weeks of “public...
A planning application to build over one hundred houses on the Gloucesters site was rejected by Rhondda Cynon Taff Council earlier this year. The developer, Piper Homes, appealed against that decision and therefore the Welsh Assembly is considering the appeal in the form of a Public Inquiry.
The Public Inquiry is schedule for 10am on Tuesday 23rd October 2007 at Hirwaun Community Centre. The appeal may run over 2 days.
The Gloucesters site is situated right next door to the remains of the old Hirwaun Iron Works. The Ironworks/Gloucesters comprises an area of land in the centre of the village which is widely used by villagers for recreation walking, dog walking, horse riding, cycling etc. Perhaps most importantly, the whole area is a giant adventure playground for children. The...
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Action for Hirwaun, a grassroots group campaigning for the people of Hirwaun, confirm that a Public Inquiry is being held on behalf of the Welsh Assembly looking at the Gloucesters Housing Development proposal.
* * PUBLIC INQUIRY scheduled for 10 a.m. on TUESDAY 23rd OCTOBER at HIRWAUN COMMUNITY CENTRE * *
A planning application to build over one hundred homes on the Gloucesters site in Hirwaun was rejected by Rhondda Cynon Taff Council. The developer Piper Homes subsequently appealed against the decision. As result of this, the Welsh Assembly are holding a Public Inquiry.
According to Action for Hirwaun, “The Gloucesters site comprises an area of land in the centre of the village which is widely used by villagers for recreation walking, dog walking, horse riding, cycling etc....
