Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Melrose Park Youth Facility:
Last year a St. Mellons resident approached me about setting up a modest facility for young people in Minsmere Close, St. Mellons. Previously there was a childrens play facility here but vandalism and persistent anti-social behaviour lead to this being removed by the Council several years ago.
Concerns raised by Minsmere Close residents prompted the view that alternative, preferrably more easily policed, sites should be considered before developing the proposal further.
The resident decided not to pursue this approach (which is her right) and instead raised the matter with the Council Leader, Liberal Democrat Councillor Rodney Berman. The Council has been working on this proposal without even bothering to discuss it with local Councillors or residents for over six months.
This is either a sign of Liberal Democrat deviousness or incompetence - both provide reason for concern. I’m told it was an “oversight” on their part. It is certainly unacceptable.
Such behaviour undermines local democracy as well as being very unhelpful. We hope the Executive are not busy dealing with other local matters without consulting us. This incident says a lot about Lib Dem politicians who won last years local elections on the promise that they would be inclusive, open and democratic.
Cllr. Ralph Cook
Concerns raised by Minsmere Close residents prompted the view that alternative, preferrably more easily policed, sites should be considered before developing the proposal further.
The resident decided not to pursue this approach (which is her right) and instead raised the matter with the Council Leader, Liberal Democrat Councillor Rodney Berman. The Council has been working on this proposal without even bothering to discuss it with local Councillors or residents for over six months.
This is either a sign of Liberal Democrat deviousness or incompetence - both provide reason for concern. I’m told it was an “oversight” on their part. It is certainly unacceptable.
Such behaviour undermines local democracy as well as being very unhelpful. We hope the Executive are not busy dealing with other local matters without consulting us. This incident says a lot about Lib Dem politicians who won last years local elections on the promise that they would be inclusive, open and democratic.
Cllr. Ralph Cook
St. Mellons Community Education Centre:
As reported in the last edition of the St. Mellons Rose, the Liberal Democrat run Council intends to review the way in which the St. Mellons Community Education Centre (CEC) is managed.
The review became controversial when a rumour the Centre was closing began circulating. Before 2003 the building was divided between Community Education and Leisure Services (sport). In 2003 the management of the whole building was transferred to the Community Education service.
As reported previously in the St. Mellons Rose your Local Councillors have been campaigning to improve sporting facilities in the Ward (the improvements about to begin at Cathcob playing fields are a result of this work). The Council sees the building as playing a key part in this and the review, we are told, will seek to balance the requirements of the sport and leisure and community education.
In early March the Council said a “working group” would be set up to look at the complex issues involved and local residents would be consulted.
More than three months later the working group has not yet met and the Centre and staff remain in limbo. Cllr. Ralph Cook has written to the Council asking it to begin the consultation immediately. In its reply the Council says it has been doing background work prior to arranging the first meetings.
Cllr. Monica Walsh
The review became controversial when a rumour the Centre was closing began circulating. Before 2003 the building was divided between Community Education and Leisure Services (sport). In 2003 the management of the whole building was transferred to the Community Education service.
As reported previously in the St. Mellons Rose your Local Councillors have been campaigning to improve sporting facilities in the Ward (the improvements about to begin at Cathcob playing fields are a result of this work). The Council sees the building as playing a key part in this and the review, we are told, will seek to balance the requirements of the sport and leisure and community education.
In early March the Council said a “working group” would be set up to look at the complex issues involved and local residents would be consulted.
More than three months later the working group has not yet met and the Centre and staff remain in limbo. Cllr. Ralph Cook has written to the Council asking it to begin the consultation immediately. In its reply the Council says it has been doing background work prior to arranging the first meetings.
Cllr. Monica Walsh
Neighbourhood Renewal Scheme:
We submitted two bids for money from this annual scheme. Firstly to carry out a consultation and feasibility study on the proposed closure of Trefaser Crescent and secondly to improve access to and provide fencing around Crumlin Drive Open Space. If agreed, there will be an opportunity to reduce motorbike nuisance on this ground, give easier access to people and improve the football pitch. The basket ball facility here was funded by the scheme two years ago.
Wimpey House Building
Wimpey have asked the Council whether they can site a temporary compound on land at Cathcob Playing Fields for two years during the building of 52 homes adjacent to Chester Close, St. Mellons. As the local Councillors we have been asked for our views.
We do not have any major objections apart from a few concerns to minimise the impact on local residents and the trees. We are insisting that all fees paid to the Council are added to the money being spent on improving the Playing Fields. We would welcome any views residents may have.
We do not have any major objections apart from a few concerns to minimise the impact on local residents and the trees. We are insisting that all fees paid to the Council are added to the money being spent on improving the Playing Fields. We would welcome any views residents may have.
Schools Reorganisation Update:
The Council’s ruling Liberal Democrat Executive is still reeling from the verbal battering it received from around 170 parents at the public meeting in Eastern Leisure Centre on May 18th. Your Labour Councillors leafleted parents outside school gates in Trowbridge and St. Mellons to make up for the lack of publicity.
The earlier series of meetings, held in February, were so badly publicised by the Council that few people attended them; only 16 parents turned up for the West Cardiff meeting. The following day over 100 people attended the East Cardiff meeting after we leafleted at school gates.
At the latest public meeting worried parents demanded answers to their questions and complained that they were getting “waffle” in reply.
Having exposed the Councils failure to publicise these meetings properly, the South Wales Echo, has continued to devote space to the issue. The Council’s best kept secret is the talk of the City!
We are asking the Liberal Democrats to tell us when they will honour the promise contained in their June 2004 local election manifesto. Before winning power in Cardiff Council the Lib Dems promised to reduce class sizes to 25 pupils. Yet reducing class sizes is not even mentioned in their consultation paper!
Now they are proposing to close schools whilst presiding over a period when the gap between the average amount spent by Welsh Councils per pupil and the amount spent per pupil in Cardiff is widening. Under Labour between 1999 and 2004 the gap fell from almost £100 per pupil to £9.00!
We accept that something needs to be done to reduce the thousands of surplus places in our schools. However, we oppose plans to increase the size of all primary schools to 420 children because we believe smaller schools are more appropriate for very young children, especially in areas like Trowbridge and St. Mellons where there is significant socio-economic disadvantage.
At the next public meeting, to be held in September the Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Education (Councillor Bill Kelloway, who represents Penylan) will announce which schools he intends to close in East Cardiff.
Remember, even if the school your children attend is not going to be closed, there will be consequences as the children attending schools that are to be closed will have to go somewhere and will increase the size of your child’s school!
Some parents whose children attend St. John Lloyds (Trowbridge) or Bishop Childs (St. Mellons) mistakenly think this has nothing to do with them. It does. Voluntary Aided schools will have to take some of the pain as well as LEA schools.
Finally, I was recently advised that Councillors who find themselves governors of schools destined to be closed would not be permitted to vote on the final proposals as they would “have an interest”. The Echo published the story and I resigned as a Governor of Willowbrook School. Within days a meeting was held where dispensations were agreed for every Councillor who is also a governor. Thus the chaos that would have followed the resignations of 75 Councillors from school governing bodies was averted.
Councillor Ralph Cook
The earlier series of meetings, held in February, were so badly publicised by the Council that few people attended them; only 16 parents turned up for the West Cardiff meeting. The following day over 100 people attended the East Cardiff meeting after we leafleted at school gates.
At the latest public meeting worried parents demanded answers to their questions and complained that they were getting “waffle” in reply.
Having exposed the Councils failure to publicise these meetings properly, the South Wales Echo, has continued to devote space to the issue. The Council’s best kept secret is the talk of the City!
We are asking the Liberal Democrats to tell us when they will honour the promise contained in their June 2004 local election manifesto. Before winning power in Cardiff Council the Lib Dems promised to reduce class sizes to 25 pupils. Yet reducing class sizes is not even mentioned in their consultation paper!
Now they are proposing to close schools whilst presiding over a period when the gap between the average amount spent by Welsh Councils per pupil and the amount spent per pupil in Cardiff is widening. Under Labour between 1999 and 2004 the gap fell from almost £100 per pupil to £9.00!
We accept that something needs to be done to reduce the thousands of surplus places in our schools. However, we oppose plans to increase the size of all primary schools to 420 children because we believe smaller schools are more appropriate for very young children, especially in areas like Trowbridge and St. Mellons where there is significant socio-economic disadvantage.
At the next public meeting, to be held in September the Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Education (Councillor Bill Kelloway, who represents Penylan) will announce which schools he intends to close in East Cardiff.
Remember, even if the school your children attend is not going to be closed, there will be consequences as the children attending schools that are to be closed will have to go somewhere and will increase the size of your child’s school!
Some parents whose children attend St. John Lloyds (Trowbridge) or Bishop Childs (St. Mellons) mistakenly think this has nothing to do with them. It does. Voluntary Aided schools will have to take some of the pain as well as LEA schools.
Finally, I was recently advised that Councillors who find themselves governors of schools destined to be closed would not be permitted to vote on the final proposals as they would “have an interest”. The Echo published the story and I resigned as a Governor of Willowbrook School. Within days a meeting was held where dispensations were agreed for every Councillor who is also a governor. Thus the chaos that would have followed the resignations of 75 Councillors from school governing bodies was averted.
Councillor Ralph Cook
Trefaser Park Improvements Complete:
The perimeter fence at Trefaser Park is complete. Residents have already commented that the fence has made a difference to the amount of motor-bike nuisance in the area. We hope to build a childrens play area in the park within the next two years.
Cllr. Monica Walsh Cardiff’s new Deputy Lord Mayor
After just one year as a Councillor, Trowbridge and St. Mellons Councillor, Monica Walsh, who lives in Brookfield Drive St. Mellons has been elected to the post of Deputy Lord Mayor until May 2006. Monica says that she will do everything in her power to promote the area in her travels. We wish her well but the post demands that she does not engage in politics!
Council Committee Supports Horse
The Council’s Environment Scrutiny Committee has recently published a report on “stray” horses. It vindicates what we have been saying for three years and sends a clear message to the Council’s Executive that “stray” horses should not be tolerated anywhere in the city. The report found:
a) the Council has returned to their owners all “stray” horses captured in “swoops” without charge!
b) one owner operating “commercial” numbers of horses is claiming most of the captured horses
c) there is confusion between the Council and the Police about their duties and responsibilities
d) the Police and Council do not prioritise “stray” horses despite risks to human life and property
e) only a third of the 2004 “stray” horse budget was spent
The Report supports our call to use Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) on irresponsible horse owners, and says horse owners should be charged the full cost of capturing, accommodating and feeding horses caught with unclaimed animals being sold, or humanely destroyed. Cllr. Ralph Cook was a witness for the committee. In a separate move all 75 Cardiff Councillors supported our motion to use ASBOs in a Council debate in April, despite an unpopular attempt by the Council’s Liberal Democrat Executive to water down the motion.
Cllr. David English
a) the Council has returned to their owners all “stray” horses captured in “swoops” without charge!
b) one owner operating “commercial” numbers of horses is claiming most of the captured horses
c) there is confusion between the Council and the Police about their duties and responsibilities
d) the Police and Council do not prioritise “stray” horses despite risks to human life and property
e) only a third of the 2004 “stray” horse budget was spent
The Report supports our call to use Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) on irresponsible horse owners, and says horse owners should be charged the full cost of capturing, accommodating and feeding horses caught with unclaimed animals being sold, or humanely destroyed. Cllr. Ralph Cook was a witness for the committee. In a separate move all 75 Cardiff Councillors supported our motion to use ASBOs in a Council debate in April, despite an unpopular attempt by the Council’s Liberal Democrat Executive to water down the motion.
Cllr. David English
Trefaser Crescent
The row between your Councillors and the Council over the stopping-up of Trefaser Crescent is continuing. The intention behind the proposal was to transform Trowbridge Green into two cul de sacs. We believe this would reduce anti-social behaviour, rat-running by motorists and motor-cycle nuisance in the area.
We have now made a bid via the Council’s Neighbourhood Renewal Scheme for funding to carry out a full consultation with Trowbridge Green residents on the proposal and if it proves popular for a feasibility study into the costs and practicability of doing the work.
A Council Executive Member, Cllr. Judith Woodman, has told us that there is opposition to the idea from the local Police and some residents. Local Police officers tell us that in fact they are quite positive about the proposal but want to be formally consulted about it.
Some residents may oppose the idea but if so they have not expressed this view to us.
We believe a formal consultation exercise will establish whether there is support for the scheme amongst residents and enable a general debate on the wider issues. If the idea is not supported by residents we will accept those views but we are not prepared to accept Cllr. Woodman’s unsubstatiated opinions which seem to be more about saving money than improving the area for the residents of Trowbridge Green.
Cllr. Ralph Cook
We have now made a bid via the Council’s Neighbourhood Renewal Scheme for funding to carry out a full consultation with Trowbridge Green residents on the proposal and if it proves popular for a feasibility study into the costs and practicability of doing the work.
A Council Executive Member, Cllr. Judith Woodman, has told us that there is opposition to the idea from the local Police and some residents. Local Police officers tell us that in fact they are quite positive about the proposal but want to be formally consulted about it.
Some residents may oppose the idea but if so they have not expressed this view to us.
We believe a formal consultation exercise will establish whether there is support for the scheme amongst residents and enable a general debate on the wider issues. If the idea is not supported by residents we will accept those views but we are not prepared to accept Cllr. Woodman’s unsubstatiated opinions which seem to be more about saving money than improving the area for the residents of Trowbridge Green.
Cllr. Ralph Cook
Friday, July 08, 2005
AM’s reaction to London attacks
Lorraine Barrett AM
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Terrorists will not destroy what we hold dear - Tony Blair
The Prime Minister described the terrorist attacks on London today as 'barbaric'.
In a statement from the G8 summit in Gleneagles Tony Blair said: "It is reasonably clear that there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London. There are obviously casualties, both people who have died and people who are seriously injured, and our thoughts and prayers, of course, are with the victims and their families.
"It is my intention to leave the G8 within the next couple of hours and go down to London and get a report face-to-face with the police and the emergency services and the ministers who have been dealing with this and then to return later this evening. It is the will of all the leaders of the G8, however, that the meeting should continue in my absence, that we should continue to discuss the issues that we were going to discuss and reach the conclusions that we were going to reach.
"Each of the countries round that table have some experience of the effects of terrorism and all the leaders, as they will indicate a little bit later, share our complete resolution to defeat terrorism. It is particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa and the long term problems of climate change and the environment. Just as it is reasonably clear that this is a terrorist attack or a series of terrorist attacks it is also reasonably clear that it is designed and aimed to coincide with the opening of the G8. There will be time to talk later about this.
"It is important, however, that those engaged in terrorism realize that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire impose extremism on the world. Whatever they do it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilised nations throughout the world."
In a statement from the G8 summit in Gleneagles Tony Blair said: "It is reasonably clear that there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London. There are obviously casualties, both people who have died and people who are seriously injured, and our thoughts and prayers, of course, are with the victims and their families.
"It is my intention to leave the G8 within the next couple of hours and go down to London and get a report face-to-face with the police and the emergency services and the ministers who have been dealing with this and then to return later this evening. It is the will of all the leaders of the G8, however, that the meeting should continue in my absence, that we should continue to discuss the issues that we were going to discuss and reach the conclusions that we were going to reach.
"Each of the countries round that table have some experience of the effects of terrorism and all the leaders, as they will indicate a little bit later, share our complete resolution to defeat terrorism. It is particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa and the long term problems of climate change and the environment. Just as it is reasonably clear that this is a terrorist attack or a series of terrorist attacks it is also reasonably clear that it is designed and aimed to coincide with the opening of the G8. There will be time to talk later about this.
"It is important, however, that those engaged in terrorism realize that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire impose extremism on the world. Whatever they do it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilised nations throughout the world."
