The Dylan Thomas Memorial Wind Turbine

A decision by Carmarthenshire County Council's planning committee earlier this year (see previous posts here and here) to grant permission for a wind turbine at Mwche Farm in Llansteffan is to be challenged in court in a judicial review which will be heard in the New Year.

The turbine will be visible from Dylan Thomas's Boathouse and writing shed in Laugharne, and residents argue that the planning committee acted irrationally in rejecting advice from planning officers that the turbine would be a “discordant element and an alien intrusion within an historic landscape of exceptional sensitivity”.

The High Court also considered it grounds for a review that the Committee took into account an inaccurate statement made by Councillor Daff Davies at the planning meeting, who told the Committee that the location of the proposed turbine was obscured from the Dylan Thomas Boathouse by woodland. The Committee refused to conduct a site visit to the Laugharne side of the estuary.

This once again throws the spotlight on Cllr Daff Davies, who is Chair of Council and in effect the "first citizen" of Carmarthenshire, representing the county and its people to the wider world, although his local community council decided that he was not fit to chair their meetings. Whether he is fit to chair the County Council is something you will be able to decided for yourselves when you can see him in action at today's meeting of the full council.

First Citizen

In siding with the applicant, who happens to be a personal friend, and going against the clear wishes of the people he was elected to represent, Cllr Davies was acting in the veritable traditions of the county's "Independent" group - a world of funny handshakes and often murky business interests.

Of wider concern is that the legal challenge is likely to cause other councillors on the planning committee to get cold feet when it comes to rejecting planning officers' recommendations in more deserving cases.

It is still relatively rare for councillors to reject the advice of planning officers, and on a number of occasions when they have rebelled, behind-the-scenes arm twisting has ensured that decisions on controversial schemes (e.g. housing developments at Penybanc and Waungilwen) have been reversed.

Sadly, Elmer's legacy is likely to be hang like a cloud of slurry fumes over communities across Carmarthenshire for years to come.

Gwlad Beirdd

Diolch i'r Hen Rech Flin am dynnu sylw at bolisi Cyngor Sir Gâr ar ailgylchu barddoniaeth:

Ukip News

Fresh from its stormy Fireworks Night session in the Stradey Park Hotel where a Llanelli Star reporter was ordered to leave what was supposed to be a public meeting, Ukip has been busy fishing for kippers in County Hall.

It is understood that a number of right-thinking councillors on the Independent benches have been approached with invitations to join the Farage Fan Club. One councillor informed the talent scout that he was gay and has not been troubled since.

Perhaps they will have more luck in Swiss Valley.

Meanwhile an eagle-eyed reader spotted the following letter to the editor of the Llanelli Star from earlier this year.

IT was very refreshing to see while shopping in Llanelli town centre, local members of the United Kingdom Independence Party campaigning for support.

I noticed many people stopped to talk with them and take their literature. Obviously voters are now prepared to consider alternative policies to those being practiced by the current MPs in Westminster. I think people are losing patience with the old parties and their broken promises. I took their leaflets and they gave me plenty of food for thought.

Elaine Clark
The Mariners

Mrs Clark probably has several boxes of Ukip leaflets stored at home because she is married to Barry Clark, the Chair of Ukip's Llanelli branch.

Let's hope she cleans behind the fridge.

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Dai Trelech

Penderfynwyd dileu y darn hwn, ond cewch ddarllen y sylwadau isod.

Election fever in Trelech

Forget the US mid-term elections, a by-election has been called for 11th December in Trelech, the ward represented for more than half a century by Cllr Dai Thomas, universally known as Dai Trelech.

Cllr Thomas recently celebrated his 90th birthday, and his resignation letter can be read here. Despite his declining health and advanced years, he tells us (or rather, he tells the chief executive) that the decision to step down was not an easy one, but in the end common sense prevailed, and he recognised that extending his leave of absence for another six months would not be fair on the people he was elected to represent.

For that he deserves praise, although it is probably too much to hope that his example will now be followed by other councillors who cling on to their allowances and represent their wards in name only, because as long as you turn up to one meeting every six months, you can carry on claiming. If you can't manage that, you can take six months off and then get the chief executive to extend your leave for another six months.

Outside the House of Lords, county councils are now one of the very few places where you will find people aged 75+ in public office.

"Live" in the loosest sense of the word

Expect to hear lots of reminiscences and tributes at the next meeting of the county council. Dai Trelech was a character and a link to an older, more deferential and gentler tradition of local government we will be told, although in truth the Independent benches are populated by quite a few other elderly councillors who rarely if ever speak but always vote as instructed.

This tradition can aptly be summed up by two of the otherwise very, very rare Dai Trelech quotes to be found on that new-fangled interweb.

The first concerns the merits of a maple Vancouver bedside cabinet sold by Argos:

"Good value for money", wrote Dai.

 

The second is from a discussion about Independent councillors on Maes-e.

"Sdim polisi 'di bod 'da fi ers hanner can mlynedd." (I haven't had a policy for the last 50 years).



But the dogs bark, and the caravan moves on.

There are already some interesting rumours about who the Independents hope will replace Dai and carry on this noble tradition. Let's wait for nominations to close before examining the runners and riders, however.

A Land Grab

Earlier this year Carmarthenshire county councillors were surprised and disturbed to see that Swansea Business Improvement District and Swansea Council were among those objecting to plans to develop five units as fast food outlets, cafes and restaurants at Parc Trostre, Llanelli's out-of-town shopping centre.

Town councillors in Carmarthen were also alarmed because they fear that under Welsh Government proposals, responsibility for deciding certain types of commercial planning applications would in future be handed to panels made up of private sector interests and others, such as the Swansea Business Improvement District. This would mean businesses in Swansea deciding who should be allowed to set up business in Carmarthenshire and the rest of the so-called Swansea Bay City Region, with local people and representatives having little or no say in the matter.

Cllr Alun Lenny (Plaid) said at the time that under the proposed regional planning system Swansea city centre would want to be the driver for economic development.

But it's not just Swansea retailers who are eying up Carmarthenshire as a sort of colonial hinterland which could give the city's economy a useful shot in the arm.

Here is a report of the Leader of Swansea Council, Rob Stewart, in response to the Welsh Government's proposals for reorganising local government.

Having mulled things over in a seminar, Swansea's overwhelmingly Labour councillors would like to see the city's boundaries expanded to take in Llanelli, Neath Port Talbot and the Swansea Valley. Or as they put it, their preferred option would be:

"The Establishment of a Swansea Bay Authority which encompasses the natural boundaries of communities which would identify with the Swansea Bay City Region. This model would follow the industrial heartlands of South West Wales and would include the neighbouring regions of Llanelli and the Swansea Valley together with Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. This preferred model would be based around the economic development and regeneration of South West Wales."

This proposal to create a large new fiefdom under perpetual Labour rule has now gone off to Labour's Minister for Public Services, Leighton Andrews.

Fireworks

Update 7 November

The Llanelli Star has produced a report which throws more light on the firework night farce here.

___________

The mystery over what is going on in Ukip in Llanelli deepens.

First it was reported that the local branch had selected a candidate to stand in next year's general election and then promptly dumped him after it emerged that he had an unusually colourful past. However, it now seems that there were irregularities in the selection process, and that it may have contravened party rules.

The men in blazers (plus a sprinkling of what they would probably call members of the weaker sex) then re-convened in the Bryngwyn Suite of the Stradey Park Hotel on the evening of 5 November to try to resolve matters in what turned out to be a display of indoor fireworks.

Voices were raised in some very heated exchanges, and it emerged that 28 votes had been cast in the recent selection meeting, with James Cole attracting 18 of them. To be selected a candidate needs at least two thirds of the votes cast (i.e. 18). Unfortunately someone had challenged the validity of two of the votes cast for Mr Cole, claiming that the individuals who voted were not members of the Llanelli branch.

James Cole, who revels in the title of Deputy Chairman of Ukip Wales, was clearly not best pleased, having handed in his notice at work to stand in the election.

Barry Clark, the Chair of the Llanelli Branch, eventually stormed out of the meeting with various cronies shouting "I've had enough of this!"

More shouting ensued, with someone being told to sit down and take a drink of water after giving an emotional speech in favour of Barry Clark whom he described as "the best chairman in South Wales".

Coincidentally, normal service has resumed on the party's fanzine website for Nathan Gill.

Unprecedented upheaval and in disarray

Well, here it is at last, the WLGA review panel's report and recommendations on governance in Carmarthenshire County Council. Two months later than advertised, and written in the knowledge that the chief executive, Mark James, would like to head off to pastures new with a hefty redundancy package.

James's application for severance is very significant, and the consequences of his departure colour the entire report. Put simply, the removal of Mark James in due course will create a much better climate for changing the culture of the council.

The report has rightly been widely welcomed, and its recommendations, if implemented, would go a long way towards addressing concerns expressed by local politicians, the public and the bloggers.

The question is whether Kevin Madge has the will and the clout to bring about the changes recommended.

Despite the welcome, some serious reservations remain, and careful reading of the document provides some interesting insight into how the different participants responded.


The report reads very much like the outcome of an annual staff appraisal as it balances criticism with  positive feedback. It lavishes praise on Kevin Madge's stated aspiration of making Carmarthenshire County Council "the most open and transparent council in Wales" while diplomatically pointing out the gulf between reality and aspiration.

The authors of the report say that what they are presenting is a snapshot of what they saw for themselves, and as you would expect they do not attempt to apportion blame, name names or analyse the reasons why Carmarthenshire County Council has come to gain such a reputation for obsessive secrecy, hypersensitivity to criticism and legalistic bullying.

A proper, professional relationship

In his submission to the panel, Sir David Lewis, lay member of the council's Audit Committee, hit the nail on the head when he wrote:


"Recent events should not happen in a well-managed Council....and they will not happen if there is a proper professional relationship between the Chief Executive, the Executive Board and the Council generally and if the Scrutiny Committees are given the full facts."

At its heart, the problem is about the the unhealthily close relationship which developed over many years between the chief executive and a handful of councillors at the top. As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words:

Or as Meryl Gravell herself neatly put it in one of her outbursts, "Mark and I employ 9,000 people".

Not so much a county council belonging to the people who live and work in Carmarthenshire, but a private club serving the interests of a handful of key individuals and their friends.

Confused

The chief executive allowed himself to become politicised, and Meryl Gravell's so-called Independents became little more than the Mark James Party. They became completely aligned, rewarding and protecting each other.

Or as the report puts it rather more gently,

"The overwhelming feedback from internal and external stakeholders is that within Carmarthenshire the allocation of roles between senior managers and elected Executive Board members has become confused."

The result was an officer-led council, a complaint which has surfaced again and again down the years and which has just as frequently been dismissed by the chief executive accompanied by a chorus of groans and jeers, mostly (but not exclusively) from the Independents.

The WLGA report tactfully points out in several places that the job of elected members of the Executive Board is to determine policy, while the job of officers is to implement it. However,

"The Review Team heard that some interviewees felt that senior managers including the Chief Executive, were too prominent or protective of Executive Board Members, for example, participating in media activity or in council meetings where executive members should otherwise have taken the lead."

And here we get an interesting glimpse that it is not just bloggers and opposition councillors who feel this way. There are even some members of the Executive Board (Jeff Edmunds) who think that things have got out of control:

"There was a clear expression from a number of Executive Board and non-executive members that this perceived imbalance between member-officer relations needed to be reassessed and realigned. In this regard the reassertion of democratic direction over key strategic decisions and the Council’s approach to business would be welcomed by officers and members."

The Independents certainly bear a great deal of responsibility for what has happened, but they in turn are the product of our corrupted system of local democracy which has allowed a gaggle of gombeen men and women, hangers-on, dinosaurs and attendees of lodge dinners to remain in continuous power ever since Carmarthenshire re-emerged from Dyfed as a unitary authority.

Scepticism

Mark James may be on his way out, but the drwg yn y caws, the poison in the bloodstream, is not going anywhere, and that is why there is so much scepticism that a new dawn is about to break:

"Despite the clear commitment from the Council to aspire to more openness and transparency there were real doubts from external stakeholders whether this ambition was genuine. The Review Team encountered degrees of cynicism, both internally and externally, whether the Council, and the Council leadership in particular was committed to and able to improve its governance arrangements. The Review Team however received strong assurances and some demonstrable proposals from a number of leading members."

Despite the assurances, the cynicism is well-founded.

Throughout the report we hear of opposition to change. We know that Meryl, Pam Palmer and others were less than keen to allow filming. Pam Palmer, for example, thought that councillors meeting in council deserve the same protection afforded to children under child protection legislation, putting anyone with a legitimate interest in local government on a par with paedophiles.

There is opposition to allowing the public to film and record meetings; there is opposition to allowing backbench councillors to see exempted reports (of which there are far too many); there is opposition to relaxing some of the highly restrictive clauses of the constitution because of fears that allowing debate and scrutiny could be abused.

We are not told who is so worried about all these things, but it is unlikely to be backbench councillors.

Kevin Madge may want to change things, but it is doubtful whether his allies really do, and without the support of Meryl and Pam Palmer, Kevin can't be Leader.

It has to be said that there is also room to question the extent of Kevin Madge's commitment to change. Only last month he opposed allowing opposition and backbench councillors the right to ask follow-up questions in meetings of the full council, and despite his claim to be open and transparent, the newly formed Advisory Panel on the Welsh Language is forced to meet behind closed doors and not allowed to publish minutes.

Time will tell, but the omens are not good.

Myths, legends and some fibs

While opposition to change is noted in some parts of the report, in others we can catch glimpses of the usual suspects telling fibs and peddling myths:

"The Review Team also heard concerning suggestions that the Council had previously threatened to withdraw planned advertising from local newspapers due to disagreements over editorial coverage, though these suggestions are contested by others. "

The suggestions may be contested, but e-mails exist to show that threats were not only made but carried out.

Another myth which has been assiduously peddled by the chief executive, Meryl Gravell and others is that officers have been subjected to a campaign of vilification and personal abuse by dark forces (the blogs certainly, and opposition politicians probably). This abuse, they like to claim, is unprecedented and constant.

With the exception of the chief executive himself and his acting Head of Law and Administration, it is hard to think of criticism being made of any other individual officers. Where is the evidence? Nevertheless a climate has been created and a narrative developed which turns the particular into the general, enabling the chief executive to argue, for example, that he fought the libel case not for his own sake, but to protect everyone else:

"It was evident that a number of senior managers were uncomfortable and expressed concern that they were perceived as undertaking an increasingly prominent role, particularly when it resulted in them being subject to disproportionate and unfair personal criticism in the political and public arena."

To be fair to the WLGA report, its response to this seems to be that this is what you can expect if the lines between elected councillors and officers become blurred.

Weaknesses

In several important areas, however, the WLGA report is very weak.

A major area of concern for many is what looks very much like abuse and manipulation of the appointments process for senior officers.

The report dismisses this, saying that interim appointments are necessary in a time of restructuring, and no mention at all is made of the dangerous and scandalous failure to appoint a new Head of Law and Administration (and Monitoring Officer) after the departure of the previous incumbent three years ago.

The report goes on to note:

"The Chief Executive has recently submitted an application for severance and four Chief Officers were either retiring or had been appointed to new positions in other organisations. Such senior management upheaval is unprecedented in the Welsh local government context (with the exception of recent
changes within Cardiff Council) and will require building a new team integrated within a programme of culture change at a time of significant budget cuts."

Councillors should reflect on how well they and the council have been served by a chief executive who has completely failed to carry out any succession planning, with the result that we now face "unprecedented upheaval". It is hard to envisage any large organisation rewarding such dereliction of basic duty with a large pay-off.

Whistleblowers


A major concern in Carmarthenshire is the council's treatment of whistleblowers, with several scandals having been successfully hidden from the public's gaze. Here the WLGA report also avoids getting its hands dirty and sounding an alarm. Instead it has received assurances that there are just "very small weaknesses".

The Review Team also heard concern that the Council’s perceived culture of defensiveness risked undermining the Council’s whistleblowing policy and procedures. The Review Team was partly reassured however in light of a recent Wales Audit Office study of the Council’s Whistleblowing procedures reported to the Council’s Standards Committee on 9th September 2014. The Wales Audit Office concluded that:

“Overall Whistleblowing arrangement are good, with some exemplar practice, if addressed a number of very small weaknesses in policy, process and training will strengthen arrangements further…”

 So there we are. The council has a mountain to climb and has been left facing "unprecedented upheaval", and as Sir David Lewis noted, in disarray and in key respects not fit for purpose as the captain heads off into a golden sunset clutching his CBE.

Culture Change

The WLGA review panel has finally published its report and recommendations on the way Carmarthenshire County Council conducts its business.

Cneifiwr will analyse and comment on the findings later this week, but in the meantime you can read the report here and the reactions from Jacqui Thompson and Jonathan Edwards.

On the skids

Update 5 November

Something strange is happening in Ukip. Days after the party is understood to have selected a candidate to fight the Llanelli constituency and then dumped him within 24 hours, the Ukip Wales website has shut down.

The website was very largely a vehicle for Nathan Gill, the Ukip Mormon MEP who previously ran what has been described as a gangmaster business supplying migrant labour for care homes. Until a couple of days ago anyone wishing to find out more about Ukip in Wales would have been presented with numerous video clips of Nathan spouting forth about the evils of the EU, the free movement of labour in Europe and other Ukip hobby horses.

Now all you will find is this:

It appears to be rather more than just a technical hitch.

_____________________________

Supporters of the first past the post system have always argued that it brings stability, but next year's general election could well see it produce chaos.The safest bet at the moment would be another hung parliament, but FPTP becomes increasingly erratic the more the old two-party system breaks down, and we may yet see a party win an overall majority with a very low share of the vote, while others secure more votes but win hardly any seats.

One seat to watch is Llanelli, a Labour stronghold since 1922. The high water mark for Labour was the 1945 general election when the party secured a staggering 81% of the vote, and more recently Denzil Davies regularly secured huge majorities with close to 60% of the votes cast, even as the town's fortunes declined.

As in so many other parts of Wales, Llanelli has very little to show for 90 years of voting Labour.

The last time Labour won more than 50% of the votes was in 1997, and in 2010 Nia Griffith was down to 42.5%, with Plaid just 4,700 votes behind.

2010 was a bad year for Labour, thanks in large part to Gordon Brown who has now been miraculously rehabilitated by the media as the saviour of the Union, and under normal circumstances Nia would be on course to increase her majority and share of the vote next year, but times are anything but normal.

Labour is heading for wipeout in Scotland, and according to the latest YouGov poll Ed Miliband is even less popular with voters than Nick Clegg.

If being saddled with Eds Miliband and Balls is not bad enough, Nia Griffith has the additional misfortune of having Keith Davies as her Assembly stablemate and Kevin Madge in coalition with Meryl Gravell's "Independents" running the County Council. Plus, at a local level, a few truly dire Labour councillors, one or two of whom can only have been selected because they had a pulse and nobody else was available.

It's the sort of dream team which must give Nia Griffith nightmares, and she also finds her vote being squeezed by Plaid Cymru on the centre-left and Ukip on the right.

Plaid's candidate is Vaughan Williams, who is young, likeable and putting a great deal of hard work into winning over the voters. Even without the threat from Ukip, Labour would have its work cut out faced with internal turmoil and a strong candidate for a party which has a solid core vote, especially in the Gwendraeth Valley where Plaid has been picking up support from disenchanted Labour voters.

But Labour in Llanelli is also being assailed by Ukip, and the word on the street is that parts of the town are proving fertile ground for Farage's right-wing populism.

This despite the fact that Ukip does not yet even have a candidate for the seat.

Ukip is usually anything but media shy, but it has come over very coy indeed in response to reports that it selected a candidate for Llanelli last Saturday and then dumped their man the next day when it emerged that he had a more than usually colourful history for a Ukip front runner.

The LibDems haven't found a candidate so far either. Normally the party polls between three and four thousand votes, and most of those will be looking for a new home. Ken Rees, who stood back in 2005, is rumoured to have been flirting with Ukip.

Bearing in mind that Ken was elected on a LibDem ticket to Carmarthenshire County Council in 2008 and promptly got into bed with Meryl Gravell's Independent/Labour coalition, a switch to Ukip would not be such a big leap.

The Tories picked up around 5,000 votes in each of the last two general elections, and up to the 1990s they normally came in a rather distant second to Labour. Those days have long gone, and the party's selection of Selaine Saxby who runs an online bra business from her mansion in Wiltshire is unlikely to send a message to the people of Llanelli that Dave's Conservatives are seriously interested in them.

Analysing the threat from Ukip back in September, Labour List came up with a table of the 100 Labour seats most at risk from what it calls the Revolt on the Right. Llanelli was ranked 58th just a few short weeks ago, but events are moving very fast.

Nia Griffith, faced with the nightmarish prospect of seeing Labour's 93 year grip on Llanelli come to an end on her watch, has recently sent 10,000 letters to constituents in House of Commons envelopes inviting them along to surgeries.

There must be an election round the corner.

Rodent news

Bryn Parry-Jones eventually walked off with around £280,000 after the man from the WAO, Anthony Barrett, forced the council to lop £52,000 off the settlement.

A last minute attempt to challenge the deal in the High Court failed when Labour councillor, Paul Miller, was refused an injunction.

That would seem to be the end of the story in Pembrokeshire, but there have been so many twists and turns, I wouldn't want to put money on it.

Earlier in the summer Unison held a protest outside County Hall in Haverfordwest, and star of the show was a giant inflatable rat.

An American cousin

If you're reading this ratty, I'm sure County Hall in Carmarthen would be delighted to receive a visit as we wait to find out how much loot Mark James will be given to vacate his office.

Will Kevin Madge be following the example set by the Labour leader in Haverfordwest and take out an injunction? On himself.

Meanwhile, the petition calling on the council not to pay Mr James another penny has been gaining support, so much so that IT managers in County Hall had to be instructed to block access to staff tempted to express their feelings last week.

There is still time to sign - it only takes a minute!

In other Rotten Borough-related news, the Carmarthen Journal reports that Ryan Thomas, one of Labour's (presumably now former) rising stars will be going on trial in Swansea in a case of alleged sexual assault.

The case apparently revolves around an incident at the mayor making ceremony at Kidwelly Town Council earlier this year (see previous post).

Kidwelly Town Council is itself no stranger to controversy, and must surely be in the running for the title of Most Dysfunctional Town Council in Wales. Here are some recent headlines:

Financial report highlights major problems - the council wrongly used funds from its capital budget to finance ongoing ordinary expenditure, and may now have to raise the precept by 50%.

Bar room brawl behaviour witnessed at Kidwelly Town Council meeting

One of the leading lights on the council is Keith Davies (Lab), who also occupies the post of Executive Board Member for Education in the County Council.

And finally, there are reports from Llanelli that Ukip deselected its parliamentary candidate just 24 hours after selecting him/her. A branch meeting of Farage's Fan Club is due to be held on 5 November at the Stradey Park Hotel. Quite a few rodents are believed to be taking an interest.

Repentant sinners

The lead story on BBC Radio Cymru's main morning news bulletin yesterday was that Kevin Madge, the Labour leader of Carmarthenshire County Council had criticised the Welsh Government for failing to include the Welsh language as a material consideration in the Planning Bill now going before the Assembly. Golwg360 went a step further and ran a story saying that Kev had "condemned" the bill.

Post Cyntaf, the BBC's morning news programme, followed this up with live interviews with Cllr Calum Higgins (Lab) and Jamie Bevan, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg.

Jamie welcomed Kevin Madge's intervention, while Calum went into bat for Labour. The interviewer wondered if this wasn't a case of a Labour-run council criticising a Labour government. Well, yeah, actually no, said Calum. This was all about a local party drawing the government's attention to a local issue.

Hadn't Labour woken up to this problem rather later in the day, the interviewer wondered. Well, the Welsh government had ignored the opinions of Assembly Members who had wanted the bill to have teeth to protect the language, but the Assembly and the Government now had an opportunity to amend the bill, he said.

The thing that sparked this flurry of excitement was a letter Kevin Madge sent a few days ago to Carl Sargeant, the minister responsible for planning.

Writing the letter was one of the things Kevin Madge was tasked with when the Council passed a report produced by the council's own Census Working Group back in April. It seems that he had decided to delay writing because of a conference on planning and the Welsh language held in mid-July, although why it then took another three and a half months to put pen to paper is not clear.

The letter finally went out on 27 October, three weeks after publication of the Planning Bill, and the text (in Welsh) can be found at the end of this post.

It is a good letter with some detailed questions for Carl Sargeant to answer, but the only hint of criticism comes in just one line:

"We wish to express our disappointment that the Bill does not provide much on the Welsh language".

Carl Sargeant, or rather the civil servants who will be tasked with writing a response, will be as surprised as anyone at the new-found interest of Labour in Carmarthenshire in the Welsh language and planning.

When Carwyn Jones called on interested parties to provide their views on what should be in the revised TAN20 (the guidelines on the role of the language in planning matters) last year, Carmarthenshire County Council was presented with a motion calling on the Government to implement specific measures relating to assessing the impact of housing developments in Welsh-speaking areas.

The motion was wrecked by Calum Higgins who came up with an amendment (ironically 'gwelliant' or 'improvement' in Welsh), which kicked the matter into the long grass. As a result, Carmarthenshire County Council did not respond to Carwyn's call. Neither did the Council respond to earlier drafts of the Bill.

Not only did it dither and delay setting out its views, but Carl Sargeant's office will notice the difference between what Kevin Madge's council says and what it does.

Back in April 2013 Labour councillors steamrollered through a plan to build 289 houses on a site in Penybanc near Ammanford in the face of intense local opposition. The developer, based in the offshore tax haven of Guernsey, had permission to build 150 houses on the site, but wanted to cram more in. The council naturally obliged.

Penybanc was a rare example of councillors on the planning committee initially rejected a planning application recommended for approval. Another example was at Waungilwen near Drefach Felindre, also rejected partly because of the impact it would have on a Welsh-speaking community. In both cases the rejections were overturned with the block vote of Labour councillors and their Independent allies.

More recently the council approved plans to build another huge housing estate at Cross Hands. Phase One of this development will have 230 new homes, and only 12 of those have been designated as affordable.

Down in Llanelli the council has fought local opposition for years to push through a scheme for 355 houses at Stradey Park. Not one of those is designated as affordable housing.

In the Local Development Plan which has been grinding its way towards completion - for the last two years on Kevin Madge's watch - the council has increased the target number of houses it would like to build across the county to 15,700 in the period up to 2021, even though there has been a downward revision of the ludicrous population forecasts on which the plan was based. The council has, however, taken the opportunity to reduce the quota of affordable homes.

The LDP includes a paper on the Welsh language which claims to take the form of a language impact assessment. This is in fact a sweeping and generalised view of the county as a whole, and concludes that nobody needs to worry about large-scale housing developments as far as the language is concerned.

Not one of the many sites included in the LDP for development has been subjected to an analysis of what impact it would have on the local community, and as the Cross Hands case shows, the council is determined to press on with the development of massive new estates in one of the strongholds of the Welsh language - with barely any affordable housing to help local people.

Responding to the news of Kevin Madge's apparent U-turn yesterday, Rhodri Glyn Thomas (Plaid AM for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) said:

"So far Councillor Madge has appeared unwilling to act to protect the language.  If he is serious about protecting and promoting it through the planning system then he needs to stop the Local Development Plan process immediately.   He would have the full support of Plaid Cymru if he chooses to do this.  He only has to convince his own party that it should be done."

Cllr Alun Lenny (Plaid) added:

“It is a matter of considerable frustration that the Welsh language is not a statutory consideration in the planning system. When applications for large or medium sized housing developments in Welsh-speaking communities are submitted, no mechanism exists to allow the Planning Committee to consider the impact on the language as a factor when coming to a decision."

All eyes are now on Kevin Madge to see if he follows up his letter with action by bringing the LDP to a halt and campaigning hard for a better Planning Bill in the meantime.

The text of his letter to Carl Sargeant follows.

___________________________________


"Annwyl Carl

Yr iaith Gymraeg yn Sir Gâr a rôl allweddol cynllunio

Fel y byddwch yn ymwybodol mae’n siŵr datgelodd Cyfrifiad 2011 gwymp siomedig yn nifer y siaradwyr Cymraeg ar draws Cymru ond yn enwedig yn Sir Gâr lle gwelwyd canran y siaradwyr yn syrthio i 43.9% (o 50.3% yn 2001) gan olygu fod yr iaith mewn sefyllfa leiafrifol yn y Sir am y tro cyntaf yn ein hanes.

O ganlyniad, mae Cyngor Sir Gâr wedi cynnal dadansoddiad manwl o’r ffactorau sydd wedi dylanwadu ar y dirywiad ac wedi adnabod nifer o gamau i’w gweithredu gyda’r bwriad cychwynnol o atal y dirywiad ac wedyn i annog twf i’r dyfodol. Mae copi llawn o’r adroddiad ac argymhellion a gymeradwywyd gan y Cyngor Sir ym mis Ebrill 2014 ar gael trwy wefan y Cyngor.

Mae rhai o ganfyddiadau allweddol yr adroddiad yn ymwneud â materion cynllunio ac, er ein bod yn cydnabod fod y Cyngor Sir a Pharc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog yn arwain ar weithredu polisïau lleol, roedd teimlad fod angen canllawiau a chyfarwyddid cadarnach ar lefel genedlaethol i gefnogi ardaloedd tebyg i ni sy’n cael ein hystyried yn gadarnleoedd traddodiadol i’r iaith Gymraeg i wneud penderfyniadau cynllunio sy’n cefnogi cynaladwyedd ein cymunedau dwyieithog i’r dyfodol.

Nodaf isod yr argymhellion o’r adroddiad sy’n ymwneud â chynllunio a gofynnwn i chi ystyried sut y gallwch ein cefnogi ni i fynd i’r afael â’r heriau hyn sydd, yn ein tyb ni, yn chwarae rôl allweddol o ran sicrhau parhad yr iaith Gymraeg fel iaith gymunedol fyw yn Sir Gâr.

1. Bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn cynnwys yr iaith Gymraeg fel ystyriaeth faterol (material consideration) yn rhan o’r Bil Cynllunio a’r Bil Tai a sicrhau bod yr iaith Gymraeg yn cael ei integreiddio i’r broses o ymgysylltu â’r gymuned ynghylch materion cynllunio. Bod y Cyngor Sir yn gwneud trefniadau penodol i weithredu hyn.

Fe gyflwynwyd y Bil Cynllunio i’r Cynulliad ar 6 Hydref eleni. Dymunwn nodi siom nad yw’r Bil yn darparu llawer ynglŷn â’r iaith Gymraeg. O ran yr hyn sydd yn y Bil, bydd gofyn i Weinidogion Cymru paratoi a chyhoeddi Fframwaith Datblygu Cenedlaethol Cymru, bydd yn gosod y polisïau hynny maent yn ystyried sy’n addas. Bydd y Fframwaith yn cymryd lle Cynllun Gofodol Cymru. Mae hefyd darpariaeth yn y Bil i greu 3 Ardal Cynllunio Strategol posib yng Nghymru. Gan ystyried hyn, a fyddai modd i chi gadarnhau a bydd Fframwaith Datblygu Cenedlaethol Cymru a’r Ardaloedd Cynllunio Strategol yn destun Asesiad Effaith Ieithyddol? Mae gofyn bod Asesiad o Gynaliadwyedd yn cael ei baratoi ynghylch pob Cynllun, ac mae TAN20 yn nodi fe ddylai asesiad ieithyddol bod yn rhan o’r broses Asesiad Cynaliadwyedd yma.

2. Bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn cryfhau’r canllawiau i awdurdodau cynllunio yn Nodyn Cyngor Technegol (TAN) 20 o ran gofynion i fesur effaith cynllunio ar yr iaith Gymraeg yn enwedig yn y cadarnleoedd traddodiadol Cymraeg.

Byddai’n ddefnyddiol i awdurdodau cynllunio gael mesur effaith datblygiad ar yr Iaith yn sgil cais cynllunio yn ogystal â pan yn llunio’r Cynllun Datblygu Lleol. Gofynnwn i chi ystyried y pwynt yma.

3. Bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn darparu canllawiau pellach i awdurdodau cynllunio ar y mesurau lliniaru y gellir eu defnyddio i leihau effaith datblygiadau ar yr iaith.

Er ein bod yn cydnabod fod y wybodaeth sydd wedi ei ddarparu yn TAN20 ac yn y canllawiau ymarfer yn ddefnyddiol, byddai rhagor o wybodaeth ar ymarfer da yn y maes yma yn ddefnyddiol. Gofynnwn i chi ystyried datblygu canllaw o ymarfer da.

4. Bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn codi ymwybyddiaeth bellach i’r Arolygaeth Cynllunio, am effaith cynllunio ar ddiwylliant cymunedau penodol ac ar yr iaith Gymraeg yn enwedig yn y cadarnleoedd traddodiadol Cymraeg.

5. Bod Llywodraeth Cymru a’r Arolygiaeth yn ail ystyried y broses a ddefnyddir i ragweld y nifer o dai sydd eu hangen ar bob awdurdod er mwyn rhoi ystyriaeth i anghenion cymunedol penodol.

Byddwn felly yn gwerthfawrogi derbyn eich adborth a sylwadau ar ffyrdd rydych chi’n credu y gallwch ein cefnogi i symud y mater holl bwysig hwn ymlaen yn Sir Gâr. A fyddech mor garedig a chyfeirio eich sylwadau ac ymholiadau os ydych eisiau trafod ymhellach at Gwyneth Ayers, Rheolwr Polisi Corfforaethol a Phartneriaeth. Byddwn yn fwy na pharod i’m swyddogion i gwrdd gyda chi neu eich cynrychiolwyr chi i gytuno ar ffyrdd y gallwn gydweithio er mwyn sicrhau ein bod yn gweithredu.chaf ymlaen at dderbyn eich adborth.
Yn gywir,
Cyng. Kevin Madge,
Arweinydd Cyngor Sir Gâr