Monthly Report - April 2016

Flooding Concerns

The county council has been able to secure funding for and has made improvements to drainage and the public highway in the Ferry Road area.

Parc Stephens

I attended the March meeting of the Parc Stephens Sports Association. There were issues regarding the emptying of litter bins by the town council that have now been resolved.

Traffic Update

I am continuing to work on traffic concerns in a number of areas of Kidwelly and Mynydd-y-Garreg.

Police are working with local residents for a community speed watch scheme in Water Street.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service have objected to proposals to introduce a one-way system along Hillfield Villas on the grounds that it will affect emergency responses. Alternative suggestions for traffic calming along this street are welcome.

Litter and ASB at the River Walk

I have met with the head of estates at CADW to discuss littering issues at the castle. CADW were unaware of the extent of their responsibilities and have now extended their maintenance contract to include the area down to the river. The area along the river walk has now been cleared and CADW staff are regularly patrolling their area of responsibility. I have already brought the town council’s attention to littering along land owned by the town council along the river walk. The police are currently monitoring the area for anti-social behaviour.

County Council

I have been appointed as the opposition spokesperson for Resources (which includes Finance & Budget, ICT, Property / Asset Management, Procurement, Housing Benefits and Revenues). I have also been appointed as a county council representative on the Community Health Council.

Advice Surgery

I held my first advice surgery on 19 March, where all residents had an opportunity to come and meet me and raise any issues with me. I will be holding regular surgeries on the last Saturday of every month which will be advertised in local press and social media. The next surgery will be held on 30 April between 9am and 10am at the Hub, Bridge Street, Kidwelly.

Casework

I am also raising a number of issues on behalf of residents with the county council. You are welcome to refer any residents to me using the contact details found on this website if you feel I am able to assist them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Swansea Bay City Deal: Concerns

Image
As a good cynic, I will start by looking at some of the concerns I have with the city region deal as currently proposed. The deal will bring together a significant amount of public sector investment, but it will also involve massive amounts of private sector investment - £673m according to the proposals. This represents a huge amount of money and I'm not entirely sure how this will be delivered at the moment. Businesses will need to see something very special in the Swansea Bay region to make the kind of investments we are talking about. However, early indications suggest that there is a lot of private sector interest in some of the projects. In Carmarthenshire, officials have stated their surprise at the amount interest in the Life Sciences and Wellness Centre in Llanelli. However, showing an interest and investing hard cash represent very different levels of commitment. Already, we have seen that not all projects are going to plan. Yr Egin, which is at an advanced stage came into...
Read more

The Swansea Bay City Deal: Conclusion

The city deal presents a unique opportunity to bring investment into the Swansea Bay region. It will take a massive amount of organisation - I hope that our local authorities will be able to deliver. If the project delivers good quality employment for locals and somehow finds a way to retain and reinvest financial and intellectual capital locally it will be a success. Anything else will simply be another piecemeal regeneration project will no real long-term benefit.
Read more

Circuit Breakers

So, last week the Welsh Government finally decided that they were unwilling to guarantee any losses culminating from the proposed Circuit of Wales up to a value of £200 million. The ground for refusal was based around two main factors; That HM Treasury would add the figure to the Welsh Government's debt and subsequently make adjustments to the block grant, reducing capital funding for projects such as new hospitals, schools and houses.  That the promise of 6,000 jobs was vastly overstated and that the likely number of direct jobs culminating from the project would be as little as 100. I think it is fair to say that the Welsh Government made the right decision. There is no reasonable way that the Welsh Government could have agreed to taking on such a large liability without being able to leverage it against an asset. Anyone who says differently just does not understand public finance (or any other kind of finance for that matter). However, the Welsh Government have also announced a ...
Read more