'Affordable housing for Wales must not be blocked by London politicians'

Plaid Cymru's North Wales AM Janet Ryder has today called on the Westminster parties to give assurances that they will not cause any further delays to Plaid plans to provide more affordable housing for Welsh communities.

Janet Ryder was speaking after a statement by Plaid deputy housing minister Jocelyn Davies, who is seeking powers from Westminster to legislate in order to increase the availability of affordable housing; a One Wales commitment which has even more resonance in the current economic climate.

A previous bid for these powers was derailed by MPs trying to dictate the Welsh legislation that should follow.

Plaid Cymru’s Janet Ryder said:

 “When Plaid went into government we committed to ensuring that more affordable housing was created for Welsh communities. This aim has become even more pressing in the current economic conditions. Unfortunately, MPs in Westminster derailed the legislative process last time by trying to dictate the measures that the Welsh government could put in place once they had the power to legislate. This set the process back causing years of unnecessary delays in being able to deliver on affordable housing. Affordable housing for Wales must not be blocked by London politicians.

"It is vital that the affordable housing LCO, which gives the Assembly the power to make laws in this matter, is not delayed any further. The MPs job is to decide where the powers to legislate should lie, not what is going to be done with them. It is only right that the London parties make a solid commitment that their MPs will not try to second guess what measures the Welsh government intends to develop with the powers and will instead work to ensure as smooth a passage as possible for this LCO.”

Janet Ryder added that affordable housing continued to be a huge priority in North Wales, despite falling house prices: 

"What we're seeing now is a lack of finance available for house buyers, who are being asked to find 25% deposits - that could amount to tens of thousands of pounds. If you're on an average wage in North Wales, that's just not possible. 

"That's why I was pleased to attend the recent affordable housing conference at Glyndwr University along with Jocelyn Davies along with councillors and housing experts from every council in North Wales. It demonstrated that there are alternatives to the failing open market that councils and the Welsh Government need to look at seriously if we're to meet the housing needs of people."

Janet backs 15,000-strong petition

Plaid Cymru's North Wales AM Janet Ryder has backed a 15,000-strong petition against a sub-regional plan that links North East Wales to Cheshire and Merseyside.

Janet Ryder was down in the Assembly building in Cardiff to welcome the People's Council of North Wales campaign group as they presented their petition - the largest ever presented to the Assembly.

She said:

 "The petition's size demonstrates the strength of feeling in Wrexham, Denbighshire and Flintshire on this matter. The West Cheshire/North East Wales sub-regional strategy is repeatedly played down by council officers but it is evidently a material planning consideration as they prepare their Local Development Plans. 

"It's important that the concerns of the people were listened to and that local housing needs are paramount. The North East has seen thousands of homes built in the past 10 years and also seen house prices rise way beyond the reach of the average local wage. The latest news that Denbighshire wants to treble the number of houses in Bodelwyddan and effectively create a new commuter town on the A55 reinforces the thrust of this strategy.

"The plan has been developed without people's consent. This petition is a wake-up call to planners, politicians and developers to say 'enough is enough' and calling a halt to overdevelopment. I commend the hard work carried out by the campaign to raise awareness, to highlight the dangers to the environment, our communities and the fragile Welsh identity in many of these areas."

Pictured with Janet Ryder AM are Cllr Carrie Harper, of Wrexham, and other campaigners down in Cardiff Bay.

Plas Madoc update: Communities First bosses suspended

Today's Daily Post has news of developments in the Plas Madoc investigation. I was due to meet Communities First representatives on Friday on the estate but learned today that the meeting had been cancelled.

The scheme’s co-ordinator Miriam Beard and the finance and monitoring officer Andy Bunning have been suspended while auditors scrutinise the books.
It follows allegations about the way the scheme, which has received millions of pounds funding to regenerate the local area, was being managed.

Yesterday Plas Madoc Councillor Paul Blackwell, who sits on the PMCF board said the scheme was fully co-operating with the investigation.

A Welsh Assembly Government spokesman said: “The Welsh Assembly Government and Wales Audit Office are working together to investigate concerns raised about governance arrangements within the Plas Madoc Communities First Partnership.

“As a result of preliminary findings two members of staff employed by the Plas Madoc Communities First Partnership have been suspended, pending further investigation.

“The Assembly Government is continuing to work with the Communities First Partnership in Plas Madoc to ensure that its projects and activities in the local community are able to continue while further investigations continue.

“It would not be appropriate to comment further until the investigation has been completed.”

Coun Blackwell said: “There is full co-operation with the investigation and at the moment there is no evidence of any wrong doing.”

PMCF was formed in 2003 as a limited company and a registered charity.

Its purpose is to regenerate Plas Madoc, which is one of the most deprived wards in Wales.

The community has major problems with access to services such as GPs and dentists, education standards local employment opportunities, and support for childcare.

PMCF funnels funds into proactive schemes to give the local community a much needed boost.

Since 2003 PMCF has co-ordinated a range of beneficial projects to support the area including £125,000 to give play areas a facelift, taking children on life changing trips to Gambia, and organising local environmental action schemes to clean up the area.

Concerns were raised earlier this year there were problems with the way it was being run, with Mandy Bostwick, a psychotherapist and community councillor for Coedpoeth inWrexham, going on the record voicing her worries.

But the claims were denied by PMCF bosses who insisted they would be vindicated after the investigations had concluded.

Iraq war inquiry snub to families in Wales

Plaid Cymru has spoken out against the latest developments in the UK Government’s Iraq Inquiry, which excludes Wales and the role of Welsh servicemen and women by omitting them from the key stages of the process.

The Iraq inquiry headed up by Sir John Chilcott, which was launched on 15 June 2009, has been taking evidence from families and service personnel.

Representatives of the inquiry visited cities in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland but Wales has been completely left off the radar.

Plaid's North Wales AM Janet Ryder said:

 "Fourteen Welsh servicemen, including four from North Wales, died in the war in Iraq. That's one in 11 of all UK fatalities in the conflict. Their families are being denied the opportunity to contribute to the inquiry and I'm sure several of the many injured during the conflict would want to have their say too.

"As is the case with many ex-servicemen abandoned to their fate once their fighting days are over, it seems the establishment is bypassing us with this inquiry. Given the contribution Welsh personnel make to the British Armed Forces - way beyond its actual population - it's important that families and others can contribute to this important inquiry. Plaid has consistenly opposed the illegal war in Iraq and this inquiry has to ensure that mistakes made then are never made again."

She backed calls by Plaid Cymru MPs for the investigation to be more specific by splitting the inquiry in two, with one arm to look at the reasons why a decision was made to go to war, and another to investigate actions during the war.

Plaid’s Westminster leader Elfyn Llwyd MP said:

“Yet again Wales is barely an afterthought. Large numbers of Welsh soldiers were sent to Iraq to fight an illegal war and now the Government is showing little respect to them, their fallen colleagues or their families by leaving Wales out of such an important inquiry.

“We will never get to the truth if short cuts are taken and evidence still allowed to be gathered in secret. This must be a full and transparent inquiry.

“Brown has already managed to call the inquiry into disrepute over his original decision to hold the inquiry in private. He has since bowed to pressure allowing some consultations to be discussed in public, although still information will be withheld and there is no guarantee what will happen once the report is released.

“Typically, Labour will try and water down the report by releasing it in Spring when chances are it will be buried under the General Election. We must have full scrutiny over this issue.

“We need a debate and a vote in Parliament after the report is published and if the Government’s report raises doubts as to the legality of the Iraq war, then Plaid will call on the Government to submit itself to the judicial scrutiny of the International Court of Justice."

Praise for pioneering anti-social behaviour team

North Wales Assembly Member Janet Ryder has praised the work of a pioneering team tackling anti-social behaviour hotspots.

The Plaid Cymru AM for North Wales made her comments after visiting the Youth Justice team at its base in Derby Road, Brynteg, near Wrexham.

 The team of four in the picture  - Fred Derbyshire, Nick Edwards, Donna Shepherd and team leader Craig Matthews - work from an office above the local AM/PM store run by Dino Paletta, also pictured, who has been backing the scheme by providing free office space.

She said: "This team is targetting areas that have the potential to spiral into anti-social behaviour and I'm very much in favour of this kind of preventative work. If we can nip problems in the bud by providing alternative outlets for youngsters as well as getting them to inter-act more with older generations then the savings in terms of community relations and the actual cost of police intervention is huge."

The team is currently engaged in a 12-week project in the Brynteg area, where a public meeting agreed on a course of action for the team, who work closely with the police, local council and other agencies.

Janet Ryder added: "Twelve weeks seems a very short timescale to make an effective intervention and, although I'm sure it is making a real difference in key communities, perhaps the programme needs to have more time to make an impact in villages like Brynteg. I would welcome greater involvement by the team on a longer-term basis to engage with children from the age of eight upwards and ensure they stay out of trouble."

Funding for the project, which is backed by North Wales Police and Wrexham Council, comes to an end in March despite the positive feedback the scheme has been receiving. Janet Ryder said: "It's hard to demonstrate that youngsters haven't got involved in anti-social behaviour as a direct result of this team - how do you prove a negative? But I believe it's an effective way to improve our communities and deserves further support."

AM marches against marble church housing scheme

North Wales Assembly Member Janet Ryder has marched with community campaigners fighting plans to treble the number of houses in their village, saying it is a "warning to us all" of what can happen when local needs are ignored.

 The Plaid Cymru AM for North Wales spoke after joining more than 100 local people who walked across fields at Bodelwyddan that have been put forward for an extra 1715 homes next to the village's landmark marble church. There are currently 800 homes in the village. Janet Ryder said: "The turnout amongst villagers on a wet and windy day reflects the concerns people have about the over-development in this area. Building on fertile green fields like these is unacceptable. I have already raised concerns in the Assembly about this and other housing developments in north-east Wales, which have far more to do with the profits of developers than local housing need.

"If this part of Wales does not have very careful planning in the coming round of Local Development Plans, we're going to see a ribbon of commuter estates and dormitory villages created along the A55 and A483 corridors. This has nothing to do with creating communities with a sustainable future and local people are right to fight this.

"The tone of the campaign group is one of measured anger. This is not a simple NIMBY - Not in my back yard - attitude because residents in Bodelwyddan understand that this is part of a bigger picture whereby the north-east is effectively being used to service the housing needs of the Liverpool and Cheshire region. It does not make sense to create new commuter estates along the A55 for people to travel back and fore to Liverpool and Manchester. That's not a sustainable community and puts huge added pressures on the local infrastructure."

The Bodelwyddan Development Action Group, which organised the protest, also held a mass meeting last week. The meeting, at the village community centre, was chaired by local resident and former Conwy Council chief executive Derek Barker, who slammed the plans. He said: "If you're looking to develop an area, you don't start off with housing. Past housing growth has had no impact on affordability because we have an area of poor wages based on tourism and agriculture. These plans are not based on local need. We need honesty from Denbighshire County Council because this will just allow Cheshire people to have a house here."

Janet Ryder added: "These proposals for Bodelwyddan are just the most extreme example of what happens when the needs of a local community are ignored and trampled on. We have a disturbing situation where planners in Flintshire, Conwy, Denbighshire and Wrexham councils are having to reflect the housing needs of a wider sub-region that includes Cheshire and Merseyside through the Mersey-Dee Alliance. I see no similar demand for councils in those areas to reflect the needs of people in this part of Wales - it's one-way traffic."

New hospital operating theatres will cut waiting lists

Plaid Cymru's North Wales AM Janet Ryder has expressed delight at news that three new hospital theatres for the area will increase operating capacity by a fifth. The three at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd near Bodelwyddan will cost £5.4 million and include two laparoscopic theatres delivering "keyhole" surgery and one new urology day care unit.

Janet Ryder said: "Current operating theatres at Glan Clwyd are working to capacity so these are much needed new facilities being provided by the Welsh Government. The laparascopic theatres will be purpose-built and state of the art and this extra theatre space will increase capacity at Glan Clwyd by 20%. That means more operations can be performed and that will substantially reduce waiting times facing patients.

"This is another example of the Welsh Government opting to invest in the North to improve public services at a time of recession rather than follow the London parties' agenda of cutting public services at this crucial time. Now is not the time to be putting public sector workers on the dole and reducing the services we need more urgently than ever."