Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all at Swansea Green Party
Archive for December, 2010
21 Dec
Greens Welcome Power Plant Decision
The Green Party in Swansea has welcomed the decision by the Planning Inspectorate to reject plans to build a biomass-fired power plant in Kings Dock, Swansea.
“The decision has been met with jubilation by the people of Port Tennant, Danygraig, the SA1 development, and the Maritime Quarter, who would have been most immediately affected by the presence of the power plant, and we share their jubilation,” says Tony Young of Swansea Green Party.
“We have been totally supportive of the action groups that have campaigned against this
development, and of the arguments they have put forward regarding the adverse visual impact the development would have had on Swansea’s foreshore, and the negative impact on future residential and commercial developments and tourism in the area.
“But there is another reason why we believe the decision was the right one. Until recently it had been thought that biofuels were one of the best alternatives to fossil fuels as a renewable source of energy. We now know that this is not the case.
12 Dec
Swansea Council Shenanigans
(Letter to the South Wales Evening Post)
Sir,
Your Editorial comment (We Say, Saturday 11th December) that the cost of our local councillors is worth paying must be questioned in the light of the shenanigans that went on at the beginning of the Council meeting on Thursday last (reported on page 35 of the same edition).
Quite how the Chair and Vice Chair of the Council could have put an adjournment motion at all when the supposed proposer of the motion, Labour group leader David Phillips made it very clear, and repeated at least twice, that he had never requested the adjournment is baffling.
It is hard to understand what motivation he (Councillor Phillips) might have had in calling for an adjournment when the Labour group had put forward most of the items that were thereby postponed for a week.
And the argument by the Vice Chair that the motion was intended to reduce inconvenience to the public by cutting the length of the meeting does not hold water when you consider that the majority of people in the public gallery had come specifically to hear the debate on the items that were postponed.
The ducking and weaving we saw on Thursday made it clear that the true purpose of the adjournment motion was to postpone debate on matters that are highly critical of the Swansea administration and of the government they support for another week in the hope that less members of the public are likely to turn up to an unscheduled Council meeting.
Unfortunately their incompetent attempts to stifle public debate backfired and created a controversy that I trust will ensure a packed public gallery this coming Thursday.
Yours,
Keith M Ross
Green Party Assembly Candidate
South Wales West
8 Dec
Swansea, Thu 9th Dec 2010 Student Rally
Time: 09 December ยท 12:00 – 14:00
Location: Castle square, Swansea
Created by: Swansea University Student Union
More info:
THE BIG VOTE on tuition fees for English students has been announced for next Thursday!
Swansea Uni Students’ Union & Swansea Met Students’ Union are calling a rally and protest in the city centre and we want you to join us!
Invite your course mates, friends, families & colleagues! The student movement has called for action in every city, let’s show them how Swansea do it!
Time to rally against higher fees and disastrous cuts to the higher education funding system.
This week, the welsh assembly government announced that it will pay for the cost of higher fees to Welsh domiciled students. However, Welsh students will not be protected from the cuts already passed on from Westminster.
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We now know that there will be a vote in parliament on the 9th December on the price of tuition fees.
Join in solidarity with other students and staff for a march and protest on the 9th December- Castle Square, Swansea!
Bring placards, chants and your spirit!
3 Dec
Greens call for Vetch gardens to be returned
At a meeting of the Sandfields Community Association earlier this week officers from Swansea Council outlined plans for the demolition of the former football ground at the Vetch Field and subsequent landscaping of the area. The area will be turned into a temporary park as Swansea Council seeks a developer for the site.
Keith Ross, Green Party Assembly Candidate for South Wales West, who was at the meeting, said, “Creating a green open space in the middle of Sandfields will be very welcome, even though it’s only a temporary measure.
2 Dec
Mumbles Head development
(Letter to the Evening Post)
Your report of the Mumbles Head Development meeting (Evening Post, Front Page, Wednesday 1st December) made no mention of the opposition that was expressed at the meeting.
Fully half of the people at that meeting were opposed to the development as currently proposed. This is not “Nimby-ism”, but a heartfelt desire to retain the very special character of Mumbles Head. There is a widespread belief that the proposed development illustrated in the outline planning application is inappropriate in that setting. The large number of local people who have signed the petition against the development evidences this.
Steel and glass will stick out like a sore thumb against the green background of the headland, regardless of whether it breaks the skyline or not.
At the meeting Pier owner John Bollom stated that essential refurbishment of the pier will only be possible if the hotel complex goes ahead. He also intimated that a hotel might not be viable in the current economic climate, and that it could be replaced by further apartments. This means that a final decision has not yet been made. There is therefore still time to rethink the proposal, and perhaps to find another way to fund the refurbishment of the pier. One hopes that, given the strength of local opposition, Swansea Council and the RNLI would work with Mr Bollom to identify alternative sources of funding, thereby allowing Mumbles Head to remain untouched.
As you said in your editorial comment, investment on this scale would be welcome for Mumbles, and for the area in general. But in such a sensitive location any development has to be in keeping with the area.
Yours,
Keith M Ross
Green Party Assembly Candidate
South Wales West
