In his regular blog for Caerphilly Observer South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle gives his take on recent news.
Kingsmead
I have written to one of the UK’s biggest house builders, Taylor Wimpey, to protest over the naming of a new housing estate at Pontypandy in Caerphilly.
They have called the new estate at Kingsmead. That name may be acceptable in the stock-broker belt of Surrey or near Windsor Castle but it is not acceptable in this part of the world.
I noticed that on the Taylor Wimpey website they talk about being a responsible developer which is “committed to working with local people and communities”. They also refer to their commitment to keep everyone informed about their work before during and throughout the life of developments.
Well, I’m not aware of any consultation over the naming of this new housing estate. The house-builders are being totally insensitive to the area in which they are developing.
Do you think people in Surrey, or indeed anywhere in England, would find it acceptable to have a name like Penyrheol imposed as the name of a new estate? It just wouldn’t happen, would it?
House-builders, and not just Taylor Wimpey, need to think very carefully before dreaming up daft and inappropriate names for estates. We are not a suburb of England. We have our own identity, history and culture and they should remember that.
Hospices
In the Senedd last week, I raised the issue of hospices with the First Minister asking him what commitment the Welsh Government was giving to supporting them.
He explained that the delivering end-of-life care plan reaffirmed the vital role of hospices in providing palliative care, and they will continue to receive funding from the Welsh Government and NHS Wales.
But Welsh Government’s funding of hospices in Wales falls significantly short of funding compared with the United Kingdom and Scottish Governments’ funding for hospices in England and Scotland. Service agreements in Wales also last for only 12 months. It is important that funding is provided over three years so hospices can plan with certainty.
The First Minister said that from 2015-16 hospice funding would be transferred to the local health boards. He added a request was made for funding to be ring-fenced and that had been agreed for three years.
I agree with you Lindsay. We should be allowed to re-name anything that’s appropriate to the area. With this in mind I propose the multi-million pound edifice that’s Caerphilly Council HQ be re-named the Twin Towers & the Welsh Assembly, Middle Earth.
With the sub heading, ‘In the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie…’
Lindsay says: “The First Minister said that from 2015-16 hospice funding would be
transferred to the local health boards. He added a request was made for
funding to be ring-fenced and that had been agreed for three years”.
If this comes about and health board take over the funding and management of each Hospice, I sincerely trust and hope they will properly check and VET ALL STAFF for criminal records. After all, everyone, including the families of those being cared for in the evening of their lives as well as those being cared for, have the right to know, and be told, if the Health boards employ criminals walking the corridors of hospital and other care facilities.
Currently, the Health Boards, in Wales, DO NOT MAINTAIN RECORDS OF STAFF MEMBERS CRIMINAL CONVICTION OR ANY OTHER CRIMINAL ACTIVITY BY THEIR STAFF.
Who do we have walking the corridors of our health care facilities in Gwent and Cardiff,? God forbid they dont get their act in order BEFORE being given this additional responsibilty, no doubt, Lindsay and his Colleagues will ensure they do,
Trefor
What you comment on should be a priority? https://www.assemblywales.org/epetition-list-of-signatories.htm?pet_id=1019
Jan: I have sought Assembly Members to engage with this problem, but, it seems that it is not of particular concern, I wrote to Assembly Members who represent our areas and ONLY LINDSAY WHITTLE RESPONDED to my concerns and I am grateful for his comments to me.
The Uk Government said today in light of the SAVILE abuse report.:-
“Mr Hunt is writing to all NHS trusts asking them to ensure they are confident about patient safety”
Can I ask if AM and Health Minster in the Welsh Assembly, Mark Drakeford,
will ask all Welsh Heath Authorities if they are, ” Confident About
Patient Safety”? particularly in light of the fact they do NOT hold
records of any sort in respect to potential criminal activity or
perverse predilections ( Like Savile) by staff employed in the Heath
Service in Wales. God forbid we could have another `latch` for Cameron
and Hunt to grip in respect to the Welsh Assembly lack of policy
to ensure we know who are looking after us and our families whilst in
the care of the Welsh NHS.
I do need to say very clearly that I do not know if we do have criminals working in our Care System, but I know for absolute certainty that the Welsh Assembly and all the Heath Boards in Wales do not know either, AND THEY SHOULD KNOW. If only for the sake of all those thousands of health care workers who are professional and caring individuals with no concerns at all.
From Trefor’s investigation we have learned that our health board (Aneurin Bevan) does not keep records of crimes their staff may have committed. This is a really major implication for the safety and security of the patients and yet I don’t see anyone from the Welsh Assembly producing a plan to force those in authority to keep proper records.
I look forward to our Assembly Members taking urgent action to put this dangerous situation right. The National Health Service is the biggest employer in the land and statistically it is likeley that criminals of various kinds have the freedom of our hospitals. I am not saying that someone who has committed a crime should be barred from working in the health sector but their employer should be aware of crimes they have committed so that they can determine whether controls, such as closer supervision, are required.
The present situation is not fair to the patients or the staff and needs to be remedied as soon as possible.
Taylor Wimpey probably have a team of people at their head office in Buckinghamshire who’s job it is to name all their new developments, there is no consultation, connection or sympathy to the part of the country that the development is in, it simply gets whatever name is next on the list.
Who really cares what this estate is called, after all we have Streets up and down the Valley called Windsor, Salop, White, Van, Mill, Ludlow, Stockland, Bradford, Bute Harp, Etc Etc Does that make the residents living in those streets are any less Welsh or Nationaistic than those living in Cefn, Bryn, Glyn this or that, or anything Welsh????
Trefor is correct, the culture of South Wales is not the same as the culture of Mid Wales, North Wales or West Wales, any more than the culture of Berkshire is shared by Sunderland. South Wales, with its tradition of rugby, male voice choirs and skill at manufacturing was shaped during a fairly brief period, the 19th century.
It matters little what housing estates are called, it matters a lot that open spaces in Caerffili are being built on and our roads, schools, public transport, sewage systems, police, health provision and all the rest of our infrastructure is being put under strain. When our Victorian ancestors built up South Wales it was for economic reasons, coal and steel. They ensured that along with the houses there were jobs, schools, roads, reservoirs and all the other things that are now missing.
Lindsay why have we endless housing estates that are poorly constructed and have small gardens. There should be a law that parks for children should provided by these companies. Shape up!
We have been fruitfully given that a wide collection of building services in surrey. I like this post…
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