In his regular blog for Caerphilly Observer South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle gives his take on recent news.
Library Service
It’s great to see that progress is being made on developing a new library and council customer service centre in Caerphilly town centre following the approval of planning permission.
I’m told that work on demolishing the old post office at The Twyn will begin in March and in its place will come a new library and customer centre and heritage centre area. It will be an impressive landmark.
The old post office lost its Crown status under the last Labour Westminster Government and eventually closed its doors. Now in the town centre people go to WH Smith’s for their postal services.
The land where the library will be built has a role in the town’s history as it was the original site of Caerphilly Cheese Market.
The development will provide another boost for the town centre and means that the council’s improvement and regeneration programme for our libraries is continuing apace.
I’m proud to be a member of a council which has spent, with support from the Welsh Government and other partners, huge amounts of money in creating first class library spaces, fit for the 21st century.
It would take some very churlish or one-eyed person not to recognise the investment in libraries such as those at Bargoed and Blackwood. In Risca, the historic former Palace cinema has been returned to public use as a library and community space. Apart from the work in Caerphilly, new libraries will be completed in Newbridge and Abercarn.
I’ve always believed that libraries are so important in the fight to improve literacy and can’t understand local authorities in England that are looking to close libraries.
I was pleased that Welsh Government Minister Huw Lewis, recognised the fantastic work done at the Hanbury Chapel in Bargoed when I raised the refurbishment in the Senedd. That was possible because of the work of several partners, including the council and the Welsh Government.
The Minister’s remarks were in contrast to comments by other politicians who have failed to recognise the transformation of library services carried out in the county borough.
Lindsay Whittle
Plaid Cymru South Wales East AM
how about tryin to help people back into work theres no jobs around here also the villages need help not just towns !!
why not try puttin money into helpin people get bk to work incentives for businesses to take on more people
No Lindsey I dont see it as great progress, while a new library may be neede it should not be at the cost of the Post Office Building, its getting more like 1984 every day less means more worse means betterm why not stand up for the architecture of the town for once.
In these times of financial hardship I would prefer the existing, iconic, 1930's building being converted for use as a library. I am used by now to expect whatever party is in power, in Caerffili, knocking down our best buildings and erecting something less interesting.
The computer generated image that Lindsay Whittle and Ron Davies displayed, some time ago, even had turrets! Hopefully that silly design has been put in the bin and we will get something attractive and sympathetic to the architecture we once had in abundance in the town.
The next building under threat is the school on Park Lane. This was built in 1866 and was important to our history as it was the very first school in Caerffili that was subject to government inspection and regulation. I tried, unsuccessfully, to get this building listed. It will soon be gone forever.
The only 'silver lining' is perhaps we will now get a library that is as good as the one in Bargoed.
Lindsay Whittle is absolutely correct to laud the new Library in Bargoed, but at what cost to other existing libraries?..
A new Library in Caerphilly Town Centre, at the old Post Office Site? also good news, if it ever gets built, plenty of publicity, plenty of internal Council activity, but can Lindsay or anyone else inform us all of the source of the necessary finance? for this wonderful monolithic creation.
It wont be the £700,000 the Caerphilly Cabinet wrote off its books recently.
It wont be the money it received when it sold off the last Council owned Islwyn Transport Buses, that's already long gone.
Could it be the proceeds from the giant cheque Lindsay held aloft for £12.7 million pounds being the return of the Plaid Cymru investment in the failed Icelandic Banks?, No It can`t be that money because the council never ACTUALLY received it. (if however we wait until 2013 then Lindsay has said all the money will be returned by then, he said so on these pages in February 2010.)
Could it be from the impending transfer to a private landlord of all our civic, Council, housing stock?. No, it can`t be that because this is a free of transfer of all those properties, after which no-one will ever apply again for Council Housing.
It COULD be from the money raised in the almost 20% increases to `death duty` fees and charges it recently brought in.
It COULD be from the Car parking charges, and increases it makes.
It COULD be from the charges it makes to residents for Wheelie bins.
It COULD be from the charges the Caerphilly Council introduced for the removal of household items, (regardless of the rates charges which should include this facility)
It COULD be from the savings made when it reduced rubbish collections from weekly to fortnightly.
It COULD from the money it saved when it abandoned Caerphilly Town Centre redevelopment plans in September 2009.
It could`nt be the money wasted on the infrastructure for the abandoned Trihir recycling plant, that money is already lost.
It could`nt be the money wasted on talking street CCTV Cameras,introduced by Caerphilly Council to "tell us off if we misbehave", their words not mine.
And it certainly could not be money raised from having two of the top three council wards of most severe deprivation in Wales, could it?
.
Lindsay says
"I’m proud to be a member of a council which has spent, with support from the Welsh Government and other partners, huge amounts of money in creating first class library spaces, fit for the 21st century".
Tell it to the residents of St James, the second most deprived area in Wales, I wonder, but I doubt, that Lindsay is, "proud", to be the leader of the Council to which this accolade applies.
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but the recent revelation that, in 1981, the Thatcher Government considered abandoning
Liverpool makes me wonder when the London Government decided to abandon south Wales. This is not a new idea there was a plan in the late 1930s to abandon Merthyr Tydfil and relocate the reminder of the population who hadnt already gone to Slough, to a new town in the Usk Valley.The fact that Caerphilly has communities ranked second and third amongst the most deprived communities in Wales, has little to do with Lindsay Whittle`s abilities as apolitician, which I think are of the highest rank. The problem is that we already have been abandoned by the London Governments of all colours, Labour doesnt bother because they know we`ll always give them a majority and the Tories know we`ll never vote for them in mass.
John Owen has, reasonably, used the argument a few weeks ago, that anything which falls apart in Wales in down to the London Government, the flaw in that hypothesis is of course that he ignores the fact that all local Council`s guide, manuvour, and dictate issues in their areas, of, Education, Social services provisions, Planning, developments of all kinds, regeneration of communities and business, low level degrees of law and order, health and well-being, etc. etc. etc.
He also fails to consider, it appears, (in his pinpointing that all the faults with society in Wales is down to a London Government,) that many many issues have been devolved to Wales for many years now, certainly enough years to make a difference for the good. All Political Parties have been involved in the Direct Management of Wales PLC since its inception and creation, Lib Dems, Labour, and Plaid Cymru, and now the Tories, albeit influencing Welsh Government at arms length from London, and I agree with John that all have failed.
Clearly the problems which communities are currently experiencing, of deprivation etc, do not completely rest at Lindsay Whittle`s feet, but, as a Local Senior Politician, and now, as a Senior Provincial Politician, in his party, What Lindsay does, and What Lindsay says cannot be ignored as if like some `Angels Whisper`.
I agree with the comments made about the deprived areas of Caerphilly Borough which is a disgrace. However siting a library in the town (regardless of people's opinions about the architecture etc)will surely raise the profile of the library service as a whole. A way out of deprivation for people would be to use the services that the library provides, including excellent toddler storytime sessions which will only go towards helping literacy and the reinforce the importance of books and reading.
I concur with Judith, the debate, though interesting, has moved from libraries to the grim economic statistics of South Wales.
As a member of Caerffili Library for 43 years I am very much in favour of up-dating our library. This will benefit the economy in subtle and difficult to measure ways; if our youngsters can be persuaded to read for pleasure and self improvement they are more likely to be able to compete for any jobs which do become available.
What I question is whether knocking down a 74 year old, stone building is the cost effective answer. The council owns the land on which the present library stands and I think it would be cheaper to site the new library there.
I tread carefully because the real issue is getting a new library. Over 100 years ago Andrew Carnegie (one of the richest men in the world in those days) offered to finance three new libraries for Caerphilly Urban District Council. The council decided, after much senseless bickering and political point scoring, that they wanted five libraries, paid for by Carnegie. The result was the offer was withdrawn and Caerffili ended up with no library.
I believe that the present day Labour/Plaid councillors, with certain honourable exceptions, have no greater foresight than their predecessors. The new plan, though a bad one, should be encouraged so that we do get improved library facilities. This improvement is badly needed and vital for future prospects of economic recovery in the area.
Trefor Bond seems to ignore that while many powers have been devolved to Wales, whta had not been develoved is the money to solve the problems, by any measure Wales is losing out on Whitehall Government, the loss of money, due to the badly drawn up Barnett formula which allocates Treasury spend in the UK, then again there is the money diverted to the Olympics etc etc. The main problem with Wales is that it was not, historically, a diverse economy. Until 1750 it was a mainly agricutural economy, during the next two cwnturies wales saw an Iron Boom, a Steel Boom and a Coal Bomm which saw it become a very wealthy area, one of the richest areas in Britian, and which saw massive immigration to service the new industries and a massive assimilation of the new migrants, which over a lifetime saw a new ethnicty created out of a fusion of the indigenous and migrant polulation. However, what Wales did not see was the the vast sums of wealth created and produced in Wales reinvested in Wales. As a result wales has some of the most deprived areas in Britain, let alone Europe, and the irony is that some of these area are the very areas that were the major boom towns of the past, areas like Blaenau Gwent, Metheyr Tydfil and parts of Caerphily Borough. It is pointless trying to blame Lyndsay for the economic exploitaion of the past, no matter who was in power would have the same problems to contend with. It is noticeable that in the recent property survey houses in Kensington and Chelsea had an average value of £4.9 million,ten time more than the most expensive houses in Cardiff and almost thirty times more expensive than in Caerphilly. So if they are that rich, where are all the abandoned coal mines and steel works in Kensington and Chelsea?, who ate all the pies?, with that kind of discrepancy in wealth and faced with a callous and inept Government in London, what hope does the Cardiff Government have in overcoming decades of neglect, and the task for someone like Lyndsay, at the bottom of the pile, to make good the neglect, on crumbs from the rich mans table is almost is insurmountable, but we all in this together, arent we?.
John says-
"what hope does the Cardiff Government have in overcoming decades of neglect, and the task for someone like Lyndsay, at the bottom of the pile, to make good the neglect, on crumbs from the rich mans table is almost is insurmountable, but we all in this together"
The answer is of course not to use the crumbs which are brushed towards us on monolithic structures such as the gate that goes nowhere in Crescent Road, (£50,000 odd), a new building on the Twyn instead of adapting and using the existing building there (the old post office) as a library. Failing to collect £700,000 money owed in debts to the council, the Assembly subsidising, an airline which only the elite in Wales would ever need to use, cheap meals and drinks for Assembly Members, increased pension fund contributions for Assembly Members, thousands of pounds in hidden costs of extravagant fireworks displays and second rate Christmas street lights every year, etc etc.
If someone actually got a grip of these Welsh extravagances, together with the many many more, one for instance being the totally useless and past it`s sell by date, Caerphilly Council NEWS LINE. then just perhaps the saving could be spent on improving the lot of the areas of deprivation in Wales and make just a little difference, and, I do not subscribe to the view expressed in comment on this item above that if you give a poor family a library full of books to read, or, a civic owned computer to play with, then that goes some way to relieving the lot of those families who cannot pay their heating bills, pay their rent, buy proper clothes for their children or put proper nutritious food on the table,.
And of course, it is not the fault of Lindsay, and no-one in their right mind would suggest it is, but he has a legitimate, competent and powerful voice and when he uses it he must be judged and when necessary, criticised for what he says, he would expect no less, so criticism of all politicians whatever their flavour places them in the firing line.
Of course there are many strands to this argument, but the one of the library not helping people put food on their tables, clothe their children etc is a short-sighted one in my opinion. A library is a completely free resource where people could take out cookery books to help prepare nutritious food for their children for example and reference books to help their children with their homework.
Yes, Judith is right abou libraries, I grew up near the existing library and coming from a poor single parent family, the library opened up a wider world to me. A library may not pay the heating bills, put food on the table or clothes on your back, but it will enable you to know why you dont have those neccesities of life. And its not because of the way the local Council spend what little money they have. Trefor bond, as usual, is letting his dislike of Plaid cloud his judgement, he may not have noticed, but the Labour Party is in control in the Bay, and they are spending the money on airlines, pensions and allowance for Assembly members. On a local level he may think the money spent on the Eistedfodd Arch on Crescent Road, and the money spent on fireworks is a waste, but they give people pleasure in a grim world. Its one of the realities of life that apart from providing public sector employment that run the public services, Councils cant directly create the new industries to provide much needed jobs in the private sector that we`ve lost throught he decline in coal and steel. Though, on a Keynsian level, public spending can create jobs in the private sector, so someone who built that arch on Crescent Road, and who made lit those fireworks were paid for doing it, but of course Trefor Bond wouldnt let the Council spend money on such projects.
As a point of information, at time when the neo Conservative in London is cutting public sector jobs, for every 13 public sector jobs being cut only one is being created in the private sector. Faced with that kind of statistic, its silly to blame Lindsay for levels of multiple deprivation found in parts of Caerphilly caused by the policies of the Thatcher Government when the blame lies elsewhere in the hands of Thatcher`s children mismanaging the economy.
All the things John Owen Jones would appear to have the council spend our money on is fine at time of a balanced economy.
At a time of financial restraint it is perverse to spend money on things that, quite frankly, don’t really matter in the short term.
Short term Priorities in spending public money is what it is all about at the moment, we are not talking about the `long game` which is what John Owen appears to be concerned with at the cost of community deprivation.
I would also remind John Owen that he is danger of `shooting the messenger` in his concentration of my comments rather than those of politicians who dictate such spending, I don’t have such privilege, and I never will, but what I do have is a right and a voice to be critical of the politicians we elect, John is in danger of falling into the trap that all local Plaid Cymru politicians fall into and that is to treat any `off line` comment as coming from the `enemy` and not, simply from those with opposing viewpoints. This is clearly why the party appears to go one step forward and two back at every other election. Friendly, respectful, and meaningful debate is what it is all about in a democracy, and Wales is still a democracy, at least for the moment.
I have very much enjoyed the dichotomy between Messrs Owen and Bond regarding libraries and other matters. They passionately state their position and I have empathy with both with them and their views, developed from a shared experience of growing up in Caerffili and the Rhymney Valley and an intellectual appreciation of the history and the current reality of living in our town.
What I think is regrettable is the reluctance of our elected representatives to contribute to the debate. We have three ward councillors, in the St. Martin’s Ward where the new library is to be sited, who should be stating their views on the proposals. Additionally the cabinet member responsible for libraries is also a ward councillor in Caerffili. I would very much like to see their views in print as they are responsible for whatever transpires with the new library, whether good or ill. Perhaps they believe that this is a subject that is of no consequence?
I am not a Plaid Cymru politician, and have not been a member of Plaid since about 1980. I had a good friend who was an economist, and said, in reality the UK Treasury are unable or unwilling to provide the money to rebuild the Valleys,( this was about the time the Thatcher Government was considering a policy of managed decline for Liverpool) so how would an independent Wales find the cash?. So he said make the choice, be a romantic or a realist and I chose the latter. Despite not being a member of Plaid, I still have a lot of respect for Lindsay, I`ve known him since 1968 and in most cases hes on the side of the Angels, he`s a good guy. The big difference between Lindsay and myself is that I am interested in Politics, whereas he is a Politician, and an honourable one. Years ago, my Aunty Olwen from Bowls Terrace, who grew up immersed in left wing politics, (she taught me to read, using the Daily Worker
), told him you`re a clever boy, but if you want to get on why not join the Labour party, and change sides when you`re successful, but he stood his ground, and stayed with Plaid. I respect him for that, and, despite not being a Plaid member, I find no problem in supporting his ideas that I agree with and defending him from unwarranted criticism.
Newbridge library is being moved from the current location into newbridge Memo which seems to me that they are taking up valuable space that could be used for something else. How do they separate the fact that the local miners bought and paid for it yet the council are going to put their library within it?
What about the places like pantside and trinant who used to have mobile libraries and whose areas are really deprived are they going to get proper libraries now?