Speed Cameras
I will be meeting Ian Johnston, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, on Friday.
One of the issues I will be raising is the question of speeding on the road from the Aber Valley through to Penyrheol.
This particularly impacts on the residents of Ty Isaf and myself and fellow Plaid Cymru Penyrheol ward councillors Margaret Sargent and Steve Skivens are campaigning for a speed camera to be installed.
More than 100 residents have signed postcards we distributed around the houses about the issue and we believe action is needed before someone is seriously killed or injured. I’m told that some drivers are travelling at up to 60mph and speeding is a regular issue on this road.
I’m not convinced flashing speed signs are effective but I believe the installation of a speed camera would send a message to drivers that speeding along this stretch of road is not on.
We have raised this in the past with Caerphilly council but I hope the Police Commissioner will give his support for a speed camera.
Noah’s Ark Appeal
It was a pleasure to be a storyteller at a recent event at Caerphilly Castle in aid of the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital charity.
Fellow councillors Phil Bevan and Mikey Prew also took part and thanks should go out to the organisers Vicky and Becky for putting on such a great event.
I’m told that £800 was raised which was superb.
Winter and the NHS
The weather can have a huge effect on people’s health and it is important that the Welsh Government makes sure that it is properly prepared.
Demands on the NHS increase during periods of cold weather, and at the same time many health boards struggle to maintain their full range of out of hours treatments due to staffing shortages. This has led to overstretched Accident and Emergency departments in previous years.
Plaid Cymru’s Intermediate Care Fund secured as part of the budget deal will be important in keeping people out of hospital or getting them out of hospital quicker.
But planning for winter should be a matter of routine for the Welsh Government and the increased demand on emergency services and not any surprise. It is a test of the competence of any government.
Lindsay Whittle
Plaid Cymru South Wales East AM
I thought a local elected representative was supposed to actually inform the public about the work they have done to represent the whole community. This blog just bigs up his fellow Penyrheol Plaid Cymru Ward members and other Plaid councillor colleagues. It seems if your not a Plaid councillor or member you dont get a look in. He should be the representative of the people, not just for his party colleagues.
I agree with Vic, to a degree, this public blog `media` and any political articles on it should reflect the actions of that elected representative.
Lindsay Whittle was not ELECTED of course to this role in the Assembly, so there is some difficulty there I suppose in the Editor of this newspaper, censoring, his political comments based on his experiences as an ELECTED Caerphilly Councillor.
What the Editor must do is to invite a LABOUR local COUNCILLOR to write a monthly article to balance this monthly, biased, LOCAL Plaid Cymru propaganda. Or, ensure that Mr Whittles future comments reflect ONLY on his experiences as an unelected SOUTH WEST WALES `REGIONAL` AM, SELECTED FROM SOME LIST OR OTHER, and, not his experiences centered on Penyrheol and Abertridwr in Caerphilly where he is a COUNCILLOR, there IS life beyond these communities, and is it any coincident that this road leads to My Whittles home in Abertridwr?, a Road he travels every day. He is paid as an Assembly member to represent us all in South East Wales and he should consider demonstrating doing that more efficiently in his comments.
Using a charity event to raise the profile of Plaid Cymru members isn't very tasteful. Why is it that whenever some politicians get involved in charity work they make 100% sure their name is plastered all over it. The vast majority of volunteers collecting for charity seek no praise. This is just typical.
Tony: As you Know, that`s Politics.
From reading some other articles on this website and seeing the type of articles posted, it's clear that the editor falls on the Plaid side.
I would like to see neutrality. It's fine to have a monthly update from the Plaid AM but you need, as Jeff said, members from other parties to create a balance.
The above article could easily have been written to the local Plaid Cymru supporters club. All it seeks to do is make heroes out of Plaid councillors for attending charity events and offers nothing to the 175,000 other residents in this borough. It really is distatseful to use charity events to progress the political fortunes of a political party.
Just for clarity I welcome blogs from all political parties, except for those with extremist views, and Mr Whittle is the only politician who regularly sends in a blog post.
I should also point out that I am not a member of any political party.
As always, I welcome your feedback but I must stress that I take great personal and professional pride in making Caerphilly Observer as neutral as possible.
Thanks for reading
Richard Gurner
Are these Plaid Cymru Councillors are OBSESSED with speed Cameras?
Whittle wants one on his door step, and his Plaid Cymru Colleagues on Caerphilly Town Council wants to BUY a hand held one for the local Community Support Officers to play with. What a disgraceful shower.