Swansea Phoenix

Egg on their faces

2008-01-29T14:23:00.001Z

Are the brothers and sisters of New Swansea Labour going to end up with egg on their faces? Having kicked up a huge fuss about the six pound charge for Swansea residents to swim in the new LC, David Phillips may be in for a shock when he sits down and does his sums. It appears that the before it closed, residents wanting to spend two hours in the old pool would have had to pay nine pounds. So far from 'penalising the worse off' as suggested by the Labour leader, the Swansea Administration has actually cut the cost by 50%. Oops!

Ms Whiplash Is Back In Town

2007-09-19T21:23:00.000Z

After a long absence, Ms Whiplash has returned to our democracy. After an absence of 20 years from the polls she has returned to bolster up support with Lord Lucan after a similar disappearance for Castle 2008. Her reincarnation is pictured here waking up amongst the fag butts left behind after a boozy night out. What's more she is now blaming others for the mess.

A rose by any other name

2007-09-09T20:35:00.000Z

A copy of Labour's latest leaflet 'Swansea West Welsh Labour Rose' drops through the letterbox. It is dripping with the sort of propaganda all too prevalent in today's politics.

First up is an article demanding that residents stop the 'Liberal Democrat Council' building on the St. Helen's Recreation ground. The basis for this accusation is the Swansea Bay Strategy, currently out to consultation. Alas, not only has no such proposal been made by the Council, but its leadership has hinted that they will not accept this particular idea.

Why though is there no mention of the role played by Labour Minister and local AM, Andrew Davies in all of this. The Swansea Bay Strategy was jointly commissioned with the Labour Assembly Government and was launched by Mr. Davies. Surely, his association with the idea of developing the rec is as strong as the Councils. Like them he does not like the idea but that does not stop his party drawing its own conclusions.

Putting aside the deliberate error on the back page of the leaflet in which Social Services Cabinet Member, Wendy Fitzgerald, is described as a Liberal Democrat, Labour's prescription for mending social services is full of holes. Their spokesperson, Andrew Connell thinks that recruiting agency staff to cover unfilled vacancies is a waste of taxpayers' money.

This is not a view taken by Labour Councillors on Swansea Council, who recognise that there is a nationwide shortage of Social Workers and that in the short term it is better to cover vacancies rather than put more children at risk by not doing so. It is also not a view taken by other Labour-run Councils who have taken exactly the same course of action as Swansea.

It is true that allocating money 'directly to improving Social Services, giving assistance to children and families where it is most needed' sounds good but what does it actually mean and how precisely does it help the most vulnerable in our society? Once more Labour seem to be floundering in the dark.

The most audacious piece however comes at the end with Ian Ross accusing Liberal Democrats of allowing 'our school buildings to fall into horrendous conditions. As a result of the Lib Dems incompetence,' he says, 'our schools now have a £150 millions backlog of repairs.' Really? You can tell that nobody ever checks this stuff.

Let us be clear, Labour are now alleging that when they lost power in 2004 all of our school buildings were in an immaculate condition but that over the last three and a half years the Liberal Democrat administration has allowed them to collapse into near-ruin. That is quite a rate of deterioration. Do they really believe that voters will buy this nonsense.

The fact is that as with the Leisure Centre, the Central Libary, County Hall itself, Swansea Council housing and the Guildhall, there has been a dearth of investment in schools over decades of Labour rule. One hundred and fifty million pounds worth of repairs do not materialise overnight. The blame for this under-investment lies squarely in Labour's lap and it has been left to the present administration to put things right.

Cavalier with the facts

2007-08-28T22:02:00.000Z

In their latest posting on Inside Out Swansea Labour demonstrate once more how relieved they are that they did not lose Lawrence Bailey's safe seat. In time-honoured tradition, they remain as cavalier with the facts as ever.

Checking back through previously published Councillor allowance statements it is quite clear that Peter Black never claimed a Special Responsibility Allowance, even though he was entitled to one, whilst he was chair of a Cabinet Advisory Committee. It looks too as though he has never claimed any travelling expenses.

Best of chums

2007-05-14T17:16:00.000Z

At the Council's Annual General Meeting today it became clear that the Conservatives in Swansea have done a deal with Labour to take over the control of key council positions in a bid to control the Council.

Since January the Conservatives have voted with Labour, and against their former coalition partners on 11 separate occasions. The new informal coalition of Labour, Plaid and Conservatives now control 22 out of the 32 positions that the governing group has held in Swansea for the last 30 years.

Today Labour and Conservatives voted together to deprive the Liberal Democrats and Independents of the Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer, which are used to chair meetings of Full Council every 6 weeks.

It is shocking how fast the conservatives have left the first non-Labour coalition in 30 years and are now in bed with Labour. The Tories in Swansea seem to have no compunction whatsoever about doing a deal with Labour in an unseemly grab for power. It appears that in every sense a vote for the Conservatives in Swansea is a vote for Labour.

It was also amusing to see the varying degrees of enthusiasm employed by Labour Councillors as they were forced to indicate their support for Conservatives in a named vote. Some such as the Labour leader seemed to have little shame whilst others struggled to speak the name of their Tory ally. We would have thought that all those meetings between David Phillips and Rene Kinzett would have prepared them better for the big moment.

City continues to benefit from Administration policies

2007-04-18T20:33:00.000Z

More good news over the last two days with further investment in the City from top-notch retailers.

Yesterday, the La Senza lingerie chain announced that it is to give the city centre a big vote of confidence by announcing it is setting up shop here. Today, Laura Ashley said it is to open a home furnishings store in the Pontarddulais Retail Park.

Naturally, it would have been preferable if Laura Ashley had decided to set up in the City Centre, but there is no escaping the fact that things are looking better than for some time for Swansea.

As the Chairman of the Swansea Business Improvement District, Peter Birch, said:

"It's brilliant news.

"Every week there's somebody announcing they are coming to Swansea."Companies are seeing investment is being poured into Swansea.

"We have a Business Improvement District here which is a first in Wales.

"People can recognise that it's the place they want to be."

He said companies which had pulled out of the city centre could live to regret their decision.

"They might find the error of their ways and realise Swansea is a much sought-after place to come."

What a contrast with the barren years of Labour control.

Labour flushed away

2007-04-13T20:19:00.000Z

The only thing going down the pan around here is the Labour Party's spinning around Swansea website. All the evidence is that not only are they listening at the wrong doors but they are having difficulties reading.

When they claim that this Evening Post article on the state of the City's toilets shows that the Administration are not getting the basics right, they overlooked one small fact. Council-operated toilets were not looked at as part of the Halo Wipes' investigation.

In fact Swansea Council has award winning public toilet provision including the 2006 Loo of the Year Awards for Caer Street, Oystermouth, Quadrant, and Rhossili. Of course that inconvenient fact does not stop Labour who use every excuse to rub down Swansea now that they no longer run it.

Labour election circus full of clowns

2007-04-12T20:44:00.000Z

The Labour election circus came to Swansea yesterday leading the First Minister to try to claim sole credit for all the investment coming into the City at the moment.

Labour have form on this of course. When things go wrong then local Councils are the easy scapegoats. When Labour election pledges such as those on school buildings do not materialise then it is everybody's fault but theirs. They are a good news government, only interested in associating themselves with success and failing to take responsibility for their failures.

I am not going to deny that the Welsh Assembly Government has played its part in helping Swansea get back on its feet, but we do need to note that it was the failures of a Labour Council that got us there in the first place. Rhodri Morgan's Government and his Transport Minister have also failed to provide the investment that Swansea needs to build on our success. In particular they have consistently failed to give us a proper share of Transport Grant, delaying unreasonably the re-building of the bus station.

So when Rhodri Morgan says that the City's success is built on his government's investment he is only telling half the story. The Swansea Administration has played a large part in that success too, creating an atmosphere in which investors want to come back here once more. The Administration's decision to re-open the Leisure Centre, the can-do attitude in the City Centre and the new confidence we are creating in the City have all played a part.

It is not a Labour-run Assembly that is helping to transform the fortunes of the city, it is a partnership being led by the Council, putting right Labour's mess. If anything the Assembly Government is holding us back.

More good news for City Centre

2007-04-11T19:59:00.000Z

Yet more good news in tonight's Evening Post underlining our previous post about the Administration's success in turning the City Centre around.

Lush, which specialises in hand-made soaps and cosmetics, is set to open a store in Whitewalls, opposite the popular Primark store, in what was once a nail bar.

It is not just us who believe that the turning point has been passed. Peter Birch, the vice-chairman and secretary of the Swansea Business Improvement District and chairman of the Swansea Independent Traders Association, said: "Confidence is building in the city. It is a great feeling knowing that companies want to come here. Not too long ago companies were leaving the city centre. It's great that things are changing."The city centre will certainly have more to offer than the out-of- town parks."

Whilst Denise Road, chairwoman of JT Morgan, said the latest news of fresh investment from a major national chain showed the city was on the up.

What a contrast with the mess that Labour made of the city centre.

Wrong again!

2007-04-11T10:35:00.000Z

The Spinning Around Swansea Labour website demonstrate their usual lack of insight on the workings of the Council's Liberal Democrat Group. They really must stop listening at the wrong doors.

Administration is making a difference

2007-04-09T21:27:00.000Z

I know how upset the Spinning Around Swansea lot get when we neglect this blogsite but unfortunately for them we decide when we post and when we do not.

Nevertheless it is worth breaking our unscheduled vacation to report on further investment in the City Centre that vindicates once more the strategy being pursued by the Swansea Administration and underlines the growing confidence in the City by investors.

The investment by Marks and Spencer in its City Centre store is one manifestation of this. As the Post says the planned multi-million pound transformation is being seen as a huge vote of confidence in the city centre as a retail hotspot. And then on top of this news we read that around 250 developers have contacted the Council to express and interest in working on bringing the City Centre strategy to reality. These are real developers not the fictional ones Labour told us wanted to rebuild our Leisure Centre but nobody could find any evidence of.

Peter Birch, vice-chairman and secretary of the Swansea Business Improvement District and chairman of the Swansea Independent Traders Association sums up where we are as a City:

"More is happening in Swansea now than has ever happened in my time here since 1980. There is more money being invested here than in a lot of towns and cities in Britain.

"The city stagnated for so long, but now people are concentrating on the centre again. There was a time when developers were looking at out-of-town areas, but that has stopped and they now want to be involved with the centre and to see that thriving again.

"This council has made a brave decision to get the leisure centre reopened and it is reaping the rewards from that and its vision for Swansea. I am really pleased for the city and the traders who have hung on in here through the hard times. Things are really looking up now and I am happy to be part of that."

Partnership is working

2007-03-29T08:47:00.000Z

Whilst the Spinning around Swansea website rather predictably scoffs from the sidelines it is worth reflecting that the 1200 Amazon distribution jobs coming to Swansea have not just come out of mid air.

The partnership working between the Council, the Assembly Government and local businesses have played a significant role. The growing confidence in the Swansea Bay area has helped tremendously in attracting this investment. As Swansea Council's own strategy for transforming the area comes into play we can expect more announcements soon.

Labour must now cough up the dosh

2007-03-25T11:44:00.000Z

Like the Spinning out of Swansea website we are puzzled by the small amount of coverage given to the stock transfer ballot. After all the behaviour of some opposition Councillors in spreading misinformation and downright lies should come in for some scrutiny.

In compiling our own response we can do no better than this on the South Wales West Liberal Democrats website:

"Swansea tenants have made it very clear that they wish to remain with the Council as their landlord and that view must be respected.

We believe that it was right that the option of stock transfer was put to them as the only one that could have delivered the resources to improve their homes. However, the Council has always been clear that it was the democratic right of tenants to reject that solution if they wished.

The problem facing the Council now is that they still have a £195 million shortfall in the money needed to bring homes up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. A 'No' vote does not change that fact, nor will it get tenants the new windows, kitchens and bathrooms that Tawe Housing would have delivered. It is now likely that many will miss out on having their homes improved.

It is our strong view that the campaign conducted by Defend Council Housing and the local Labour Party was dishonest and misled tenants into believing that they could have the benefits of stock transfer whilst remaining with the Council. That is not the case. Both the Welsh Assembly and the UK Governments have ruled out the possibility of a fourth option.

Labour has let down Council tenants. They have set housing standards which cannot be paid for and restricted Councils to a single choice in how to meet them. Their behaviour during the recent ballot was a disgrace. At a Welsh Assembly and UK level they are advocating stock transfer, they supported that solution in Torfaen, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Monmouthshire and Bridgend and yet in Swansea they jumped on the opportunist bandwagon and campaigned for a 'No' vote. It is now up to Defend Council Housing and the local Labour Party to get the resources they promised to improve tenants' homes."

All Kinds Of Everything

2007-03-21T11:59:00.000Z

Further to the last post it appears that Eurovision Fever has hit Castle with two ageing sitting Councillors facing their Waterloo in a selection re-run.

The Puppet on a string and her counterpart the Sandfields Lordi have reportedly had second thoughts about Making their minds up and are withdrawing their names before the poll ratings reach Rock Bottom and their reputations go Boom Bang a Bang.

Congratulations!!!

Eurovision

2007-03-20T20:42:00.001Z

It is the time of year for selecting candidates. Some say that the spotlight is on Llansamlet at the moment.

This particular contest has a history. It has always provided amusement to the trained onlooker as it normally involves deselecting sitting Councillors.

Those with long memories will recall 2004 when the outcome was that Labour's head count went down from 4 to 3 in the big game.

Early indicators point to a re-run of the Eurovision result announcement chaos.

This term's spectacle is bound to provide many with more free entertainment - if it hasn't happened already (guffaw, guffaw)

Follow the Money

2007-03-20T16:07:00.000Z

A new political independent club has opened in the city. In the frenetic build up to the unveiling somebody let slip that it wasn't so politically independent after all.

Apparently, it was funded by a local Labour Party that had the misfortune of being exterminated in 2004. It appears now that all references to this donation have disappeared without trace.

(Or have they?)

Same old refrain

2007-03-20T11:15:00.000Z

Tory leader Rene Kinzett does not appear to have been paying attention in class. He claims in today's Evening Post that he has not been kept up-to-date on the Council's e-government scheme. Yet a Council spokesperson points out, he is chair of the Councils' e-government working group, which body receives monthly updates.

Kinzett seeks to use this alleged shroud of secrecy as an excuse for confusion over issues such as cost:

He said: "In these circumstances, where information is given out on a less than timely basis and where members are kept in the dark and given half the picture, is it any surprise that the media print stories which may not be entirely accurate?"

Well actually Rene, the real reason why recent media stories have been inaccurate is because you have been feeding them misinformation. Maybe the problem is not that nobody is telling Kinzett what is going on, but that he does not understand it.

Bus Station will be built

2007-03-19T21:02:00.000Z

As at least one contributor to the Evening Post's on-line comments reminded us, if Labour had been on the ball the new bus station would have been built in 2004. Instead the Administration has been left to pick up the pieces again.

Despite the scepticism shown by the Evening Post today's news is a step forward. The moment that the Labour Transport Minister decided the Council could only have half the money it needed to build the bus station and that it must bring some private cash to the table then a delay was inevitable. After all, no Council can jump those sort of hurdles overnight.

However, what is positive is that the Council is determined to overcome those obstacles and make a start at some stage in the next financial year. The new bus station has been a long time coming, not least because of Labour's incompetence at the start, but it will be delivered.

Losing It...

2007-03-17T19:11:00.000Z

Rumour has it that the Mayals Conservative isn't too happy with the content of this blog.

It is reported that he has even paid a special trip to the leader's office to claim that we are scoring goals that are offside(r).

It is also rumoured that he is claiming to know the identity of our contributers. Of course it is common knowledge that Silent Witness is not Paxton, whilst Davros will always be Davros.

Sounds like too much pow wow juice to me.

New Library

2007-03-16T23:19:00.000Z

As the Evening Post reports tonight work on providing a new Central Library for Swansea is well underway. So much so that the task of moving the books is due to start within weeks.

The failure to address the provision of a modern central library is yet another legacy left to us by Labour. The Administration has responded by opening up Labour's County Hall citadel to the public and creating a real civic centre.

The investment that the current Administration has put into libraries is being noticed outside the City as well as in local communities. As Peter Gaw comments on the Evening Post site:

Last May a new library opened in Killay and Clydach library had a major refurbishment in July. St Thomas library will be replaced with a purpose built public library within the new St Thomas Community School. The new library is due to open at the end of April. All these projects have seen an increased level of use both in terms of book, film and music borrowing and use of internet services.

There has also been a major refurbishment of Oystermouth Library and improvements have also taken place elsewhere.

Partnership

2007-03-15T20:49:00.000Z

We have already reported here how some Labour politicians have been seeking to associate themselves with initiatives on crime in Blaenymaes and Portmead, despite running down the community elsewhere.

Now it transpires that news of the successful partnership that has led to a 20% cut in crime across the City has spread as far as Number 10 Downing Street. The Council has had an important part to play in that turn-around as is evident from the comments of the interim head of community regeneration.

If the Prime Minister can learn that proper cross agency working is more effective than demonising young people and overfilling prisons then the visit of Jeremy Marlow will have been worthwhile.

Shameful Act

2007-03-14T20:06:00.000Z

For once the Evening Post editorial has summed up the situation regarding Ioan Richard's bid to be next year's Lord Mayor perfectly.

For all their squawking about who is and who is not to blame, the fact is that a large number of opposition Councillors banded together last Thursday to deny Ioan Richard the position of Lord Mayor for purely spiteful and personal reasons. In doing so they denied a long-standing and hard-working local Councillor his reward for decades of hard work on behalf of the people who elected him.

The Evening Post correctly points out that the vote was contrary to the protocol adopted by the Council. They say the attempt by one Labour councillor to blame the coalition for failing to drum up enough support for Councillor Richard is a contemptible and pathetic smokescreen - 'shame on him, and the others involved in this spiteful episode.'

Rather predictably this article has caused Tory Leader, Rene Kinzett, to unleash yet another flame-mail. His diatribe is full of the self-serving arguments that the Post condemns. As usual he tries to put the blame onto others rather than accept responsibility for his own actions. The editor must be shaking in his shoes at the threat to involve the office of Nick Bourne and Tory Central Office.

Investing in the future

2007-03-13T21:30:00.000Z

Whilst the PLC coalition play games in Council the Administration are getting on with the job of running Swansea and putting right Labour's neglect.

This investment in a new Morriston Comprehensive School's new £3 million science and maths block is one of a number of projects where we are seeking to improve schools across Swansea.

Guest Contributor

2007-03-11T18:07:00.000Z

Todays guest contributor is the editor of the South Wales Evening Post. Writing in last night's paper, he said:

The council leader stood in front of a room full of property developers. Behind him, alluring images of his city, as imagined by artists, shone out. "This is our time," he said. "This is Swansea's time. This is the developers' time."As bids to flog off chunks of public real estate to private developers go, this was a pretty brazen effort. And no apologies should be made for it.

We all know that Swansea has been ridiculed in the past as the city of artists' impressions. The suggestion has been made - too often to be dismissed as coincidence - that developers' visions have foundered on the rocks of planners' intransigence and councillors' parochialism.

So, what is different about the Swansea Strategic Plan launched by Chris Holley at the Dragon Hotel this week? Quite a few things. Take the venue, for a start.

Once, The Dragon was at the heart of the city. That profile has been restored. Outside, The Kingsway is being transformed for a new transport system. Some people dismiss this as a waste of time and money. I think it is essential to turn Swansea into a proper city.

Walk down Princess Way and you pass Thurleigh Estates' redevelopment of David Evans, and the Longford Group's Excelsior hotel and apartments building.

On the shoreline side of Oystermouth Road - to be turned into a "European-style boulevard" in the strategic plan - Earthquake are building Meridian Quay on the marina, Persimmon Homes are at Swansea Point, and a number of companies are working on different projects in SA1.

My point is the developers are already here and delivering results. So, while I understand why Swansea Tourism boss Geoff Haden was yesterday calling for "the biggest incentives possible" to lure developers, I believe there is already a momentum behind the city's regeneration to justify Councillor Holley's optimism about this being Swansea's time.

So perhaps we can dispense with the usual cynicism over this week's launch, which identified some of the city's current weaknesses, and offered them up as golden development opportunities.

The strategic plan for the city centre is part of a jigsaw that includes other strategies for the bay and the river corridor. Together, they show how Swansea could finally begin to exploit its glorious setting. We have a chance here to unite bay and city in a way that Cardiff, for example, cannot match.

Stuffed of Swansea

2007-03-09T12:31:00.000Z

If the Labour lot over at Inside Out think that the Administration 'got stuffed in two successive debates over school sprinkler systems and housing stock transfer' then perhaps they need to stop and think what exactly they are achieving on the Council.

Our recollection was that so incompetent were the drafters of the two motions that they were forced to run with heavily emascualated versions after the intervention of the Council's legal eagles.

Despite the fact that the Adminstration's amendment to the Housing Stock Transfer motion failed to pass, the fact is that what was eventually voted on was a meaningless and inaccurate mish-mash that will not stop the ballot. In fact the only person it is likely to embarrass is the Labour Minister for Social Justice, who just happens to represent Gower and is clearly out of step with her local party. Even her cousin voted against her.