Guest post by Elin Walker Jones
Elin Walker Jones is the Plaid Cymru constituency candidate for Cardiff North.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, My Cardiff North.
The city of Cardiff is a small city, compared to cities across the UK and the rest of the world. Nevertheless, the benefits of living in Cardiff, and the problems that Cardiff faces are in line with any other urban areas albeit on a smaller scale.
People love Cardiff – the amenities, the opportunities for work and leisure that our beautiful city has to offer, and on the down side, as more and more flock to live here – particularly our young people – the problems of congestion, waste, and noise increase to intolerable levels. Crime becomes a bigger problem, and the need for communities living side by side to tolerate each other’s customs becomes an increasing issue. Cardiff has always been wonderfully multicultural: this fabulous diverse rainbow of people, food, language, lifestyles and customs were some of the things that appealed to me when I was first a student in Cardiff many years ago.
We need an ambitious government to tackle the problems of urban living, taking into consideration the effects of growth on the rest of Wales, and neighbouring countries such as England.
The Urban Age programme that looks at these issues in cities across the world. It is a collaboration between politicians, professionals and academics – people who don’t normally get together. The aim is to think and plan creatively for solutions to urban issues – to reduce traffic congestion, waste, noise pollution and so on, and increase active travel, recycling, etc. If people can get together across the world to think of solutions to such issues, why not Wales?
In Wales, we have a piecemeal approach. For example, the Labour-run Cardiff City Council and the Labour-run Caerphilly Council – neighbouring councils – are building homes without thinking about the effects on each other! Cardiff’s LDP includes plans for over 40,000 houses, including building on greenfield sites north of Cardiff. OK, the green wedge has it saved for now – just until 2026. But what about after that?
Caerphilly’s LDP includes plans to build over 600 homes on Caerphilly mountain, as well as a new road. Such plans will create a complete gridlock in Cardiff North – it’s bad enough already! Petitions are not going to resolve this. We need a Welsh Government planning strategy to take an overall view of planning in Wales, to make sure that houses, roads and general transport and economic infrastructure has a Welsh plan, and not just hope that the jigsaw pieces will fit somehow.
Plaid Cymru plans to create a Welsh Planning Inspectorate, which will oversee a National Development Framework, ensuring that local development plans take account of local needs for housing, protecting greenfield sites, and planning for the necessary infrastructure such as roads etc.
Labour have had 17 years to develop a Wales- wide strategy for planning, to build homes – affordable homes for people who want to bring up their families in a safe, warm, affordable and clean place that they can call their own. Where have Labour been?
Plaid Cymru has a range of policies that can support the development of Cardiff as a successful and vibrant city.
- Ambitious plans for infrastructure development, supporting the South East Wales Metro, and creating roads and railway transport links fit for the 21st century for the whole of Wales, in a joined up fashion.
- Abolishing the Right to Buy scheme, so that people can access rented housing, and supporting local authorities to build council housing.
- Progressive plans to tackle waste, by bringing the Zero Waste Wales commitment forward by twenty years, working with producers to reduce packaging, increase recycling facilities, ensure more and more items are recyclable, and make it a requirement for retailers and manufacturers to recycle, reuse, as well as reducing their food waste. Labour-run Cardiff City Council is busy closing recycling centres – making it more difficult for people to recycle their waste and increasing the likelihood of fly tipping.
- Pushing for the devolution of police and criminal justice powers to Wales, like they are in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Scrapping Police Commissioners and focus on much-needed community policing. The plan is to increase joint working between local authorities, housing associations and the police, so that together we can crack down in anti-social behaviour.
Wales needs change. Plaid Cymru is the only party that will put the needs of the people of Wales first. Plaid Cymru has an ambitious plan of government, fit for 21st century living.
Vote for Plaid Cymru on May 5th: the change Wales needs.
There’s always more to tell, but that can come later. For now, back to those “racist UKIP” allegations that seem to stick to UKIP like treacle.
More money is clearly needed to meet not only existing costs, but those that are anticipated as a consequence of increased lifespan, as well as those that arise due to improvements in technology and our understanding of disease, even though these lead to better detection and treatment. With a £1.5bn cut in Welsh Assembly funding from Westminster, the Welsh NHS will be put under even greater strain. Since Wales receives a block grant from Westminster, increasing funding for the NHS will mean less money for other areas of responsibility such as education, transport, housing and the environment.
And I have worked hard to fundraise for a number of charities because they carry out excellent and essential work throughout Cardiff North and the wider community. I was locked in a prison cell to raise money for Tenovus, organised a Fun Run for Autism Puzzles and when I had the privilege of being Cardiff’s Deputy Lord Mayor, arranged a garden party for Mayors from parts of south and mid Wales in aid of Cancer Research Wales. I was pleased to remain in close contact with Cancer Research Wales following their year as the Lord Mayor’s Charity, and I follow their pioneering work with a very close eye.
Currently only 4% of children cycle to school but more than a third of primary school age children and 12% of high school children say they’d like to cycle to school. Among adults and children, the top priority is safer routes (78% want more investment in this), so obviously there is more work to do. At the moment more men than women cycle but research has also shown more women would cycle if there were segregated cycle lanes, so pushing for these is key.
With increasing pressures and reducing budgets, creative solutions and courageous decisions are needed to improve the quality and value for money of these and other public services. I am well equipped to do this as a scientist, trained to think analytically and strategically. I am also naturally compassionate and seek to care for others. I’ve worked in the NHS, higher education and in the business and charity sectors and I believe that my experiences in these roles will enable me to provide the necessary challenge on behalf of all the people of Cardiff North. Those who know me personally, know that I don’t shy away from tackling the difficult questions.
Many people in Cardiff North work for the NHS, and we are all, NHS service users from time to time. I’ve spent twenty five years working in the NHS so I know only too well about the challenges facing our NHS. Thanks to miraculous advances in technology and science, we can save many more lives than ever before, we can alleviate suffering and improve people’s quality of life. However the NHS needs proper funding to do this, and a commitment from a strong Welsh Government over the long term. Plaid Cymru is committed to improving services, cutting waiting times for cancer patients, recruiting 1000 doctors and 5000 nurses, and abolishing home care charges for the elderly and people with dementia. And Plaid Cymru’s policy to tax sugary drinks has now received support from Jamie Oliver and even the Chancellor, George Osbourne!
My Cardiff North 