Archive for September, 2010

Fairness for all our schools?

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

The South Wales Echo http://bit.ly/c5h11y is today reporting that Cardiff Council expect to resolve the problem of school places in Canton by building a new Welsh medium primary school.

I know that many people in that area will be delighted that those in the Welsh medium sector will get this investment; for many years the expansion of this sector has been based on taking over existing buildings that had been occupied by English medium schools. I admit that this isn’t the best way to provide the additional capacity.

In fact the construction of a new Welsh medium school is exactly what I and our Councillors in Whitchurch argued for there.

The Council’s original proposals for Canton are very similar to those published for Whitchurch, effectively a decrease in pupil places in English medium with an expansion to cope with demand in the Welsh medium sector. Our view was ignored by the Council who maintained that the options they published were the best, claiming that they couldn’t provide for an expansion to Welsh medium places without dealing with the “problem of surplus places” in the English schools.

The Council’s intention is to give Canton what we argued for in Whitchurch. I have always maintained that Whitchurch benefits from having excellent schools regardless of which language the children are taught. We have seen our community turn in on itself, fuelled by a Council so insensitive that it couldn’t see the pitfalls of designing the reorganisation in this way.

If the children in Canton can benefit from this investment, which I welcome, then so should the children in Whitchurch.

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Local Station Improvements on Track

Monday, September 20th, 2010
I have recently raised my concerns with Assembly Government Ministers about the levels of accessibility of several train stations in Cardiff North for disabled people and mothers with pushchairs. The station in Llandaff North has been one of the most problematic given that it is the fourth busiest station in the capital – behind Central, Queen Street and Cardiff Bay.
 
With over 400,000 people using the station including many people in the Llandaff North and Whitchurch areas it is vital that both platforms can be accessed. Last March the Deputy First Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones, admitted that there were real problems in accessing smaller train stations in Cardiff North and that he was committed to do all he could to improve and upgrade access for disabled passengers.
 
After recent discussions between me, the Minister and his officials, the Assembly Government has confirmed that it is preparing an application for Access for All funding, which is UK Government grant money provided by the Ministry of Transport. I have been very pleased with the discussions that have taken place with the Welsh Assembly Government and the positive response I have had from the Minister and his officials in examining this issue.
 
They have been working with Network Rail and Arriva Trains Wales to assess the accessibility and build up a strong case that improvements need to be made. As it stands, the current access layout to the station means that if you were disabled and wanted to go into the city, the only way of doing it would be to go back a stop to Radyr; this simply shouldn’t have to be the case.
 
I believe that the Welsh Assembly Government does have the responsibility to invest and improve the journey experience of disabled people, through better access to the railway. If there is UK Government money there to apply for, then it should do all it can to secure it.
The next round of bidding for this pot of money opens early next year. Pushing this case and preparing a robust application now, will I hope, put the bid in a strong position to win that funding.

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