Lee Waters MS

A great letter in the local press today from representatives of the four main parties calling for a Yes vote in the Vale: On March 3rd next year there’ll be a referendum to decide if Wales deserves a stronger voice. Over the last decade the Assembly has gradually grown in stature and confidence. But the system for making laws that affect Wales is slow and complicated. A Yes vote will help take Wales forward by speeding up the system of decision making to allow Assembly Members to get on with the job. For example, it has taken three years to get permission from London to ensure that all new homes are equipped with fire sprinklers to stop needless deaths in house fires. Even though our democratically elected Assembly had supported the proposal it first had to be approved by civil servants, members of the House of Lords and MPs before it could become law. Time and money is being wasted jumping through needless hoops. Even though we are from different parties we have come together to st

Posted on Wales Home on December 2nd 2010 Barry Island is a name which resonates through Welsh folk memory. Long before Dave’s coaches, ‘the rocky islands’ have been drawn on by story tellers from Idris Davies to Max Boyce. Let's go to Barry Island, Maggie fach, And give all the kids one day by the sea, And sherbet and buns and paper hats, And a rattling ride on the Figure Eight; We'll have tea on the sands and rides on the donkeys, And sit in the evening with the folk of Cwm Rhondda Idris Davies's Angry Summer But miners fortnight is no more and Billy Butlin is a distant memory to the islanders. The sparkling beach remains at Whitmore Bay, but the backdrop looks tired and worn. Majestic ambitions have given way to the Bovis reality. Barry, and the Island, have had few chances to access funding for regeneration by virtue of being part of the relatively wealthy Vale of Glamorgan. Now though there is a glimmer of hope. The town has