A stab in the back for Llandovery

A week last Thursday, planning permission was granted for the new 'superschool' in Ffairfach, Llandeilo...in fact nets were being thrown over the hedges the day before the meeting presumably to prevent birds nesting, prior to removing the hedges...Anyway, the significance of this proposal to the people in the Llandovery and surrounding rural area was always the closure of the secondary school, Ysgol Pantycelyn, and a lengthy hard fought battle by local residents, parents, children etc including a Judicial Review, was eventually lost.

For reasons best known to themselves both the Councillor representing the town and the Councillor representing most of the catchment area, (both members of the Independent Party), remained silent throughout the closure process. In the face of such mass local opposition, I found their inaction incomprehensible, this was the single most important community asset the town had.

By December 2011, after the whole process had largely been rubber stamped, they both spoke out about their objections to the 'preferred' location in Ffairfach, 13 miles away in the press, saying "we've all been against this from the word go". They excused their previous silence by saying they were concerned that if they did say anything, it would compromise their position on the planning committee whenever the application came before them. However, many local people felt that there had been nothing whatsoever stopping them speaking out against the closure of Pantycelyn.

Move forward to last week's Planning Committee meeting and a last ditch attempt by the town's mayor to highlight the unsuitability of the location was to no avail. The application was passed, only three voting against. The Mayor must have hoped, at the very least, and particularly after their comments, that the two local Members would have supported her, but unfortunately they were not even amongst the three, as one of them had apparently decided to go on holiday and the other abstained.

Here's a press release from LATRA, the Llandovery Area Tenants and Residents Association which currently has over 300 members;

Carmarthenshire County Council decided to close Ysgol Pantycelyn despite furious and almost unanimous protests from the people of Llandovery and surrounding areas.    

Carmarthenshire Council then decided to rub salt in the wound by recommending that the new school should be sited 13 miles away on the other side of Llandeilo.  For some children east of Llandovery, it meant return journeys of over 45 miles a day and up to 3 hours a day travelling.  

The planning application for the new school was heard by the Carmarthenshire Planning Committee on March 28 and despite almost 100% opposition from the Llandovery area, and a valiant effort from the Mayor of Llandovery on the day, the application was approved.    

What is the point of public consultation? How can Council leader Kevin Madge describe this decision as ‘a significant investment in education in the Dinefwr area’ when it means the destruction of an excellent school and leaves 400 square miles of West Wales without a senior school? Added to this, the decision to charge children from their 16th birthdays for their school travel costs will place an intolerable extra burden on the families of this beleaguered town. 

Where do our two local county councillors stand in this debacle?  We know that they supported the decision to close Pantycelyn which, in itself, was a bitter pill to swallow – but we felt sure they would fight tooth and nail to have the new school built within easier reach of the children and parents of Llandovery.    

The planning meeting on March 28 was, therefore, an incredibly important meeting for them - and all the people they represent.  

The reality?  Cllr Tom Theophilus (Cilycwm) decided to abstain from the vote.  Cllr Ivor Jackson (Llandovery) decided to go away on holiday 24 hours before the vote and did not attend. We cannot think of a worse example of a betrayal to the electorate on such a desperately important issue. Letters will be sent to both these local county councillors asking them to explain themselves.  

Maybe they should both resign and stand again with an honest campaign so that electors can have a chance to show how many still support them.  Nothing is surer than if electors had known about this last May the election results would have been very different.   

The Mayor is quite right when she claims the local authority had not adhered to statutory policies with regard to the new ‘superschool’. Forget the health and wellbeing of the children; turn a blind eye to carbon footprints and the Welsh Governments policies for sustainable local development; ignore the financial hardship for hundreds of parents; forget the fact that the chosen site is on a notorious floodplain.  In fact just do whatever you want to do and hang the consequences.  

The people of Llandovery will not forgive or forget the damage that has been inflicted on them.  Well done to all who fought so valiantly – and shame on our county councillors.  

Chair:  Llandovery Area Tenants and Residents Association (LATRA)