Dear resident,
Please find below my monthly update.
It is recess in the National Assembly at the moment and I’m looking forward to visiting all the different shows around Montgomeryshire and spending time visiting different organisations.
Recent weeks have been overshadowed by the untimely death of James Corfield from Montgomery. This sad news has affected the wider community, and our heartfelt condolences go to his family and close friends.
I have focused this month’s e-news on reporting back on my recycling survey and to provide an update on recent decisions.
Best regards,
Russell George
National Assembly Member for Montgomeryshire
Recycling Survey Results
I received an overwhelming response to my recent recycling survey with over 5600 responses. With such a huge response, it has taken some time to analyse the findings so I am grateful for your patience. However, it does provide some comprehensive results that I am now able to share with you.
Powys County Council took the decision in February to reduce the days that household recycling centres in Newtown and Welshpool are open, from 7 days to 3 days per week. I believe the decision was wrong as both sites are very well used; this was a backward step which I believe had an adverse impact on our environment and recycling rates.
The key finding from my survey showed that 99% of respondents opposed further closures of recycling centres and believed that cuts to services should be found elsewhere.
In June, I sent the findings of my survey to Cllr. Phyl Davies who is the new Cabinet Member responsible for recycling at Powys County Council. Cllr. Davies was elected to the Council in May and is new to this post; he was also part of a Welsh Conservative team of candidates who stood on a manifesto commitment to increase the opening times at the ‘Potters’ sites.
Last month, Cllr. Davies and the new Cabinet undertook an urgent review of the decisions of the previous Council in regards to recycling services and I was pleased that the council’s new Cabinet agreed to increase the opening of the Newtown and Welshpool sites to 5 days per week (including Saturdays and Sundays) and scrap rules that prohibited household waste being taken to Recycling Centres by commercial vehicles and introduce a more common sense approach. These changes will come into force on 1st September 2017. Please keep an eye on media reports for the details of these changes, and I will also report back further next month.
There are other areas of concern with regards to recycling services which need to be addressed. These issues remain a high priority for me. I am very grateful for your support with this issue and to be able to report back on this positive move.
To view the full analysis of the results from the recycling survey, please click here: www.russellgeorge.com/campaigns/recycling-survey-results
Broadband Summit
Last month, I hosted a "Broadband Summit" at the Elephant & Castle Hotel in Newtown, at which community leaders and representatives from across Montgomeryshire met to hear from the Welsh Government’s Minister for Skills & Science, Julie James AM, who has overall responsibility for the Superfast Cymru fibre broadband scheme. Mrs James was followed by the BT Director of the Superfast Cymru scheme, Ed Hunt, who answered questions about the Superfast Cymru scheme and also discussed plans to improve broadband coverage after the current scheme reaches its conclusion at the end of 2017.
I was pleased that the Minister took the time to attend this important meeting which provided an invaluable opportunity for community leaders from across Montgomeryshire to communicate their frustrations about the way in which the Superfast Cymru project has been deployed in North Powys. It remains a significant concern to me that many rural communities across Montgomeryshire appear to be excluded from the fibre broadband upgrade or, at the very least, are at the back of the queue when it comes to receiving superfast speeds.
The reality is that we, in North Powys, are some way off from receiving universal access to next generation broadband. The goalposts have been repeatedly moved and businesses have been unable to plan for the future as a result of familiar excuses including "distance from the cabinet", "unforeseen technical and engineering issues" or "the need to provide additional capacity at the exchange". This has resulted in an underlying scepticism over the overall success of the project to deliver on its original promise.
Montgomeryshire can no longer afford to be the poor relation when it comes to fibre broadband and this Summit was an opportunity for us to press the Welsh Government and BT to bring forward a successor scheme which will extend superfast broadband to every property and business in Mid Wales and learn from the mistakes which have characterised the Superfast Cymru scheme’s public communications. Rest assured that I will keep up the pressure to ensure that everyone benefits from enhanced digital connectivity at the earliest opportunity.
Barclays Bank - Llanidloes
Barclays has today (4th August) sent me an email saying that it intends to close its branch in Llanidloes from November 10th.
Barclays is the only bank which operates in Llanidloes after other companies withdrew their services. When Barclays reduced its opening days at the branch two years ago, I met with bank officials then, and firmly made the point that the decision should not be a slippery slope to complete closure. They assured me at the time that having branches on the High Street was still very much part of their plans.
I'm therefore angry and disappointed at Barclays' decision to close its Llanidloes branch which simply does not reflect the commitments they made to me.
I believe it is inconceivable for a town the size of Llanidloes to have no over the counter banking facilities whatsoever and I will be doing everything I can to change this decision for the businesses and residents which rely on their services.
I have a meeting with Llanidloes Town Council on Monday to discuss the matter further and will provide a further update in my next newsletter.
Health Services
Our MP, Glyn Davies has written a couple of articles about reform of Health services in Shropshire over the past week, there are a number of significant updates, and Glyn very well sets out the latest developments, please click here to find out more: http://glyn-davies.blogspot.co.uk/
Also, Hywel Dda University Health Board, which is the organisation responsible for Bronglais Hospital, is currently undertaking a programme of engagement called “Transforming Clinical Services”. This programme aims to give people the chance to have their say on how they would like services to improve. This first stage is running until 15 September 2017.
To take part in the consultation, documents can be accessed by visiting: www.hywelddahb.wales.nhs.uk/tcs
Also, Powys residents who have particular issues or concerns about ‘Transforming Clinical Services’ can also contact Powys Community Health Council, which is an independent statutory body to represent the interests of patients and the public in the NHS.
You can contact Powys Community Health Council by emailing:[email protected]
St. David Awards
The St. David Awards are the national awards for Wales. There are 8 publicly nominated categories, giving us the opportunity to recognise and celebrate people from all walks of life in Wales. You may want to consider nominating any people or groups in your community that you think deserve national praise. For more information, please click here: http://stdavidawards.org.uk
Advice Surgeries
I will be at the following shows over the coming weeks. Please do contact me by phone on 01686 610887 or by email: [email protected] if you would like to meet with me, or by all means approach me for a conversation.
Dolfor Show - Saturday 5 August
Trefeglwys Show - Saturday 5 August
Llanfyllin Show – Saturday 12 August
Llangurig Show – Saturday 12 August