CAERLEON RAILWAY STATION

 

Interesting to note that the Labour in Wales controlled Newport City Council has finally backed the call for a railway station to be built serve Caerleon. this good news, Plaid Cymru in Newport has long called for a new railway station to serve Caerleon and Ponthir to be added to the original Burns Commission recommendations, which we are still waiting for,  as a matter of urgency.  

 

Many people in Newport, welcomed the commitment, a few years ago, to build new railway stations at Tredegar Park, Somerton, Llanwern, and Magor. But we need ground broken sooner rather than later to bring the new railway stations into being, to provide alternative means of getting around our city and elsewhere. 

The new stations are an absolute necessity, but people have serious concerns that no railway station was proposed to serve Caerleon / Ponthir has been included in the plans, as this would a real asset to both communities.

 

While the original absence may have showed an alarming lack of understanding of local transport issues, or to literal linear focus on the problems of the M4 or it could be simply a glaring oversight. In this case it would ensure that the residents of Caerleon / Ponthir have little choice but to drive to Newport, Cwmbran and beyond even to reach another railway station. 

The lack of a proposed railway station to serve the communities of Caerleon / Ponthir still needs to be revisited as a matter of urgency if the Labour in Wales government are actually serious about providing decent integrated public transport for all parts of Newport and cutting congestion on the M4 and around our city.

 

DIWEDD / ENDS

 

Plaid Cymru and the SE Wales Metro

 

Plaid Cymru in Newport and Monmouthshire has long called for the existing railway stations to be significantly upgraded as part of the process of creating a functioning South Wales metro.  Plaid broadly welcomed the report of the South East Wales Transport Commission which has recommend ways to reduce congestion on the M4 motorway without building a new relief road around Newport.  Plaid has called greater investment in public transport, with a much better integration and coordination of rail and bus networks and integrated ticketing across all services – with the emphasis that it is needed sooner rather than later. 

PLAID CYMRU SAYS ‘GET ON WITH IT’

Plaid Cymru in Newport has condemned the pointless empty gesture from the Conservatives in Newport in relation to their efforts to have a referendum on the already rejected M4 Relief road - saying we need action to relieve the congestion that affects our city not empty words , waffle or pointless gestures. 

Plaid Cymru broadly welcomes the report of the South East Wales Transport Commission which recommends ways to reduce congestion on the M4 motorway without building a new relief road around Newport.  Plaid Cymru welcomes to call for more investment in public transport, a much better integration and coordination of rail and bus networks and integrated tickets across all services - and we need it now rather than later.

Jonathan T Clark, Plaid Cymru Newport West Senedd candidate said:

“We need practical action, not the pointless empty politics of gesture. We need ground broken to bring the new railway stations that will serve Newport into being, and provide alternative means of getting around our city, and we need it sooner rather than later.”

He said:

“Plaid Cymru welcomes the proposed railway station at Tredegar Park it’s an absolute necessity, but we have serious concerns that no railway station to serve Caerleon / Ponthir has been included, this would a real asset to both communities.” 

Jonathan added:

“Its absence could be interpreted to show a lack of understanding of local transport issues, to literal a linear a focus on the problems of the M4 or a simply a glaring oversight in this case ensuring that the residents of Caerleon / Ponthir have little choice but to drive to Newport, Cwmbran and beyond even to reach another railway station.” 

Jonathan concluded:

“The lack of a proposed railway station to serve the communities of Caerleon / Ponthir needs to be revisited as a matter of urgency if the commission and the Labour in Wales government are serious about providing decent integrated public transport for all parts of Newport and cutting congestion on the M4.” 

Daniel Llewellyn, Plaid Cymru Newport East Senedd candidate, said:

“Plaid Cymru in Newport warmly welcomes the recommendations to create Newport East station in Somerton, as well as long overdue plans new stations at Llanwern and Magor.” 

He added:

“From the perspective of Newport East, the proposed railway stations at Llanwern and Magor are an absolute necessity and with a more frequent affordable rail service.” 

Daniel concluded: 

“A new M48 junction connecting Severn Tunnel Junction to the east would sensibly provide direct bus access and would ease the pressure of car traffic on M4 junction 23A and the roads through Magor. In addition, adding additional bus bays outside Newport Central station would help to build connectivity.”

Plaid Cymru in Newport and Monmouthshire has long called for the existing railway stations to be significantly upgraded as part of the process of creating a functioning South Wales metro.

A SCOURGE ON OUR SOCIETY

If you live in Allt-yr-yn, Pill, Tredegar Park, St Julians or anywhere else in Newport - or pretty much anywhere else in Cymru / Wales you will know that fly tipping is a significant problem. 

Household rubbish and waste is being dumped on our streets, our nature reserves, in fields on the Gwent levels (in the drainage reens which aggravates drainage problems and flooding), on our mountains and in our national parks. 

Fly tipped fridge freezer and chill cabinet

More Locally Newport City Council is directly responsible for removing dumped items from any council owned land, including housing estates, grass areas, parks and reens, canals and public highways. 

It remains one of those anti-social problems that plagues all of our communities across all of Cymru / Wales affecting both relatively well off and less affluent communities of our country and our city. 

Fly-tipping affects both rural and urban areas equally and despite the best efforts of financially strapped county councils shows little sign of being discouraged or curbed. 

Local fly-tipping regularly costs Newport council over £100,000 a year to clean up (South Wales Argus). In 2019 clean up costs were £117,452. 

Based on observational evidence and stories in the media, 2020 is going to cost great deal more - judging by the rubbish (including domestic and commercial waste) that has been dumped in and around Newport in the last few months (across Cymru / Wales fly-tipping has increased by 88% since Lockdown started.

The South Wales Argus (back in July 21015) reported that there were more than 7,000 fly-tipping reports but only five prosecutions in the last four years in Newport, a Freedom of Information request showed. 

No-one was taken to court in the city between April 2011 and March 2014 and the five offenders the council prosecuted in 2014-2015 were handed fines totalling just £2,600, the Argus reported.

It was noted in 2015 that fly-tipping costs Newport council tax payers £300,000 a year.

Fly-tipping in Newport by and large fell in the four years between 2010 and 2014, with 2,014 reports in 2011-12, 1,982 in 2012-13, 1,578 in 2013-14 and 1,672 in 2014-15, totalling 7,246, the Freedom of Information request showed. 

In February 2017 the South Wales Argus reported that 135.8 tonnes of waste was picked up by the Pride in Newport team since it was launched.

Newport council (and other local authorities) have no doubt mostly done their best it can to resolve the problem, made worse recently by the close of local tips during lockdown. 

Some local authorities operate  a "zero tolerance approach" to fly-tipping, and regularly hand out dozens of fines and fixed-penalty notices to offenders - others don’t. 

One problem is that the sums raised through through fines pale into insignificance when compared with the large costs involved in clearing up illegally-dumped waste.

Much of this activity is worthwhile, but, it’s reactive and after the fact, with the waste dumped. 

The Welsh Government’s on-going campaign urges everyone to use their duty of care and ensure all waste is disposed of legally by a registered waste carrier and to report any fly-tipping to their local authority. A list of registered waste carriers is also provided on the Natural Resources Wales website.

It’s clear we cannot go on as we are. We need to a lot more creative to fix this problem. 

Household waste makes up 70% of tipped waste - with the remainder being commercial / industrial waste – something that may well be aggravated by the charge that commercial concerns face at some refuse sites (including Newport). 

For a start we need to produce less waste to start with, eliminating or reducing packaging would also help. 

Part of the problem is lack of systematic approach to enforcement - some councils are very active, others, to be generous are less focussed on the problem - that needs to change. 

What’s needed is to develop a realistic and sustained all agency approach, which can initially reduce and then bring an end to the problem of fly tipping – one step in the right direction would involve accepting commercial (but not industrial) waste at the tip for no fee - and greater enforcement across all our local authorities.