Monday’s ill-conceived attempt to unseat deputy leader Cllr Paul Miller was even more of a damp squib than I expected. It looked at one stage as if it might be a close run thing because the council is split 30:30 between Independent Political Group (19)/Conservatives(11) and the rest (Lab 10, Plaid 2, Lib Dem 2... Read More »
Next Monday afternoon, we county councillors have been called together to consider a motion of no confidence in the deputy leader Cllr Paul Miller. Cllr Miller’s offence is to have proposed that the authority should try to establish why parents appear to prefer schools where teaching is in the medium of Welsh rather than their... Read More »
A few days ago, I alerted the council some potholes in my ward. The reply was prompt, but disappointing: “Our Supervisor has inspected the locations you have reported and found that the potholes do not currently meet the criteria for an urgent repair. The potholes are already recorded as CAT2’s and will be addressed by our... Read More »
A friend drew my attention to a posting on the Pembrokeshire Herald’s Facebook page in which the newspaper’s editor was effusive in his praise of Badger’s latest column (see below). As the column in question was on increases in PCC’s council tax – a subject over which Herald columnist Badger and I have previously crossed... Read More »
They say that it always pays to read the small print. And, when it comes to anything to do with renewable energy, it is also wise to read between the lines. For instance, the other day, I came across this puff piece about the the Celtic Sea floating wind project on the Pembrokeshire Herald’s Facebook... Read More »
Just over a year ago, I pointed out that holes were starting to appear in the net zero tapestry and I wondered how long it would be before politicians and other fans of renewable energy would start to jump ship. Since then, the Tories have softened their stance and the UK’s two big oil companies... Read More »
I came across these two tables during my late-night researches into the recent increases in council tax here in Pembrokeshire. The first shows the levels in the 22 Welsh local authorities back in 2018 and the second the situation in the current financial year (2024/2025). Unfortunately, as I don’t have the exact figures from 2018,... Read More »
The fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Cleddau Bridge brings back memories. Just a couple of weeks before the bridge collapsed, my building company, R M Stoddart Construction Ltd, signed the contract with Pembrokeshire County Council to build the offices, walls and toll booths at the bridge. After the bridge collapsed during construction, the... Read More »
Followers of the Pembrokeshire Council Watch (PCW) Facebook page may have noticed that things have recently become a bit fractious between Cllr Alan Dennison and myself. It all follows from my most recent post which carried details of the deal – some would say stitch-up – between the Independent Political (sic) Group and the cabinet that... Read More »
There was an outbreak of sweetness and light at last Thursday’s meeting of full council when the Independent Political Group and the Cabinet agreed to raise your council tax by more than 9%. True there was a bit of give and take because the Cabinet member for finance Cllr Josh Beynon’s original idea was to... Read More »
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