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 »
The extraordinary council meeting called to consider the Cabinet’s budget proposals broke up in disarray when former leader of the Independent Political Group, Cllr Jamie Adams, proposed that proceedings should be adjourned in order that possible further funding from Welsh Government, due to be announced later that same day, could be factored into the council... Read More »
Way back in the year 2000, the Labour Government passed the Local Government Act that gave birth to the Executive (Cabinet) system. At about the same time, Pembrokeshire County Council revised its constitution to take account of the fact that almost all its activities were now the responsibility of the Executive – the so-called Cabinet... Read More »
Earlier this year I posted a critique of the council’s practice of including references to “cumulative” funding gaps and savings/cuts in budget reports. I pointed out that the amounts stated were not “cumulative” and were, therefore, mathematically meaningless. I also speculated that these misleading statistics were included in the reports in order to give the... Read More »
The ten most recent articles appear above.
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Old Grumpy's online content dating back to 2000 is also archived on this newfangled website.
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