MIKE HEDGES AM WELCOMES NEWS THAT NEW COMMUNITY TRANSPORT MINI BUS SCHEME WILL BE ASSISTING ELEDERLY AND DISABLED PEOPLE GET TO NEATH (AND BACK) FROM SEPTEMBER 16TH.

MIKE HEDGES AM WELCOMES NEWS THAT NEW COMMUNITY TRANSPORT MINI BUS SCHEME WILL BE ASSISTING ELEDERLY AND DISABLED PEOPLE GET TO NEATH (AND BACK) FROM SEPTEMBER 16^TH.

Speaking from his Swansea East office, Mike Hedges AM said.. The news that a Community Transport led solution has been found to the problems faced by elderly and disabled people in Birchgrove who wish to travel to Neath and back is welcome indeed. These people have been left very isolated since the decision by First Cymru to withdraw the No 32 bus from Birchgrove to Neath and back, meaning people now have to change busses in order to get to Neath.

I am glad that a solution has been identified that will offer a service to elderly and disabled people. I am aware that this is not a like for like solution and some people who work in Neath or go to Neath College will still have to change busses; I will continue to lobby First Cymru and other bus companies to put on a full bus service from Birchgrove to Neath and back.

Meanwhile, I wish the new venture all the best!

Note

The new service will be provided by Neath Port Talbot Community Transport who operate from a base in Sandfields in Port Talbot. They use a fleet of wheelchair accessible mini busses.

The new service serving Birchgrove already operates in the Skewen area and is known as the Townrider and will be simply going over the borough boundary in to Birchgrove.

The new service will be available to anyone with either a concessionary bus pass or a disabled bus pass.

It will be a ‘dial a ride’ service which means people will have to pre book the bus and it will pick them up and return them to their home address.

For more information on the Townrider scheme please contact Neath Port Talbot Community Transport on 01639 646969

Mike Hedges AM welcomes news that A derelict theatre which hosted stars like Charlie Chaplin and Sir Anthony Hopkins is to get a £5m redevelopment.

Mike Hedges AM welcomes news that A derelict theatre which hosted stars like Charlie Chaplin and Sir Anthony Hopkins is to get a £5m redevelopment.

Mike Hedges AM said… this is great news; I have had many people over the years ask about what is happening with the Palace and it is always a shame to have to say that it has been in private ownership for many years and there is little the council can do to force the owner to bring the site back into use. This news is particularly welcome following the recent fire.

I hope that in due course money can be accessed to develop other similar listed buildings like Dambert House in Morriston, and St John’s Church which are also in a state of disrepair with little interest shown by the owners in dealing with issues in their properties.

Swansea's Palace Theatre was built in 1888 and welcomed the likes of Laurel and Hardy and Morecambe and Wise.

However since being left empty in 2006, it has become a decaying wreck, cordoned off and targeted by vandals.

Now Swansea council is to take ownership of the Grade II-listed building to develop community, office and retail space inside.

The authority plans to fully restore the building's "iconic" facade while developing a "fully modern interior" over the next three years.

The announcement comes just days after firefighters were called to the building on High Street following a suspected arson attack.

Mike Hedges AM calls for Drone users to exercise caution when flying their drones over coastal areas as breeding seals are being disturbed by drones flying near them.

Mike Hedges AM calls for Drone users to exercise caution when flying their drones over coastal areas as breeding seals are being disturbed by drones flying near them.

Mike Hedges AM said… ‘I have been contacted by wildlife groups concerned about the impact of drones on wildlife in the past and this new research from Swansea University shows there is some merit in these concerns. Drones allow new opportunities for people interested in photography to take marvellous photographs from previously unobtainable vantage points; however, I would urge people who use Drones to use them responsibly and not to fly their drones in a way that disturbs wildlife. The concerns regarding seals in their breeding season is particularly worrying as South West Wales is one of the main areas where seals come to breed in the autumn. If you use a drone, please be careful when close to wildlife.’

The grey seal population in Pembrokeshire and Gower breeds from August to November, but a lack of awareness has led to them being scared into the water with the potential not to return.

Research by Swansea University has so far found drones with four propellers are most likely to cause problems.

It has prompted calls for users to learn about flying them near wildlife.

Tips for drone use

§  Never land on a beach with seal pups present

§  Stay at least 50m (164ft) out from the shore

§  Never paddle between a seal and her pup

Article for Farmers Guadian Re Brexit

Farmers Guardian - Brexit

As we get closer to the end of October and with Parliament to be prorogued with the royal orders stating that parliament will be prorogued ‘no earlier than Monday 9th September and no later than Thursday 12th September’. This paves the way for the government to hold a Queen's Speech , laying out its plans , on 14 October.

Despite this we still have only the three options regarding the European Union that  we have had for a long time :  Leaving without a deal, leaving with a deal similar to, if not identical to, the one that has been rejected three times by the house of commons or staying in the European Union.

We will leave at the end of October without a deal , if nothing is done to stop it,. There is a belief by some that it would be catastrophic for the economy but others, many of whom voted to leave expect nothing to happen and for Britain to continue to trade as we do today. With  no-deal the UK would immediately leave the European Union  with no agreement about the leaving process.

Overnight, the UK would leave the single market and customs union - arrangements designed to help trade between EU members by eliminating checks and tariffs . No deal also means immediately leaving EU institutions such as the European Court of Justice and Europol, its law enforcement body. Membership of dozens of EU bodies that govern rules on everything from medicines to trade marks would end.

Under a no-deal Brexit, there would be no time to bring in a UK-EU trade deal. Trade would initially have to be on terms set by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Trading on WTO terms would also mean border checks for goods, which could cause bottlenecks at ports,. No deal would also mean the UK service industry would lose its guaranteed access to the EU single market.

Could a variation of the rejected deal come forward dealing with the Irish border. The European Union cannot allow another country, not in the customs union to have unfettered access to European markets. What they fear would happen is that goods would come into Britain and via Northern Ireland enter the European Union without Tariffs or quotas.

Would an agreement that the Northern Ireland backstop would only continue until an ICT or technological solution can be found and that both the European Union and the British Government are committed to achieving that as soon as is possible allow the deal to be accepted.  There has been a belief that having a technological solution would be easy , generally from people who have no idea how ICT works.

Staying in the European Union is possible but it would be seen as a betrayal of the electorate and could not be achieved unless we had a second referendum, which even if desired could not be achieved by the end of October.

So we are left with a straight choice of no deal or a variation on the deal three times rejected by the house of commons which is not a good place to be.

Lots of countries will happily offer us a free trade deal, it is what they want in return that is frightening.

New Zealand will want a free trade deal to include Lamb without any quotas

Australia, Brazil and Argentina and many others will want a free trade deal to include beef without any quotas

China will want a free trade deal to include  steel and manufactured goods again without any quotas

The USA will want to export beef but also to have the National Health Service opened up to American corporations.

If we leave without a deal we will be a different Country next year.