An independent inquiry into the Storm Dennis floods, publishing all information relating to the safety of coal tips, a review of the council’s super schools programme and speeding up the provision of electric vehicle charging points. These are some of the priorities Plaid Cymru has set out for Rhondda Cynon Taf as we approach the council elections next month.
The party’s manifesto contains its commitments on things like climate change, housing, education, coal tips and more before the poll on May 5 to elect councillors. Plaid, which ran RCT Council between 1999 and 2004, has been the second largest group in the chamber and main opposition group going into the election.
On responding to the climate and biodiversity emergency, the Plaid manifesto says it supports the commitment made by RCT Council to become a carbon neutral council by 2030. It says a Plaid Cymru-run council would invest in green spaces, especially in town centres and communities, increase monitoring of air pollution levels and act accordingly to reduce pollution levels where they are highest.
Read more: Abandoned on a mountainside - the estate that feels it was left to rot
It says Plaid would speed up the provision of electric vehicle charging points in line with demand and ensure a fair geographical spread throughout RCT and that they will do this whilst being mindful of emerging technologies in batteries and charging systems, ensuring they are prepared for future technological advances. The manifesto said Plaid would ensure through RCT’s pension committee that the pooled local government pension schemes in Wales, the Wales Pension Partnership, takes every opportunity to reduce their portfolios’ impact on climate change and that any investment opportunities are taken in line with environmental, social and governance principles.
Plaid says it will also seek investment opportunities in the green economy and create jobs to support this transformation and work with environmental groups in the voluntary and statutory sectors to reduce the council’s carbon footprint.
Climate change and flooding
On climate change and flooding, Plaid Cymru pledges to cooperate with the national review of Section 19 reports and consider the need for an independent local inquiry into the floods – something they say they have consistently campaigned for on a national level which they say will inform how they would work to protect homes and businesses from floods in the future and better understand the ongoing needs of flooded communities. They pledge to work with at-risk communities, providing practical as well as emotional support, and supporting a network of flood action groups and commit that, should further flooding occur, local residents will be involved in the compiling of the reports from the outset, not as an afterthought.
Their aim would be to publish the reports within a maximum of six months and they said they would work collaboratively with communities at risk of flooding to involve them in the RCT Emergency Plan, utilising local skills and knowledge to improve responses in emergencies.
Coal tips
On coal tips, Plaid says it would publish all information relating to the safety of coal tips that blight RCT’s communities, continue to campaign for the urgent investment that is needed to make sure that no community is left at risk and ensure the work of all the partners involved should be open to public scrutiny.
Waste services
When it comes to waste services, Plaid said it would review the newly-introduced system for collecting green waste saying that they need a system that works for people and doesn’t lead to the dumping of waste. They would remove the charges for dealing with bulk waste, fund additional enforcement officers and surveillance methods to reduce dog fouling pollution and review the decision to withdraw free dog waste bags from RCT Council.
Transport
Plaid’s ideas on transport include investing in better public transport, including bus accessibility, cycleways, and accessible walking routes. They would issue guidance and solutions to residents with and without off-street parking options on how to switch to electric vehicles and how to install suitable charging points close to home, in line with best practice on emerging technologies.
And they would make school transport and environmental considerations part of decision-making criteria in all new programmes.
Education, children’s rights and youth services
Plaid Cymru has called on the council to formally adopt the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as a basis for all its work given how much young people have suffered as a result of the Covid pandemic, missing out on education, social activities, sports and key markers in their development. On education, Plaid would review the current plans for educational provision across the local authority, with a focus on ALN (Additional Learning Needs) facilities, sixth form provision and Welsh-medium provision in order to plan educational services that are “suitable, accessible and successful” for all children and young people across the county borough.
It would launch a comprehensive review of the educational effectiveness of the council’s super schools programme (3-16 and 3-18) and the experiences of education for all members of the school community and the surrounding community. They would also review how the local authority is complying with new legal duties under the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act to understand what more should be done to ensure children with ALN access their right to an education.
It said they would increase the investment made in mental health services for children and young people, to make access to services easier and to develop new ways of reaching out to those in need. Plaid says it would work towards the provision of free school meals for all primary children as agreed in the National Co-operation Agreement, work towards free childcare for two-year-old children and work with all schools in the borough to prioritise tackling bullying, hate and discrimination, and understanding human rights and children’s rights.
On youth services, Plaid says it would consult with young people and work with them to launch a programme of safe spaces for young people to socialise in town centres and improve outreach mental health services linked to youth services across the county borough.
Housing
The manifesto says Plaid would review the current supply and demand trends for social housing and work with housing providers to implement a programme to bring down the waiting times for social housing which would address current inequalities of access to specific types of housing such as bungalows, supported living and adapted properties. It would work with the new national construction company ‘Unnos’ when established to support councils and social landlords to improve the supply of social and affordable housing.
The manifesto says Plaid would conduct research in RCT to fully understand the role a system of fair rents (rent control) could have in making the private rental market affordable for local people on local incomes and pursue new approaches to making homes affordable. And it would ensure that every young person who has been a child looked after by the council has a secure home with a support programme when they leave foster care or a residential home.
Health and social care
Plaid Cymru said it would work on local implementation of the expert group recommendations on the establishment of a national care service, free at the point of need, continuing as a public service. It said this could involve co-location of multi-agency services to improve communication, information sharing and collaborative working, integrated funding streams to break down the challenges of care provision outside health facilities and improved pay and working conditions for health and social care workers to reduce the recruitment and retention crises.
Street care, highways and town centres
Plaid said it would invest in more public toilets according to need in every town in the borough, improve pavements and fund more adaptations such as dropped kerbs to improve accessibility throughout the community. It said it would work alongside South Wales Police and third-sector partners to understand and address the reasons behind anti-social behaviour in order to reduce it, bring an increased number of private streets and rear lanes up to adoptable standards and increase investment in street care services to enable more resources for cleaning and clearing problematic areas in the borough.
Business and tourism
Plaid’s manifesto says that it would increase local procurement in council-awarded contracts and push the Welsh Government to expand the business rate relief scheme, ensuring rate relief for more small and medium-size businesses. It said they would explore the development potential of RCT’s industrial heritage including tunnels such as Rhondda and Abernant tunnels, to create unique heritage trails that could become tourism destinations.
Plaid said it would roll out town centre regeneration schemes to those towns that have not yet benefited from previous schemes and improve regeneration support to businesses in smaller communities and villages to encourage local shopping and reduce RCT’s carbon footprint. To get the latest email updates from across Pontypridd, Cynon and Rhondda WalesOnline subscribe to our newsletters here.
