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Top story
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Builders call for action
The biggest coalition of building groups will be launched at the Senedd today with a demand that the Welsh Assembly Government create a framework to prevent small construction companies from going bust. The group, Get Wales Building, will put forward a ten-point manifesto. It will include measures to get banks lending again, a strategy to refurbish homes to make them more energy efficient, encouraging the UK government to cut VAT to 5 per cent for property maintenance, identifying land for 6,500 affordable homes and a timetable for investment in new schools and hospitals. The group is led by British Precast, the Builders Merchants Federation, the Federation of Master Builders and the Modern Masonry Alliance. Richard Jenkins, director of the Federation of Master Builders Wales, said: “We are not asking the government for a financial bailout, we are simply asking the government to allow our members to do what they do best and keep building a better Wales.”
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Development
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Two biomass plans turned down
Councillors in Swansea and Carmarthenshire have rejected plans for biomass power stations. Members in Swansea went against expert advice in rejecting the scheme close to the SA1 development. Carmarthenshire’s planning committee rejected plans for a power station at Kidwelly following a visit to Lockerbie in Scotland to look at a similar plant. They followed the advice of officers who said: “Locating a large user of biomass fuel within the county in the absence of any overriding local need would take fuel needed by community-based initiatives and undermine the strategic objective of the Unitary Development Plan of making prudent use of natural resources.”
Investment in schools and colleges
The Assembly Government is to invest £109m improving 20 schools and colleges in the next three years. It will support the delivery of a new campus at Coleg Morgannwg in Nantgarw, near Pontypridd, and provide extra funding for the Energy and Fabrication centre at Coleg Menai, which will provide new-build energy skills training. Education minister Jane Hutt said: “This investment will enable local authorities and colleges to replace sub-standard accommodation and provide facilities more akin to the needs of the 21st-century learner. A number of local authorities have also advised us of the positive impact on the local economy by generating construction work for local businesses.”
Regeneration cash for Eisteddfod
Next year’s National Eisteddfod in Ebbw Vale has been offered financial support from the Heads of the Valleys programme to spread its benefits more widely. The Welsh Assembly-backed programme sees the cultural festival as a tool for improving the image of Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent and neighbouring areas. Regeneration minister Leighton Andrews said: “No longer reliant on traditional heavy industries, the Valleys are cleaner, greener and now developing a growing tourism product based on its industrial and cultural heritage. Given the economic climate, funding support from the Heads of the Valleys regeneration programme will help to ensure it is also financially viable.”
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Enterprise
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Jones wants to listen
Deputy first minister Ieuan Wyn Jones will today begin a series of meetings with business managers to find out what they need to get through the recession. The first will take place at the QED Centre in Treforest, near Pontypridd. Further meetings will follow across Wales, finishing on 11 June. Jones said: “We will use this information as we continue to analyse the requirements of businesses to determine if there is anything more the Assembly Government should do.”
Bluestone wins first five stars
Visit Wales, the tourism agency, has unveiled a grading system for holiday villages. The scheme was introduced because holiday villages and parks could not be graded under any of the previous rules. Bluestone, the Pembrokeshire holiday village, was the first to be awarded five stars under the scheme.
Health fund gets Morgan Cole treatment
Morgan Cole, the Cardiff-based law firm, has brokered a deal that will result in £100m being invested in health and social care enterprises. The firm advised the Department of Health in Westminster on creating a team to manage the UK Social Enterprise Investment Fund. Futurebuilders England and Partnerships UK will manage and operate the fund from June.
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Regulation
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Lift raisin ban, say food groups
Food industry groups are urging the Welsh Assembly Government to drop regulations they say could mean cups of tea, bags of raisins and yogurts drinks are banned from hospital vending machines. The coalition of opponents includes the Automatic Vending Association, British Soft Drinks Association, British Cheese Board, British Sandwich Association, the Food and Drink Federation, CBI Wales, the National Farmers’ Union Cymru; and the Snack, Nut and Crisp Manufacturers Association. Julian Hunt, director of communications at the Food and Drink Federation, said: “These regulations are so badly drafted that they will not lead to the development of healthy vending but will effectively mean vending will no longer be viable in Welsh hospitals.”
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