The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Anglesey

The Druid Blog:

A People’s Manifesto
for Ynys Môn

The Druid Blog

www.druidsrevenge.blogspot.com

Introduction
This People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn, an
open experiment in rural wiki-government,
has been put together from the literally
thousands of comments posted by various
Anglesey residents on The Druid Blog. 1
It can be seen as an honest attempt by normal
habitants – people of all political persuasions
who love their home Island but have become
increasingly frustrated by the inward focus of
the County Council and the aloofness of their
elected AM and MP – to fill the vision and
policy void left by Anglesey’s elected
representatives.
This People’s Manifesto proves that Anglesey
residents are fully engaged with both the
Island’s current problems and are passionate
about finding practical, workable solutions.
However, as the minuscule attendances at the
recent Hawl i Holi meetings held by the
Anglesey County Council Executive prove,
residents no longer view the County Council as
being either relevant or able to deliver the
leadership and change which the Island needs.
Having said that it is important to note that a
huge number of the comments received on The
Druid Blog during the formulation of this
document related to ideas on how to improve
the Council; accordingly it is also clear that
Anglesey residents do want their Council to be
able to work for them – they just feel that the
Council as currently constituted is unable to do
so.
This People’s Manifesto is not focussed on any
single issue, but instead provides clear policy
proposals across all of the below topics:
1 www.druidsrevenge.blogspot.com
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 2
• Council Management
• Economic Development
• Tourism
• Highways, Transportation and Maritime
• Planning
• Housing (including Affordable Housing)
• Wylfa B
• Eduction & Leisure
• Social Services
• Environment, Property and Smallholdings
• Procurement
• Isle of Anglesey Charitable Trust
• Provision of Council Services
• Town Improvement Grants & Empty Home
Grants.
The final thing to note is that the production of
this Manifesto has not involved any expensive
consultants, nor has it taken endless reviews
and years to finalise. From start to finish it
took only a little over two months, and the only
cost has been the time of the contributors on
the blog.
However, before going on to the Manifesto
itself, it is necessary to first take a look at the
current state of the Island.
The current state of Ynys Môn
It is not an overstatement to say that Ynys
Môn is currently facing its largest crisis in
generations. It is time for all of Anglesey’s
elected representatives (including our AM, our
MP, and all of our County Councillors) to fully
recognise the seriousness of the Island’s
problems as set out below:
• Anglesey is the poorest sub-region in the
United Kingdom with the lowest Gross
Value Added (GVA) per head in the United
 The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 3

A Triple Whammy: Anglesey has the lowest level of employment coupled with the highest
rates of job-seekers claimants and economic inactivity in North Wales.

Employment Rate Job Seekers Allowance Claimant Count Economic Inactivity Rate
(year to Sept 2009) (year to Sept 2009) (year to Sept 2009)

Source: ! “Regional Economic & Labour Market Profile – North Wales –

! ! March 2010”, Statistical Directorate, Welsh Assembly Government

Kingdom. At £10,998 per head, Anglesey’s
GVA is just 55.1 per cent of the UK’s
average. 2
• Anglesey is poorer than some of the poorest
parts of rural Poland according to the 2009
OECD Factbook. 3
• Data for full-time employees show that
average earnings in Anglesey were approx.
£396 per week in 2007, compared with
£415 per week in Wales and £456 per week
in the UK. It should be noted that gross
average earnings on the Island were
distorted by wages paid to employees at
Wylfa and Anglesey Aluminium, which are
substantially higher than other wages in the
area. 4
• However we don't have to worry about
Anglesey Aluminium distorting average
earnings on the Island anymore because it
was forced to close in 2009 wiping out at
least 450 direct jobs and an estimated
further 240 jobs through indirect and
induced effects.
• In addition Anglesey has also lost Octel in
Amlwch, Eaton Electric in Holyhead (240
jobs), Peboc in Llangefni (100 jobs), Menai
Electrical in Gaerwen (50 jobs), Readileads
(35 jobs) and Vion/Welsh Country Foods

2 “Regional, sub-regional and local gross value added 2009”, Office for National Statistics, published 9 December 2009

3“OECD Factbook 2009: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics”, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD)

4 “Anglesey and Meirionnydd Priority Action Plan”, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, published June 2009
 The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 4

has restructured in Llangefni and Gaerwen long history of not being properly run as
(191 jobs). These are on top of the countless highlighted in the 2009 Auditor General’s
other jobs lost at small businesses report on Anglesey County Council:
throughout the Island which aren’t reported
in the local press.
“There is a history of personality politics
• In fact, according to research by the
based around mistrust, suspicion and
University of Wales, since 2001 there has
personal animosity. Attempting to deal
been a decrease of 2,100 jobs in private
with it saps a huge amount of energy and
sector employment on Anglesey and the
distracts people, including successive
proportion of those employed in the private
Managing Directors, from the major issues
sector has decreased from 74 per cent to 67
of providing the Council with a real sense
per cent. 5
of direction, a strategy for continuous
• Anglesey is currently suffering from an
improvement and a means of achieving
employment ‘triple whammy’, with the
efficiency savings at a time of increasing
lowest level of employment coupled with the
financial constraint.
highest rates of job-seekers claimants and
economic inactivity in North Wales (see box
“The majority of councillors are well
above). 6
motivated in their approach to Council
• Remarkably farming in North Wales has
business and it important to recognise
fared even worse than business. During the
their contribution, but their efforts have
period 1997 to 2007, the economic
not been enough to counteract poor
contribution of agriculture to the North
behaviour by a small number of councillors
Wales and Anglesey economy fell by a
over a significant period of time.
staggering 67 per cent compared to an
overall UK decline of just 7 per cent. 7
“Conflict has led to a rift between political
• On top of all this, Anglesey County Council
and managerial leadership, preventing the
is poorly managed, riven with infighting,
corporate management team from
and planning on raising Council Tax by 15%
exercising its legitimate role of challenging
over three years.
and supporting members in developing
policy and direction.

Anglesey County Council isn’t
working
Faced with problems like this Anglesey cannot
afford a County Council which does not
function. Unfortunately that is exactly what we
have. Indeed Anglesey County Council has a
“Also, twelve months after the current
Executive came into power there is still no
agreed sense of direction or comprehensive
and consistent policy framework.
Successive administrations have been
characterised by the pursuit of a number of
internally focussed issues.

5Comment left on The Druid Blog by Prof. Dylan Jones-Evans, Director of Enterprise and Innovation, University of
Wales. 13 April 2010. Trackback URL: http://druidsrevenge.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-llangefnis-three-towns-fund-
cash.html?showComment=1271143978626#c5771433035904981286

6“Regional Economic & Labour Market Profile – North Wales – March 2010”, Statistical Directorate, Welsh Assembly
Government

7 Table 1.5, “NUTS1 GVA (1989-2008) Data”, Office for National Statistics

“Weak political group structures contribute
to a lack of control and sanction at the
Council. Weak self regulation has also
created a culture that not only tolerates
inappropriate behaviour but is seen by
some to reward it. The Council’s reputation
has been seriously damaged by these
problems, which has undermined public
confidence in the Council’s ability to run its
affairs properly.” 8
As the Auditor General correctly identifies, one
of the major reasons why Anglesey County
Council is dysfunctional is because our
councillors lack both a shared vision for the
Island and a policy roadmap of how to get
there. This is in large part due to a significant
number of Independents who are elected
without issuing to voters in their wards either
individual or group manifestos, i.e. a
statement of where they stand on various
issues and what they should like to do if
elected. Such a situation is intolerable because:
• Voters are denied the opportunity to vote on
a political vision and set of policies – instead
they must try to make their decision based
only on the personalities of the candidates.
However when you consider that the current
average councillor to elector ratio on
Anglesey is 1:1,270 people, it is laughable to
think that each of those 1,270 voters are able
to make an informed decision on the
personalities of each of the candidates.
Furthermore this situation will worsen at
the next council elections when, following
Local Government Boundary Commissions
changes, the number of councillors will be
reduced from 40 to 35, and the councillor to
elector ratio will increase to an average of
1:1,451 people. 9
8 “Corporate Governance Inspection - Isle of Anglesey County Council”, Wales Audit Office, July 2009
9“Review of Electoral Arrangements Draft Proposals - County of Isle of Anglesey”, Local Government Boundary
Commission for Wales
10 “Report to the Minister for Social Justice and Local Government”, Anglesey Recovery Board Minutes, April 22, 2010
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 5
• Independents, once elected, are effectively
accountable to nobody but themselves and
are certainly not constrained by any kind of
group manifesto or ‘party discipline’. As a
result they are free to behave pretty much as
they please – leading to the myriad
problems of ill discipline we are currently
witnessing at the council.
• Independents do attach themselves to a
number of opaque groupings (the Original
Independents, the Menai Group, Anglesey
Forward, and, recently, Llais i Fôn),
however these groupings also fail to (i)
produce or publicise their aims or policies;
and (ii) often fail to impose any form of
‘party discipline’. As such they are better
regarded as ‘factions’ not ‘parties’.
• As voters do not know in detail what they
are voting for, it is impossible for them to
then evaluate their councillor’s performance
when the next council elections come
around.
We note that the WAG Local Government
Minister has now required that all of these
groupings be required to produce a statement
of their aims and values. This is a step in the
right direction – however as of April 2010,
only Menai Group had reportedly completed
this task 10; and as of the release of this People’s
Manifesto (July 2010), none of the groupings
have released any finalised “statements of
Aims and Values” to Anglesey residents.
Accordingly this People’s Manifesto aims to
give both individual Councillors and Groups
an insight into the demands of their voters and
a resource for them to use when compiling
their own Statements of Aims and Values.
Accordingly we encourage Councillors to
plagiarise this document as much as they like!

The People’s Manifesto
1. Council Management
The people of Anglesey want a Local Authority
they can be proud of, not ashamed of.
Unfortunately we currently have the latter.
Action needs to be taken over and above the
recommendations of the Welsh Assembly
appointed Recovery Board for the Council to
regain the trust of all of Anglesey’s residents.
The watchwords need to be: Transparency,
Openness, and Cost Effectiveness.
• All Parties and Political Groupings must
publish an updated and Anglesey-specific
manifesto of their aims and values at least
two months prior to local elections. To save
costs these can be hosted on the Anglesey
County Council website.
• All Independent candidates standing to
become County Councillors in Local
Elections must either:
- state which Political Grouping they intend
to join if elected; or
- publish a personal manifesto of their aims
and values at least two months prior to
local elections.
• All new Councillors must attend a formally-
arranged schedule of training on local
government best practice and good
governance, including an introduction to all
relevant legislation affecting them. Existing
Councillors should also attend regular
refresher courses. Attendance should be
seen as a mandatory pre-condition to
continuing as a Councillor.
• The functions of running of the Council and
policing of the Council should be separated
by establishing an ‘Anglesey Good
Governance Commission’. This commission
should pick up from where the current
Welsh Assembly Anglesey Recovery Board
leaves off. Any complaints not satisfactorily
resolved by the Council (including Freedom
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 6
of Information requests) should be referred
to this Commission. It should be led by
someone from outside Anglesey who has not
been tainted by recent problems.
• Committee Members and Chairs should be
reshuffled at least on an annual basis
(especially the controversial Planning
committee) to increase transparency and
reduce claims of cronyism and bias.
• Chairs and vice chairs of committees should
be elected by secret ballot, by full Council.
• In order to continually renew the Council
with new talent, ensure the flow of fresh
thinking, and reduce the potency of past
conflicts, the council should investigate the
feasibility of:
- introducing term limits for elected
councillors;
- introducing compulsory retirement of
sitting councillors at the first local council
elections after they reach the age of 65;
- encouraging more people (in particular
women) to stand at council elections
though explaining the procedures better
either online or through arranging
suitable seminars.
• In order to eliminate potential conflicts of
interest, Councillors who are members of
the Executive Board should not also be a
Governors of a school.
• Anglesey residents are currently being asked
to pay one of the largest Council Tax rises in
the country whilst Council services are being
cut. Accordingly the Council needs to
explore all ways of making it more cost-
effectiveness, including investigating the
feasibility of entering into partnership
arrangements with neighbouring authorities
in order to reduce cost, duplication and
functions (for example by sharing Chief
Officers).
• There should be a critical review of senior
officers. Many are seen as being ineffectual,
indifferent, lazy and/or arrogant towards
the public and Members alike; the Council

may like to consider a scheme of early
voluntary retirement.
• New officers should be recruited who are
proactive and ambitious, through a
nationwide recruitment drive.
• There must be complete transparency
regarding the salaries of senior Council
officers over certain threshold – no ifs, no
buts.
• The major reason behind Anglesey County
Council’s proposed 15% rise in council tax
over the next three years is due to Anglesey
receiving the joint smallest increase in its
annual settlement from the Welsh Assembly
Government this year. Despite being the
poorest sub-region in Wales, Anglesey was
awarded a ‘derisory’ 1% increase compared
to rises of 3.1% for Newport and 2.9% for
Cardiff City. This is due the fact that the
Welsh Assembly determines the annual
settlements based not on need but on
population. Anglesey County Council, in
conjunction with our AM and MP, must
lobby the Welsh Assembly to review its
formula to take into account need.
• The Council should investigate the
feasibility of devolving certain powers down
to local community/parish councils.
Wherever possible, the decisions which
effect residents everyday life should be
taken as close as possible to them.
Furthermore Councillors should attend local
Parish Council meetings within their wards
as a matter of course.
• Anglesey residents need to be given
improved control over setting the priorities
of our local police. For example there is
strong public support for more visible
policing in Anglesey’s major towns on
Friday and Saturday evenings.
• A fundamental re-design and re-structuring
of the Anglesey County Council website is
necessary to make it easier to navigate and
find relevant information. The new web site
should be fully compliant with the measures
included within the Disability
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 7
Discrimination Act. The current website
largely ignores the needs of disabled
persons.
2. Economic Development
Having lost over 2,000 private sector jobs in a
very short period of time. Anglesey needs jobs
and economic development has to be the
absolute priority of Anglesey County Council.
However, the council needs to completely
rethink its current economic development
strategies as they are clearly failing and the
Economic Development Department is widely
seen as lacking entrepreneurial experience and
flair.
• The council’s economic development
policies towards town centres in particular
have been disastrous. The increasing
number of large supermarkets which have
been granted permission to open in the
majority of Anglesey’s main towns have
gradually led to the decline and closure of
many local shops and have destroyed as
many jobs as they have created. They have
also led to a “hollowing out” of Anglesey’s
town centres. A new approach is needed
which recognises that sustainable, long-
term economic growth will only come from
funding unique developments which attract
visitors and shoppers from outside the
Island - not from generic developments, like
supermarkets or retail parks, which do not
attract outside visitors and merely
cannibalise existing businesses. An example
of a ‘unique’ development which could have
the potential to attract visitors from outside
the Island and not cannibalise existing
businesses is given in the Tourism section
below.
• Accordingly a public and independent
review should be held into (a) the
effectiveness of the current policies being
implemented by Anglesey County Council’s
Economic Development Department; and
(b) its leadership and staffing. This review

should highlight failures and make
recommendations for the future.
• An Advisory Panel made up of leading
Anglesey business and professional people
should be set up which can:
- undertake the above review;
- advise and review the policies of the
Economic Development Department as it
moves forward;
- Encourage innovation and
experimentation regarding policy;
- Mentor the head of department.
• Furthermore the Council needs to recognise
that the Island’s economic future rests on
promoting and supporting multitudes of
small businesses - not just one or two large
employers. Accordingly the Council must:
- avoid supporting developments which
merely contribute to the cannibalisation
of sales from existing small businesses
and shops;
- prioritise reducing the bureaucracy and
costs involved in running small
businesses on the Island;
- provide meaningful and high-quality
support to encourage both the growth of
existing small businesses and the
establishment of new ventures.
• Anglesey is a recipient of both Welsh
Assembly and European Union funding
earmarked for regenerating communities,
e.g. the ‘Three Towns Fund’. In deciding
how to use these funds to regenerate town
centres, the Council must as a matter of
course constructively consult with local
people and responsible civic groups (e.g.
Cwmni Tref Llangefni). Consultation
should mean real consultation – not sham-
consultation exercises where local people
are asked for their opinions after the
Council’s Economic Development
Department has already decided (with the
help of expensive external consultants) how
to spend the funds.
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 8
• Anglesey’s location on the periphery of the
United Kingdom makes the provision of
excellent internet connections an absolute
necessity. However the ‘Anglesey
Connected’ programme has only delivered
high speed connections to specific centres
whilst many Island communities still suffer
from appallingly slow data transfer rates,
which hinder business, learning, and
entertainment activities. The Council must
aggressively promote broadband speed
improvements for the whole Island.
• The inward migration of forward thinking
entrepreneurs should be promoted.
• Better training opportunities should also be
promoted on the Island.
3. Tourism
Anglesey has been blessed with incredible
scenery, fascinating and diverse historical
remains, and over 120 miles of coastline. Yet,
despite this, our Island currently punches
below its weight in attracting tourists - as
highlighted by the fact that the majority of day
tourists brought to Holyhead by cruise ships
currently get on coaches and travel right off
the Island for day trips to Caernarfon and
Betws-y-Coed. Anglesey does not suffer from a
lack of things for tourists to do and see – what
it suffers from is a lack of imagination in
understanding and promoting what we have.
• In the immediate short term Anglesey must
develop a tourism strategy specifically
designed to attract visitors from Liverpool,
Manchester, the Midlands and elsewhere in
North Wales – i.e. people who live within
2½ hours drive of the Island. This can only
be achieved by understanding what makes
Anglesey unique and then promoting that
uniqueness relentlessly.
• Anglesey’s uniqueness lies in the fact that it
is a rural island with over 120 miles of
coastline – this uniqueness needs to be
promoted by the strategic, long-term

positioning of Anglesey as an ideal
destination for water sports such as
yachting, surfing, fishing and so forth.
These are activities which are ideally suited
to Anglesey yet are currently woefully
underdeveloped. Council support should be
available to any private sector businesses
which wish to promote water sports.
Furthermore a ‘big event’ such as a “Around
Anglesey Yacht Race” should be considered
as a strategic investment and opportunity to
draw attention to the Island whilst also
promoting its uniqueness.
• Promote Anglesey’s unique prehistoric,
Celtic, and Druidic past by developing a
high quality visitor centre / museum to
provide more information and better access
at Barclodiad Y Gawres or Bryn Celli Ddu.
• The treasures found at Llyn Cerrig Bach
when clearing earth for a runway at RAF
Valley during the second world war
represent some of the finest Celtic Iron Age
implements ever discovered in Europe.
However, they have been housed in Cardiff
at the National Museum of Wales since their
discovery. Cardiff already has enough
tourists and visitors. Anglesey should
campaign for the Llyn Cerrig Bach
treasures to be permanently returned to the
Island in order to boost much needed
tourism here.
• All promotions should be measured for
degree of success.
• Bring an end to the proliferation of poorly-
managed Anglesey tourism/attractions web
sites that gives a confused and generally
inadequate view of the island’s image and
attractions. Create a privately-run ‘official’
site, paid for partly from advertising, partly
from subsidy, containing regularly-updated
and reliable information to those who wish
to visit – and spend. The Council’s current
efforts are inadequately presented and
maintained.
• Anglesey’s windmills should be restored and
promoted rather than closed down.
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 9
Anglesey was called Môn Mam Cymru due
to its flour production and therefore these
windmills are an important part of our
Island heritage
• The Council should consider promoting the
creation of a unique, big attraction
somewhere on the Island which combines
Anglesey’s strengths (its suitability as a
water sports venue coupled with its
proximity to the Snowdonia National Park)
and has the potential to attract new visitors
from Liverpool, Manchester, the Midlands
and elsewhere in North Wales - without
cannibalising existing businesses in the way,
for example, a retail park would. One
suggestion would be something like a
‘Centre Parc’ crossed with the ‘Eden Project’
crossed with the ‘Coed y Brenin’ Mountain
Biking Centre. Such an attraction could
offer visitors boating, walking, riding,
various cycling paths, swimming pools with
slides and waves, etc. - and all within a short
distance from other activities in Snowdonia
National Park. The facility would also offer
tiered accommodation and a network of
shops and restaurants. The council’s role
would be to identify a suitable site, provide
access roads, car parks, drainage, and then
find a suitable private company to build and
operate the site. The old Shell site at
Rhosgoch might be a suitable location for
this attraction - it belongs to the council, has
remained unused for 20 years, is fairly
tranquil and is close to the sea. I modestly
propose that the attraction should be called
‘Parc Derwydd / Druid Park’.
• There has been a large increase in horse
ownership on the island leading to many
interesting touristic possibilities. The
council should investigate the possibility of
introducing a ‘horse bridleway’ around the
coast of the island, including overnight
stabling.
• Promote the existing policies to control light
pollution by installing only down-shining
lamps to create a dark sky, but not dark
streets. Tranquility-seeking tourism,

including the enjoyment of a truly dark,
starry sky, is big business – and Anglesey
needs that money. Indeed Anglesey is
already attracting attention for its sky
thanks to the success of John Rowlands’
‘Notilucent Cloud Experiment’, currently
being conducted from Llanbadrig Church.
Rowlands is one of the four finalists of this
year’s BBC Radio 4 “So you want to be a
scientist” competition.
4. Highways, Transportation
& Maritime (including the
Port of Holyhead)
Anglesey’s location on the periphery of the
United Kingdom has a direct effect on business
development and tourism on the Island.
Accordingly it is essential to recognise that
improved transport links which bring Anglesey
closer to the business and population centres
of the United Kingdom are absolutely crucial
for encouraging businesses to set up on the
Island and further economic development.
• Campaign for an upgrade to the North
Wales costal main line. Although it
currently takes a not unreasonable 3 hours
20 minutes to get to London by rail, why
should it take an hour just to get to Chester?
• The Council, our MP, and AM should
actively lobby for Holyhead to be linked to
the proposed High Speed Rail link – this
would further cement Holyhead’s position
as the prime gateway to Ireland, whilst
simultaneously bringing Anglesey
dramatically closer to the Midlands and
London.
• Campaign for the North South Airlink which
currently flies exclusively from Anglesey to
Cardiff to also offer flights to an extended
destination list, particularly major economic
centres such as London, the Midlands and
Ireland. This could be achieved through, for
example, introducing ‘triangular’ flights.
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 10
• The re-opening of the full Amlwch Branch
Line should be fast tracked, enthusiastically
supported and prioritised as a vital means
of regenerating Amlwch and stops along the
way, including Llangefni and Llanerch-y-
medd.
• With relation to Holyhead Port, it is
necessary to continue building on the good
work already achieved by working closely
with Stena Line and others to develop the
port commercially and encourage trade as a
gateway to Wales and North England.
• In order to alleviate the traffic bottleneck
forming at Britannia Bridge during peak
times (i.e. morning / evening rush hours
and ferry traffic) investigate the feasibility
of introducing a third traffic lane on the
bridge. As per successful schemes operated
elsewhere, traffic on the third lane could be
set to flow in different directions during
different periods of the day (e.g. 2 lanes
towards Bangor during morning rush hour
and peak ferry traffic times; 2 lanes towards
Anglesey during evening rush hour).
• Provide Holyhead with a semi-orbital road
from Junction 2 (Tŷ Mawr, Holyhead) that
links round to Holyhead Marina in order to
alleviate the bottleneck at Black Bridge as
the town centre is too constrained.
5. Planning
More than any other single issue, matters
relating to planning create flash-points
between Anglesey residents and the council.
The slow progress in completing a Local
Development Plan for Anglesey is holding
back development, policy making is not
transparent enough, and - whether it is true or
not - many residents perceive a double
standard to be at work whereby councillors
and senior officers are treated preferentially.
All of these matters need to be addressed
urgently.

• Following the Planning and Compulsory
Purchase Act 2004, each unitary authority
in Wales is required to prepare a Local
Development Plan (LDP) which will then
form the basis for all planning decisions in
that area. However as Anglesey County
Council has not yet completed its LDP,
present policies are based on the adopted
Ynys Môn Local Plan (1996) and the
stopped Unitary Development Plan (2005).
Both of these documents are seriously
outdated in all areas: industrial,
commercial, housing, affordable housing,
local needs, town centres etc. Considering
the current economic plight of the island, a
new LDP is not only necessary - it’s a
statutory requirement. Accordingly
Anglesey County Council should as a matter
of urgency fast-track the pre-deposit draft
Local Development Plan in order that it can
be adopted by January 2012.
• The lack of progress in progressing the LDP
for Anglesey indicates that there could be
staff problems within the Planning
Department. A staff review should be
conducted and new staff hired if necessary.
• More consistency and transparency needs to
be applied to planning policy formation and
execution.
• Planning officers need to receive better
training on how to give proper advice and
engage more positively with the public they
serve.
• All substantive advice given by planning
officers (including that given in pre-
application meetings) needs to be recorded
correctly.
• Councillors and senior council officers must
set an example by fastidiously following
planning regulations. It is not acceptable for
councillors or senior officers to be seen to be
either bending the rules or receiving
preferential treatment. Accordingly, if
planning regulations are correctly followed
in advance there should be no need for
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 11
councillors or senior officers to apply for
retrospective planning permission.
• To avoid any seeming conflicts of interest, a
Councillor on a planning committee should
not vote on a planning application in his
own ward. The Councillor should be allowed
to speak once to either show their support
or opposition to the planning application,
but not take part in the debate. A similar
system is already being operated by
Wrexham County Borough Council.
• Any Councillor speaking in support or
opposition to a planning application shall
limit his comments to the relevant planning
grounds on why the application should be
approved, refused or deferred.
• A independent and fast-track system should
be set up for dealing with complaints when
the Council does not adhere to its own
policies, or is in some other breach.
• Lessons need to be learned at the council
from the debacle caused by their decision to
grant planning permission for the siting of a
methane burning biodigester close to the
village of Bodffordd. Such developments
need to:
- take into account the unanimous
opposition of local residents;
- be sited in the most appropriate location
where communities downwind of the
development will not be subject to
unpleasant smells – not, as in this case,
just in the most suitable (or cheap)
location for the developer.
• Review whether industrial agriculture
represents ‘unspoilt’ natural landscape
which currently prevents planning
permission being given to build on this land.
• Consider introducing a scheme whereby
normal planning restrictions are relaxed if
proposed new houses are built using
traditional materials in a vernacular style.
• Planning permission for modifications
required by disabled soldiers returning from

Afghanistan should not be unreasonably
withheld or delayed.
6. Housing (including
Affordable Housing)
Due to the current poor economic situation
and the difficulty in obtaining mortgages from
banks, getting on the first step of the housing
ladder has become increasingly difficult.
Anglesey County Council needs to recognise
these problems and address them through a
clever Affordable Housing policy.
• There are 3,000 people on Anglesey
registered with Anglesey County Council as
“in need of accommodation”. The council
needs to increase its housing numbers to
4,000 units in the plan period of 2006-2021
to allow for Wylfa B and the demand for
new homes.
• Affordable Housing policies should be based
on current economic realities. It is
necessary to recognise that even highly-paid
younger people wanting to buy a home for
the first time are likely to encounter
enormous difficulty in:
- obtaining a sufficiently large deposit, now
much higher than historical values; and
- getting a mortgage at all, owing to the
economic crisis.
• In order to reach affordable housing targets
Anglesey County Council should consider
allowing housing densities to be increased.
• Homes are currently defined as ‘affordable’
based on a policy of marking the resale
value at 75 percent below market value. This
system does not recognise the current
average earnings of residents or the fact that
market value will gradually creep upwards.
This system should be rethought so as to
create an equitable formula which takes into
account both market value and average
wages - thus making an ‘affordable house’
affordable in perpetuity. It may also be
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 12
necessary to consider attaching a strict local
person only planning condition to
Affordable Housing, such as in Gwynedd
and the Snowdonia National Park.
• Reassert the need and rationale for publicly-
owned housing which are affordable to rent.
• Establish a policy framework to support
locals to buy, lease, or staircase-purchase
through a Registered Social Landlord.
• Anglesey County Council should prioritise
housing for those people with much needed
skills and can make a greater contribution
to the island.
7. Wylfa B
Since opening in 1971 the Wylfa nuclear power
station has been one of the largest private-
sector employers on Anglesey and has made an
inestimable contribution to the local economy
through providing hundreds of stable, well-
paid jobs for almost 40 years. It is now
approaching the end of its working life and is
scheduled for decommissioning in the near
future. Hopefully the huge void this will create
will be filled by Wylfa B - a new generation
nuclear power station operated by Horizon
Nuclear Power Ltd.
• The majority of Anglesey residents support
Wylfa B and our representatives to the UK
Parliament and Welsh Assembly must do
everything in their power power to ensure
that it goes ahead. Similarly Anglesey
County Council must move quickly to
upgrade the necessary roads (in particular
the A5025) to Wylfa to support its
construction.
• Although Wylfa B must be supported
because of the employment it will bring to
the Island, it is also important to recognise
that there are also inherent dangers
attached to the siting of a nuclear power
station station here. Accordingly, the
Council must insist that Horizon Nuclear
Power Ltd. makes a wider contribution to

Anglesey above and beyond the jobs it will
create.
• Examples of such a wider contribution
could take various forms, such as:
- the foundation by Horizon of a multi-
million pound charitable fund – similar
to the Isle of Anglesey Charitable Trust
set up by Shell – which can used by
Anglesey County Council to provide
support to certain activities, such as
economic development, education and
leisure on the Island;
- a reduction in electricity bills for
residents and businesses on the island;
- a scheme whereby local people can apply
for renewable energy technology to be
installed at their property, so helping the
environment, setting a positive message,
and reducing people’s energy bills
enormously. Such a scheme would create
energy-efficient affordable homes, a
whole industry to support it, and revive
traditional building skills.
8. Education & Leisure
Any future cuts to either Education or Leisure
services should be based on a thorough
understanding of the Island’s current and
future needs.
• Commission a public review of all Anglesey
primary and secondary education needs in
the short and long term so that any
rationalisation of services is taken based on
an understanding of what the Island’s
educational needs are to prepare for the
future.
• The Welsh language should be protected
and nurtured wherever possible.
• Protect local libraries as they provide the
means for residents to enhance their
knowledge and skills in this area of great
economic deprivation. Enhance libraries
with coffee franchises to attract new and
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 13
existing users whilst attracting revenue.
Extend and improve free internet access,
essential for those with no bank accounts
and poor credit histories who cannot set-up
internet connections for themselves to
access the outside world and its
opportunities for improvement. Examine
the case for libraries to opt-out of Local
Authority control, like schools now can, and
set themselves up as their own Library
Authority.
• Commission a review of all leisure facilities
on the Island, both in the public and private
sector. Keep foremost in mind that, in
deprived areas, health is poorer relative to
wealthier areas, so shutting leisure facilities
would be a highly retrograde and
counterproductive step.
9. Social Services
The Council needs to prepare for future
demographic changes by finding ways to
provide quality services at lower costs through
working in partnership with adjacent local
authorities and eliminating duplication.
• Work in partnership with adjacent local
authorities, the NHS, voluntary and private
providers, in order to identify and eliminate
costly duplication of services and encourage
and support good working practice.
• Current projections show that the number
of older people will increase as a proportion
of the total population. It is important that
policy makers take this into account when
planning the amount of public services
provision needed in the future. Ynys Mon
has a ‘Social Health and Well Being’ plan,
however not all departments appear to be
aware of the aims and policies contained in
this document. Provisions within this plan
should be made applicable across all
departments of the council.
• Establish a system of identifying high-
performance managers that get the job done

properly whilst also caring for overworked,
stressed staff.
• Drive the “citizen directed services” agenda
in Wales, inviting active involvement from
the people who use social services and
aspiring to provide personalised services
that really do meet local needs.
10. Environment, Property
and Smallholdings
Anglesey's landscape largely consists of
industrial farming landscapes, however green
they seem to the eye. Current planning
policies wrongly see fields as 'unspoilt
countryside' putting unnecessary obstacles in
the way of creating a living, economically-
active landscape. Many families make a living
from agriculture by renting Council-owned
smallholdings, but these are now under
immediate threat of disposal. There is a need
for a fresh, imaginative new direction on
property policy, including the reintroduction
of quality social housing.
• Anglesey County Council’s tenant farms
are a valuable public asset and provide an
opportunity for much needed younger
farmers to learn the ropes and become
independent with minimal capital outlay.
However, many of the council’s tenant
farms are currently in poor states of
disrepair. Resources allowing, the council
should endeavour to renovate them so
that they will continue to serve the island.
• In order to generate money to renovate
the majority of the council’s tenant farms,
it may be necessary to value and sell off a
small proportion of such to tenant
farmers, or even offer part ownerships of
smallholdings.
• Smallholdings are not optimised as public
investments: they are let at less than their
rental value, on sentiment almost, to
encourage farming. Rent reviews are
overdue.
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 14
• A dynamic new head of Property should
be recruited to manage, optimise and
develop the Council`s substantial land
portfolio, including its smallholdings.
• Examine the case for increasing the area
covered by the Anglesey Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The
current ‘doughnut’ arrangement is less
than satisfactory.
• Within the AONB, consider more
intelligent and creative planning policies,
rather than just added restrictions. This
helps public acceptance of and benefits
from the designation.
• Promote and subsidise at a local level
renewable technology so that as many
people as possible can be lifted out of fuel
poverty whilst setting a green example to
the rest of the country.
11. Procurement
There needs to be greater transparency behind
Council procurement projects and more help
given to local firms to compete.
• In line with proposals by the current
government, Anglesey County Council
should begin publishing details of all
procurement/spending over £500 on the
Anglesey County Council website.
• The council must endeavour make it easier
for local firms to compete for procurement
contracts by providing support such as
- seminars for local companies explaining
what tenders are on offer and how to
tender;
- support for local companies to complete
and submit tenders;
- relaxation of unnecessary ‘box ticking’
• Tenders to be opened by two lawyers from
North Wales companies so as to avoid price-
fixing or rigging of tenders and tenderers
must be at least 4 of which two are off-
island.

• Relaxation of some ridiculously over-the-
top ‘box ticking’ which currently prevents
smaller Anglesey firms from being able to
bid for IAOCC contracts
• Procurement of Social Care services must be
made on an at least 65% Quality to 35%
Cost basis so that we have quality services
that meet needs rather than cheap services
that do not.
12. Isle of Anglesey Charitable
Trust (the “Shell Fund”)
The Isle of Anglesey Charitable Trust was
founded in 1990 to manage a capital fund
which had earlier been negotiated from Shell
(UK) after it ceased to operate an oil terminal
at Amlwch and the associated tank farm at
Rhosgoch. The total assets of the Trust are
currently valued at £15 million. The money
was given by Shell to “Anglesey and its
people”.
• Re-assert the public’s right to be involved in
the decisions of the Shell Trust by allowing
for up to three members of the public,
independent of Councillors, many of whom
have failed to demonstrate good
representation of the people, to sit on the
Trusts committees for a two years stint
each. At the moment, the public have
essentially no meaningful input into these
discussions, many of which appear to be
behind closed doors.
• Insist that the Trust files its reports on time;
not doing so smacks of contempt for those
whose money it is and breaches Charity
Commission legal requirements.
• The Council is the sole trustee of the Shell
Fund. It currently gives an annual grant of
£270,000 (some 70 per cent of its annual
grant money) to the Oriel Ynys Mon gallery
- a Council-owned and run facility. It is
time to evaluate if this is the best use of the
money.
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 15
• On a related point, commence a scheme of
public involvement into what use the former
Shell land at Rhosgoch should be put to.
• For the Rhosgoch site, consider dividing it
into 100,000 squares or other suitable
figure and asking subscribers to buy a
square to keep the land in the ownership of
the people through a Trust not the IOACT.
As things stand, the land could be handed-
over to a private owner at any stage. This
fails to recognise the potential for public
ownership.
13. Provision of Council
Services
• Working with the Post Office, other local
providers and community councils establish
where possible one stop shops in the
provision of council services. Provide
funding to develop training for non-council
staff in provision of such services.
• Examine proper alternatives to services,
especially tourist attractions, being provided
by Councils. Ensure such alternatives
include a system of staged detachment, and
not a ‘here are the keys, it’s your problem
now’ approach.
14. Town Improvement
Grants and Empty Homes
Grants
• The restriction that those benefiting from
housing grants cannot sell for 5 years may
require review and more imaginative and
constructive solutions. It is accepted that
the benefits conferred by the grant scheme
should mean some form of restrictive
obligation upon those taking those benefits
towards the public purse.
• Grants could be de-restricted save that if the
property is sold within 5 years the
 The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 16

freeholder must pay half of the increased

property value to the Assembly, the scheme
funder, as they have a caution on the
property.
• The net effect of this policy in North West
Wales would be to massively improve the
property stock in a relatively short time.
This would provide a qualitative
improvement to town centres.
 The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn 17

Afterword

It is clear that Anglesey's residents, subjected How to contact our AM and

to a dysfunctional Council for over 15 years, MP:
are not just mere 'armchair critics'. Islanders
have a plethora of constructive, intelligent and
Ieuan Wyn Jones AM
novel solutions to problems that have gone
ignored or poorly addressed for long periods of
time. Email:
ieuan.wynjones@wales.gov.uk
The era of petty, parochial politics is over on Telephone:
Ynys Môn. The people demand a bigger idea, a 01407 765223
focus on the needs of the whole island and, in 01248 723599
particular, those large numbers of families and 01248 723631
individuals who live daily with low incomes. Postal Address:

The people demand a better island, a better 2 Stryd William,

future and, above all, a better Council. Holyhead,
LL65 1RN

Tŷ Elwyn Roberts
Get Involved 45 Stryd y Bont,
Llangefni
Ynys Mon,
If you like and agree with the principles LL77 7PN
contained in this People’s Manifesto, you can
get involved too. Albert Owen

Email:
• Email this Anglesey People’s Manifesto to all owena@parliament.uk
the residents you know and ask them to do
the same. Telephone:
020 7219 8415
• Contact your local councillor and ask him or 01407 769777
her to support the People’s Manifesto (see
contact details attached) Postal Address:
• Contact our MP and AM and ask them to House of Commons,
support the People’s Manifesto (contact London,
details opposite). SW1A 0AA
• Join the debate on The Druid Blog Ty Cledwyn,
(www.druidsrevenge.blogspot.com)
18a Thomas Street,
Holyhead,
LL65 1RR
Ward Councillor Grouping / Party Phone No. E.mail

Aberffraw O Gyn Jones Original Independents 01407 842200 ojxau@ynysmon.gov.uk

Amlwch Port Dylan Jones Plaid Cymru 01407 830886 rdjau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Beaumaris Richard L Owen Original Independents 01248 811370 rloau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Bodffordd William Hughes Plaid Cymru 01407 720307 wihau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Bodorgan Robert Ll Hughes Llais i Fôn 01248 722170 rlhau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Braint Jim Evans Original Independents 01248 714246 jexau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Bryngwran Bob Parry OBE* Plaid Cymru 01407 720437 rgpau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Brynteg Ieuan Williams Original Independents 01248 851070 iwxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Cadnant Keith Evans Menai group 01248 712464 -
Cefni Fflur Hughes Plaid Cymru 01248 724992 fmhau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Cwm Cadnant Eurfryn Davies Plaid Cymru 01248 713464 egdau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Cyngar Rhian Medi Plaid Cymru 01248 722184 rmxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Gwyngyll John Penri Williams Plaid Cymru 01248 712319 jpwau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Holyhead Town Clifford Everett Labour 01407 760167 cexau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Kingsland W John Chorlton* Labour 01407 860216 wjcau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Llanbadrig William T Hughes Anglesey Forward 01407 710007 wthau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Llanddyfnan Clive McGregor** Llais i Fôn 01248 724568 cmxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Llaneilan Aled Morris Jones Lib Dem / Original Independents 01407 832640 amjau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Llanerch-y-medd Elwyn Schofield Unaffiliated 01248 853306 esxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Llanfaethlu Kenneth P Hughes Original Independents 01407 730269 kphau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Llanfair yn Neubwll Gwilym O Jones Original Independents 01407 740105 gojau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog Eric Jones Original Independents 01248 421667 ejxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Llangbedrgoch Barrie Durkin Unaffiliated 01248 689182 bdxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Llangoed Lewis Davies Plaid Cymru 01248 490248 ldxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
LLanidan Hywel Eifion Jones Menai group 01248 430145 hejau@ynysmon.gov.uk
London Road Raymond Jones Labour 01407 760796 rjxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn
18
Ward Councillor Grouping / Party Phone No. E.mail

Maeshyfryd Trefor Lloyd Hughes Plaid Cymru 01407 764801 tlhau@ynysmon.gov.uk

Mechell Thomas Jones Llais i Fôn 01407 710888 thjau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Moelfre Derlwyn Hughes Anglesey Forward 01248 410816 -
Morawelon J Arwel Roberts Labour 01407 742498 arxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Parc a’r Mynydd JohnVictor Owen Original Independents 01407 762695 jvoau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Pentraeth Hefin Wyn Thomas* Menai group 01248 450566 hwtau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Porthyfelin Robert Ll Jones Unaffiliated 01407 763718 rljau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Rhosneigr Phil Fowlie Original Independents 01407 840654 pmfau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Rhosyr Peter Rogers Unaffiliated 01248 430241 prxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Rural Amlwch Gareth Winston Roberts OBE*Anglesey Forward 01407 832273 gwrau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Treaddur Eric Roberts Conservatives / Original Independents 01407 860601 erxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Tudur Bryan Owen* Original Independents 01407 840667 boxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Tysilio Selwyn Williams Welsh Lib Dem / Llais i Fôn 01248 716370 swxau@ynysmon.gov.uk
Valley Goronwy O Parry MBE Conservatives / Original Independents 01407 741092 gopau@ynysmon.gov.uk

* = Group Leader
** = Council Leader
The Druid Blog: A People’s Manifesto for Ynys Môn
19