There was an interesting, if somewhat technical, presentation to county council members yesterday morning, on the subject of the European Noise Directive. (The background is this decision by the Welsh Assembly Government.) Nigel Jones, the MD of consultants Extrium, and one of his boffins explained what they had been doing on behalf of WAG.

A lot of work has gone into drawing up noise maps such as this one for the Swansea-Neath-Port Talbot “agglomeration*”. Because of the time scale and practicalities these maps are not the result of on-the-ground measurements, but are from computer models which are fed data such as the amount of traffic, the nature of the traffic (e.g. the percentage of goods as opposed to private) and, in the case of roads, the type of surface. Those suffering from noise from the A465 will be particularly interested in the last point. (In questions afterwards, our trunk roads man revealed that there is some money earmarked for noise reduction on this road. Hopefully, the need for more public works under Mr Darling’s recovery programme will bring this forward.)

The next stage is to draw up an action plan, starting in early 2009. So far, elected members have not been involved, though there has been some input from the council’s officers. Environmental health, planning and roads people have contributed, though it seems they have not had time to consult even committee members. That should change in January.

Most of the questions and other responses from councillors yesterday reflected the need for consultation with  democratically-elected representatives. Those from the M4 motorway and (what I still think of as) the Great Western railway corridors (like Briton Ferry and Sandfields councillors) were especially doubtful about the figures going into the model and hence the noise map of their area which resulted. The synthetic maps will surely have to be adjusted to reflect real-world conditions.

This is important because the consultants, presumably under pressure from WAG, have set a high threshold for remedial action. The maps’ noise “contour line” starts at 68 decibels (dB), because this is a limit specified in industrial noise legislation. However, the initial action plan aims to tackle only those areas suffering 74 dB. It was difficult to establish on the day what this level represented in practical terms, but a few minutes scanning the Web suggests that it was chosen because it was the point on the scale immediately below that (75 dB) at which physical damage is known to be caused. There is a complication in that the decibel scale is not a straight line, but progresses logarithmically. (I’m rather floundering here, and if any constituent with the relevant technical knowledge can come to my aid, I’d be grateful!)

Another drawback to the WAG regulations is that they do not cover rural areas, although the EU directive itself does so. On the positive side, they do provide for “quiet areas” which must be preserved. Our planning people have submitted a provisional list to WAG, which includes Victoria Gardens. I think there is a good case for adding Craig Gwladus and the Tennant Canal to the list, and will put these forward when the consultation phase starts.

*There is a definition here.

The occasional frost of recent nights is a warning of the seasons of colds, influenza and the consequent seizing-up of the bronchi, to come. I am taking precautions, as I hope others in my situation are doing: I had the ‘flu jab yesterday and will have the one for pneumonia next week.

Even so, I will do well to keep up my record of attending council meetings. I was fortunate enough to miss only two county borough seminars and one community council meeting because of ill-health in the spring. It is unlikely that I will be able to keep this up through the winter, but I shall try. I also am prepared to defend my attendance record in public, which is why I want to see Neath Port Talbot being brought into line with other councils, which publish such details, along with the register of members’ interests, on their web-sites. I understand that a review by officers of the council is already looking at this, and I hope that there will be a favourable outcome.

The councillor surgery will take place as planned on Saturday 29th November in the small room at Cadoxton Community Centre, between 10 and 12 in the morning.

I assume that people will have more important concerns during the festive season, so I do not intend to hold a surgery at the end of December, unless there is a public demand.

At the last community council meeting, it was agreed that the pilot web-site was (party political links aside!) had been a success, and that a permanent World-Wide Web presence should be established. The pages will be non-party-political and under the control of our clerk, Mavis Hewitt, with the discretion to call in technical expertise as required. Councillors have already been asked to provide personal details for inclusion on the site.

Council news report is here.

At the Welsh Liberal Democrat autumn conference held in Clydach last weekend, the following emergency motion was carried:

Local Authorities and the Icelandic Financial Crisis  

Conference Notes

1. The Global Financial Downturn, dramatic fall in stock exchanges and the collapse of the Icelandic financial system.  

2. That nine local authorities and three police authorities in Wales have over £60m in frozenIcelandic bank accounts.   

3. That under the FSC scheme the first £50k of savings is protected per person, per institution.   

4. That the UK Government and WAG have stopped short of announcing protection for thoseLocal Authorities whose money is currently in frozen Icelandic Bank accounts  

5. That responsibility for local government is devolved to WAG.   

Conference believes  

1. That WAG will need to work with the UK treasury to find a joint resolution to the situation as quickly as possible.   
2. That Council tax payers should not pay the financial price for Icelandic banks freezing accounts.
3. That guarantees from WAG need to be given that frontline services will not be cut as a result of assets in Iceland being frozen.  

Conference calls for

1. WAG [the Welsh Assembly Government]  to provide appropriate transitional relief to local authorities who have lost money or interest payments in Iceland.

In view of the news that the county borough has £8m on deposit with Icelandic banks which have ceased trading, and £12m with UK subsidiaries which have been seized by the UK government, I have asked the director of finance for a statement. I have also suggested that the council put news of the financial situation on its web site.

This is a tough ask, as the situation is changing hour by hour, but council tax-payers need to be reassured. In particular, we need to know what assistance the UK government can give.

Update: the council has responded with a statement. It is clear that this is not the final word, and I and my councillor colleagues will continue to monitor the situation.

My attention has been drawn to a favourable mention of this website in an electronic publication named “neathferret”, which seems to be modelled on “Private Eye”. One or two Labour councillors were misled into thinking that I might be responsible for the whole inflammatory organ. This is demonstrably not the case, since the author refers to my being subsidised by the “Liberal” party.

As this masthead clearly shows, I am a Liberal Democrat. Further, although the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors supplies the template for this newsletter, saving me a good deal of design work (though, unfortunately, diminishing the name of this excellent ward), it does make an annual charge for the privilege.

While on the subject of subsidising newsletters, perhaps I should repeat what I have posted on another blog:

“Cadoxton constituents may ask why I continue to deliver Focus leaflets, which now contain council news, instead of making use of the council’s facilities. Well, firstly, I won election on a platform which included casting a beady eye on council costs. It would be hypocritical of me to dip into a subsidised service when I don’t need to.

“Secondly, however much the [council] member services department weeds out party political messages, there is inevitably an element of self-promotion in a newsletter for a constituency which goes out over the signature of the sitting member. Why not be totally honest about ones politics, avoid censorship, and provide information at the same time?

“So I will continue to put out Focuses as and when I have enough information to fill them, and pay for them out of [local] party funds and my own pocket.”

A short note on this afternoon’s meeting. It was more appreciative than last year’s, with only two critical notes: a lady who had difficulty getting in touch with her GP, and my query about the delay in assessments of cases of delayed transfer of care (crudely known as bed-blocking).

On the subject of access to GPs generally, mention was made of health minister Edwina Hart’s initiative to open GP surgeries into the evening. However, a GP from the body of the hall pointed out that the money provided for this was not new, but taken from other GP programmes.

My question was not answered directly, but it was revealed that there would be work in the next couple of months on an additional kind of facility which would reduce the pressure on acute bed space.

Hanging over all was the uncertainty about the future in the future of the NHS in Wales envisaged by Edwina Hart.

There is a couplet in Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”: “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” I think everyone in the AGM today was already thinking of the possibility of the loss of local public access to primary care administrators which we have enjoyed since 2003.

This 1953 romantic comedy will be screened in Brynaman on16th October, I am informed by the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales. The show starts at 19:30. Free tickets are available by phoning 01269 823 232.

My recollection of this film is of a good performance by Clifford Evans, but that the story and script were definitely of their time.

Anti-social behaviour in the Aberdulais ward dominated the discussion at the PACT meeting held in Llangatwg school last Tuesday. I did raise the issue of parking & obstruction in Cadoxton, and the PCSOs promised to pay that special attention. Call PCSO Darren Thomas on 07805 301576 if you have any trouble.

There is a web-page for police support in Cadoxton. The next meeting will be on 11th or 12th November.