A Greenprint for the Valleys

Next Monday, I am launching 'A Greenprint for the Valleys'. The launch meeting will be held on 21st March at 7pm in Cwmaman Institute in the Cynon Valley, with Plaid Cymru’s Cynon Valley candidate, Dafydd Trystan Davies.

The Greenprint is an attempt to offer ideas which will provide solutions to the varied problems we face in the valleys from public sector cuts, high levels of unemployment, especially among young people, low skills levels as well as potential future problems like fuel and food price rises, benefit and pension cuts and the weather-related effects of climate change.

Proposals include establishing a Green Construction Skills College, implementing an integrated transport plan for the valleys, providing financial support for home energy efficiency measures and for the setting up of green co-operatives, as well as creating a land bank for renewable energy and food production and a programme to renovate heritage buildings.

Can we wake up the community spirit that was strong in the valleys during the 80s miners' strike? Can we recreate the ethos of our forefathers who built the miners’ welfare halls, the libraries, the hospitals and the workingmen's clubs in the days before the welfare state existed?

With the ConDem government in London intent upon tearing apart our hard-fought-for welfare safety-net, I hope that this consultation document will at least help to start a debate among people in the valleys about how we can use our own skills and resources to build protection against these attacks and to make sure the area has a future.

A second public meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Monday March 28th in the Soar Ffrwdamos Centre, Penygraig, Rhondda, with Plaid’s Assembly candidate Sêra Evans-Fear.

Copies of the Greenprint will be available at the public meetings and in the form of a PDF on the Plaid Cymru site from next Monday.

The valleys and tunnels

Great article in the Western Mail today about the abandoned tunnels that scatter the south Wales valleys. The legacy of heavy industry, these feats of engineering were used to transport coal and materials between areas that would have otherwise been separated by thousands of tonnes of rugged landscape.

Now Plaid's prospective General Election candidate for Cynon Valley, Dafydd Trystan, has proposed opening up these tunnels to link up communities that are very close geographically but miles away from each other due to the road network.
Speaking as a board member of the sustainable travel charity Sustrans about the tunnels between Abernant and Merthyr Tydfil and between Penrhiwceiber and Quakers Yard, Dafydd said:

“Both these tunnels could provide a fascinating walk or cycle ride, especially for anyone interested in our transport history, as well as a convenient inter-valley route. I very much hope studies can go ahead which could eventually lead to their reopening.”

I think this is a fantastic idea and should be seriously explored. There's a blocked up tunnel between Treherbert and Blaengwynfi in the Afan valley. If the tunnels in question are in a good state of repair it should cost a relatively small amount of money to reopen them and the benefits to all communities concerned would be felt instantly.

Travel time between the major town of Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil could be slashed, which would not only be beneficial to commuters and the economy, but also to the environment. We need to be doing all we can to reduce our green-house gas emissions, and car-travel, which is almost essential for travelling between valleys, is one of our greatest emitters. Cutting time spend on the road would reduce emissions from cars, but re-opening the railtrack, if it still runs under the mountains, would help to reduce car usage much more.

Many communities would, I'm sure, feel and be a lot less isolated if some of the old tunnels could be reopened. It is very difficult to place a value on the benefits it could deliver as I've never experienced life living in a community where the road runs out. The idea deserves wider consideration as it could provide good opportunities to people who would otherwise struggle to access employment.