How Llanelli should be governed!

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone in Llanelli a happy, healthy and prosperous 2013 and I hope that everyone had a good Christmas.

There is only one story in Town at the moment and that is the proposal for Llanelli to break away from Carmarthenshire County Council and go it alone as its own Council.

The theory, indeed the principle behind the idea, is a good one. No one can disagree that Llanelli should be more responsible for its own affairs and that local services should be managed on as local a level as practically possible.

The only problem with the proposal is that it is pie in the sky. Never going to happen. A proposal with a zero percent chance of being implemented even if everyone in Llanelli and even Carmarthenshire wanted it to.

The Welsh Assembly has responsibility for local government reorganisation in Wales. They are not going to even consider lopping Llanelli off out of Carmarthenshire to create a 23rd county council in Wales. Only a fool would pretend that it could actually happen so no point wasting time discussing it.

And secondly, we are well overdue a review of councils in Wales. We had one in 1974 when Dyfed County Council was created (and we had Llanelli Borough Council and even Llanelli Town Council at a more local level). Then in 1995, Dyfed County Council and Llanelli Borough Council was done away with and Carmarthenshire County Council came into being.

The consensus is that the next review will see a reduction in the number of Councils. Which makes sense. We really do not need 22 County Councils, with 22 very highly paid Chief Executives and 22 very expensive teams of senior Directors.

I don’t think anyone in Llanelli will be campaigning to save Carmarthenshire County Council in the same way we campaigned to save the old Llanelli Borough Council. In fact, I think most of us would have a small street party.

However, the real danger is that a reformed Dyfed County Council meeting in Carmarthen or a Swansea Bay Arc meeting in Swansea would be every bit as remote as the current arrangement and just as likely to neglect our Town’s needs.

We need to be ready for all eventualities. Already here in Llanelli we have two relatively large community Councils, Llanelli Town Council and Llanelli Rural Council. Both have a budget of over £1 million, both have separate offices and staff, we have two “chains” – a Mayor of Llanelli Town and a Chairman of Llanelli Rural.

Separate, we are perhaps too small to take on any public services much larger than paddling pools, public toilets and parks. The two councils have already proved that together they can manage larger projects – they both work together to manage the Box Cemetery for instance.

Together, we here in Llanelli already have the ability amongst us to take on more responsibility for our own affairs. How much we take on and how we do it is really up to us. The means are there. And, unlike the proposal for Llanelli to become a 23rd unitary authority, these proposals are realistic and can be done if the local will here in Llanelli – as opposed to being dependent on the will of Cardiff – is there.

My last post was titled “Llanelli standing up for itself” and this is how we truly can take control of more of our own affairs.

We can carry on as we are; run from afar and doing very little for ourselves above and beyond community halls, footpaths and very worthy lobbying of higher authorities over issues like hospital and fire services cut backs.

We could decide to work with Llanelli Rural Council on a project-by-project basis like we do with the Box Cemetery and we could run all manner of services like parks or larger development projects. The YMCA building springs to mind. As does Theatre Elli.

We could even go the whole hog and set ourselves on a path to merger, open to neighbouring councils such as Llangennech, Llannon, Pembrey & Burry Port, Kidwelly and Llanedi. Together, we would form a public body almost as large as the old Borough and with the capacity to run wholescale public services such as leisure centres, street cleaning, waste collection and tourism. Things which Carmarthenshire currently do but Llanelli could do for itself and no doubt do it better because it would be a more local service.

The irony is that we could end up in roughly a similar place to what was being proposed by Councillor Winston Lemon at January’s Llanelli Town Council meeting. The only difference is that this path is far more realistic, practical and workable.

And, most importantly, it can be done here in Llanelli IF the local will is there. Not dependent on Cardiff, Carmarthen, Swansea or anybody.

Llanelli. Standing up for itself.