Press Releases

NEW AMBULANCE RESPONSE FIGURES THE WORST SINCE WELSH ASSEMBLY’S CREATION.

The number of ambulances responding to emergency calls in Wales is at its lowest level in seven years.

Just over 80 per cent of 999 calls were responded to in September this year compared to 94.3 per cent in the month before the Assembly was created in 1999.

“Having visited the despatch centre for our ambulance service in Llangunnor I have seen at first hand the dedication and hard work put in by everyone in the ambulance service,” said Angela Burns, the Welsh Assembly Conservative Candidate for South Pembrokeshire and West Carmarthen.

“But these figures are a matter of grave concern. More than 30 per cent of people in our area still have to wait more than ten minutes for an ambulance in less urgent cases. And in Wales as a whole ambulances continue to fail to meet the Assembly Government's target response times.

"The fact that they are now at their lowest level since the advent of devolution should serve as a wake-up call to the Health Minister and his Labour colleagues.”

The Conservatives health spokesman Jonathan Morgan AM added:

“These figures show the importance of fundamental reform, further investment, and changes to working practices. All three are essential if the ambulance service is to meet the needs of patients across Wales in the years to come.

It cannot be right that many people who require urgent medical treatment are not seeing the ambulance they called turn up on time.”

PEMBROKESHIRE’S YOUNGSTERS WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD HOMES

Getting on the property ladder is harder in Pembrokeshire than in any other county in Wales.

The region has the biggest gap between the average house price and the average wage in Wales, which means that buying a starter home is an impossible dream for many.

And it’s even harder than at first appears if you take Council Tax into account.

Wales has already seen a rise of 24 per cent in Council Tax rates following the revaluation exercise by the Welsh Assembly Government in 2005.

But the Conservatives have now learned that the Welsh Assembly Government is planning to revalue homes every two years in a move which could force council tax bills even higher.

The party has obtained a previously unreported submission by the Labour administration to the Lyons Inquiry into council funding which supports the idea of bi-annual revaluations.

“People are only just waking up to the fact that Council Tax is the ultimate stealth tax,” says Angela Burns, Conservative Assembly candidate for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire.

“We have no control over fluctuations of the housing market and we have now learned that Labour plan to revalue homes every two years.

“After the last valuation in 2005 four times as many homeowners had to pay more council tax, not less, despite Labour’s assurances that there would be as many winners as losers. In all we’ve seen average council tax bills rise by 94 per cent in the past ten years, the equivalent of 4p on income tax. This has become a huge issue on the doorsteps and Labour must not be allowed to get away with it.”

ENDS

Help us go green say Pembrokeshire/Carmarthenshire farmers.

Farmers in Pembrokeshire/Carmarthenshire are not getting enough incentive to go green, says a leading bio-fuels grower.

Paul Ratcliffe is the director of Pembrokeshire Bio-Energy, a co-operative of local farmers growing willow and elephant grass for bio-fuels.

But he says it’s unfair that they don’t get start up grants, unlike farmers in England.

“It takes four to five years for the crops to come to full production so we need to be planting now,” said Mr Ratcliffe from Canaston Bridge.

“But it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting any help from the Welsh Assembly until 2009 so we’re being disadvantaged.”

Elephant grass – or miscanthus – is grown from expensive rhizomes, but once they are established they can be cropped every year. English farmers are paid an establishment grant of £920 per hectare. In Wales the Assembly Government gives out nothing.

“This isn’t a subsidy we’re talking about but a business start-up grant,” added Mr Ratcliffe, one of 15 growers in the co-operative.

Conservative assembly candidate for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Angela Burns said: “The Welsh Assembly Government should be doing all it can to encourage renewable fuels.

“Two hundred local farmers have expressed an interest in joining the Pembrokeshire co-operative but unless they can get help with the start up costs, like English farmers already do, then many won’t be able to afford to.”

Bluestone goes Green thanks to local farmers.

It may be called Bluestone but it’s certainly going to be green.

That was the message spelled out by Bluestone chief executive William McNamara to Conservative shadow environment secretary Peter Ainsworth MP.

The £68 million first phase of the Bluestone project at Canaston Bridge is now well underway.

The Water World and sports centre will open in June next year and will be heated by renewable bio-fuels - grown by local farmers.

“We will be spending £1million a year on energy bills,” said Mr McNamara. “We could spend it with Texaco or the National Grid but we’re not, we’re spending it with local farmers.”

As well as providing income for Pembrokeshire farmers, using green fuels will also be carbon neutral.

Shadow Environment Secretary Peter Ainsworth was full of enthusiasm for Bluestone’s energy plans.

“…quote here along the lines of how wonderful Bluestone is for being so green….”

But he was amazed to hear that Welsh farmers don’t get any grants to help them plant bio-fuels, unlike their counterparts in the rest of the UK and Europe.

“quote along the lines of it seems very unfair that the Welsh Ass Government is not giving establishment grants to help farmers grow a crop that will encourage more businesses to go carbon neutral….”

The bio-fuel crops that will be burned at Bluestone will be grown by Pembrokeshire Bio-Energy, a co-operative of local farmers.

“It takes four to five years for the crops to come to full production so we need to be planting now,” said co-op director Paul Ratcliffe, from Canaston Bridge.

“It doesn’t look like we’ll be getting any help from the Welsh Assembly until 2009 so we’re being disadvantaged. It’s not a subsidy we’re talking about but a business start up grant.”

Conservative assembly candidate for South Pembrokeshire and Carmarthen West and Angela Burns/ Conservative candidate for Preseli Pembrokeshire Paul Davies said: “It is wonderful to see a company that’s not just paying lip service to being green but actually putting their money where their mouth is.

“But it’s a disgrace that Welsh farmers cannot get the support they need to get bio fuels planted in the first place.”