The latest readers’ letters taken from the printed edition of the Glamorgan Star dated Thursday 29th October 2026, followed by letters publish from previous editions.
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Thursday 29th October 2026
Wales should not become a parasitic tax haven
IN John T Price’s letter (15th October), he points to our neighbour across the Irish Sea as an example of how wealthy Wales could become if it were independent, and “well governed, with vision.”
That model would entail Wales becoming a tax haven. Tax benefits to multinationals are what has raised the Republic of Ireland’s per capita GNP since joining the EU. John Price generalises that small countries tend to be wealthier per capita – but five of his seven named examples are tax havens. The other two are natural resource havens.
Do we want to be parasites upon larger nations where most wealth is created, by offering tax shelters for corporate and private assets? Is that our ethos? Do we want average rents in Cardiff to equal the entire take-home pay of newly qualified teachers – as in Dublin in 2023?
Apparently, Wales’s heritage of “abundant natural resources” has just been waiting to be unleashed by an independent government, as in Norway and Iceland. It is implied that “Westminster, especially unelected peers,” has been keeping away tourists, and preventing the damning up of the Bristol Channel – even keeping Grand Prix cars from whizzing round the streets of Cardiff.
There are other presumptions. That the outlook of the youngest voters (who tend to be more excited by radical change, such as offered by Plaid Cymru) will remain the same as they grow older. That the recent electoral swing toward Plaid Cymru mitigates the recent poll showing 68% not in favour of independence.
“A very prosperous Celtic Switzerland” sounds like the “Buccaneering Britain” envisaged by Brexiteers. Enough said.
David Richards,
Bridgend
Cardiff could host an F1 Grand Prix
IN A RECENT letter to the Glamorgan Star, I proposed that Wales could hold an F1 GP. The editor has asked me to expand upon that proposal, so here goes.
Wales has always had a great interest in motorsport. In years past the Welsh Rally attracted thousands of spectators, so why not hold an F1 GP on a circuit around the streets of Cardiff?
Currently, the nearest street circuits are in Monaco and in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The annual Monaco F1 GP adds, on average, over one hundred million Euros to the local economy. As, during a rugby international day in Cardiff, local businesses would enjoy a huge boom in trade. But, most importantly, it would also place Wales firmly on the map for the F1 entourage, well-heeled international visitors and potential investors alike.
True, the streets of Cardiff would require one-off extensive and expensive upgrades and I’m sure that there are many potential sponsors, including the hotels along the circuit, which would be block-booked, as they are every year in Monaco.
For each annual event the temporary barriers and seating would take weeks to erect and another week or so to dismantle; in Monaco it takes about three weeks and one week respectively. This would provide temporary and much needed employment – for students perhaps, following their end of year exams.
Those who might be concerned about the noise it would generate should take heart that the noise would be no greater than when Wales scores a try at the Principality Stadium!
Temporary seating for thousands could be erected along the South and South-East walls of Cardiff.
My suggested circuit could be as follows:
The start/finish along the Boulevard De Nantes opposite the City Hall.
Heading east to Stuttgarter Strasse and Dumfries Place.
Turning right (west) from Dumfries Place along Queen Street.
Turning left down Canal Quarter and along Churchill Way to Bute Terrace.
Along Bute Terrace to Custom House Street.
Turning right (north) along St Mary Street.
Turning left (west) along Wood Steet.
Turning quickly right (north) along Westgate Street to Duke Street.
Turning right (east) at The Angel Hotel along Duke Street to North Road.
Joining the Boulevard De Nantes.
A true story
When I was working in Stavanger, Norway during 1993/1994, one of my colleagues was planning his first trip to the Far East. I was happy to give him some ideas of where to visit, since I had previously worked in the region for years. I described the ‘must-see’ destinations in the republic and I pointed them out on the guidebook’s map.
It struck me that the Marina Bay area would make a great location for an F1 GP street-circuit (several of us at the office were true petrol-heads). They agreed.
Lo and behold in 2007 I read that Singapore planned to hold an F1 GP and, in 2008, I flew out on the day of the race; the first ever F1 night-race, held under floodlights. It was beyond spectacular! When the race was over there was an open-air music concert on the Padang fields) the Cardiff-Castle grounds could hold the same.
I walked around part of the circuit, open to spectators, past the pits and returned to my hotel around 1am utterly exhausted but exhilarated. The Singapore F1 GP has been on the calendar every year since and is a great success. If you have never been, then do go, you will not be disappointed. Nowadays the F1 engines are turbocharged and much, much less noisy.
John T Price,
St Athan
Thursday 1st October 2026
What has happened to Country Park’s café?
I AM writing to express my disappointment at the recent deterioration in catering services at Cosmeston Country Park, one of Penarth’s most treasured public attractions.
Until recently, visitors could enjoy a hot meal at the café, with food available throughout the day until approximately 4pm. However, these arrangements have now changed dramatically. Hot meals have disappeared from the menu altogether, leaving only cold sandwiches. Worse still, food service now ends at 2pm, after which visitors can purchase takeaway drinks only.
I find this absolutely ridiculous. Cosmeston attracts families, walkers, tourists, pensioners and local residents, many of whom visit during the afternoon. Surely it is reasonable to expect a country park of this importance to provide proper refreshments throughout its opening hours?
What particularly concerns me is how these changes have been allowed to happen. Is the café operated by an external contractor on behalf of the Vale Council? If so, what exactly does the catering contract stipulate? Surely there should be minimum requirements regarding the provision of hot food and the hours during which meals must be available?
I would be interested to know whether the contract requires hot meals to be served between 9am and 4pm, as was previously the case, and whether the Vale Council has authorised this.
Public amenities should be improving their facilities, not reducing them. At a time when we should be encouraging people to enjoy our beautiful local countryside and supporting tourism in the Vale, removing hot meals and stopping food service at 2pm sends entirely the wrong message.
I call upon the Vale Council to explain why these changes have occurred, clarify its contractual arrangements with the café operator and take steps to restore the previous standard of catering.
Cosmeston deserves better, and so do its visitors.
Aled Robert Thomas,
Penarth
NOTE: The Glamorgan Star asked the Vale Council to comment. The café is run by the Big Fresh Catering Company, which is owned by the council. A spokesperson for the Big Fresh Catering Company said: “The café at Cosmeston continues to offer a range of hot food options for visitors. Recent menu additions are being promoted through new table-top flyers and include chilli jacket potatoes which extends the jacket potato range. Visitors can also purchase hot food items such as toasted sandwiches, paninis, pasties, sausage rolls and our popular hog roast sausage rolls.
“In response to seasonal changes in visitor numbers, hot food service is currently available with the preparation of cooked-to-order hot meals concluding at 2pm. This adjustment reflects the reduced demand typically experienced during the start of autumn.
“Importantly, the café continues to serve toasted teacakes and toast throughout the day. A full range of cakes, traybakes, ice creams, teas, coffees and other refreshments also remains available as normal.
“As part of our food safety and cleaning procedures, the café transitions to a takeaway-only service approximately 30 to 60 minutes before closing. This allows staff sufficient time to undertake essential cleaning and food safety tasks while continuing to provide visitors with drinks and light refreshments.”
“We continually review the café offer and opening arrangements to ensure that they meet customer demand while maintaining high standards of service, food safety and value.”
Argument by MS was in ‘very bad taste’
I READ with great interest, and equal dismay, the column by Conservative MS Andrew RT Davies in the 1st October edition of The Glamorgan Star.
A recent poll did show 68% not in favour and 32% in favour of Welsh independence. I would say that the people of Wales do not support independence YET, but the trend to support independence is clear. Amongst the younger groups, it is greater than 50%. Obviously, the younger generation will outlive the older generation and then the poll figures will change.
The most recent election of Senedd members showed a swing toward Plaid Cymru. The Labour Party, formerly a bastion of politics in Wales, was soundly overtaken by Plaid Cymru and The Tories were voted into virtual oblivion: a very poor fourth place behind Plaid, Reform and Labour.
What concerned me most about Mr Davies’ column was the mention of Sinn Fein as the political wing of the IRA, a designated former terrorist organisation. To conflate the debate for Welsh independence with terrorism is irresponsible and in very bad taste.
What never seems to be mentioned in the media is how The Republic of Ireland, once part of a British political union, has boomed in recent years and its per capita GNP (the measure of national wealth generated per resident) is now substantially higher than that or the remaining UK. Dublin, its capital, is reported to be in the top five of the most affluent cities in the World.
In fact, without delving into statistical overload, there is an almost universal inverse relationship between the population of western European countries and their per capita GNP.
Simply stated: countries with a small population compared to the UK, such as Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland, have MUCH higher standards of living. The mini-states of Monaco and Liechtenstein higher still – and much lower rates of income tax besides.
Wales has abundant natural resources – not to mention the enormous potential for tourism. Well governed, with vision and without being hamstrung by Westminster – and especially by the unelected House of Lords – Wales could become a very prosperous Celtic Switzerland.
Wales should have its own national bank, a stock exchange, wind and tidal energy from the Bristol Channel and a Formula 1 GP around the streets of Cardiff (the annual Monaco F1 GP adds, on average, over one hundred million Euros to the Monegasque economy). As, during a rugby international day in Cardiff, local businesses would enjoy a huge boom in trade. It would also place Wales firmly on the map for international visitors and potential investors alike.
I detected a tone of ‘sour grapes’ in the article from Mr Davies. Should he wish to remain in Welsh politics, I think his chances would be better as a member of a more successful political party!
John T Price,
St Athan
Beware of the national debt
THE national debt is something that is holding the UK back and it has to be understood by the general public who owes this debt.
It is not the government. Not the banks or businesses in the UK. It is not just an England thing.
Interest payments per annum vary from £100-£110 billion approximately.
The intricacies of the debt are irrelevant to the general public but it is the general public that ultimately is responsible.
The population of the UK is 70 million. The debt £3.5 trillion. That’s £3,500,000,000,000. Divide the debt by the population figure and you will find out how much each individual ‘owes’.
The USA debt is equally massive. My calculation is each US citizen owes $120,000.
Paul Blanchard,
Barry
Thursday 1st October 2026
Terminally ill should not suffer
I AGREE with Paul Blanchard’s letter (17th September) on the assisted dying issue.
We do not allow our pets to suffer lingering deaths, and yet weallow terminally ill people to die in agony, if they do not have themoney to go to Dignitas.
This is no problem for MPs as they have plenty of money, but others have to watch helplessly as their loved ones suffer in pain for weeks or months.
Pauline Davies,
Barry
Llantwit Major needs more shopping outlets
IN response to Mrs Cheryl Palmer’s letter (17th September) I would like to say that I will welcome the arrival of the proposed Lidl store near Llanmaes.
As someone who has lived in Llantwit Major for most of my life (62 years) I feel it is necessary to have more shopping outlets to provide more choice for local residents.
It will not prevent me from going to Llantwit Major town as not all my needs will be met by a Lidl. I am sure that this will be the case for many residents of Llantwit Major and surrounding areas too!
Mrs C Steele,
Llantwit Major
Reform MS can’t just jump to Plaid
I READ in the Glamorgan Star, 17th September, that Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, Reform UK’s member of the Senedd, has joined Plaid Cymru.
The suggestion was that she has become a Plaid MS. This should not be possible.
She has not been elected to the Senedd but was a party list member when Reform won a seat.
If she has left Reform, the next person on Reform’s list should take her seat.
If she wishes to represent Plaid, a Plaid MS would have to resign to make a seat available.
Richard Winfield,
Barry
Improve Cosmeston cycle track – don’t build a new one
EVERYONE is in favour of sustainable transport, as diesel and petrol creeps up to 2 quid a litre, together with the obesity and cost of living crisis, so we all value a bit of exercise.
But the route of the cycle track at Cosmeston takes unsuspecting riders through the centre of the former tip and contaminated land. There is no dispute that asbestos and carcinogenic contaminants are buried there.
Many of us, including those in authority, have seen Buried with Michael Sheen. There was even a presentation at the Senedd. No one can now claim ignorance.
There is NO safe level of asbestos, a fibre in a child could result in mesethelioma. How safe or unsafe is it? Back in the 1970s, I took waste there when it was the council tip, later I was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Did I breathe in or ingest something? I don’t know.
Is it worth taking the risk with public health? No, it’s not.
The proposed route of the track seems to go halfway to Sully and stops just outside. There’s already a cycle track along the road which avoids the tip and goes all the way to Sully.
There is a rumour the old stone bridges may have to be replaced. Surely crossing those as they are now is a lot safer than traversing the former tip?
Replacing the bridges will cost a fortune. Why not spend the money linking the raised causeway opposite Cosmeston Park to the Wales Coastal path? Then, the many people who visit the park can walk round the coast and back down Fort Road safely. That’s a lot more than will use the track.
As for the former tip, why not cover it in solar panels instead of putting them on nearby prime agricultural land at a time of rising food prices?
Tim James,
Penarth
Thursday 19th September 2026
How council tax makes the rich richer
IN YOUR letters page of 3rd September, R Bradshaw asks “what is council tax for?”
It is to help pay for local services. It provides 46% of UK local authority funding. 22% comes from business rates, and 32% is granted from national taxes. That is why the highest value houses in Wales are limited to paying no more than three-and-a-half times the council tax of the lowest value houses, as living in a higher-priced house does not cause you to increase your consumption of local services.
However, where would house prices be without bin collection, road maintenance, local schools, parks, libraries, carers, police, etc? It makes sense for the charge for these services to be related in some way to the house prices that they enhance. Whether houses are purchased with mortgages or not is irrelevant.
But those who “leave the cash in the bank” rather than invest it in a house do not escape paying. Tenants receive the council tax bills. Landlords would be able to ask higher rents if they were obligated to pay them – but they would pay out of those rents! Live-in relations often share bills.
House buyers pay less for houses because of the council tax costs that go with them. If local authority services were to be funded some other way (local income tax, poll tax, central government grants), house prices would rise. Money that house buyers devote to paying the providers of services would be diverted to paying house sellers – who do not provide services.
Council tax is not a wealth redistribution mechanism. But due to its tether to the cost of local service provision, it has effectively widened the gap between richer and poorer. The implicit (never explicit!) rate of tax is higher the lower the house valuation, so it bears down on house prices at the lower end more than it does at the higher end.
Calls for making the council tax proportional to house prices (even more so, land prices) are therefore calls to end wealth redistribution, not to begin it. Real estate taxation should be about more than just paying for local services.
David Richards,
Bridgend
There is still kindness in the Vale
IF YOU wish to have your faith in mankind restored, read on.
I would like to offer a huge ‘thank you’ to four upstanding gentlemen of the Vale.
On Friday, 4th September, I was in the Waitrose area of Cowbridge when I lost my mobile phone. Two amazing young men found it and made considerable efforts to trace its owner. I owe immense gratitude to them for getting my phone back to me.
Also, when walking past the shops in Llantwit Major, back in June, I slipped and crashed to the pavement. Two men rushed to my aid. They kindly checked that I was OK and helped me back to my feet. I thank them sincerely for their concern, kindness and help.
In this age of distressing and disturbing news it is consoling to think that, here in the Vale, we have such men who display the best of humanity.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank them most sincerely for their help, kindness and consideration to this extremely grateful senior citizen.
Rachelle,
Llantwit Major
Plaid Cymru should protect Llantwit Major traders
I WAS interested to read the recent column in the Glamorgan Star by Plaid Cymru’s Sarah Rees MS (page 8, 20th August) about building something better for our communities.
Your readers will no doubt be aware of proposals for the German supermarket giant, Lidl, to build a wholly out of scale supermarket at the junction between Llantwit Major and Llanmaes. Like Last Energy, which Ms Rees cited in her article, Lidl’s profits will no doubt accrue to its German parent company and shareholders.
The planning application holds out the carrot of up to 40 quality jobs. I don’t know if the definition of quality has changed dramatically from when I entered the job market but stacking shelves and manning a checkout isn’t what anyone I know would describe as quality employment. It will certainly damage the continued viability of a number of independent shops in Llantwit, including a butcher’s, bakery, farm shop and several small supermarkets, not to mention other businesses which might have benefited from the footfall generated by these shops.
After you’ve meandered around a large superstore and queued for an inordinately long time to pay and escape (Lidl was notorious in the Surrey town where we lived until recently for the length of its queues), I really can’t see anyone inclined to drive a mile or so to explore he lovely historic town of Llantwit Major and browse its fascinating shops.
The application by Lidl also throws up a number of inequalities in the planning procedures. The only literature we received about this application was paid for by Lidl themselves, employed experts in planning legislation, who still managed to present a wholly self-contradictory report, and only offered the facility to support the application, not to object.
If Plaid Cymru truly want to support local communities and businesses, this is surely something they would want to oppose with all the means available to them. I trust this is Ms Rees’ stance on the proposed planning application.
Mrs Cheryl Palmer,
Llanmaes
UK should face up to difficult decisions
A RECENT Sunday publication put in figures how certain religions in the UK are suffering from low attendance figures at their churches.
There are obvious reasons for this. As time progresses, people’s faith is not being passed onto the next generation. This is either because of greater non-belief or just time constraints. There are a lot of distractions to young minds and there have been many instances of religious fanatacism causing great harm to many innocent bystanders.
It was a long time ago but 9/11 was carried out due to this type of dedication to a religious cause.
My point is that there are people in the UK who want certain constraints lifted due to these deep-seated ways of life. From the minor – for example Sunday Trading – to the major ‘an eye for an eye’. In the middle of these is the sadly laughable, such as the assisted dying debate. People with a terminal illness now have to spend money in the little time they have left and can get on a plane to be put out of their misery in a foreign country. All because this country has not got the guts or the wherewithal to acknowledge there is a need to carry out this procedure in this country.
Paul Blanchard,
Barry
Thursday 3rd September 2026
Time for more courtesy on the road
I HAVE been reading about cyclists paying some form of road tax.
This would be impossible to run, but I do feel that cyclists feel they have the right to ride however they like.
For example, every Sunday I drive from my home to Llantwit Major on the main road. Every Sunday, no matter what time I go, I always encounter the same club, up to a dozen, riding two or three abreast across one side of the road. One rider in particular, if he sees a car coming up behind, will deliberately swerve all over the place to make sure that no one can pass.
If you can get past and manage to say something, all you get is obscene abuse as if it is their god-given right to be on the road. I know some car drivers can be a bit robust in their approach but the roads are for everybody and bad manners by both groups could lead in the end to an accident.
K Holden,
St Athan
Why were public concerns ignored?
FOR many of us who watched Michael Sheen’s Buried, exposing the scandal of toxic waste tips in Wales, it was very reassuring to see the presentation at the Senedd being taken seriously.
But as the thousands of us who signed the petition against the development at Cosmeston over health fears over disturbing this former council run tip, we know that our Senedd Members have known about this for several years.
So why weren’t we afforded the same concern shown on Buried?
Why does it take an actor, cameras and a TV production to generate a response, rather than the concern of the public whom the Senedd Members are supposed to representing.
Tim James,
Penarth
What exactly is council tax for?
THERE has been a lot of discussion recently about disparities in the levels of council tax between different areas and different sizes of properties.
It might help to have some idea of what council tax is for. It has long since lost any connection with services received for the money and if it is a wealth redistribution mechanism, why are mortgages not deducted from the property value?
Why do people who buy a house pay more than those who leave the cash in the bank? What is the tax for, in fact?
R Bradshaw,
Cowbridge
Public meeting was disrupted by hostile crowd
I would like to respond to the column, ‘Your Voice in the Senedd’ by Sara Rees MS in the 20th August edition of the Glamorgan Star about the application to build a Small Modular nuclear Reactors (SMR) near Maesteg.
I received a leaflet advertising four meetings in our aera to show the proposals with an opportunity to ask questions.
Knowing very little about the project, I thought I would attend.
However, I did know that the Americans first produced this kind of reactor and put it in a submarine in 1954, and likewise, the first Rolls Royce version was commissioned in 1966, and now there are currently around 200, mostly warships, thus equipped and over the last 70-odd years the technology will have improved considerably.
So, it seemed to me that a proven, quick to build and commission, reliable solution to clean, always available energy, come rain or shine and calm days, and no emissions of any kind, is a no brainer.
I was so surprised at the immediate hostility towards the presenter who was consistently interrupted with hostile questions and given little opportunity to fully answer the question before another one was raised; on one occasion a shouted very hostile response was “you are a liar!”
A woman asked about how much water in the reactor was radioactive. I believe the answer was given as 300 litres. She then went on to exclaim that she was very concerned that if a leak occurred it would rush all down the valley – flooding people’s homes, even though that amount was just about enough to fill the fuel tanks of three or four cars.
It became very clear that a portion of the attendees were so against the proposals they were intent on disrupting the presentation, which ended after about half the time allocated. We never did get to the see the slides.
I think it will be difficult to find a more regulated and tightly controlled industry than nuclear.
Disappointed resident,
Bridgend county borough
Stop subsidising home ownership
ONE of our biggest delusions is that home ownership needs to be subsidised.
I was listening to Broadcasting House on Radio 4 on 23 August. The presenter had bought his first house at three times the average annual salary. Today that house would cost him ten times the average annual salary.
The house builder he was interviewing said: “We need to have more affordability help for those trying to get on and buy a house and that means potentially something around an equity loan or a help-to-buy, which helped 375,000 previously to get on the housing ladder.”
New houses add less than 1% to the housing stock each year, and old houses drop out, so the amount of housing is essentially fixed in the near term. Getting the taxpayer to help people pay more has the desired immediate effect – they pay more! House sellers say “thank you very much.” Taxpayers don’t.
The next 375,000 house buyers require the same taxpayer leg up to overcome the price hurdle put in place by the taxpayers’ leg up for the previous 375,000. It’s a ratchet process.
The tax system could instead be enrolled to lower the running cost of owning bricks and mortar. The on-going charge on owning built structures could be taken out of Council Tax, making them more affordable to buy.
The lost revenue would be replaced by concentrating the Council Tax on the land under the buildings. Robbing Peter to pay Paul? Well, yes. Paul will actively speed up the building supply. Peter’s land, as always, will merely take what it can get. And the national taxpayer will be happier.
David Richards,
Bridgend
It’s time to embrace energy sector innovation
I WOULD like to respond to Senedd MS Sarah Rees’s views on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), expressed in her column on 20th August.
If the UK is to face the 21st Century head on, these NIMBY/narrow minded attitudes have to go. There are many issues raised in her article but it misses the opportunity to innovate. There are fields and fields of solar panels around the Vale that are nowhere near the power creation of a nuclear SMR.
As soon as a few of this type of generating equipment is provided, there will be more. They will be as innocuous as other nuclear facilities around the UK. They will not be such a blot on the landscape as acres and acres of solar panels.
Regarding the issue of whether they are an overall benefit to the area, this is just making excuses. The solar fields on Five Mile Lane are linked to Cardiff down the A48. The presence of these power generators will bring business to an area that is gagging for extra employment of any kind. People who construct, run maintain this equipment will live locally. A data centre will possibly use the power but the next SMR will possibly run another type of business – then the next, and so on.
South Wales needs to attract more businesses of this kind. The site of Aberthaw Power Station seems ideal but if they want to put one behind my house…. not a problem.
Regarding the risks, have there been any nuclear power leaks in the UK over the last few decades. The people of South Wales only need to look across the Bristol Channel to see what the English are prepared to risk.
Paul Blanchard,
Barry
Thursday 20th August 2026
How council tax system hinders ‘affordable’ housing
COUNCIL TAX has kept house prices lower than they would otherwise have been. Without it, today’s £200,000 Welsh house would have been about £240,000 (*see note at end).
It has especially kept prices lower at the lower end of the market. £100,000 instead of £130,000. The effective current tax rate is triple, or more, for houses in the lower bands than in the higher bands. So the ability to pay for housing has been reduced most for houses in the lower bands, and least at the higher end (a tax loophole!).
If all house prices are kept lower, builders build fewer new houses, because people don’t pay more for them. Builders towards the ‘affordable’ end of the market are being particularly impacted. Hence, Andy Burnham is promising more social housing.
The more sensible thing to do would be to change the basis of Council Tax to the land portion of houses only (the site or plot) and eliminate the banding bias. A site-only tax would lower only the price of your site. Builders would find it easier to get hold of building plots. And they would have leeway to put more on a plot for the same house price, ie, to do more business.
Customers would be able to demand more building work, given that there would be no on-going tax related to it. Poorer customers, in particular, would be better able to afford suitable basic buildings, and builders would profit from building them.
(*I discounted future tax liabilities of about £2,000 and £1,500 pa respectively, at 5%).
David Richards,
Bridgend
Will motorists and cyclists ever get along?
I READ with interest the letters from Olly Leonard and G Hewett in the Glamorgan Star edition of 6th August regarding cyclists and some form of road tax/duty.
Both present excellent arguments for leaving things as they are. I do admire their bravery for going against the often selfish and self-interested motoring lobby. Obviously, there are a lot of motorists out there who would vehemently disagree.
We have to face the fact the majority consider that they ‘own’ the road because, in their mind they pay to use it! They have to tax their cars and insure them as well. Unfortunately, they also seem to think they own the pavements given the number of vehicles who, without any consideration, park four square on them to the exclusion of all but the slenderest pedestrian.
They don’t seem to care about invalids in buggies, wheelchairs or mothers with pushchairs. They can just take their chances on the road. Challenge them at your peril.
Speed limits appear to be arbitrary, with 20mph being the minimum not the maximum. Although, to be fair, if one is in a hurry or maybe listening to a banging track on your music player or perhaps having an interesting conversation on the phone it is so easy to creep above the limit by a few mph. Allowances should be made.
Perhaps if speeding fines were on a sliding scale, doubling for every mile per hour the limit was exceeded, it might focus motorists’ minds. Pavement parking should be enforced by the council through a by law. A nice little earner for them.
T Powell,
Vale resident
Too many flashing road signs
ONCE again, the Vale Council has gone into overdrive. We now have five flashing 40mph signs from the B4265 turn off towards Rhoose – and another five on the return journey.
There are also many other smaller 40mph round signs. I estimate this is in the region of approximately a mile and a half. This is absolutely ridiculous and a complete waste of money which
could be spent on the many potholes along the same route.
If they felt it necessary to put up these flashing signs, a couple would be plenty.
I’m sure many of your readers would agree
Jane Jarrett,
Vale resident
How do we know if a waste dump is safe?
THE concern over former waste dumps and tips in Wales was explored earlier this week in Michael Sheen’s Buried on BBC2.
It was something we should all watch and Michael must be commended for highlighting this problem. So, just how safe is it to house families near the former council tip in Cosmeston, where the presence of asbestos and various chemicals are not disputed?
Why is it that some former tips in south Wales containing carcinogenic chemicals are so dangerous they are fenced off and entry is strictly prohibited by their respective local authorities, yet here at Cosmeston, in spite of the tip, it is apparently the ideal spot to house families promoting “net zero” and “Tackling climate change head on”?
What is the difference? Does ‘net zero’ and ‘tackling climate change head on’ lessen the threat these chemicals pose?
Tim James,
Penarth
Charge prisoners for their keep
ON the news recently there was an item about adult social care that said some people in certain circumstances have to pay – which can be degrading and humiliating at the best of times.
On the flip side, prisoners are given three meals a day, a small amount of pay, a roof over their heads and certain activities – all for free.
I think it would be a deterrent to say that for their time in prison, they will be charged like those in social care. Hand over your bank details and you will pay for your time in prison on a weekly/monthly basis. If they say that will be a hardship to family, well tough! They should have thought of that before they did the crime.
Why does the taxpayer have to pay for a murderer’s time in prison, or someone who knocked down a pedestrian?
Pam Hill,
Barry
What does OFWAT do?
IT SEEMS strange that the subject of a letter to a local paper should be about a water company that does not serve this area.
Thames Water is the largest water company in the UK. It owes a variety of creditors £17 billion. The water industry is monitored by OFWAT. Maybe they just monitor water quality and spillages but how can an essential utility be allowed to accrue such a monster of a debt on its watch?
It is easy to blame those organisations that have loaned money to Thames but any business needs to see a return on the investments they make.
Also, the area it serves is now in drought after only three months without rain. It is called a summer. How many new reservoirs are being created at this time?
Dwr Cymru may not be in such a financial mess but all tax payers in the UK will be affected by the Thames Water situation.
Is it only a question of time before this situation is repeated here in Wales – a place renowned for rain?
Paul Blanchard,
Barry
St Athan supermarket – correction
In the last edition (6th August) of the Glamorgan Star, on page 7 we carried an article submitted by John T Price.
In the course of the article, it was stated that there were plans to build a supermarket on Rock Farm, St Athan. This was a mistake. The plans relate to land at Church Farm, which is close but – as they say – not close enough.
We extend our apologies to the owner of Rock Farm, who was most understanding.
Philip Irwin,
Glamorgan Star
Thursday 6th August 2026
Do your bit to help animals
I WOULD like to appeal to all your kind and caring readers to do one thing. I ask that you please put out a bowl of water for our struggling wildlife that are suffering from dehydration which will no doubt impact their survival.
It will surprise you to see how many visitors you will get and it will bring you such satisfaction in knowing you are helping our desperate wildlife, particularly hedgehogs and birds around your local areas.
Of course, the long, hot, dry weather impacts their food source too. Earthworms are scarce, trees and bushes are not providing as much natural fruit so if you felt more compassionate you could put some scraps out too.
It is so easy for us, we get our water from taps and food from shops but animals rely on ecosystems and if water and food are not naturally available they will suffer.
They bring us so much pleasure and are such a joy to watch so let’s help them out, they don’t ask for much.
T Abery,
Barry
Progress is not always good
AS A confirmed petrol head, I should think that any new development in motoring is good. Or is it?
We have new improved lighting for cars but it dazzles other drivers coming the other way.
New dashboards have a full digital display. This is the equivalent of having an open laptop in front of you. A distraction worse than a mobile phone.
Cars are heavier and sometimes wider to accommodate climate-saving batteries. The roads of the UK are fragile at best and are now getting an increased battering.
For some reason, we have smaller indicator lights. I cannot reason this one.
Electric cars are faster than any other vehicles in their respective classes.
Cheaper cars arrive from across the globe. This shreds our economy with all that money leaving a country that needs every penny.
This situation must have been noticed by the politicians. Maybe it is something not high in their priorities.
As more people are persuaded to dump their internal combustion vehicles the situation can only get worse if ignored.
Paul Blanchard,
Barry
Cyclists do contribute to road maintenance
IN response to J Smith’s letter (Glamorgan Star, 23rd July) his assertion that bicycle users do not contribute to roads upkeep is, I feel, not strictly accurate.
While all road-users use the roads free of charge, pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders by right, with motorists doing so under licence, anyone who pays tax contributes – is it not the case that Income Tax, VAT, and Vehicle Excise Duty (car tax has not been a ‘roads fund’ per se since 1937!) are taken into general revenue? From this, allocations are made for various funding requirements, including roads upkeep, by the Government (albeit that funding responsibility varies according to the class of the roads in question).
Thus, as bicycle users will be paying taxes of various classes (including council tax) it will be seen that they are already contributing to the cost of roads maintenance, as well as other public services, notwithstanding that cycles cause zero damage to the carriageway, although their riders remain at risk of harm from potholes they did not cause.
G Hewett,
Vale of Glamorgan resident
Pay for road repairs? Cyclists make a negligible contribution
I WOULD like to respond to J Smith’s letter in the Glamorgan Star, 23rd July.
£40 to register my bicycle? At face value, that sounds reasonable enough, but I’ll come back to that at the end.
We all know that roads wear out because vehicles drive over them. The heavier the vehicle, the more damage it does to the road.
Highway engineers have long recognised that this damage isn’t a linear relationship. They use what’s known as the Fourth Power Law, which shows that road wear increases roughly with the fourth power of axle load. In other words, doubling the weight on an axle doesn’t double the damage, it increases it by around 16 times.
Take my bicycle as an example. It weighs about 14kg and, with me riding it, the total weight is about 94 kg. Spread over two wheels, that’s roughly 47kg per wheel. An average UK family car weighs around 1,600kg, giving an axle load of about 800kg.
The car’s axle load is around 17 times greater than the bicycle. If we use the Fourth Power Law as a rough guide, the difference is striking: 17 to the power of four equals 83,500.
In other words, an average family car can be expected to cause tens of thousands of times more structural road wear than a bicycle carrying its rider.
The precise figure isn’t the point. The point is that bicycles contribute such a tiny proportion of road wear compared with motor vehicles that, when it comes to creating potholes, they are effectively insignificant. Road maintenance budgets, funded through general taxation and council tax, are influenced by the damage caused by cars, vans and, above all, heavy goods vehicles, not bicycles.
So, if a bike costs £40 to register, how much should the owner of an average family car pay? Multiply £40 by 83,500. Each year.
Olly Leonard,
Llantwit Major
Tax has subsidised house prices for too long
MAY I put ballpark figures on the annual cost of feeding our house price addiction here in the UK – and how it relates to the overall tax burden?
The cost of the Tories’ 1963 abolition of Schedule A income tax on homeowners was calculated as £21.3bn 10 years ago, which would be a £30bn giveaway now. Higher rate taxpayers benefit the most.
The official ‘tax expenditure’ cost of exempting the sales of first homes from Capital Gains Tax was £32bn in 2024-25. (The same amount was relieved from tax on income going to pension contributions – again benefitting higher rate taxpayers the most.)
The effective Council Tax rate in Wales (average tax percentage of average house price) is about 1%. It is 1.2% in Scotland and some English regions. For the south-east outside London it is about 0.6%, and for London it is about 0.3%. The total raised is about £55bn. So, if the rate deemed reasonable for poorer regions had been applied across all regions, the total could well have doubled.
Overall, we’re talking about over £100bn a year in taxes foregone from mainly the better-off. They are treated more favourably than landlords, other capital gainers, and council tax payers in lower house price regions.
A £100bn annual subsidy to owner-occupiers must have raised housing wealth by about £2 trillion (if 5% interest rates apply), or by 29% to its current £9 trillion. No wonder our attention is diverted away to the ‘welfare bill’. £77bn on health and disability benefits. Now that one can be cut!
David Richards,
Bridgend
Thursday 23rd July 2026
New buses are quieter but lack safety features
AS someone who regularly travels by Cardiff Bus between Penarth and Cardiff, I welcome the investment in the company’s new fleet of buses.
They are modern, quieter and better for the environment. However, I am concerned that some aspects of their design have come at the expense of passenger comfort and accessibility.
One of my biggest concerns is the reduction in accessible seating on the lower deck. There now appears to be only one pair of standard seats at floor level without a step, while the opposite side has only a small number of fold-down seats intended primarily for wheelchair users and passengers with pushchairs.
This leaves far fewer seating options for people who cannot easily climb steps.
Some of the seats towards the front of the bus also require passengers to step onto a raised platform. Because they are located near the entrance, they could easily be mistaken for priority seating, yet the step is not immediately obvious and could present a trip hazard, particularly for older passengers, disabled people and those with visual impairments or reduced mobility.
I have also noticed that some seats have no nearby grab rails or handholds, making it more difficult for passengers to steady themselves while sitting down or standing up. During the recent hot weather, the buses have also become uncomfortably warm, with poor ventilation even when all the windows are open.
Accessible public transport should be designed with everyone in mind. I hope Cardiff Bus will listen to feedback from passengers and review these issues before ordering future vehicles. Modern buses should not only be environmentally friendly but also safe, comfortable and accessible for all.
Aled Robert Thomas,
Penarth
Cyclists should share the cost of pothole repairs
DUE to the poor state of many roads, why not consider taxing cyclists?
A tax of £40 per annum could help towards fixing potholes in the area. Cyclists use the roads but do not pay towards upkeep. A photo card with name and address could be bought from post offices.
It will not be a popular idea with cyclists but they would benefit from fewer dangerous, accident-causing potholes.
J Smith,
Bridgend
Tax system ‘supercharged’ house prices
MISTAKES are easily made. But they can be much harder to undo.
When income tax was on the rise, most housing was tenanted and landowners paid income tax on rents. As owner-occupation increased, homeowners paid income tax on the ‘imputed rent’ that they paid to themselves.
In 1963, the Tories ended that tax. They abolished the other tax on house rents (the Rates) in 1989. They were forced to backtrack, so we got the Council Tax four years later. But the tax rates applied to the hasty valuations were mathematically rigged so that the highest value properties pay no more than three times the lowest value in England, and three and a half times in Wales.
The whole shebang amounted to a massive subsidy to home ownership, with the greatest subsidy going to the owners of the highest value homes. This subsidy is capitalised into house prices. It has supercharged the rise in house prices and widened the gap between lower value and higher value properties. I do not need to labour the point that we have a policy-made housing crisis.
What I do want to labour is that this subsidy (or tax loophole) is an addiction that is very hard to kick. Proposals to row back on it by, for example, reforming council tax are always going to be met with howls of derision. Which is understandable if you have just managed to pay the pumped-up housing club entrance fee. But more cynical if you have been a long-standing member and beneficiary.
Unless we accept that we are high on housing wealth subsidy, we are not going to try to get off the addiction. We get the treatment we vote for.
David Richards,
Bridgend
Is defence really a priority?
THERE are supposedly many wise men and women in the halls of Westminster.
Regarding defence, President Trump quite rightly has told Europe that it is about time that it “pulls its weight”.
Robbing Peter to pay Paul is never popular and the decision may be made to milk the rich a bit more to fund more armaments. Once all these decisions are made, the money starts rolling in and is spent.
May I ask who is the potential enemy? Could it be Russia or North Korea? Maybe Iran or at a stretch China? I cannot think of any country that would want to invade/attack the UK that would gain any sort of benefit.
In order of priorities, our new man at the helm should concentrate on more matters at home. Mr President will be placated in other ways and then he will be gone.
Paul Blanchard,
Barry
Thursday 25th June 2026
Congratulations to conservation group
I WOULD like to congratulate Dot Williams, the project officer for Butterfly Conservation and the ‘Curry Club’ (featured in the Glamorgan Star, 28th May, page 12) for their efforts in preserving the habitat for the High Brown Fritillary.
Years ago, I worked in the area. I am hoping that someone could inform me about how to preserve my own small effort – encouraging dragonflies to my pond. For three years I was successful but today these visitors seem to have been driven away by a sonic electronic deterrent in the area.
I have watched dragonflies circle but they do not land to lay eggs.
Thank you to the Glamorgan Star for publishing my letter.
Ms E Booth,
Llantwit Major
Bring back conscription
ONE of the headline-grabbing suggestions made by the Conservative party just before the general election was conscription.
Sir Kier Starmer/Andy Burnham have two problems that are headlines but not universally understood. One is that a million or so 16-24 year olds are not making a living and depend on the bank of mum or dad and/or the government. The other problem is, not to put too fine a point on it, coping with the ire of Donald Trump.
The old expression of killing two birds with one stone comes to mind.
Conscription will take the young people off the unemployment register, teach them a trade and will be seen by POTUS as a huge step to better the UK’s defence. Money-wise the government should easily spend less on paying this new defence force than making new armaments.
Those in the Labour Party who oppose welfare spending cuts should be pleased. The Conservative Party cannot oppose it as it was their idea. As for Mr Farage, he has no real policies like this so there will be nowhere for him to go.
Paul Blanchard,
Barry
Who wants to pay for defence?
HAVE any politicians been saying that they would like to be part of paying more to make our nation safer?
I have heard politicians calling for those on welfare benefits to pay, or for the wealthy to pay – but not for their strata to pay. An economic health warning against increasing income tax seems to be holding. Defence bonds would be lending, not paying.
I have been writing letters here urging improvement of the Council Tax. In the absence of reform of that tax, it would still be desirable, it seems to me, for the law to be changed to allow a precept to be added to pay for extra defence spending. We have a precept to pay for the local police. Why not a national precept devoted to the nation’s security?
If we are serious about the threat, property owners obviously have a stake in defending the country. Council tax ultimately falls on property owners, even where tenants pay the bills. Private rents generally have to fall if property taxes muscle in to divert some of what the rental market has shown tenants are able to bear overall (rent plus council tax) to occupy properties.
Given the deliberately regressive nature of the current Council Tax bands, the precept should not be a flat rate percentage across the bands but increase with the value of the bands.
David Richards,
Bridgend
Welsh Government is right to demand fair share of funding
I AGREE wholeheartedly with Gareth Jones (Letters, 11th June) that Wales needs a fully integrated transport strategy.
However, in dismissing Plaid Cymru MS Mark Hooper’s call for Westminster to provide Wales with fair and equitable infrastructure funding as “playing the blame game”, Mr Jones is wide of the mark, with perhaps a misunderstanding of the funding arrangements and separation of responsibilities between Westminster and devolved governments.
To be fair, Mr Jones would not be alone in this. Funding arrangements are opaque and often subject to last-minute unilateral changes by Westminster.
Responsibility for allocating rail infrastructure funding and determining which projects proceed rests solely with UK Westminster Government. For decades, Wales has been consistently short-changed by Conservative and Labour alike.
Despite accounting for around 11% of the UK’s rail network, Wales only receives 5% of rail infrastructure funding. This disparity will grow with HS2, estimated at £100 billion, and the Oxford-to-Cambridge rail link. Both are classified by Westminster as England and Wales investment, despite not a single mile of track being in Wales. By contrast, Scotland and Northern Ireland will receive consequential funding based on the spend in England.
Recently, the UK Labour Government announced infrastructure funding packages averaging around £2 billion for English regions, while Wales is set to receive approximately £450 million over 10 years.
Nor should we forget the previous Conservative Government’s decision to abandon its commitment to electrify the South Wales main line between Cardiff and Swansea.
For too long, MPs and MSs elected in Wales – Labour and Conservative – have placed party interests ahead of Wales’s long-term economic needs. Fair and appropriate funding is not a luxury; it is an economic necessity.
If Westminster’s main political parties genuinely believe that the UK is one nation, then funding decisions should reflect that principle. Wales deserves a fair share of investment and infrastructure spending.
Plaid Cymru was elected on a manifesto commitment to stand up for Wales’s interests. Whether one agrees with the party or not, challenging unfair funding arrangements is entirely consistent with that mandate. Mark Hooper MS and Plaid Cymru are therefore right to raise these concerns and press for a fairer deal for Wales.
Andrew Murphy,
Cowbridge
Thursday 11th June 2026
Council tax system must change
I HAVE just been listening to news reviewers on the radio agreeing on ‘the need to prioritise the young’, and that this means removing the triple lock on the state pension.
We were already worrying about the young before the triple lock was introduced in 2011. (David Willetts’ The Pinch was published in 2010). So, we need to look deeper.
I have pointed out the absurdity of our Council Tax system in previous letters. (Stay with me!) It is the main funder of local government spending, yet – as if it were the emperor’s naked body – it did not get a mention in the local government elections (except in the small print of manifestos).
We continue to swallow the Tories’ hasty, regressive, gimcrack tax creation of 35 years ago because we have always swallowed the whole iceberg – of which it is just a tip. Privatisation of land value. The economic problems of the young stem from their being locked out from access to their own land.
An accurate, up-to-date property tax specifically on land by value should be breaking up the monopoly of land access by the ‘haves’ (including me). It should increasingly fund our democratically desired public services, so that we do not have to rely on raising economically harmful taxes, such as those that are preventing young people from being employed today.
David Richards,
Bridgend
‘Blame Westminster’ will not wash
THE phrase ‘Blame Westminster’ was embedded in the culture of Welsh Labour for many years.
When their policies failed to arrest the slide in performance and standards in our public services, or to stimulate the economy, the blame was laid at the door of the UK government in Westminster. There was insufficient funding available, too little support, no co-operation or understanding of Wales etc etc. Both Mark Drakeford and Baroness Morgan, in particular, played this blame game time and time again.
Now we have Plaid Cymru in charge and whilst they have the majority of seats in the Senedd, they do not have an overall majority and indeed, with only 35% of the vote in the recent election, they have to appeal to the 65% of voters who were not convinced that they were the answer to the woes of Wales.
One thing they must avoid is the ‘blame Westminster’ game and that is why the decision from our Transport Minister, Mark Hooper MS, to write to Westminster bemoaning that millions of pounds from the HS2 project has not poured into Wales is a mistake – and sounds like the blame game is still alive and well.
Our Transport Minister must concentrate on producing a suitably costed and a sensible transport plan for the whole of Wales without delay. He must be aware that in many parts of our country, public transport does not exist and in other parts what is available is totally inadequate. Indeed, in the Vale, part of the area he was elected to serve, for many inhabitants the only sight they get of a bus or train is on their television screen.
Plaid Cymru must change the political language from looking for reasons not to improve our country to being positive and confident that Wales can and will provide quality public services and have a successful economy.
It appears they have not grasped that the blame game is past its sell date. We expect more from our newly-elected Government.
Gareth Jones,
Colwinston.
Are our politicians interested in climate change?
OVER 40 local people came together to support the Barry screening of the People’s Emergency Briefing on World Environment Day organized by Barry Action for Nature.
The film covers evidence from nine experts covering subjects such as national security, food security, energy policy and climate research.
Climate and nature breakdown will affect every constituency in the country, from health and food systems to infrastructure, security to economic stability. This crisis is more serious and immediate than many understand.
But we were very disappointed that after inviting our Member of Parliament and our six newly elected Senedd Members, not one of them attended.
There is a second chance, and we call on our elected representatives to attend the next screening of the film at the Barry YMCA on Monday, 15th June at 5pm… no excuses!”
Rob Curtis,
Barry Action for Nature
Thursday 28th May 2026
Welsh Labour looking to off-load blame
I WOULD like to take the opportunity to comment on former First Minister Mark Drakeford’s views on why Welsh Labour did so badly in the recent Welsh elections.
On BBC Radio Wales on 20th May, Mr Drakeford laid the blame squarely on Keir Starmer in Downing Street. I am not a fan of Mr Starmer!
However, Mark Drakeford (or Mark Dictator – as I refer to him) is the sole reason I didn’t not vote for Labour after 40-plus years. A politician who took it upon himself to ‘rule’ Wales and not ‘run’ it. Now he’s looking for a suitable scapegoat for the incredible damage brought upon the Welsh Labour Party.
Shane Overton,
Cadoxton, Barry.
Good neighbours are a blessing
THERE are times when people do not realise how lucky they are. To have a good neighbour is one of those times.
When you lose a good neighbour through death, downsizing or due to bad health, there is a time of waiting to see who replaces them. Good neighbours are gold in your pocket.
There are neighbours who fall out with each other. Nothing earth-shattering may have caused this situation but it is an uncomfortable situation if something happens that affects the two premises and conversations need to be had.
I am very lucky. I have two neighbours who I can knock their door and I will be welcomed with open arms. Over 40 years, we have helped each other and been the best of friends.
If you have a neighbour who, for some reason, you have fallen out with, can you remember what it was about? Has it been worth ostrasizing that person? Do you get any benefit from totally blanking them?
Now, there are neighbours who cannot be saved in any shape or form. This is a sad fact of life but maybe there is somebody who you can break bread with before it is too late.
This letter, when read by my good neighbours, will be embarrassing. They are good people and I consider myself blessed.
Paul Blanchard
Barry
Thursday 14th May 2026
Looking for a lost pension
LIKE thousands of others in the Vale, I was once an NJIC employee of the CEGB at Aberthaw Power Station.
During that time, in the mid-1970s, I opted to join the voluntary CEGB pension scheme in which I remained a member until I moved on from Aberthaw in 1977 to pastures new – well, to the desert, I went to work in the Middle East.
Alas, when retirement age came about for me, I have been unable to trace what has happened to my CEGB pension. I have written to all of the parties that I have heard of, including the Department of Work and Pensions and The Pension Tracing Service; I have even written to Sir Keir at No 10, but all to no avail!
If there any other ex-board employees out there who had a similar problem or even those who have resolved it, then please do contact me at
John T Price,
St Athan
Thank you for kindness in Penarth
MY family wish to thank all the kind people in Penarth who helped us when my sister tripped and fell badly on the pavement in Penarth last Friday morning, 8th May.
In particular, we thank Dr Fiona Porter who, luckily for us, was in the vicinity and stayed with my sister. Also, we thank the lovely nurse who helped alongside her and all the passers-by who showed concern and offered help. The staff of Foxy’s Deli and the Barber Shop were very helpful.
It was heartening to see such kindness. Another mention please, to the First Responders, and the ambulance staff who transferred my sister to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where she received excellent treatment. My sister is now back home recovering.
Mrs F Payne,
Llantwit Major
Tax changes are already happening
PAUL Blanchard (letters page 30th April) may not have noticed but income tax has already been put up, to 22p in the pound on investment and property income, and further by freezing the thresholds again despite inflation.
Rod Mackay
How do we fix the NHS?
GONE are the days when you called a doctor’s surgery, got an appointment and visited that day or the next.
There are political parties that are promising to “fix” the NHS. In my opinion, this is not possible in its present form. The NHS is not working because it is a public service. It needs to be more of a business.
I heard a sad story recently where a neighbour had a private hip operation carried out by their consultant/surgeon. The NHS person told them that the waiting list was very long and that he could carry out the operation in the near future – at a cost.
The operation was carried out but there were issues and my neighbour is on crutches. Subsequently, my neighbour found out that this particular consultant only works one day a week for the NHS. Does the rest of the NHS now pick up the pieces?
The answer therefore is the NHS needs to finance itself. Consultants etc are on serious money but if they can earn even more money doing private work, the people of the UK are being used. Now I appreciate that the NHS does get some portion of the overall revenue raised for these operations for use of facilities, staff, etc but has anybody seriously looked at this?
Private medical insurance is one answer. Another answer would be to have experienced business managing directors at the helm of NHS organisations.
The Labour Party has initiated an investigation into a fix of the NHS – expected completion date just before the end of their term.
Paul Blanchard,
Barry
Thursday 30th April 2026
From Canada to Barry
MY NAME is Bob Van Wyk, and I am writing to the Glamorgan Star from near Woodstock, Ontario in Canada.
I am researching a WWII RAF crew from 97 Sqdn that was captained by F/L Oliver Brock Robertson, a man who grew up near me outside Norwich, Ontario. One of his crew members was Sgt William Gething Peel (RAFVR # 913741), the Pathfinder crew’s Flight Engineer.
F/L Robertson’s Lancaster was shot down August 28th, 1943, near Erlangen in Germany. Only two of the crew survived…W/O Peter Scott and Sgt William Peel. Each became a PoW for the remainder of the war. The rest of the crew are now buried in the Durnbach War Cemetery in Germany.
Sgt Peel suffered serious wounds in this incident and wore a prosthetic arm and leg for the rest of his life. He had a sister (Mary) and a brother (Ernest), was married to a woman with the last name of Davies and regrettably died in South Glamorgan in 1977 at the age of 58.
I am trying to find a living family contact for Sgt Peel to further my research. With the help of a distantly-related person to William via Ancestry.ca, I believe that there is a relative (or relatives) of Sgt Peel living in the Barry area. I have more information to share about William’s crew and details from his last operation with the RAF if a relative is found and are interested.
Thank you in advance to any reader of the Glamorgan Star for any help or guidance that you can provide! Please feel free to contact me via email:
Bob Van Wyk,
Woodstock, Canada.
Radical action needed on tax system
IN HIS letter of 16th April, Paul Blanchard forgoes bolstering his view that the state pension should be removed from taxation with advice on what should be taxed instead. His taxes, he says, help pay the current crop of politicians to work out “how to correct the many wrongs of their predecessors”.
I would rather be more forthcoming. In a letter dated 20th February 2025, I suggested that Council Tax should be made fairer by making it proportional to regularly updated house values or, preferably, just to land values. At present, those at the lower end (especially of land values) are taxed proportionally more.
Owning land contributes nothing to the production of the country – as opposed to owning buildings, crops, cars, clothes, etc. Local property taxes based on land values (yes, business rates, too) could be the start of a gradual migration of taxes from work and enterprise, from their products, and from the exchange of those products.
The overall direct tax burden of tenants and the majority of landowners would begin to fall, depending on the details of the concomitant tax reductions. Land value-rich, income-poor landowners would have mitigating options that the land value-poor and landless do not have under current taxes.
Back in the 1980s, the Tories abolished the domestic rates because they sympathised with the little old lady living next door to a couple and three other strapping wage earners paying no more local property tax between them than she did. Today, those wage earning offspring unable to move out are the focus of concern, which suggests we should go in the opposite direction to the instigators of the poll tax.
David Richards,
Bridgend
Railway ‘feasibilty study’ should be quick and easy
I HAVE written to The Glamorgan Star concerning the almost perennial issue of St Athan Railway Station before, but here goes.
Jane Hutt and Ken Skates were reported to be about to announce a ‘feasibility study’ for the station. Well, I volunteer to write one myself free-of-charge. As a professional engineer, although not a civil engineer, I do not see that it would be rocket science.
I estimate that it would take me all of one day and not run to more than about 10 pages. In the oil patch (industry) we call it a FEED (front-end engineering design) study and, having worked on multi-billion dollar projects, it will not faze me.
It needs only be a carbon copy of the Llantwit Major station, but without the footbridge because, at Gileston, access to the South (westbound) and North (Eastbound) platforms is possible from the existing road bridge leading from The Monument to Gileston village.
John T Price,
St Athan
Ring fence cash for important work – and keep public informed
TWO of the big bugbears in the UK today are the NHS and the state of the roads. The economy is a close third but the Government have proved past masters at screwing that up – whether it be the UK Government or Cardiff Bay.
One of the necessary ways to placate the person in the street is to visibly do something that shows that these two problems are being dealt with from day one of a planned exercise.
My suggestion is to raise income tax. Not a popular suggestion but if the money raised was guaranteed to go to either or both, ie ‘ring fenced’ and that reports were published regularly to the general public of progress? Therefore, people could see where their money is going.
South Wales could do with a ‘super hospital’ strategically positioned. When opened, that overused shed called the Heath could be sold and money saved if the land is leased, or sold if it is owned. There would economies of scale.
The current President of the USA promised to ‘Make America Great Again’. That’s not going so well but he made promises and is determined to stand his ground.
Being in government is not a popularity contest. Our Chancellor promised not to raise taxes. This was a foolhardy promise. One thing that the government have a reputation for is U-turns. Time to make another one.
The only way the UK is going is downwards and something has to be done.
Paul Blanchard
Barry
Thursday 16th April 2026
A big ‘thank you’ to swan rescuers!
A FEW weeks ago at the Knap Lake people became aware of a swan with horrific neck injuries in what was described as a possible fox or dog attack.
The poor creature was subdued and visibly shocked by its ordeal and over time a Facebook page was created and it gained many followers of people concerned for the swan’s welfare.
I rang a rescue in Wales and they couldn’t help. Then I rang a well-known swan rescuer Peter Martin, who was miraculously one mile away! He had been contacted by others earlier.
He arrived with gear to hand and set about assessing how to catch the swan, this being no mean feat!
Then along came wonder woman Sharron from a local cafe wearing cold water attire and wellies. Armed with two nets she proceeded to wade into the middle of the lake toward the ailing swan who took flight and managed to evade capture that day.
All was not lost. That weekend Sharron did not give up – even though Peter was unavailable.
With patience and determination, she managed to grab the bird single-handed at the lakeside. She took it to her cafe and managed to contain and calm the bird until Peter could come from miles away to collect it.
What a pair of superheroes who went above and beyond to rescue a very poorly swan, who thankfully is making a full recovery and will be released back into the lake in the near future.
Well done to both of them!
T Abery
Barry
Government needs to fix tax system
IN REPLY to David Richard’s letter (2 April) re taxing pensioners. He wanted to know if not pensioners where to get the shortfall in tax receipts.
Luckily, my taxes help to pay for over 600 politicians in London to come up with monetary policies to fund the UK. They will be with us for the next few years giving them time to correct the many wrongs of their predecessors.
Paul Blanchard
Barry
Don’t just dismiss ‘NIMBY’ views
I AM responding to John T Price (Letters, 2 April) regarding so-called ‘NIMBYs’, in relation to the proposal for 105 new homes at Bryn Melin.
This issue can apply to any new development, and who better to explain and understand the community than those who live nearby? I do not share his view, because poorly sited development can have a detrimental impact on existing residents.
At the same time, I agree that appropriate, safe and well-supported accommodation should be provided to protect people experiencing homelessness and help them rebuild their lives
Being fair to established communities also matters. Many people have worked hard throughout their lives to choose where they live, and they deserve a planning process that identifies appropriate sites and minimises avoidable harm.
Wherever possible, this should mean prioritising locations with good access to schools, health services, shops and public transport; using brownfield land before greenfield sites; designing in buffers and green corridors and respecting green wedges.
This is not an abstract issue for me. We have a similar proposal affecting a much-cherished community field in Clive Road, St Athan, suggested for supported accommodation. That experience reinforces my belief that decisions must take account of the value of community assets and green space.
For example, the initial illustration of the proposed Clive Road field development appears to show homes positioned in a way that faces directly onto existing properties and could potentially overlook them. When layouts feel as though they “impose” on current residents, that is precisely when better design is needed.
It is also reasonable to say that the people who fund public services (including homelessness support) should not be left carrying the burden of preventable noise, disruption and a deterioration in quality of life. Supportive, stable environments can often be achieved within existing communities through small-scale, well-integrated homes, rather than large, concentrated schemes.
The recent BBC Countryfile segment on homelessness was a sobering reminder that, behind the statistics, there are real people, often young, who are trying to stay safe, remain in work or education, and rebuild their lives without a stable place to live.
The UK has faced a severe housing shortage for decades, and doing nothing simply shifts the burden onto families in temporary accommodation and people sleeping rough. That said, new homes can and should be delivered in ways that reduce impacts on existing neighbours.
That means: a robust construction management plan (restricted hours, clear routes for heavy vehicles, and effective dust and noise controls); safe walking and cycling links, alongside realistic parking and traffic measures. If we insist on high standards, we can meet urgent housing need while ensuring developments are genuinely neighbour-friendly.
This raises a basic question of fairness: is it right to pursue housing numbers, developer timelines and national targets if the predictable costs (noise, congestion, loss of amenity and stress) are concentrated on the same local residents, often for years? If national need is being met, then national government and planning authorities should ensure impacts are shared fairly and properly mitigated, rather than simply pushed onto the communities closest to the building site.
In that context, I would caution against dismissing local objections as “NIMBYism”. Many residents are not “shouting for no reason”; they are trying to protect their homes and the kind of place future generations will inherit
If development is to proceed, it must be on the right sites, delivered to a high standard, with enforceable conditions and clear long-term responsibility for maintenance and support. Communities should not be asked to sacrifice wellbeing so that short-term profit is maximised or national targets can simply be ticked off on paper.
Maxine Levett
St Athan
New flats are an eyesore
WHO in their right mind designed and approved those blocks of ugly flats built to replace the Girls Grammar school on the Aberthin Road, Cowbridge.
What an absolute eyesore when entering Cowbridge from that direction. I feel sorry for the people who live opposite who have look at them.
C Wilkins
Thursday 2nd April 2026
If pensioners pay less, who pays more?
THE letter from Paul Blanchard (19th March) does not address the question I asked him.
His proposal cannot take off on one wing alone. If state pensions should be removed from taxable income, what should be taxed elsewhere to make up the state revenue shortfall?
(As he raises the matter, I do receive a state pension and I have other income that is taxed as a result.)
David Richards
Bridgend
NIMBYs should be banned
IT WAS a pleasure to read the Glamorgan Star this week (19 March) edition, however:
1/ I was dismayed by the reported negative opinion of Cowbridge residents concerning the plan for 105 new homes to be built in Bryn Melin.
These NIMBYs would do well to watch the recent episode on BBC’s Countryfile. The harrowing plight of a homeless youth may sway their opinion.
A critical housing shortage has existed in the U.K. as long as I can remember and that is over 70 years. NIMBYism should be banned by law!
2/ The Vale Council’s plan to raise our Council Tax by 6.5% this year is outrageous.
Worse is that their planned expenditure includes: £21.2 million ‘Pride in Place’ funding which includes a ‘watersports centre’!
That money would be better spent on our appalling roads. It is reported that only £11 million is to be spent for ‘highway improvements’. I trust that all of that money is to be spent exclusively remediating the myriad of potholes.
Who in the Vale Council makes these egregious decisions?! Council, get your priorities correct.
John T Price
St Athan
Odds are stacked against residents in planning issues
PEOPLE in the Vale are increasingly being asked to respond to highly technical planning documents, such as Local Development Plans (LDPs), despite working full-time jobs, caring for families, and having limited spare time.
These plans often run to hundreds of pages and require specialist understanding that most residents have never been trained in.
Meanwhile, developers and land promoters employ paid planning consultants, environmental specialists, transport analysts, ecologists, and legal teams whose entire job is to interpret policy and influence planning outcomes. These experts have the time, funding, and qualifications to shape documentation in their favour.
Residents do not.
This creates an inherent imbalance: ordinary people, who are directly affected by changes to their environment, must try to understand complex planning processes in their evenings and weekends, while competing against professionals working on these issues full-time.
For residents with families or caring responsibilities, it is simply unrealistic to expect them to read, digest and respond meaningfully to national legislation, LDPs, environmental reports, and consultation materials. Many feel overwhelmed before they even begin.
The result is a planning system that is technically open to everyone, but practically accessible to only a few. Until public consultations are simplified, better supported, and genuinely inclusive, residents will continue to feel they are fighting a battle they were never equipped to win.
Why Consultation Often Feels Token to Residents
Although consultation is a formal requirement, many residents experience it as a process that records views rather than meaningfully shaping outcomes. This perception is reinforced when key discussions take place before the public stage, when decisions are framed as meeting pre-set housing or growth targets, and when technical evidence (often commissioned by applicants) carries more weight than non-technical public concerns. In practice, this can create the impression that development is treated as the default position and that community input is managed rather than acted upon.
Common reasons residents describe consultation as “token” include:
1/ Complexity and time burden: consultation documents can be long, technical, and difficult to interpret without specialist knowledge.
2/ Early decisions feel pre-determined: pre-application discussions and internal assessments may shape the direction before residents are aware.
3/ “Material considerations” filter: many heartfelt concerns are discounted if they do not align with planning policy tests (for example, impacts that are hard to evidence).
4/ Unequal resources: developers and promoters can fund consultants, reports, and legal input; residents typically cannot.
5/ Pressure to deliver targets: councils must balance local views against national policy expectations on housing, growth, and land supply.
6/ Limited feedback loop: residents may not see clearly how their comments changed the plan or decision, which undermines trust.
Ordinary residents are not “anti-development” for asking questions or raising concerns; they are exercising a basic right to shape the places where they live, work, and raise families. If consultation is to be more than a box-ticking exercise, it must be designed around the realities of everyday life: clear summaries, accessible evidence, realistic timeframes, and a transparent explanation of how public input influenced the final outcome.
A planning system that relies on communities to engage must also invest in helping them do so, otherwise participation will remain unequal, and trust will continue to erode.
Maxine Levitt
Rhoose
House of Lords should not be able to stall legislation
THE House of Lords will soon ‘kill’ the Terminally Ill adults (End of Life) Bill by talking it out.
As a private member’s Bill it will run out of time as it must pass through both houses in this session of Parliament. It cannot be carried forward to the next session. It has already been approved by the elected House of Commons but the unelected House of Lords has decided its demise by raising over 1,000 amendments that each have to be debated. This Bill is effectively dead.
Everytime a member of the House of Lords attends, he or she receives approximately £400. I raise this point because it seems, if only partly, the Bill is just putting tax payers’ money in people’s pockets for simple prevarication.
Our PM should have seen through this, reacted earlier. This is a travesty.
The comments raised are that people should be better cared for in hospices. They simply do not exist in sufficient numbers.
What does this mean? Instead of a dignified death, people in pain and indignity can now look forward to what?
The government of the UK should have the means of driving such legislation through parliament.
Paul Blanchard
Barry
Thursday 19th March 2026
Sad about habitat loss
HOW sad I feel that the Vale Council has seen fit to destroy vital habitat along the escarpment at Penarth marina on day two of official bird nesting season.
Such bad timing, reinforcing Wales shameful reputation for being one of the most nature depleted countries on earth with one in six species at risk of extinction and 20% decrease in average species.
T Abery,
Barry
Will the new Senedd be defection proof?
THE defection of a political candidate or elected member to another party is a fairly common event, as seen recently in Penarth.
However, will defection still be possible in future for members of the Senedd?
For the elections in May we have a new voting system. We will be marking a cross to choose a party, not a candidate. Each party will have already provided voters with a list of their candidates to potentially be allotted seats for the Senedd, and the seats will be divided proportionally among the parties according to the numbers of votes received, six members for each of the 16 constituencies.
But what happens in this system if a Senedd member changes allegiance?
Surely this person must lose their seat and the original party voted for then fill it with the next candidate on their list. This would also presumably be the top-up procedure should a Senedd member resign, retire or die.
The system also caters for an individual to be elected as an Independent. So how would an Independent be replaced with no back-up list?
In conclusion, therefore, am I right in assuming that the new system eliminates the need for any by-elections?
Niclas ApGlyn,
Penarth
Who should pay tax? – not pensioners
IN the letters section on 5th March, David Richards asked me who should pay tax if pensioners did not. I am assuming Mr Richards is not a state retiree and does not receive a stipend from the government. If he is, well here is my answer on both counts.
I have been paying tax for over 50 years and accepted that running a country needs funds. I am still working, albeit part time.
When I was working, I benefitted as other workers did from a certain amount tax free. This is now called ‘Personal Allowance’. But now I do not as I receive the state pension which corresponds with today’s personal allowance. Everything I earn/any pension I have contributed to over the 50 years, or interest on investments/dividends, is now taxed at 20% or more.
I contributed to my state pension as every working person does. I hope Mr Richards can read between the lines.
The kicker is that I feel I do not get my money’s worth. NHS poor, roads rubbish, expanding bureaucracy (The Senedd) in an AI world.
There are other reasons why I grimace every time March comes around and my love letter arrives from the HMRC telling me how much I have paid over the last year and sometimes how much I still owe.
Paul Blanchard,
Barry
High street litter is on the march
IN A city not far from here, I heard a woman say, as she dropped a cigarette packet onto a litter-strewn pavement, “Well I might as well” and indeed it disappeared immediately into all the other detritus.
Since ‘Winston’ retired, Cowbridge High Street is going the same way. Can we please have a street cleaner?
Who drops it all anyway? I never see anyone do it.
R Bradshaw
Cowbridge
Why more 20mph speed limits?
WHY has the Vale council tax gone up by 6.5%? This is way above inflation.
Why, when there is such a need to greatly increase council tax, has the 20mph been extended along Lavernock Road to Brockhill Rise? Apart from ensnaring more drivers having a day out at Cosmeston in these hard times, when the speeding van is parked by the old schooner pub.
How much is it costing to implement the new speed limits here? Is this being replicated elsewhere in the Vale?
Admittedly there is a new bus stop there but everyone managed to cross the road safely before.
Couldn’t this exorbitant rise in council tax be better spent elsewhere ie housing, schools, potholes, supporting the OAPs? Most council taxpayers would sooner see our money spent this way instead of using it to inflict more penalties on hard-pressed taxpayers at a time of rising fuel, food, energy, and living costs
Tim James,
Penarth
Repair potholes – not lay-bys
I NOTICE that between Waycock Cross roundabout and Cardiff Airport, a lay-by has been re-laid with lots of fresh tarmac which, of course, will be free of potholes for the occasional vehicles to park up.
What about all the numerous potholes on all the local roads that we residents of the Vale travel on daily that are ruining our cars?
Does the Vale Council have no sense whatsoever? If they have so much tarmac, they could have filled many, many potholes. What a waste of our taxes.
Jane Jarrett,
Rhoose
Barry’s rare habitat must be protected
MAY I thank all the people who signed Barry Action for Nature’s petition calling for the saltwater marsh at the Old Harbour, adjacent to Barry Island, to be declared a Local Nature Reserve.
Saltwater marsh is one of the rarest habitats in the UK. The Old Harbour’s marsh supports resting and feeding red listed species such as curlew, whimbrel and other wading birds.
I would also like to thank councillors of all political parties who have backed our petition at the Vale Council’s ‘Place’ scrutiny committee (not forgetting the Glamorgan Star’s recent ‘Protecting our Planet’ column by Brian Mayne).
The process to declare this important wildlife habitat a Local Nature Reserve may take some time so, in the meantime, we respectfully ask dog walkers to keep their dogs at least 50 metres away from the salt marsh to avoid disturbing these resting birds.
Rob Curtis,
Chairman, Barry Action for Nature
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