Nia Griffith MP wants to see Thales expand its business at the new Llangennech plant. The factory fits Warthog vehicles with high-tech communications systems, and now Nia is talking to company managers about fitting out police and emergency vehicles too.
The EU and Welsh Assembly are contributing towards the £14.1 million to preserve the historic Zion Chapel and old Sunday School, as part of a new theatre and arts complex in Llanelli.
Nia says, “Preserving our historic buildings is very important, but we must find new uses if they are to remain safe in the long term. The new project combines a strong emphasis on Llanelli’s architectural heritage with modern facilities.”
Nia Griffith with Cllr. Steve Lloyd-Janes at the Zebra Crossing on Fforest Road, Hendy
At a recent site meeting on the Fforest Road it came to light that Swansea City Council had not consulted with Carmarthen County Highways Department about a part of a planning application with conditions to alter the junction at the Black Horse with the introduction of a new roundabout. This design would mean that the current zebra crossing would have to be moved.
Nia said:
“Any improvements to address road safety and to slow traffic down would be welcomed but if the zebra crossing is to be moved or altered then full consultation over the design needs to be conducted to ensure that safety for pedestrians and the users is also considered.”
Outside ThyssenKrupp Tallent - Nia joins Union reps Dai Bowen and Clive Richards
ThyssenKrupp Tallent is shelving closure plans and talking of bringing more work to their Felinfoel “Camfords” plant. Dai Bowen, Camfords Unite Union rep said “Our MP Nia Griffith has backed us all the way. She pulled out all the stops for the German bosses to demonstrate the benefits of staying in Llanelli.”
Now the Llanelli MP is calling on the Welsh Assembly Government to help finance new lines at the plant. Nia says, “Bringing jobs to the area is the most important way of improving living standards and putting more money into the local economy. It’s about talking up Llanelli and the skills of our local workforce.”
Prime Minister Gordon Brown took tea and cake last weekend with more than a dozen community leaders from the Llanelli constituency. During the informal meeting in Dafen, Gordon Brown met with people from industry, healthcare, charity and churches.
“It is really important to meet people and it is really interesting. I can talk to people from different communities that come together,” Gordon Brown said.
“It is not me talking at people it is me listening to what people say.”
This St David’s Day I want to send my very best wishes to the people of Wales and Welsh people across the world. Doctor Who and the outstanding Gavin and Stacey. Today we pay tribute to all those in film, music, television and the arts who fly the flag for Wales.
I know that today, from Bangor to Builth Wells and beyond, you will be celebrating your nation and its achievements in many ways – by attending Eisteddfods, dressing your children in national costume or by taking part in parades.
You can be rightly proud of your strong and passionate country. Indeed, Welsh culture is admired far beyond our shores, as demonstrated by its showcase at the prestigious Smithsonian Festival in Washington DC last summer.
In the arts, you continue to punch above your weight, not least as home to some of our most successful television programmes -
So too do we recognise the achievements of your sportsmen and women, especially your rugby heroes and the UK’s Sports Personality of the Year, Ryan Giggs. Wales shone as host to the Ashes last summer, and I know it will once again when the eyes of the sporting world focus on the Ryder Cup in Newport this October.
Of course, it has been a landmark year for all those involved in Welsh politics – you have celebrated the first decade of devolution and – 2 -
the election of new First Minister. In partnership with Carwyn Jones, I look forward to working with you to secure the economic recovery, protect front-line public services and support Welsh businesses and jobs.
I wish you all a wonderful St David’s Day.
Gordon Brown
Nia Griffith MP and Cllr. Keith Davies are pleased to announce that the B5 ‘Bws Bach Cydweli’ bus service connecting Mynyddygarreg and Four Roads with Kidwelly will resume from Monday 22nd of February. The service, which will be operated by Morris Travel will feature a new diversion to serve the Railway Station and Hillfield Villas area, improving access to Kidwelly Surgery and the Town Council Offices.
On hearing the news, Nia said “I am pleased that Morris Travel is able to provide this popular service and hope that it continues to be of value to the community.”
An event on North Dock on Friday the 12th February highlighted the potential of new Feed-in tariffs to encourage green innovation. Announced by Government last October, the tariffs encourage the adoption of renewable energy sources by allowing individuals to ‘feed-back’ power they have generated into the public grid.
Inventor Rupert Sweet-Escott, Nia Griffith MP and Adrian Matthews with the SET.
Similar schemes are already in place in almost 70 countries and in Germany are credited with boosting sales of solar panels and wind generators to individuals who can not only generate their own electricity, but who are also paid by power companies for the energy generated by their equipment.
Nia Griffith, Llanelli MP has been an advocating for the introduction of microgeneration and the new Feed-in tariffs in Westminster which are expected to take effect as early as April 2010.
Nia says, “These tariffs will help local people who want to generate electricity and sell it back to the grid. They will ensure that people who install microgeneration equipment and generate more power than they can use, can not only feed that power back into the grid but that they are also paid fairly for their contribution. Furthermore, growing demand for ecologically sustainable developments in our area, means we can also benefit from the growth of green industries in Wales. I will continue to influence Government towards measures that have positive impact on both our environment and on our local economy.”
With the feed-in tariffs coming into effect, local businessman Adrian Matthews of Hick Street, Llanelli invited Nia and others to North Dock this afternoon to show off a new energy saving ‘chimney pot’ which he and inventor Rupert Sweet-Escott hope will be approved for the UK’s new microgeneration scheme.
The ‘chimney pot’ or Secret Energy Turbine (SET) is a small wind turbine disguised as a chimney pot that utilises wind power to generate electricity. Now Matthews is hoping that government grants for microgeneration equipment and the new feed-in tariff will encourage investment in the Secret Energy Turbine . The ex-army combat engineer is in charge of UK marketing for The Green Brand a company whose owner recently appeared, along with the SET, on BBC 2’s Dragons Den.
Now Matthews and SET inventor Rupert Sweet-Escott are working to locate the first new UK manufacturing plant for SET technology in the South Wales area. Matthews says of Sweet-Escott, “he’s not Welsh, but his heart is in Wales.”
Nia meeting with representatives of the Unite Union at the plant
There’s exciting news at ThyssenKrupp Tallent as the company shelves closure plans and begin talks of bringing more work to their Felinfoel plant, better known to many as Camfords.
Commenting on the good news, Dai Bowen, Unite Union rep at the plant said “Our MP Nia Griffith has backed us all the way; she has cancelled other engagements at very short notice to go and make our case to German bosses in the Midlands and over at company headquarters in Germany”
Nia explained “ It’s about talking up Llanelli, putting Llanelli on the map, telling the German bosses about our skilled workforce and getting them to visit the plant to see for themselves the capacity we have for expansion, and how easy it is to get from the Midlands down the motorway to Llanelli. I’m now calling on the Welsh Assembly Government to help finance new lines at the plant. Bringing jobs to the area is the most important way of improving living standards and putting more money into the local economy”