Prompt action from Nia Griffith MP and Cross Hands residents, who had heard that the Community Council had been talking about selling off the Memorial Gardens on Llandeilo Road and moving the Cenotaph, has resulted in councillors hastily reassuring residents that nothing had been decided.
Cross Hands councillor Ryan Thomas alerted local residents and MP Nia Griffith to his concerns about what the council had been discussing, and following a well-attended meeting at the Cross Hands Club on Tuesday evening, the residents elected a representative, Bob Gunstone of Maesyrhaf, to ask for permission to speak on their behalf at the monthly meeting of Llannon Community Council in Tumble hall on Wednesday evening.
To make sure that the Community Councillors realised just how much concern their discussions about the Memorial Gardens, the residents waved placards outside the Council meeting, handed letters to the Councillors and, as many as could fit, squeezed into the Committee room where the councillors were holding their meeting. They had also collected a petition of over 200 signatures from local residents, just in one afternoon.
Bob Gunstone presented the petition, and, then speaking on behalf of residents he said, “This is a place of particular significance to local residents. Rather than moving the Memorial from these gardens, we would like the Council to consider adding to the gardens. I have been told that the Community has been given commemorative sheaves from Tower Colliery that they would also like to see on display.”
Commenting on the councillors response, Nia Griffith MP commented, “ I am very glad that the Council Chairman Terry Evans allowed the residents’ representative speak, and that the clerk has invited residents’ representatives to attend a site visit at the memorial Gardens. Residents are simply asking that before any decisions are made, there is full consultation with local residents, including a public meeting in Cross Hands”