See, I told you so!
The Welsh Nationalists have briefly touched the levers of power and they're at it already.
The recent announcement by Rhodri Morgan and his nationalist cronies comes as no surprise to me.
The proposal to compel by Legislative Competence Order, businesses in Wales to provide their goods and services via Welsh, or else, has been lifted directly from Cymdeithas' 'language measures', as I forecast weeks ago.
We have also heard from the multi-faceted Ieuan Wyn Jones of his wonderful dreams for North to South transport infrastructure improvements.
I would venture to suggest that he concentrate more on widening the M4, particularly Eastbound, in order to accomodate the businesses in Wales who will be making a sharp exit in order to avoid this blatant Welsh language Stealth Tax.
Who pays this? You of course.
Your perceptive pal.
johnny.
Labels: LCO, Road improvements, Welsh Language Act
posted by johnny foreigner @ 03:00
13 Comments
13 Comments:
Johnny, your profile says that you have strong opinions on many matters. I look forward to hearing them. At the moment your strong opinions seem restricted to the Welsh language and its supporters.
The whole North South Link debate is a fraud.
We've just had a North - South air link subsidized by the Assembly, yet, the demand for it is not outstanding.
If people are unwilling to use this extra quick link, why would they decide to use a much slower link which would cost more to use? £50 for an air ticket is much less than the cost of fuel and wear and tear on a 2 year old car!
So what do you think?
Nonny @ 17:39.
Point taken, I'll get on to it.
Your pal.
johnny.
Anonymous said...
"The whole North South Link debate is a fraud."
johnny says....
I'm inclined to agree with you.
The geography of Wales has such a natural geographical division, the Beacons and the Cambrians, which cannot really be reduced by much.
The Northern population are more inclined to travel Eastwards as opposed to Southwards and the Southerners, Eastwards as well.
Whilst I appreciate that those of a Nationalist persuasion would prefer more North/South, South/North travel, I'm afraid that it'll take a lot more than a few alterations to the A470 to achieve this and an absolutely astronomical amount of money which could, quite honestly, be spent in more useful manner for the benefit of all, not just a few Assembly members and business people.
Business people have, for years, tailored their business interests to allow for the geographical factor, and have adapted, as they have few Nationalist needs associated with business.
Of course, at this time we must also consider the proposal for a tidal barrage across the Severn, the cost of which is, as yet, not finalised.
Bearing in mind the Assembley's natural propensity towards gross underestimation of major projects, the Porth by-pass for example, I really think that, apart from a few widenings of the North/South route to enable safe overtaking of caravans and other slower vehicles the proposal is hardly practical or prudent.
There seems to be more natural inclination towards connections between the North and Liverpool and the Midlands, and between the South and the lower border counties and the West country.
It's just a matter of geography.
With regard to the air links between North and South I really think that as the aircraft involved are quite small, again, it's a pretty futile attempt to encourage large scale North/South travel.
Of course we have to then think of the carbon equation.
I think that you will find that the main proponents of air travel, North/South, are those few that may use it. Probably Assembly Members and their acolytes who will attempt to justify their travel at the expense, both financial and carbon, of the rest of us.
I suspect that there may be more politically motivated reasons for this air link than public spiritedness.
Your particularly polarized pal.
johnny.
well the air link has been well used every time I try to book it its full.may be we should get Branon to take it over
Also sometimes you need to have your own transport to get around when you are up North.
An improved A470 would be a boon to business, tourism and just about every other person who has to trek 5 hours to a meeting in Anglesey and then trek back
Any improvement in our infrastructure is welcome
Allez les bleus!
I'm afraid that the geography is still against us.
Whilst improvement to the A470 would be of great benefit to all, I believe that a dual carriageway type of road would only result from astronomical investment.
You only have to see the £98 million cost of the Porth by-pass to get an idea of the cost.
Whilst the air-link may appear to be practical if there were more room on flights, the carbon cost would hardly be apportioned fairly. The flights may benefit the few but at great cost to the many.
Of course, if Wales were a wealthy country, on the lines of, say, Switzerland, we could just drill through any mountains that happened to be in our way.
Unfortunately, Barnett the Bank would hardly cover the cost of the pavements.
Your potentially pedestrian pal.
johnny.
Out of interest, only 8% of North Wales 's tourists come from South Wales!
Oh, and another thing, the air link feasibility study found that only 150 cars a day make the trip from North to South or South to North. That is why their aircraft only carry 39 people a day!
From a business perspective, the best thing to do for the roads is a Hereford bypass, but that isn't going to make the politicians feel good - even if it does help Welsh business!
The Herefordshire NFU have been talking about the county transferring to Wales, so maybe that Hereford bypass isn't out of the question. Do people travel from North Wales to South Wales via Hereford, bit daft if they do.
Nonnys @ 23:21 & 00:8.
The Hereford/Shrewsbury route has been used for generations for South East to North East traffic and further improvements would certainly aid business. As these are the centres of population, this is clearly a practical solution.
Unfortunately, we currently have politicians who are desperate for recognition for something/anything.
The geography of Wales has been responsible for the distribution and accumulation of our population.
I feel that Ieuan's A470 and onward new route to the North West has something of a more political slant than pure practicality.
The astronomical cost would be wholly disproportionate to the overall benefit for Wales.
Wales has always sold itself on the basis of its natural beauty and leisurely pace, in rural areas.
Ieuan's proposal would carve a great big gouge through this.
On a nice day, there's nothing nicer than a leisurely drive to Mid-Wales on the A470, whereas on a busy day with lots to do, it can be a nightmare.
Some widening of the existing North/South route is clearly indicated but Wales will, forever, be the victim of its own geographical beauty.
Your poignant pal.
johnny.
Build a bloody decent railway and tramway networks. To hell with roads!
ryan, what a good idea.
The Assembly will have lots of surveys by expensive consultants, then debate, debate, debate such surveys, order more surveys then...
the North South divide will still be just as it was, except millions will have dissapeared in fees and committees and we'll still have two countries calling itself Wales.
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