BBC News - Snowdonia National Park's new chief warns of job cuts

BBC News - Snowdonia National Park's new chief warns of job cuts: "The chair of the park authority, Caerwyn Roberts, said: "These are challenging times for Wales' national parks and Emyr Williams's strong leadership will be a valuable asset to us as the authority faces the tough challenges ahead.""

The biggest challenge is abolition and they can't do anything about that now, they can only blame themselves.


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BBC News - Freak storm destroys trees at Llanbedr, Gwynedd

BBC News - Freak storm destroys trees at Llanbedr, Gwynedd:

God moves in mysterious ways.

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BBC News - National parks visitors spend £1bn according to report

BBC News - National parks visitors spend £1bn according to report: "However, he added: "People come to the national parks because of the landscape and the people who live there - they don't come because of the national park authorities."

The Authorities do nothing for the communities as far as social and economic wellbeing is concerned, the fact that people visit and spend in these areas is not directly attributable to the existence of a layer of local government, however the effect of a restrictive planning regime costs the regions many more £millions in lost business opportunities, Llanbedr airfield being a case in point!

Simon Hart is a breath of fresh air with regard to the elitist concept of national parks where the less affluent cannot afford to visit and the residents suffer from what international human rights observers describe as ‘soft eviction’ and ‘voluntary resettlement’, the problem with Wales is that well over 50% of the land area is a protected landscape, this is unsustainable and of no economic benefit to the indigenous population.

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Fear for future of tourist information centres as visitor numbers fall by 7,000 - North Wales Weekly News

Fear for future of tourist information centres as visitor numbers fall by 7,000 - North Wales Weekly News: " Although the future of the visitor centres had not yet reached the “critical point”, Mr Williams said their future was just one aspect that the SNPA was looking at in the way it assessed its effectiveness."

The whole concept of national parks needs to be revisited, can we Welsh afford them?

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Housing associations provide a major boost to the Welsh economy - Wales Online

Housing associations provide a major boost to the Welsh economy - Wales Online: "“In the past year we have pumped hundreds of millions of pounds into the Welsh economy "

Whose money is it?


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Language campaigners demand re-think of Welsh budget - Wales Online

Language campaigners demand re-think of Welsh budget - Wales Online: "According to the draft budget, spending on the language  will fall from £25,076,000 this year to £24,376,000 in 2014-15, falling further to £23,511,000 in 2015-16. That would be a cut of £700,000 next year and £856,000 in the following year."

How many affordable homes could we build every year for that sort of money?

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New affordable housing initiative in Wales delivers hundreds of homes | Europe | News

New affordable housing initiative in Wales delivers hundreds of homes | Europe | News: "The Welsh Housing Partnership initiative has now bought more than 400 properties in local authority areas across the whole of Wales, with more than £46 million of investment."

400 eh, wow, we only need another 90,000

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Wales suffers Britain's highest electricity bills - Wales Online

Wales suffers Britain's highest electricity bills - Wales Online:

Too any Welsh people live in decrepit old Victorian dwellings which have no insulation, no wonder they have bigger energy bills

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Wales’ legacy of ill-health could dash our hopes of prosperity - Wales Online

Wales’ legacy of ill-health could dash our hopes of prosperity - Wales Online: "Dr Hussey said: “Poverty harms health and the impact may worsen, at least temporarily, with the economic downturn and benefit reform. Poor health in turn places a significant burden on the economy."

Decrepit housing and people packed into them like sardines doesn't help.

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Relaxed planning laws from September 30 (From Penarth Times)

Relaxed planning laws from September 30 (From Penarth Times): "But some have criticised the Welsh Government for taking five years to introduce the revised regulations – after England introduced near-identical changes in 2008."

Diawledig!

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Welsh Secretary accuses Welsh Government of "tying the hands" of councils - Wales Online

Welsh Secretary accuses Welsh Government of "tying the hands" of councils - Wales Online: "He said: “[All] too often the Welsh Government seems more intent on increasing the regulatory burdens on councils and businesses rather than reducing them. The very opposite of empowerment. And collaboration – in Welsh Government terms – means telling local authorities what to do, rather than communities and councils working together."

If he thinks local authorities are a solution to anything then he needs to look a bit closer. I hope the WG scraps them all.

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Beach huts for Barry Island as ambitious plans for seaside redevelopment are unveiled - Wales Online

Beach huts for Barry Island as ambitious plans for seaside redevelopment are unveiled - Wales Online: "The plans will see mean millions of pounds invested in Barry Island to turn it into a “Welsh Riviera”"

Good idea, do the same for all Welsh beaches.

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NFU warns on fall in UK farming self-sufficiency - Wales Online

NFU warns on fall in UK farming self-sufficiency - Wales Online: "NFU president Peter Kendall said farmers in Wales and England are calling for support from politicians, the public and food industry to back British farming and help them produce more."

I don't receive public subsidy and I still manage to provide what amounts to a public service. Unlike many farmers I know I don't enjoy fancy holidays, live in big houses or have the latest tractor.

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Anti-fracking campaigners hit out at Welsh Government - Wales Online

Anti-fracking campaigners hit out at Welsh Government - Wales Online: "The Welsh Government has been accused of “hanging on the coat-tails of the most pro-fracking Government in Europe” as David Cameron called on the entire UK to back the search for shale gas.

Friends of the Earth Cymru accused ministers in Cardiff of failing to protect Welsh communities and called on them to chart a different path."

I wish these minority self-interest groups would find something useful to do with their evidently plentiful supply of time.

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Prescriptions in Wales rise by 50% to more than 74 million in last decade - Wales Online

Prescriptions in Wales rise by 50% to more than 74 million in last decade - Wales Online: "he number of prescription items issued per head in Wales is the highest in the UK, with the total dispensed rising by more than 50% in the last decade, new figures have shown."

Diawledig!

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Councils invited to bid for green deal cash | News | Inside Housing

Councils invited to bid for green deal cash | News | Inside Housing:

The Welsh Government has a much better scheme.

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Amazon suffers £4.5m second quarter loss - Wales Online

Amazon suffers £4.5m second quarter loss - Wales Online: "The company is to begin moving hundreds of UK staff into a new 12-storey office in London’s Holborn Viaduct by the end of this year. When fully complete it is expected to accommodate more than 1,600 people."

Why do they need offices in such an expensive location when the employees have to commute in?

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First Minister Carwyn Jones' statement sets out a legislative plan for Wales that’s free from controversy - Wales Online

First Minister Carwyn Jones' statement sets out a legislative plan for Wales that’s free from controversy - Wales Online:

If you have 10,000 regulations you lose all respect for the law.

Winston Churchill


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BBC News - New marine zone plans scrapped by minister

BBC News - New marine zone plans scrapped by minister: "'Strongly held views'
The Welsh government proposed the zones last year with the backing of the Countryside Council of Wales and the Marine Conservation Society.

The minister for natural resources said the decision had been made after the thousands of responses to the consultation brought "divergent and strongly held views".

Mr Davies said to "avoid any continuing uncertainty over the options presented in the 2012 consultation, I am also withdrawing all the proposed sites".

His comments come after the findings were published of a task and finish team which reviewed the feedback.

Now, he will concentrate on the existing 125 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that cover 36% of Welsh seas to see if any changes can be made rather than creating additional zones.

"We are now in a stronger position to assess our current contribution to the network's ecological coherence," he said.

"I have, therefore, commissioned an assessment of our current MPAs to identify if there are any gaps and what the options might be to fill those gaps.

"If any measures are required, I believe they should be simple, proportionate and fit for purpose.""

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Some common sense coming forward at last, this was one of that female minister's pet projects, what was her name now? Can't remember but much damage was done.

Construction output down 4.8% - Wales Online

Construction output down 4.8% - Wales Online: "Construction continued to struggle across the UK over the course of the past 12 months and shrank by 4.8 per cent, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The data shows construction contracted from May 2012 to May 2013.

The ONS figures have also revealed the sector remained flat with zero growth from April to May this year.

The news comes as house building giant Persimmon has launched a scheme to help potential buyers by offering the chance to purchase a property with a 5% deposit backed up by a 20% equity loan from the firm."

Propping up house prices with their own money? How does the FCA feel about that?

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Welsh Government urged to help first time buyers - North Wales Weekly News

Welsh Government urged to help first time buyers - North Wales Weekly News:

WG have another agenda, so I'm told.

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GP services in North Wales are reaching breaking point - North Wales Weekly News

GP services in North Wales are reaching breaking point - North Wales Weekly News: " Cllr Selwyn Griffiths added: “I’m concerned about shortages of doctors.”"

He is also concerned about the shortage of housing, can't he understand why we have these problems?

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Expansion plan ‘could threaten Dales brand’ - Farming - Yorkshire Post

Expansion plan ‘could threaten Dales brand’ - Farming - Yorkshire Post: "But the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s chief executive, David Butterworth, told the Yorkshire Post that he believed an extension to the boundaries would not prove as problematic as many feared.

He added that the authority supported the move, as long as it was given enough funding to support its work across a wider area 
and local democracy for communities in the existing park is not eroded.

He said: “It is about considering whether the landscapes are worthy of designation. I do believe that if the boundaries are extended, then it will enhance the area for the people living there."

The only people who benefit from national park designation are the people who run it. The tourism industry existed long before some misguided people started drawing the suffocating boundaries.

The indigenous population suffer from what international human rights lawyers describe as "soft eviction" or "voluntary resettlement" when they can't find work which isn't part-time, seasonal or subject to the vagaries of the weather, poor wages mean they can't afford the housing even if it is subject to pointless and unenforceable 'locals occupancy' restrictions.



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Welsh language at risk from 'lifestyle refugees flooding into its heartlands' - Wales Online

Welsh language at risk from 'lifestyle refugees flooding into its heartlands' - Wales Online: "Councillor Ceri Thomas suggested other cultural changes  have a more detrimental impact than planning issues"

Well said Ceri.

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Cabinet minister Eric Pickles accused of hypocrisy over Assembly sprinkler law - Wales Online

Cabinet minister Eric Pickles accused of hypocrisy over Assembly sprinkler law - Wales Online: "But a press release issued in 2002 by Mr Pickles, the MP for Brentwood and Ongar in Essex, “urged local councils and housing associations to act to save the lives of their tenants” by including sprinkler systems for new rented properties."

2002 was a long time ago, and he was drumming up votes by using soundbites.

Dafydd Elis-Thomas calls for 'liberation of England' in new federal arrangement for UK - Wales Online

Dafydd Elis-Thomas calls for 'liberation of England' in new federal arrangement for UK - Wales Online: "He said: “There has to be an independent body which is responsible for sharing resources. I don’t believe it can be done by the Treasury; it’s got to be done by an arm’s length body which has a fiscal responsibility for running fiscal federalism.”"

Quite

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Welsh Government | Housing Need and Demand in Wales 2006 to 2026

Welsh Government | Housing Need and Demand in Wales 2006 to 2026:

Estimates, estimates, estimates

So, how many have we built since 2006?

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BBC News - Barmouth Bridge in Gwynedd toll-free as staff leave

BBC News - Barmouth Bridge in Gwynedd toll-free as staff leave: "This has left the local authority facing a £23,000 deficit this year - the shortfall between what is allocated in the council's budget and the total money which Network Rail requires."

If it is part of the Wales coastal path then the Welsh Government should pay.

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BBC News - Gypsy sites: Welsh councils 'could face prosecution'

BBC News - Gypsy sites: Welsh councils 'could face prosecution': ""Surely in Wales we can accommodate those people so they have somewhere to live and bring their children up?""

Is this discriminating against 'normal' Welsh people and their children?

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Paving slabs worth £10,000 stolen from Nantgarw Chinaworks - Wales Online

Paving slabs worth £10,000  stolen from Nantgarw Chinaworks - Wales Online:

And they left the weeds behind...

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Elderly homeowner lose first stage of eviction battle against supermarket giant Tesco - Wales Online

Elderly homeowner lose first stage of eviction battle against supermarket giant Tesco - Wales Online:

I wonder who owns the car park at the rear of her property....

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New blow for Welsh language communities from European courts - Wales Online

New blow for Welsh language communities from European courts - Wales Online: "Planning policies aimed at protecting the Welsh language have received a blow as a European court ruling appeared to make it more difficult for authorities to implement them.

The ruling comes as two campaign groups expressed concern at what they see as the lack of protection afforded by the Welsh Government to the language.

A judgement issued by the European Court of Justice in a case brought against the Flemish region of Belgium concluded that a stipulation that property must be sold to local people was an infringement of freedom.

It said: “Such a measure may ... discourage residents of one member state from making investments in immovable property in other member states, and thus constitutes a restriction on the free movement of capital.”

Gwynedd property consultant Evan Owen said: “This ruling confirms that authorities which try to stop people buying property on affordability or language grounds are acting unlawfully."

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New blow for Welsh language communities from European courts - Wales Online

New blow for Welsh language communities from European courts - Wales Online:

This isn't a blow for the Welsh language!

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Article

Article:
Regeneration Minister, Carl Sargeant has published guidance for applicants seeking a share of up to £90 million that will be available over the next three years from the Welsh Government’s new regeneration framework, Vibrant and Viable Places.

How many affordable homes could we build for just half this amount?

I know several 'entrepreneurs' who mop up these grants and make a fortune.

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Michael Gove: People fighting planning reforms are against aspiration, family and social mobility - Telegraph

Michael Gove: People fighting planning reforms are against aspiration, family and social mobility - Telegraph:

"Chatsworth or the Nash terraces of Regent’s Park, Edinburgh’s New Town or Salisbury Cathedral,"

The irony of it, the buildings he extols were built in a "free for all", there were no planning laws back then!

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BBC News - Second homes 'leaving Lake District villages childless'

BBC News - Second homes 'leaving Lake District villages childless':

The problem is the planning system which is dictated by the Countryside Act

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Change in path for Bontnewydd and Caernarfon bypass - North Wales Weekly News

Change in path for Bontnewydd and Caernarfon bypass - North Wales Weekly News:

There wasn't much congestion until that roundabout appeared.

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Around 400 jobs saved in Wales despite collapse of engineering firm - Wales Online

Around 400 jobs saved in Wales despite collapse of engineering firm - Wales Online:

Shame. good workers round here but the poor rates for repairing leak after leaf after leak in the same spot must have been untenable for the firm.

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Unemployment in Wales falls by 6,000 - Wales Online

Unemployment in Wales falls by 6,000 - Wales Online:

I know some who left to find work in England, I also know one or two who had their benefits cut so they worked out that they were better off working.

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BBC News - Wales economy growing slowly, says CBI's Emma Watkins

BBC News - Wales economy growing slowly, says CBI's Emma Watkins: "NewBuy would have enabled people to get high loan-to-value mortgages, and supported the building of 3,000 homes."

I doubt that very much.

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Welsh councils face significant cuts to services following Treasury spending review, the WLGA has warned - Wales Online

Welsh councils face significant cuts to services following Treasury spending review, the WLGA has warned - Wales Online:

Why don't the people who use leisure centres and libraries pay the full cost for the service provided.

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Port Talbot is most affordable place in Britain to buy a house - Wales Online

Port Talbot is most affordable place in Britain to buy a house - Wales Online:

Will they be trapped there forever and will the influx push house prices up?

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Bid to build 7,500 new affordable homes by 2016 gets fresh boost from ministers - Wales Online

Bid to build 7,500 new affordable homes by 2016 gets fresh boost from ministers - Wales Online:

Many builders have gone to the wall, literally.

There are insufficient land allocations in LDPs.

Siop siafins

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Invalid Planning Agreements – Secretary of State’s decision quashed because the s.106 wasn’t a s.106. « thedavidbrockblog

Invalid Planning Agreements – Secretary of State’s decision quashed because the s.106 wasn’t a s.106. « thedavidbrockblog:

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Very interesting and a lesson for all concerned, for my sins I took a dislike to the way some LPAs impose local occupancy restrictions via S106 and now spend half my time taking them apart, sometimes with the assistance of a planning inspector who in my opinion should engage a lawyer such as yourself.

Is an occupancy restriction a planning obligation?

Are price and tenure controls a planning obligation?

Would anybody like to read some of the agreements I am sent by owners who struggle to sell or buy these dwellings?

Middle England prepares for planning war over new developments - Telegraph

Middle England prepares for planning war over new developments - Telegraph: "Figures obtained by The Telegraph show that since the changes were published, the number of homes being granted planning permission has jumped by a quarter in England on the previous year, but fallen in Scotland and Wales, where the changes do not apply."

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BBC News - Carmarthenshire blogger loses libel case against council chief

BBC News - Carmarthenshire blogger loses libel case against council chief: "In a statement Mr James said: "Councils and other public bodies accept that they are open to legitimate criticism, but this cannot extend to... unlawful harassment and unfounded allegations of wrongdoing by its officers.""

We shall see what we shall see.

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You've no right to a house near your parents: National Trust chief warning to children of rural families | Mail Online

You've no right to a house near your parents: National Trust chief warning to children of rural families | Mail Online:

Dear Mr Jenkins

Please rent your holiday home out to a local family.

Diolch yn fawr

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Action urged after record low in Q4 home completions - Business News - Business - WalesOnline

Action urged after record low in Q4 home completions - Business News - Business - WalesOnline:


Several times a month a Welsh person calls me to ask if I can remove a local occupancy restriction on a house they want to buy because the lender has said they don't consider these dwellings, in 90% of cases I can do so but increasingly the Welsh Government has allowed LPAs to impose even more onerous restrictions that the Planning Inspectorate have declared compatible with the Local Development Plan and which supported by Planning Policy Wales. Decision letters written weeks apart contain conflicting opinions from the same inspector, no declaration that it is lawful because the inspector isn't a lawyer!

Over the years I have taken a great interest in occupancy restrictions because in my opinion they are not enforceable in court and one LPA obtained a legal opinion that confirmed this, much to their surprise.

Over the last few months I have asked the Financial Services Authority whether lenders fully understood the complexity of Section 106 agreements which attempt to restrict occupancy, tenure and price. One lender's valuer said the banking group wasn't interested in the problems purchasers faced as long as the bank could sell on the open market following repossession, I passed this on to the FSA and I believe that lender has now pulled out of the market.

There are two cases before the EU courts which conflict with the Treaty of Rome, one in Ireland and one in Belgium, in the Irish case the planners appear to have side-stepped the issue by saying they now comply, I don't belie they do and nor do the EU who have been watching this since 2007. The Belgian case is very interesting because an opinion presented to the court shows the decree is not compatible with EU law in a number of ways, it also raises the question of whether the procurement rules have been breached because of the contract entered into by the public body and what is seen to be the private supplier of the dwelling, or something like that.

My point is that the housing market is in part being stifled by the political desire to have a proportion  of 'affordable homes' on a site (OR EVEN 100%!) and this is achieved by use of a Section 106 agreement but the agreement also attempts to restrict occupancy to locals who can't raise the finance because of the "Mortgage Risk" posed by the restricted resale conditions.

Something radical needs to be done or more people will be living in Granny's back bedroom, the situation would be even worse if so many of our youngsters didn't leave Wales to find work.


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SURVEY SHOWS IMPORTANCE OF NATIONAL PARKS - Environmental technologies news magazine

SURVEY SHOWS IMPORTANCE OF NATIONAL PARKS - Environmental technologies news magazine:

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I wonder what the percentage is of 'Park' residents who would agree.

Welsh speakers leaving rural Wales for towns and cities, census finds - Wales News - News - WalesOnline

Welsh speakers leaving rural Wales for towns and cities, census finds - Wales News - News - WalesOnline

Self-interest drives everything we humans do.

"What's in it for me".

If they gain something from it they take an interest, be it in order to secure a job or some other form of recognition or benefit.

No benefit = no interest.

The more the people are pushed the more they resist, the more you punish the worse the resistance becomes, in a democracy of course!

Unfortunately in this case it is a top down approach as is the case with most political or governmental initiatives, is it time for a bottom up approach?

There are thousands of languages facing extinction across the globe, I certainly don't believe Welsh is one of them because enough people want to use it. I have no idea where they get these latest figures from because I haven't seen a decline in the Welsh areas where I work, perhaps it is just the way data is collected and interpreted.

I saw the comment from Mr Farrar at Cymdeithas about large housing developments, as PSR said above the decline seems acute in areas where no development is allowed whereas in areas of Gwynedd where open market housing is coming forward the language appears to be thriving, so what is the answer?

Read more: Wales Online http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2013/01/30/welsh-speakers-leaving-rural-wales-for-towns-and-cities-census-finds-91466-32710327/#ixzz2JlQIPTeJ