Monday 12 July 2010

The People's Manifesto - sent!

The following email was sent out a short while ago to all Anglesey County Councillors, David Bowles, Prof. Elan Closs Stephens (Chairperson of the Anglesey Recovery Board), Ieuan Wyn Jones, Albert Owen, and a selection of key North Wales journalists:

---------- Original message ----------
From: People's Manifesto for Ynys Môn
Date: Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 3:01 PM
Subject: A People's Manifesto for Ynys Môn
Attn:   Cllr Clive McGregor,
                     Leader of Isle of Anglesey County Council
          All Isle of Anglesey County Councillors
cc:     David Bowles,
                    Interim Managing Director, Isle of Anglesey County Council
          Prof. Elan Closs Stephens,
                    Chairperson, Anglesey Recovery Board
          Ieuan Wyn Jones, AM for Ynys Môn
          Albert Owen, MP for Ynys Môn
          News Editor, BBC North West Wales
          News Editor, Daily Post
          Elgan Hearn, Holyhead and Anglesey Mail
          Matt Warner, North Wales Chronicle

Dear Councillors,
Attached please find a copy of the People's Manifesto for Ynys Môn. This document is the result of an open experiment in 'wiki-government' and compiled from literally thousands of comments and suggestions posted by various Anglesey residents on The Druid Blog (www.druidsrevenge.blogspot.com). 
It is not party political (it was contributed to by people of all political persuasions) and can be seen as an honest attempt by concerned and frustrated Islanders to fill the policy void on Anglesey left by our elected representatives. Furthermore the production of this Manifesto did not involve any expensive consultants, nor has it taken endless reviews and years to finalise. From start to finish it took only a little over two months, an the only cost has been the time of the multitude of contributors on the blog.
As you work to finalise the 'Statements of Aims and Values' which all Council groups have now been required to produce by the WAG Local Government Minister, we urge you to use this document as both a resource and an indication of the demands of Anglesey voters. 
Best regards,
Anglesey Residents

You can view the finalised People's Manifesto below:

People's Manifesto for Ynys Môn

What you can do now:

  • Download the above People's Manifesto and email it to all the Anglesey residents you know. Ask them to do the same;
  • Contact your local Councillor and ask him or her to support this Manifesto (their contact details are contained on the last two pages of the Manifesto);
  • Contact our MP and AM and ask them to also support the People's Manifesto (their contact details are also contained in the Manifesto).

This People's Manifesto was only made possible thanks to all of you - the readers and commenters of this blog. Dioch yn fawr iawn i chi gyd.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

DERWYDD,
You are to be congratulated and thanked by the People of Anglesey for providing a much-needed platform for opinions and debate concerning our local governance and its abject failings...the Manifesto should be regarded as a blueprint or at least a discussion document for our collective future.
It seems to be what the people want.
Those who govern us, the present Council, or the Commissioners in waiting, as the case may be, would do well to take heed.
Personally, I would favour a takeover by the Commissioners for a spell, to rid Anglesey of its poison, we can return later to a democracy, and shall know who not to vote for.
Very well done DRUID, thank you.
BoF

The Great Councillini said...

Thank you very much for the hard work, Druid, and to all those who helped tidy it up.

This blog is the true voice of concerned residents. Although many choose to post anonymously, mainly through fear of recrimination, it is clear that this is no fly-by-night sham document. There is considered input here and those who claim to represent the views of Anglesey people are duty-bound to take notice, read, inwardly digest and act on its contents.

I've little doubt that, come the next local elections, the Druid Blog party may well be fielding candidates. They will have a very high standard and level of expectation to work to, and people will demand real change.

Anonymous said...

In order for ideas to become invaluable they must be implemented, all we want is to be heard and our Human Rights respected.

Huw Terry.

Anonymous said...

Political roadmap? every one should be involved, everyone, not just the politicians, we need more clarity and more openness, a sense of chwara teg, not " Dos i weld dy nain yn reidio beic"

That was the attitude, that was their road map, their own way of driving a coach and horses over everyone, we want a Council to represent us and not smother us.

Anonymous said...

Druid Blog Political Party, I second that, this blog has done more in the past few months than any politician, in years!

It goes to show, the politicians need to WAKE UP.

Huw Terry

Anonymous said...

I think the Druid should be asked to be the permanent Managing Director of the Isle of Anglesey County Council. The Druid has more vision on what needs to be done on Anglesey than all the paid lot we have now.
The Druid appears to care more about the island without any self interest. The Druid has created a document that would have cost thousands to be produced by paid consultants.
Come on call the Druid in, we need the foresight !!

Insider said...

Anon. at, 21:17.
With all due respect. As none of use know who the Druid is, with all his inside information, and knowledge of how the Council works,what makes you think he's not already a member of the council?

Anonymous said...

Druid.
The Manifesto is very well thought through and a credit to all those who took part.
It would not go a-miss if we were to remember how much of all this started weeks ago, with a press release from a certain councillor who, for all intent and purposes is still out there battling away in the interest of the People and their Human Rights and will not stop until he has rid the council of its cancer and helped get back what the people truly deserve.

La Pasionaria said...

Fecking hell, Goronwy Parry has a lot of time on his hands!

Anonymous said...

Don't forget 'Animal Farm' when you look for a leding figure; too much power in one person's hands is never clever...

Mario Lanza said...

A great pity the manifesto was released a day too late to make it onto BBC Wales' 30 minute coverage of the Council scandals, past and present tonight. Far too much emphasis on balance and not enough on the plain fact that the same old slingers are still here, waiting for the Recovery Board to go home...

stats man said...

"It would not go a-miss if we were to remember how much of all this started weeks ago, with a press release from a certain councillor"

Sorry but .. ......We need a peoples manifesto, we cant wait for the islands old politicians anymore. We need a new start, free from the past, a future based on the will of the people and not on the interest of the few.
12 May 2010 17:16

Prometheuswrites said
......Now a peoples manifesto would be something to agree upon.
Any starters?
here's mine;
I'd like something along the lines of providing an education AND a post schooling working environment that would financially allow the young people of the island to stay and have their own families and business's, instead of leaving the area and taking their idea's, their culture and the language with them.
12 May 2010 18:04

And the Druid said

Stats man, Prometheus - A people's manifesto? Now you're talking. I have previously floated the necessity of a 'Good Governance' movement on the island. Such a movement could start by compiling a 'people's manifesto'
12 May 2010 18:27

And the rest is down to the hard work of the Druid - Thank you whoever you are.

Anonymous said...

stats.
Think you will find the Press release that created the whole debate was 24th April 2010, and your welcome contributions followed that release
Please keep it up. All comments whether negative or positive are part of our human Rights and must always accepted in the spirit they were meant.

Anonymous said...

However laudable and well thought-out the Peoples Manifesto, let us expect that some arrogant and defensive elected members will incline to dismiss it as of little weight, as some sort of amateur utopian vision, of the impossible.
I say to them, BEWARE the people !

The Great Councillini said...

08:34,

Of course they will - this is the nature of politics. What they will also try to do is say that they have already addressed so many of the issues raised, that there is nothing really new, and that the island will soon flourish under the Fantasy Island of Energy 'concept', as Cllr. Morris Jones aptly described it on Radio Wales last night. A concept is a long way from reality, of course, and read past the hype, it all boils down to one thing - Wylfa B. What a concept! What a Council!

No matter what they say; they are elected by us to represent us. This document gives them on a plate what the people think and want. So, if they ignore it, then they will confirm that they have not in any way changed.

It's no good saying 'but they don't come to the meetings'. Of course they don't; people are too afraid in a small community of what will happen to them and their families if they speak up. That is an appalling state of affairs, and I can personally testify that this concern has some considerable justification.

And don't worry, Mr.McGregor et al: the People's Manifesto isn't the last you'll be hearing from us. Not by a long shot.

Uranium said...

Oh dear!

'Energy Island' seems to be losing out before it's even begun:

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2010/07/13/bid-to-boost-energy-tourism-in-north-wales-55578-26839326/

Anonymous said...

I hope the press, the BBC and every journalist are reading and trawling through every blog, every snippet of information that has been written and collected and published on these pages.

It's been a shameful episode in the history of this Island that not one of them had the decency to investigate before, the crimes against humanity, the breaches of Human Rights, the abuse of power, the lies, the deceit, the power hungry taking and destroying decent Welsh Families.

If you are from the BBC or from any media you must help the people and get at the truth! Some of us have suffered, a cruel fate, some of us have been treated offensively and undecently, some of us have been treated without any respect, some of us have been cast aside like lepers, some of us have been ashamed to be Welsh!

Some of us have been fighting to protect the Human Rights and the legal rights of the Welsh People, and without the Druid, we would have been ignored.

The Druid is the small voice that at least is being heard over Anglesey.

None of us have any respect or praise for any of our Councillors, or our political leaders, they have all betrayed us, that is why we call the Council the Council of Betrayal, and will contnue to do so until they all go.

Ieuan Wyn Jones, Albert Owen, have all failed us, they should walk away or apologise to the people, I am asking the BBC to contact me so I can bring my points across to the people of Anglesey, and to challenge the breaches of Human Rights I have suffered, so that the people of Anglesey can decide who is right, who is wrong!

Thank you for the manifesto, a first for the people of Anglesey.

Huw Terry

Anonymous said...

The manifesto, a first for the people of Anglesey, a FIST for the people of Anglesey!

Huw Terry

Anonymous said...

Druid, youve done a fantastic job and thank you for giving me a platform to voice my complaint.

Huw Terry, well said.

G. Pierce

Prometheuswrites said...

Firstly: well done Druid. A well presented document. Your timing is impeccable.

Secondly: Some considerations - the Manifesto can be viewed as covering issues ranging from general principles of governance to specific suggestions for implementation (i.e. That all councillors have a published Manifesto before the elections (general principle); to; Druid Parc (specific idea).

To expect any politician to support all the items we have suggested is expecting too much. As Druid has suggested this Manifesto could productively be used to help propective (and current) councillors to write their own Manifesto's in the future.

So don't expect any full fledged endorsement of the Manifesto, (and be suspicious of those who do).
However what I would expect, at the least, from all those to whom the document has been sent, is a considered (and respectful) response to the points made, issues raised and concrete suggestions put forward in the Manifesto.

Thirdly, as Councillini and anon 8.34 have touched on, there will inevitably be degrees of dismissal. The most telling of which will be "How large is the constituency of the Manifesto?" and this is indeed a valid question.

To answer this charge may I ask Druid if it is possible to publish what the daily viewing numbers of the blog are (the daily traffic) and what the overall hits have been from different people/servers (the breadth of readership).

I believe that the publication of such figures would go long way to extablishing credibility of the Manifesto.

Otherwise the charge could be laid that the blog is written and commented on by maybe 5 or 6 people, always a problem with anonymous blogs as people could be making contributions under several 'nom de plumes'

PS. I am certain that this is not the case (5-6 people only contributing to the blog)having contacted and met several of the people making contributions to the blog.

Paul Williams said...

Prometheus - Fair enough. For the calendar month of June, this blog received 7,067 visits generating 16,926 page views.

The Great Councillini said...

"I believe that the publication of such figures would go long way to extablishing credibility of the Manifesto."

What would give it an even greater degree of credibility would be the list of organisations who visit the blog regularly. David Bowles has told us directly that he is a reader, for one.

The IT Crowd said...

7000 visits in a month? If that's unique visitors, then that is a very respectable number indeed, and one most sites would be envious of.

Paul Williams said...

Great Councillini: Here's a selection of visitors over the past month - the ones that can be identified anyway. The number after the the organisation denotes the number of visits during that period.

1. ip pools 2,162
2. anglesey county council 463
13. university of wales bangor 112
20. houses of parliament 59
22. cardiff county council 56
24. the commission for local administration in wales 50
40. university of wales aberystwyth 19
41. gwynedd county council 18
48. trinity mirror group 12
52. british broadcasting corporation 10
57. north wales fire & rescue service 9
66. plaid cymru 8
88. cardiff university 4
104. Lincolnshire county council 3
106. llyfrgell genedlaethol cymru 3
111. stena line corporate network 3
169. ceredigion county council (1) 1
221. nepal telecommunications corporation 1
236. pembrokeshire county council 1
274. weightmans solicitors 1
275. welsh assembly government 1

I'm glad that Nepal is keeping a close eye on the goings on in Llangefni. Also interesting to see that Lincolnshire County Council is checking up on Bowles from time to time...

Anonymous said...

I suggest CMcG`s "Llais I Fon" has been legitimately requisitioned by The Druid Party, which is far more attuned to the interests of the People ?

Dhal Ati said...

Druid> very interesting data! Maybe the Nepalese could offer us some advice in dealing with opressive political regimes? Heck, we could twin Llangefni with Khatmandu!

Glyn Pritchard-Jones said...

Ostrich thinking at IoACC usurped by a bunch of people with common sense and passion for Anglesey.

Well done, how about starting on the LDP?

Nooka said...

Well done Druid! It seems to me that the Manifesto could be a work-in-progress. Perhaps we could have a forum where further comments could be added as more residents become aware of the blog and the existence of the manifesto. Indeed those who have already contributed may wish to add further comments and ideas. Is it possible to keep the Scribe document open to further editing?
Keep up the good work. This blog is a great cure for my cynicism.

Nooka the less cynical

Anonymous said...

So the clowns in the Houses of Parliament are reading this blog?

Well I never thought, that my opinion and rantings would be read as far as those idiots down there! And who do I mean Idiots! I mean the clowns who are elcted to represent us yet IGNORE us! The rulers down in London, who sit on their arses, sit on complaints wiping their noses on abuses of power! Yet, yet, still have time to fill in their expenses, time to trawl the internet for shopping and other tedious time wasting trivia!

London, the cesspit, the shithole! you all wear yourselves down with your greed and selfishness, while we, the victims starve for justice!

Justice? What Justice?

Justice to us decent hardworking Welsh People, is to be treated fairly, to be treated equally, to be treated with respect! and not to be treated as a thorn in the side, of an incapabable Government!

We have our Druid, who tries his best to bring out in the open all the problems we have here in Anglesey, while you, in London, Cardiff, and every other desk in every other office, do NOTHING to help!

All we want is to be treated like decent humans in our own Country, all the things our MP receives with his snout in the trough, yet our people still have to fight to be heard! We will be heard!


Huw Terry.

Anonymous said...

Bloggers may be incensed by by rantings, but all I am is a little man with a small voice, in the wilderness, a victim of a massive lie, a lie calculated as it was planned, to destroy me and my family.
I must give them all credit the lie worked, no one listened, no one cared, the anger brews every day, and yet all I have to be heard is my little laptop, and the hate form all fools who betray the people.
The manifesto you sent out will that help me? will that encourage me to stop? No, it will not, my rantings have opened a can of worms, not only was I a victim, there have been others too!

I found some interesting points, people only fight if they are victims, yet victims find it hard to get friends, like men and women in a town stricken by an earthquake, I can see the apparently solid framework of our existence crumbling. In such circumstances and after being a victim of such a massive Government lie, I am no longer amenable to the arguments of reason and their reasoning behind their actions.

That's why I will always fight to defend the Human Rights of the victims, and I hope the Manifesto will encourage the Council of Betrayal to do the same! We deserve to have some respect, don't we?

Huw Terry

Paul Williams said...

Nooka - sorry for the delay in writing. Of course all new submissions are welcome and therefore I have put the full manifesto text up on a writeboard which can be edited and added to by all. You can access it here:

http://123.writeboard.com/fd58c771ccbab92e9

Password: druid

I fully support keeping the Manifesto a living, evolving document.

Prometheuswrites said...

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/business-news/business-news/2010/07/15/an-anglesey-engineering-firm-wins-more-work-55578-26856184/

Congratulations to Mon Maintainance Services for creating local jobs.

Fillan said...

Let me remind you of the tape that Cllr Durkin is refusing to allow a independent observer to hear.

What has he to hide, a simple question, and the tape - well that was first mentioned by Cllr Durkin

Not letting go......

Anonymous said...

To Promethuswrites

Yes good news, also let me mention another success story which is Holyhead Marine or as known Holyhead Boatyard.

see http://www.holyhead.co.uk/

More power to their propeller so to speak!

Anonymous said...

Fillan
Your to much of a dangerous fanatic for my liking,your doing more harm than good. and your a bore.

Anonymous said...

To anon 22:52

Please explain

Fillan said...

......still not letting go....

...what a bore I am......but the truth will be told....there is no tape...


If there is produce it Durkin....

....not letting go........