"The soap opera across the Menai Straits"

Last night's edition of BBC Radio Wales's "Eye on Wales" was devoted to looking at the problems facing Anglesey County Council one year on from the damning Wales Audit Office report - or the "soap opera across the Menai Straits" as they called it.

As per all programmes about Ynys Môn it includes the obligatory pseudo-Celtic, mystic-sounding music and comments about "voices from the past", etc. However, beyond the cliches, it also included some interesting information. For example the fact that the combined cost to the Anglesey council tax and business rates payer for the "recovery" (including David Bowles salary, the costs of the recovery board, etc.) is running at around £1 million a year... a staggering sum.

Steve Thomas, Chief Executive of the Wales Local Government Association, described what sets council politics in Anglesey apart from that in the rest of Wales:

"Whats unique about it is the visceral nature of it in Anglesey. While there are people in councils throughout Wales who undertake vigourous debate, it doesn't quite degenerate into the level of personality politics that occurs on Anglesey. So the result of that is that is not unique but the depth and level of the politics up there does have a special character."

Prof. Elan Closs Stephens, chairperson of the WAG appointed Anglesey Recovery Board, made it fairly clear that she wants to avoid having the council run by Commissioners from Cardiff:

"My view, and that of the Board, is that we haven't reached the commissioner stage. I think there is still a lot of good will, still a desire to get things resolved. Commissioner stages are very difficult stage for councils because what you are doing is stripping away not only the councillors from from their democratic elected rights, but your actually stripping the Island & the people of the Island from being democratically represented and thats a very serious thing. I wouldn't wish to go there if possible."

The strangest part of the programme, however, was quite a long section on the Bodffordd Biodigester controversy.  Bizarrely the BBC cites the Council's steadfast refusal to engage with huge local opposition regarding the plans to site a Methane Biodigester at Bodffordd as an example of the quality of the Council's services. Yes, you read that right: the fact that the council "didn't cut and run", as the BBC man put it, in the face of the local campaign against the plant apparently proves that the Council provides good services. Huh? Personally the Druid views the Council's decision to approve the siting of a Biodigester in Bodffordd as a prime example of the Council completely getting it wrong.

Anyway, you can listen to the whole programme on iPlayer here.