Last Friday I had great pleasure taking part in an event at Rhydyfelin Library. It was a Variety Night to raise funds and also awareness of the vital contributions which libraries make to our communities.
Last June several local people, including Red Poet Mike Church ( who helped organise the event ) chained themselves to shelves there as a protest against its impending closure by RCT's Labour Council.
Rhydyfelin was given a reprieve, while many other libraries, including ones in places like Maerdy - which have little else in terms of facilities - were closed down in the first acts of cultural vandalism.
This weekend saw the final performance at the Muni Arts Centre in Pontypridd and that town is now left without an arts centre. A loss to present and future generations of performers, who attended workshops there and the many who enjoyed numerous concerts.
All this after the smooth-talking MP for that area Owen Smith had the gall to attack the Tories and Lib Dems for their austerity measures. He even suggested at one point that the abandoned project for Ponty precinct could be turned into a 'Tate by the Taff.'
Well, now it resembles some of the past entries for the Turner Prize....an Emin bed of rubbled wasteland, absurdly surrounded by security fences.
The evening was an enormous success, but I was saddened to hear that the library's future is by no means safe. Of all the Labour Councils which are carrying out the ConDem cuts with the selfsame relish that they once administered Thatcher's poll tax, RCT seem to be the worst.
Hawthorn Swimming Pool has shut and local schools have to travel to Abercynon and further afield for lessons. Swimming clubs either relocate or disappear.
Of course, Labour will shift the blame to central government. Cuts in Wrecsam recently tore that party in half with the resignation of 10 councillors who became Independents.
On a British level there are many alternatives, yet no mainstream party will take them. If cuts are to be made then abolish the monarchy, don't subsidise nuclear power and slash expenditure on needless defence.
On a local level, what is required is a campaign of mass civil disobedience on the part of the majority party in Cymru (i.e. Labour), with Councillors simply refusing to destroy their communities, while the real cause of the 'deficit', the bankers , still get their bonuses. Unfortunately,this is not going to happen. Labour have long abandoned those they represent and it's up to people to protest however they can and, when it comes to voting, make sure they elect anti-austerity candidates.
One thing's for certain, the Labour Party under Miliband are committed to carrying on with these ludicrous and callous policies.
The latest service to face the axe in RCT is the entire music service. It faces being wiped out completely, as schools will be left to buy in music tuition by private companies like CAVMS.
Once again, Labour will be embracing privatisation!
28 staff will lose their jobs and there will be no more choirs, harp clubs, orchestras, jazz bands, samba bands etc
Catrin Finch appeared on BBC Breakfast extolling the virtues of classical music. I would call on her to take a stand and join the protest against this devastation.
Both my older children benefited greatly from this service : my son went on to study Music at Cambridge and my older daughter to play in groups and orchestras.
My younger daughter regularly attends the orchestra and in recent years went on tour with them to Germany.
The Council contributes a mere £474,000 to maintain this.
Yet, there is a real possibility that they will give themselves a 15% pay rise next year.
Money will be found in RCT for a project called 'Super Schools' , which will vastly increase the size of some schools at the expense of others. But music , it seems - in the birthplace of the composers of 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' - is an easy sacrifice.
Once it's gone, then the music service will never to restored again and our children's lives will suffer as a result.
I would urge everyone who cares about music and the opportunities for young people to express themselves creatively, not just to sign the online petition, but to join the campaign on every level.
ORCHESTRA STOPPED FOREVER
The strings were torn off
to be used as snares.
The wood axed for fires.
Brass made into ornaments
and the drums became
units of storage.
The harps wheeled away
and preserved in museums.
Guitars and keyboards sold on e-bay.
The voices of the choir
and beat of the Samba band
lost in the empty Arts Centre.
Even staves were turned
upright and into columns
of an accountant's ledger.
Mid rehearsal the orchestra
were stopped forever ;
children holding onto air.
In reply to Paula, I am citing my lifelong experience of the Labour Party in 'action' in the Valleys. They have consistently carried out Westminster policies which are totally contradictory to what they used to stand for. I'm not a member of any party, but I would urge everyone who opposes the Cuts to vote for anti-austerity parties next May and that means the Greens, Plaid Cymru, Socialist Party etc. Anyone voting Labour will be voting for more cuts if they get into power.
Last June several local people, including Red Poet Mike Church ( who helped organise the event ) chained themselves to shelves there as a protest against its impending closure by RCT's Labour Council.
Rhydyfelin was given a reprieve, while many other libraries, including ones in places like Maerdy - which have little else in terms of facilities - were closed down in the first acts of cultural vandalism.
This weekend saw the final performance at the Muni Arts Centre in Pontypridd and that town is now left without an arts centre. A loss to present and future generations of performers, who attended workshops there and the many who enjoyed numerous concerts.
All this after the smooth-talking MP for that area Owen Smith had the gall to attack the Tories and Lib Dems for their austerity measures. He even suggested at one point that the abandoned project for Ponty precinct could be turned into a 'Tate by the Taff.'
Well, now it resembles some of the past entries for the Turner Prize....an Emin bed of rubbled wasteland, absurdly surrounded by security fences.
The evening was an enormous success, but I was saddened to hear that the library's future is by no means safe. Of all the Labour Councils which are carrying out the ConDem cuts with the selfsame relish that they once administered Thatcher's poll tax, RCT seem to be the worst.
Hawthorn Swimming Pool has shut and local schools have to travel to Abercynon and further afield for lessons. Swimming clubs either relocate or disappear.
Of course, Labour will shift the blame to central government. Cuts in Wrecsam recently tore that party in half with the resignation of 10 councillors who became Independents.
On a British level there are many alternatives, yet no mainstream party will take them. If cuts are to be made then abolish the monarchy, don't subsidise nuclear power and slash expenditure on needless defence.
On a local level, what is required is a campaign of mass civil disobedience on the part of the majority party in Cymru (i.e. Labour), with Councillors simply refusing to destroy their communities, while the real cause of the 'deficit', the bankers , still get their bonuses. Unfortunately,this is not going to happen. Labour have long abandoned those they represent and it's up to people to protest however they can and, when it comes to voting, make sure they elect anti-austerity candidates.
One thing's for certain, the Labour Party under Miliband are committed to carrying on with these ludicrous and callous policies.
The latest service to face the axe in RCT is the entire music service. It faces being wiped out completely, as schools will be left to buy in music tuition by private companies like CAVMS.
Once again, Labour will be embracing privatisation!
28 staff will lose their jobs and there will be no more choirs, harp clubs, orchestras, jazz bands, samba bands etc
Catrin Finch appeared on BBC Breakfast extolling the virtues of classical music. I would call on her to take a stand and join the protest against this devastation.
Both my older children benefited greatly from this service : my son went on to study Music at Cambridge and my older daughter to play in groups and orchestras.
My younger daughter regularly attends the orchestra and in recent years went on tour with them to Germany.
The Council contributes a mere £474,000 to maintain this.
Yet, there is a real possibility that they will give themselves a 15% pay rise next year.
Money will be found in RCT for a project called 'Super Schools' , which will vastly increase the size of some schools at the expense of others. But music , it seems - in the birthplace of the composers of 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' - is an easy sacrifice.
Once it's gone, then the music service will never to restored again and our children's lives will suffer as a result.
I would urge everyone who cares about music and the opportunities for young people to express themselves creatively, not just to sign the online petition, but to join the campaign on every level.
ORCHESTRA STOPPED FOREVER
The strings were torn off
to be used as snares.
The wood axed for fires.
Brass made into ornaments
and the drums became
units of storage.
The harps wheeled away
and preserved in museums.
Guitars and keyboards sold on e-bay.
The voices of the choir
and beat of the Samba band
lost in the empty Arts Centre.
Even staves were turned
upright and into columns
of an accountant's ledger.
Mid rehearsal the orchestra
were stopped forever ;
children holding onto air.
In reply to Paula, I am citing my lifelong experience of the Labour Party in 'action' in the Valleys. They have consistently carried out Westminster policies which are totally contradictory to what they used to stand for. I'm not a member of any party, but I would urge everyone who opposes the Cuts to vote for anti-austerity parties next May and that means the Greens, Plaid Cymru, Socialist Party etc. Anyone voting Labour will be voting for more cuts if they get into power.
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