Social Housing For Welsh Speakers

Reply

It is essential that Welsh speakers are prioritised to access social housing in Welsh speaking communities – that is one of Dyfodol i’r Iaith’s calls in its response to the Welsh-speaking Communities Commission’s consultation.

Among fifty other suggestions, Dyfodol i’r Iaith calls to ensure that all future housing developments be based on local need only instead of the Office for National Statistics’ projected population growth.

Another call is the need to designate Welsh speaking communities as Areas of Special Lingusitic Significance (‘ASLS’) and to strengthen the process for considering the effects on the Welsh language within the Planning system in the same way as for environmental and conservation matters. The process should also include capping the total numbers of second homes in all communities and monitoring the actual linguistic effects of approved planning applications for residential, leisure and economic developments.

Dylan Bryn Roberts, Chief Executive of Dyfodol i’r Iaith, commented “Perhaps this is the last chance we have to ensure the continuation of our Welsh-speaking communities. They are under existential threat from inward and outward migration.

“In addition to the policy points above, economic conditions need to be created that will keep and attract local people to work in the Welsh-speaking areas.

“We are looking forward to seeing the Commission’s suggestions in due course, and to seeing the Government take steps that will safeguard the continued use of Welsh in all aspects of life in Welsh-speaking communities. Without intervention, all these communities will disappear forever.”

OUR HISTORY OUR LANGUAGE – DYFODOL’S EISTEDDFOD PRESENTATION

Reply

We are pleased to announce our presentation for this year’s Eisteddfod and are delighted that Dr Elin Jones has agreed to discuss the rich relationship between Wales and its language from the perspective of the past and looking into the future. The event will take place on the Eisteddfod Maes at Pabell y Cymdeithasau 1 at 1pm on Wednsday, August 3rd. Make a note of the date and we look forward to the presentation!

“Following the success of her ground-breaking book, Hanes yn y Tir, Dr Elin Jones will be discussing her findings regarding the central importance of the Welsh language to Wales’s history. The book shows how the history of Wales has formed the landscape, and her lecture will outline how the Welsh language is also interwoven with our history. From our place names to our personal names, from key concepts to the days of the week, our history is embedded in the words we speak, our history is in our language, the past in our words – and the future of that language is now in our hands.”

PLANTING WOODLAND ON AGRICULTURAL LAND – PROTECTING THE PLANET AND ITS COMMUNITIES IN RURAL WALES

Reply

Dyfodol i’r Iaith has written to the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters, regarding the need to plant woodland for carbon capture within the context of protecting rural communities that support Welsh as a community language.

The organisation was pleased to learn the Welsh Government accepts the principle that it is local farmers, rather than outside companies, who should be central to responding to the challenge of carbon capture through increasing the plantation of trees.

Dyfodol believes, however, that specific and robust commitments are needed in relation to this critical challenge, and calls upon the Government to:

  • Fund farmers who live on the land where the woodlands are to be planted and prohibit large companies from benefiting from such a serious situation to the detriment of local communities.
  • In accordance with the recommendations of Professor Gareth Wyn Jones’s Land Use Climate Change Report, presented to the Welsh Assembly Government in March 2010, that planting mainly takes place on low-fertility acid upland soils, including bracken dominated slopes.

Heini Gruffudd, the organisation’s Chair said:

“This is clearly a matter that emphasises the need for Government to tackle two elements of sustainability that are central to its vision: ensuring a future for the planet and those communities in rural Wales who live on it.”