Party of Wales Gwynedd Councillors' Group

Serving the community is a family tradition for Bangor’s Dewi Ward Councillor, Gareth Roberts. Generations of his father’s family were caretakers of St James Church in Bangor so training to become an Ambulance man, and then a City and County Councillor was a natural progression for the Bangor lad.

Following a meeting yesterday between Plaid Cymru politicians and the management of Northwood, Penygroes, that closed suddenly 10 days ago, politicians stressed they will leave no stone unturned as they try to assist the company in tackling problems at the site.

"There are approximately 3,700 miles between Gwynedd and Minnesota in the United States but in every sense we stand firm alongside the black community over there," said Plaid Cymru’s Gwynedd Leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn.

“We are delighted to learn that three of the county's young people came out on top in three of the Urdd's major virtual Eisteddfod competitions last week 'Eisteddfod T,'” said Plaid Cymru’s Gwynedd Leader, Dyfrig Siencyn (pictured, far right).

Plaid Cymru Gwynedd Leader, Dyfrig Siencyn has called on the Welsh Minister of Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths AM, to voice her support for agriculture, food producers, and rural businesses dealing with Covid-19 and to spell out her proposals for an economic recovery plan for rural Wales.

"Yesterday's announcement by Northwood is a devastating blow to Penygroes, to Dyffryn Nantlle and to the whole of Gwynedd. The announcement came as a shock to the staff as they arrived at work yesterday (26 May) to begin their shift. It is a huge blow to staff and their families and is gravely disappointing after years of faithful and conscientious work for this company," said Penygroes Councillor, Judith Humphreys (pictured).

Residents living within the Bangor city boundary who are vulnerable or self-isolating due to the Covid-19 pandemic are being urged to get in touch with Plaid Cymru Bangor’s Councillor Steve Collings (pictured) for emergency food support packages.

Deiniol Ward Councillor, Steve Collings, already organises a free Bangor FoodShare event each Sunday at Plaid Cymru’s Bangor office. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, it soon became clear that some of the supply of surplus food was becoming erratic and individuals couldn’t physically get to the free foodshare location at Bangor’s number 70 offices on the High Street.

Following numerous meetings with Government, officers and politicians, Plaid Cymru Gwynedd is delighted that the Minister for Local Government and Housing, Julie James, has listened to concerns that second home owners who have deliberately transferred to business rates to avoid paying taxes, could have accessed business support grants.

Plaid Cymru Gwynedd is continuing its pressure on the Welsh Government to change the Welsh Government's business grant guidelines, so that owners of second homes who have deliberately converted to business rates to avoid paying taxes, do not have access to business support grants of £10,000 or up to £25,000.

Plaid Cymru Gwynedd who is continuing to press for change so that every individual can state their Welsh nationality on the Census form has taken a step in the right direction, according to the cabinet member with responsibility for equality.

Currently, there is no opportunity for individuals to indicate whether they are Welsh Black, Asian, Caribbean or African under specific sub-headings on the form. The form suggestion is that being Welsh, English, Scottish or Irish is restricted to being white only. And under the Asian and Black categories, the word British appears, which undermines the whole ethos of giving individuals the right to state their nationality.