Somewhere to create...in Aberystwyth San Francisco 1967? No, Northgate Street, Aberystwyth last night where a vacant shop has been refurbished to stage events for people aged 16-25.

The initiative, at what was previously Andy's Records (prior to it moving up the road) and more recently an ink cartridge shop, is part of the Somewhereto_re:store campaign aimed at providing access for young people to otherwise empty retail space. In Wales this is being led by a partnership between Aberystwyth's own Arad Goch and Promo Cymru, based in Cardiff.

4 Northgate Street will be available until January and Somewhereto_re:store (I think I've got the punctuation right) will be staging a variety of events there as well as providing space, support and advice to others with creative or entrepreneurial ideas. If you've got ideas or want to help people who have, pop in for a chat or e-mail email@example.com Bus consultation for central Wales I’ve blogged before about the severe cuts to bus funding across Wales and won’t go through it again now. However I wanted to remind people about the public consultation that lasts until the end of the month on the best way to manage bus routes in the central Wales region in the light of the changed circumstances.

This is being conducted by TraCC (Trafnidiaeth Canolbarth Cymru – the transport consortium for central Wales) who are now responsible for managing the Regional Transport Services Grant (RTSG) from the Welsh Government.

The consultation is intended to work out how best to prioritise the reduced funding. Anyway, here’s the link to it.

On the subject of public transport consultations, there's a survey on usage of the Cambrian Train Line on the way in October. Details will also be on this blog. Plaid Cymru in Ceredigion launches campaign against Royal Mail privatisation Plaid Cymru in Ceredigion has launched a campaign and petition against the Westminster Government’s plans to privatise the Royal Mail.
On 12th September, the Lib Dem Business Minister, Vince Cable, announced the details of the plan for the mail delivery service to be sold off. The move comes despite widespread opposition from the public and postal workers.
It's feared that the privatisation will be particularly bad news for areas such as Ceredigion. Currently, the Royal Mail charges the same for its services in urban and rural areas, and ensures daily deliveries for almost all customers. In the long-term, there are concerns over whether new private owners will guarantee the same service to homes and businesses in rural areas.
The local campaign against privatisation was launched this week by Elin Jones AM, Plaid’s MP candidate Mike Parker, and party volunteers across Ceredigion. A petition is being collected, drawing attention to the particular dangers of this policy locally, and is available to sign online here
Mike Parker, the local author and broadcaster who is Plaid Cymru’s Ceredigion candidate at the next Westminster election (pictured right), said,
“The Royal Mail’s universal service is vital to areas such as ours. At the moment, it costs the same to send a letter in Ceredigion as it does in London, and we get the same daily deliveries. New private owners will of course want to cherry-pick the most profitable parts of the business, and that will not be rural Wales. Under private ownership, profits for shareholders will always come first. We’ve already seen huge rises in the price of stamps to make the Royal Mail more attractive for buyers; if this carries on we could soon see prices rise to £1 or more.
“Talking to people on street stalls and on the doorstep right across the county, I’ve been struck by the strength of feeling locally on this issue. This is a bad idea and I call on the Westminster Government to drop the plan.”
Elin Jones, Plaid Cymru AM for Ceredigion, added,
“Privatising the Royal Mail is something that even Thatcher didn’t dare to try. No wonder that 70% of the public are opposed, and that postal workers voted against it by a huge margin. As well as threatening price rises and service cuts for our area, the plans are a new threat to the future of our Post Office network, and could lead to centralisation of delivery services and local job losses.”

Further information on the campaign against privatisation can be found here
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