According to the BBC this week, the decision to axe the Communities First scheme in Rhyl at the end of this year has been described as 'disappointing'.Disastrous would be a more apt description and it reflects badly on the Welsh Assembly Government and its commitment to regeneration.
As this blog pointed out just over a month ago, three of the five most deprived wards in Wales are based in Rhyl.
Yet the decision has been made to scrap the Communities First programme, with everyone to blame but the Assembly Government.
If WAG cannot get its act together here in the poorest parts of our nation, what hope is there for the rest of Wales.
Comments
Mark Webster, who represents Rhyl West on the town council was not surprised at the news.
"Communities First probably caused more trouble than good in West Rhyl," he said. "There are a hell of a lot of people out of work and below the bread-line and they all saw pound signs.
"Every street wanted to set up a group and they were all fighting and people who actually owned businesses were going to the meetings and wanting money for being there.
"It should have been called Money First instead of Communities First.
"A few groups did really well but most just fought against each other. It was just too much money for people who couldn’t handle it."
Was no-one in control of the overall project? Would it not have been their job to co-ordinate and set guidelines etc? And if I was a West Rhyl resident I would be feeling very insulted by my "representative"!
Apparently the new arrangements to support regeneration will be in place by April 2009 - that's some delay for the underprivileged in such a run down area. It just drags on and on....
sounds about right to me !!!!
The scheme is often devisive and causes more hassle than good in the way it is set up
It could be so productive if it was focus properly and run with out all the commitees
This is just not necessarily an issue of more funding but of the way the whole scheme is organised. The best schemes work when the communities are fully engaged in the process i.e. a bottom up approach. Instead, it would seem that the dead hand of public sector bureaucracy at a local and Assembly level is stifling any development within this area. When the blame game starts amongst the different agencies, then you known that they have all buggered up spectacularly, to use an academic phrase.
However, if we are discussing funding regimes, then I have argued, on numerous occasions that a proportion of the billions of European funding available should be linked directly to the prosperity of an area. This, if done properly, could encourage private and public sector investment into the poorest areas such as Rhyl West, and ensure that we begin to resolve some of the long term problems of our poorest communities. It should be the priority of the Assembly Government, over the next three years, to improve the relative wealth of our most deprived communities.