#cllrrobjames — Public Fediverse posts

LLANDEILO: Green candidate’s bypass backing sparks row with Labour MS — as locals say just build it

A bypass that has been promised, delayed, reviewed and re-promised for more than half a century has found a new use — as ammunition in a Senedd election row between a Green Party candidate and the Labour MS whose seat he is now trying to win.

The flashpoint came when Cllr Rob James, the Green Party’s lead candidate for Sir Gaerfyrddin — the constituency covering the whole of Carmarthenshire — posted on Facebook backing the long-awaited Llandeilo bypass.

The bypass has been in the pipeline since it was first raised in Parliament in 1970. Feasibility studies were underway by 1973. Construction was supposed to begin in 2019. It didn’t. A new start date of 2025 was set. That didn’t happen either. The current estimate has construction beginning in 2029, with completion targeted for 2031 — and a price tag of £88 million, up from an original budget of £50 million.

Cllr James invoked the case of Ella Kissi-Debrah — the first person in the UK whose death was officially linked to air pollution — to make his case. “Air quality isn’t an abstract issue. It has real consequences,” he wrote, arguing that HGVs thundering through Llandeilo’s narrow streets every day were creating real health risks.

Llandeilo is a designated air quality management area due to historic breaches in nitrogen dioxide levels. “Doing nothing,” Cllr James said, “isn’t a Green option.”

Lee Waters, the outgoing Labour MS for Llanelli — whose constituency has been absorbed into the new county-wide Sir Gaerfyrddin seat at this election — was unimpressed. A champion of sustainable transport who is not seeking re-election in May, his response on Facebook was brief and pointed: “Novel to have a Green candidate who favours building a by-pass on a flood plain.”

Waters then contacted media outlets to pile on further, saying: “See this Facebook comment from the lead Green candidate in Carmarthenshire, doubling down in favour of a by-pass. Needless to say, this is not Green policy.”

There is some irony in Waters taking this particular stand. As transport minister, he oversaw a review that froze most new road-building projects in Wales — but the Llandeilo bypass was one of the few schemes that survived the cull. A consultant, Arcadis, was subsequently appointed to develop the outline design. The bypass remains Welsh Government policy — a point Cllr James was quick to make.

“The Welsh Government has decided to take forward the Llandeilo bypass, so it’s Labour Party policy,” Cllr James hit back. “Obviously there are concerns about its precise routing and there’s a need to make sure that environmental factors are taken into consideration. To be fair, Plaid Cymru, which controls the county council, has taken that view for a long time. Llandeilo deserves its bypass.”

While the two traded blows online, Carl Peters-Bond, an independent candidate for Sir Gaerfyrddin, said the whole row was missing the point. “Having listened to the people of Llandeilo, they’re not interested in political spats — they just want their bypass built,” he said.

Peters-Bond, who has been campaigning in the town, said the reality on the ground was hard to ignore. “Whilst campaigning recently in Llandeilo it was not possible to hold a conversation for more than a few seconds before getting deafened by huge HGVs thundering through the narrow streets. Air pollution, noise and road safety concerns in Llandeilo are a real concern for residents.”

He added: “The bypass has been talked about at length for decades. It’s a trunk-route part of the major A483 that links South West and North Wales. The volume of heavy goods and other vehicle traffic that navigate the narrow roads have far exceeded what is safe. It’s about time the bypass was built.”

Cllr James also used the exchange to make a bold claim about the Greens’ prospects in the constituency. “The Labour vote in Carmarthenshire has collapsed and we believe the Greens are likely to poll higher than Labour. We are definitely in with a chance of winning a seat here,” he said.

The spat is not without its backstory. Cllr James was previously the leader of the opposition Labour group on Carmarthenshire County Council before being suspended by the party in January 2024 and subsequently joining the Greens.

His path out of Labour followed an incident in which he was accused of sending a text message to a Plaid Cymru councillor suggesting they could have some fun by claiming that Waters had two homes in Llanelli and didn’t live in either of them. He said the message was meant facetiously and that he had forgotten sending it. Party officials said allowing him to remain in Labour’s parliamentary candidate selection process would risk reputational damage for the party.

That history between the two makes the Facebook spat feel like rather more than an abstract policy debate — and all the while, in Llandeilo, the lorries keep coming through.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Consultant appointed to progress Llandeilo bypass scheme
The Welsh Government appointed Arcadis Consulting to develop the outline design for the long-awaited A483 bypass.

Former Carmarthenshire Labour leader defects to Green Party
How Cllr Rob James made the move from Labour group leader to Green Party Senedd candidate.

Controversial Welsh transport minister to leave post
Lee Waters steps down as transport minister and announces he will not seek re-election.

Freeze on new roads projects to be announced
The road-building review that froze most Welsh Government schemes — but not the Llandeilo bypass.

METRO ROW: Carmarthenshire councillor blasts ‘Swansea-centric’ transport vision

The latest row follows the unveiling of a long-term vision for a Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro — a plan that has been talked about for years but is still yet to secure full funding.

As previously reported in our coverage of the proposed £1.4bn transport overhaul for the region, the Metro has been billed as a transformative project to improve rail, bus and active travel links across south west Wales.

But critics now say the reality is falling far short of the ambition.

Carmarthenshire councty councillor and Green Party Senedd candidate, Rob James has launched a scathing attack on the latest announcement, branding it a “political stunt”.

He warned that the plans risk becoming “increasingly Swansea-centric”, with little clarity on what they will deliver for communities outside the city.

The Metro vision, backed by Welsh Government transport secretary Ken Skates and Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart, sets out a long-term ambition for improved connectivity across the region.

It includes proposals for new stations, better integration between transport modes and, in the longer term, the possibility of light rail or tram-style systems.

However, despite the big-picture vision, the scheme remains at an early stage — with no fully confirmed, ring-fenced funding in place for major infrastructure.

That lack of detail has become a key flashpoint.

Cllr James said:

“The latest announcement on the Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro should be called out for what it really is — a political stunt.

“The announcement provided little hope to the residents of Carmarthenshire that we will have reliable, affordable public transport in our county in the near future.”

He pointed to what he described as an imbalance in the proposals, claiming that multiple new stations or hubs are planned for Swansea, while Carmarthenshire appears to have been left with little concrete benefit.

“Despite the Metro having been discussed for the last ten years, we are still at the early planning stage with no ring-fenced capital funding allocated,” he said.

“The vision is becoming Swansea-centric… If we are to work collaboratively in our region, all areas must reap the benefits and I will not allow my county to be short changed.”

The comments come at a sensitive time, with the future of transport investment emerging as a key issue ahead of the next Senedd election.

Cllr James, who was formally the leader of the Welsh Labour group on Carmarthenshire Council before defecting to the Green Party, accused Welsh Labour politicians of attempting to “hide the lack of progress” on the Metro, calling for a shift away from what he described as “wish lists”.

“We need a Welsh Government that doesn’t support wish lists, but instead rolls up their sleeves and gets on with the job of modernising our public transport network,” he added.

Supporters of the Metro argue that the project is a long-term strategy designed to unlock economic growth, improve access to jobs and reduce reliance on cars across the region.

But with no firm timeline for delivery of the biggest elements, questions remain over when — or if — communities beyond Swansea will see real change on the ground.

For residents across Carmarthenshire, the concern is a familiar one — that major regional projects are announced with fanfare, but take years to materialise, if at all.

The debate over who benefits most from the Metro is now likely to intensify as more detail — and crucially, funding — either emerges or fails to do so.

RURAL SCHOOLS UNDER THREAT: Carmarthenshire communities face ‘piecemeal closures’ as Council defends tough decisions

The future of education in Carmarthenshire’s villages is hanging in the balance, with parents and residents expressing deep concern over the council’s strategy for its smaller schools.

The latest flashpoint is the closure of Ysgol Llansteffan, a decision made by Carmarthenshire County Council at its meeting on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. The school is set to close its doors on August 31, 2026, with pupils transferring to Ysgol Llangain.

This move has been met with significant local opposition from parents and campaigners who have fought to save the school, which has now seen a statutory closure notice issued by the local authority.

Carmarthenshire County Council has defended its decision, stating that Ysgol Llansteffan was identified for discontinuation based on criteria within its Modernising Education Programme. The council cited factors such as “extremely low pupil numbers,” “high surplus places,” and a “high number of pupils living within catchment attending other schools” as key reasons for the closure.

Furthermore, the council highlighted that pupil projections suggest there is little likelihood of numbers increasing dramatically over the next few years and pointed to a projected deficit budget at the end of this financial year for Ysgol Llansteffan.

Cllr Glynog Davies, Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, expressed the difficulty of the decision, stating: “The decision to close Ysgol Llansteffan is difficult for everyone involved and it is, with sadness, that this has been agreed.”

He added that following a robust process, the discontinuation of Ysgol Llansteffan will enable the school to combine with Ysgol Llangain to provide safer staffing, the wider sharing of Welsh language among pupils and a more sustainable rural community.

However, this decision has not appeased all parties. The Wales Greens have been vocal in their criticism, warning that dozens of rural schools could be at risk under the council’s current approach. They argue that the council is responding to demographic changes with “piecemeal closures” rather than a coherent, long-term strategy to sustain rural education.

This concern is amplified by the fact that the council has also recently concluded consultations on proposals to shut down Ysgol Y Fro and Ysgol Meidrim, sparking fears among campaigners that even more rural schools could face closure this year.

Indeed, Ysgol Llansteffan now marks the seventh school to close its doors in Carmarthenshire since 2002, a tally accumulated under successive Plaid Cymru and Welsh Labour administrations, according to the Wales Greens.

The issue of rural school closures is far from new in Carmarthenshire, with a history of contentious proposals and strong community resistance. Past plans for Mynyddygarreg School and Pontyates School have faced significant opposition, with some proposals even being put on hold due to public outcry.

Leading the charge for the Greens is Councillor Rob James, who has accused the ruling parties of failing to protect rural education. Councillor James stated: “Since being in power in Carmarthenshire, Plaid Cymru have failed to prevent the steady loss of schools in our rural communities.”

Councillor James’s background adds a unique layer to the debate. He previously served as the leader of the Labour group on Carmarthenshire Council and even stood for the party in the last Senedd election.

His recent defection to the Green Party has seen him transition from leading the official opposition to becoming the first Green county councillor in Carmarthenshire. This shift in perspective comes after years of observing the council’s long-standing policies from within the Labour group.

Councillor James further criticised the council, adding: “This week’s decision to close Ysgol Llansteffan, while continuing consultations on Ysgol Y Fro and Ysgol Meidrim, shows clearly that they do not have a long-term plan to protect rural education in our county.”

The Wales Greens are now formally calling for a comprehensive, long-term rural schools strategy for Carmarthenshire. Their focus is on actively sustaining village schools and providing robust support to communities grappling with demographic shifts, rather than what they perceive as reactive closures.

They contend that the next Welsh Government and Carmarthenshire Council must do more to protect rural schools, warning that without a clear strategy, the fabric of our rural communities will continue to be slowly eroded.

This ongoing debate underscores the tension between the council’s need to manage resources in the face of changing demographics and the deeply held community desire to preserve local educational institutions.