Welsh Government's £250K grant to 'count moths on the Great Orme is crazy'
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info
A Llandudno councillor described the spending of £250,000 of taxpayers' money on 'counting the number of moths on the Great Orme' as 'crazy'. Speaking at a Conservative Party conference in Llangollen last week, Cllr Louise Emery raised the issue of a grant paid by Welsh Government to Conwy County Council.
The 'Cryptic Creatures of the Creuddyn' is a two-year project focussing on invertebrates associated with limestone habitats on the Creuddyn peninsula.
Delivered by the Heritage Fund, on behalf of the Welsh Government, the project is funded by the Nature Networks Programme and involves working with schools and the community for the benefit of invertebrates.
Cllr Emery, though, believed Welsh Government money could be better allocated to councils at a time when many local authorities are struggling to make ends meet and cutting front-line services.
"We are seeing a lack of investment in roads, and it is priorities. The worst one I've heard of is £250,000 counting the number of moths on the Great Orme – crazy!' she said at the conference.
'So there is money. It is always about priorities. So we need to say as the Welsh Conservatives, who will be in power in 2027, that we need to focus on the absolute basics of what we do at local authorities: collect the bins, educate your children, and look after your vulnerable, and fix your highways, essentially."
Speaking later, Cllr Emery elaborated on the comments made at the political conference, explaining it was Welsh Government who allocated the funds spent on the project.
'My point I was making at the Conservative conference was about priorities and that there is money available from Welsh Government but only for certain things, so whilst local authority budgets are really being squeezed, Welsh Government finds money for projects such as the Cryptic Creatures of the Creuddyn,' she said.
'On its own merit, in its own little world, I can see some benefit to that, but in the grand financial picture of what local authorities are facing, I find it incredulous that they can find money for a project like this, but we can't find money for basic public amenities such as toilets or looking after our parks and gardens or highways.
"So it's not that I'm against the project in itself, but it is a priority where you allocate money to. This is not Conwy revenue money. I was saying there is grant money available, which I think should be prioritised, supporting local authorities properly.'
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: 'The Cryptic Creatures of the Creuddyn project was awarded £248,348 as part of the Nature Networks Fund in February 2024. It is a collaborative initiative led by Conwy County Borough Council in partnership with Natural Resources Wales and Butterfly Conservation.
'The project is carrying out surveys and protecting rare and at-risk invertebrate such as the micro-moth, measuring about 2cm across which has been found in abundance in its only known Welsh Habitat. This work will inform future habitat management and conservation strategies."
Cllr Charlie McCoubrey, council leader said: 'This is a grant-funded project. It's important to note that grant funding is for specific projects and cannot be spent on other services. Whilst grant funding is available, we will continue to apply for it.' Sign up for the North Wales Live newslettersent twice daily to your inbox.
Public notices in your area
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Keir Starmer and Labour are accused of standing in the way of a ban on cousins marrying each other - after poll shows British people want it axed
Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour party are standing in the way of a ban on cousins marrying each other, after a new poll showed an overwhelming majority of Britons want to see it axed, a Conservative MP has claimed. Conservative MP Richard Holden last year introduced a private members' bill to ban the practice, which would bring cousin marriages into the same bracket as marrying a parent, child, sibling or grandparent. Now a new YouGov poll has revealed the British communities that are most likely to back first cousin marriages, with a large majority thinking the practice should be outlawed. The former Cabinet Minister and Conservative Party Chairman told MailOnline: 'This YouGov poll is clear. 'The overwhelming majority of Brits, including those of Pakistani heritage, want to see first cousin marriage banned. 'The fact Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party are standing in the way of ending an outdated practice rooted in misogynistic cultural practices shows that he's more interested in promoting cultural relativism than in ending practices that have no place in our country and isolate both individuals and communities from each other. 'If Starmer really believed in British values he'd back my bill, just like every community in Britain does.' Pakistani and Bangladeshi Britons are most likely to support the first cousin marriages, with 39 percent of those polled saying it should be legal. While 47 percent of the community say the practice should not be legal, this compares to just eight percent of white Britons who support first-cousin marriage. Six percent of black Britons say marrying a cousin should be legal, with nine percent of Indian Britons holding the same view. While marrying close relatives including siblings and half-siblings is illegal in the UK, marrying a first cousin is technically legal. Some 77 percent of white and Indian Britons believe marrying a cousin should be made illegal, compared to 82 percent of black Britons. Currently the UK follows the practice of 'genetic counselling', in which first cousins who are in a relationship are offered education about the risk of having children together and encouraged to receive extra checks during pregnancy. It is estimated that children of a first-cousin union have a six percent chance of inheriting a recessive disorder such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease - double the risk of the general population. But some have warned that outlawing the practice completely risks stigmatising those already in first cousin marriages in the UK. Amongst these was Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed, who drew huge criticism last year for defending cousin marriage. Instead of banning it outright, he said a 'more positive approach' involving advanced genetic tests for prospective married cousins would be more effective in addressing issues around it. One of Britain's foremost experts on child health also defended the right for first cousins to marry, dismissing concerns about inbreeding. Professor Dominic Wilkinson, an NHS neonatologist and ethics expert at the University of Oxford, argued a ban would be 'unethical'. Instead, Professor Wilkinson backed calls for such couples to be offered special screening on the NHS to help them decide if they should have children. Such tests can cost £1,200 privately. They are designed to spot whether prospective parents are carriers for the same genetic conditions, such as cystic fibrosis and spinal muscular atrophy. It comes as data from 2023 showed in three inner-city Bradford wards, 46 percent of mothers from the Pakistani community are married to a first or second cousin, according to data published in 2023. The overall estimate for the cousing marriage capital of the UK in Pakistani couples was 37 percent ten years ago, and this figure has since dropped. Reasons behind the fall are thought to include high educational attainment, stricter immigration rules and changes in family dynamics. It compares to just one percent of white British couples. YouGov's data also revealed that those in London are most likely to support first cousin marriage, at 15 percent. The north followed at 12 percent, while in the Midlands it was ten percent. The south of England and Wales were the least likely to support it being legal, at six and seven percent respectively. Historically, first cousin marriages were extremely common amongst royalty and the British upper classes. It was seen as a way of firming up alliances and keeping wealth and land in the family. MailOnline recently revealed that no-one is tracking the rate of cousin marriages in the UK, with councils not recording any data on the issue. Studies have put Pakistan as having one of the highest rates globally at 65 percent of unions. This is followed by Saudi Arabia (50 percent), Afghanistan (40 percent), Iran (30 percent) and Egypt and Turkey (20 percent).
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
More than nine of out ten of the Tory rank-and-file want Kemi Badenoch to purge 'wets' from the party in order to meet the challenge of Nigel Farage and Reform UK
More than nine out of ten Tory supporters want Kemi Badenoch to mount a purge of 'wets' in the Tory party in order to meet the challenge of Nigel Farage, new polling has found. According to a survey by the Popular Conservatism group, known as PopCon, 92 per cent of Conservative members and voters agree that there should be a 'big shake-up' in the party, including 'getting rid of the wets who aren't really Conservative' and 'getting rid of the MPs who are big state, pro-EU and arrogantly elitist'. The poll offers support for Ms Badenoch, with 93 per cent agreeing with her vow to abandon Net Zero targets. A total of 91 per cent want to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), while 89 per cent want to reverse Sir Keir Starmer 's EU deal. Despite the party languishing in the polls, Ms Badenoch receives backing for her approach. However, 42 per cent of her supporters want her to establish a formal relationship with Reform. Separate polling published today by Lord Ashcroft in The Mail on Sunday reveals that voters do not think Sir Keir is sincere when he promises to cut immigration.
Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Reeves to splash billions of pounds on NHS and schools - but other cuts loom
Chancellor Rachel Reeves admitted that some vital public services will lose out on funding in next week's Spending Review - 'I'm not able to say yes to everything' Rachel Reeves will pour cash into the NHS, schools, security and firing up the economy as she hit back at fears of fresh austerity for cash-strapped public services. The health service is expected to be the big winner in Wednesday's Spending Review, with a 2.8% hike to the Department of Health's annual budget - amounting to around £30billion in additional funding by 2028/29. The Mirror understands schools will also get a major boost to per pupil funding, with £4.5billion extra for the core schools budget. But other vital services will feel the squeeze, with painful cuts expected in areas like local government and policing. On Wednesday, the Chancellor will spell out how much cash will be allocated for day-to-day budgets over the next three years. Speaking to the Sunday Mirror in her Leeds West and Pudsey constituency, she said: "This is a far cry from what you would have had if you'd had another five years of the Conservatives - £300billion above that. Under our plan, spending will increase every year in this Parliament. "I tell you what austerity is, it's what George Osborne did, where spending fell by 2% every year when he was Chancellor and [David] Cameron was Prime Minister. Spending will grow at close to 2% every year under the plans that I will lay out." There will be a £190billion increase in funding for day-to-day spending over the period, funded partly by tax hikes in the Budget in the autumn. A shake-up of borrowing rules has also freed up around £113billion for capital investment for big ticket items like homes, transport and energy projects. Security will be top of the agenda as "we live in a changed world, everyone can see that," the Chancellor said. "The first duty of any government is to keep its people safe." The Government has already promised to hike defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027/28, funded through a raid on the foreign aid budget. The NHS will get a big cash injection to help the Government meet its commitment to slash waiting lists currently around 7.4million. Her other focus will be growing the economy to drive up living standards for ordinary Brits. But Ms Reeves admitted some areas will lose out. "I'm not able to say yes to everything, and there are things that I would like to do, but we don't have the money to do them," she said. "But your readers will remember two and a half years ago when a Conservative Prime Minister and Chancellor crashed the economy. "As a result, they paid more for their mortgages and more in their rents, and readers who run their own business, particularly small businesses, found that the cost of running their business went up as inflation and borrowing rates went through the roof. "So we have to say no to some things, because we've got to make sure that that stability is returned to the economy." This week, the Chancellor confirmed plans to rip up Treasury rules blamed for favouring investment in prosperous areas in the South of England. Instead, some £15.6billion will be handed to mayors to improve trams, trains and buses outside of London. Ms Reeves said: "It means that people can be able to stay in the place where they grew up, the place they want to live, where their families are, but still be able to access some of those great jobs paying decent wages in the city, and they will be able to commute in easily and affordably in a way that isn't possible today. "That narrows down the options for lots of people about the jobs they do. Also for young people, it narrows down the options about where to go to college, what apprenticeship to take up. "And I don't want people's options to be narrowed. I want people's options and opportunities to be broadened and their aspirations to know no limits." But she acknowledged that voters are sceptical and said there was "no time to waste" in delivering for parts of the country betrayed by Boris Johnson's levelling up boasts. "We've got to get on with [it]", she said. "I don't want people waiting for another decade before they see improvements in their area. "We've spoken about a decade of national renewal, but there's no time to waste. We're getting started." Pressed on whether she would deliver where the Tories failed, she said: "Yes, and the reason that I can say that to Mirror readers is because I know that there's a lot of cynicism that things have been promised in the past." She added: "I'm as cynical as the next person when it comes to these promises, but we've set out five years worth of funding this week." Ms Reeves admitted she'd had to take tough decisions, including hiking national insurance contributions for businesses in the autumn Budget and plans to slash £5 billion from the welfare bill. Labour MPs are in revolt over the decision to make up most of the welfare savings from cuts to Personal Independence Payments (Pip), which help disabled people with the added costs of daily life. Ms Reeves said that difficult decision had allowed her to plough cash into public services and invest in the future. She said: "We are choosing investment rather than decline. The previous government chose decline. That is not the path that we're choosing. We're going to renew Britain and make working people better off in the process." Ms Reeves said she recognised the last few years had been tough for ordinary Brits but added: "We're beginning to turn the corner because of the choices that we've made." 'We will reduce child poverty' Rachel Reeves said driving down child poverty is a "moral mission" and insisted Labour would lift more kids out of hardship. The Chancellor said the decision this week to extend free school meals to more than 500,000 additional pupils next year was a statement of intent. From next September, all children in families receiving Universal Credit will get a free school lunch - in a major victory for the Mirror's campaign to end hunger in the classroom. But the Government is under intense pressure to commit to more drastic action to end the scourge of child poverty. A long-awaited strategy has been delayed to the autumn amid mounting calls from Labour MPs for an end to the Tory two-child benefit limit, which has been blamed for pushing families into poverty. Asked if she was listening to these calls, Ms Reeves told the Sunday Mirror: "I joined the Labour Party when I was 17 years old, because my experience at my local state school was that my sixth form was two prefab huts in the playground joined together. "Our school library was turned into a classroom because there were more students than space and never enough textbooks to go around." She added: "There were loads of girls that I was at school with who did not have the opportunities. They went to school every day and probably felt that the government didn't care very much about communities like ours and families like theirs. "When Tony Blair talked about 'education, education, education', that really resonated with me, because I strongly believe that whatever your parents do, whatever income your family's got coming in, whatever your background, you deserve a really good start in life. "And I know that kids who are going to school in empty bellies, who don't have a space at home to do their homework, who don't have the opportunities of books at home, and where the mums and dads don't have the security of a job that pays a decent wage, that they just don't have the opportunities that other kids do. And that's what I came into politics to do something about." She added: "We will lift more children out of poverty. We will reduce child poverty. That is a moral mission for all of us."
