Celebrating Geraint Thomas’ success at the Tour de France, Carmarthen Velodrome could soon be renamed in the champion cyclist’s honour.

In recognition of Thomas’ family roots in Bancyfelin near St Clears, Carmarthenshire Council is proposing calling the town’s velodrome the ‘Geraint Thomas Velodrome’ from now on.

Thomas became the first ever Welshman to win the illustrious Tour de France, beating off competition from the best cyclists on the planet.

Located in Carmarthen Park, Carmarthen Velodrome, built in 1900, is one of the oldest velodromes in the world.

Run and maintained by Carmarthen Town Council, the velodrome was refurbished and reopened last year for the benefit of contemporary cyclists and future generations, thanks to funding from Carmarthenshire Council and Sport Wales, with support from Welsh Cycling.

Cllr Emlyn Dole, Carmarthenshire Council Leader, said: “Geraint Thomas’ success at the Tour de France is right up there with the greatest Welsh sporting achievements of all-time.

“That’s why, given his family roots in Carmarthenshire, we’ll now ask for Geraint’s permission to rename Carmarthen Velodrome in his honour.

“Brilliantly run and maintained by Carmarthen Town Council since its refurbishment and reopening last year, potentially calling the facility the ‘Geraint Thomas Velodrome’ in future would further raise its profile across the world, helping introduce more people from the county and beyond to the joy of cycling.

“Ongoing work in Carmarthenshire to further boost cycling includes the Tywi Valley Path, which will link Carmarthen and Llandeilo for cyclists and pedestrians, as well as a closed road cycling circuit at Pembrey Country Park. The Country Park will also stage the start of the major Tour of Britain cycling race next month as we look to strengthen the county’s growing reputation as the cycling capital of Wales.”

Although now based in Cardiff, Geraint’s father, Howell, is originally from Bancyfelin – a small village nestled between Carmarthen and St Clears on the A48.

Cllr Philip Hughes, Executive Board Member at Carmarthenshire Council and a Ward Member for St Clears, said: “This is a very proud moment for everyone in the St Clears and Bancyfelin community.

“Geraint can now justifiably be called the best cyclist in the world, but he follows in the footsteps of other sporting legends from the village, including rugby heroes Delme Thomas, Mike Phillips and Jonathan Davies, who won man of the series in the British Lions tour of New Zealand last summer.

“Bancyfelin is truly a village of sporting champions.”

The refurbishment of Carmarthen Velodrome included the replacement of all 232 surface panels making up the cycling track, as well as the introduction of a safety fence around the outside edge of the track, and a new safety zone along its inside perimeter.

After a number of successful years held at Galeri Caernarfon, The Redhouse in Merthyr Tydfil and Tramshed in Cardiff, the Wales Book of the Year Award Ceremony has found a new home for 2019 with Literature Wales announcing that the 2019 Award Ceremony will be hosted by Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

Organised by Literature Wales, the Wales Book of the Year Awards are presented to the best Welsh and English-language works in the fields of creative writing and literary criticism published in a calendar year, within three categories: Poetry, Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction.

Each category winner will be announced at the prestigious Award Ceremony, with one of the successful titles in each language chosen as the overall winner and named Wales Book of the Year 2019.

A total of £12,000 in prize money will be awarded to the successful writers. The Ceremony will be held at Theatr y Werin, Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Thursday 20 June 2019.

The theatre is currently undergoing a renovation with major investment in new electrical systems and seating.

Dafydd Rhys, Director of Aberystwyth Arts Centre said: “We are delighted to be welcoming the Wales Book of the Year Award Ceremony to Aberystwyth Arts Centre in 2019. To extend the celebrations we will be a hosting a week of activities celebrating literature for young and old. Put the dates in your diary now!”

As part of this new partnership, the fiction awards in both language will be sponsored by Aberystwyth University, and will be called the Aberystwyth University Fiction Award, and Gwobr Ffuglen Prifysgol Aberystwyth.

Dr Rhodri Llwyd Morgan, Director of Welsh Language and Culture and External Engagement at Aberystwyth University, said: “Aberystwyth is often described as the cultural capital of Wales and we have a strong literary tradition here. As well as the University and Arts Centre on our main Penglais campus, the area is also home to the National Library of Wales, the Welsh Books Council and other organisations as well as many poets and writers. It’s therefore an ideal place to hold the 2019 Wales Book of the Year Award Ceremony and we look forward to working with Literature Wales to ensure the success of this prestigious occasion.”

Key Dates for 2019:

The Wales Book of the Year Short List will be announced in early May 2019, and the Award Ceremony will be held on Thursday 20 June 2019. The names of the judging panel will be released in the autumn.

Lleucu Siencyn, Chief Executive of Literature Wales said: “We are delighted to be working with the Aberystwyth Arts Centre to bring one of our biggest literary highlights to this beautiful seaside town. Home to a host of literary organisations, and a number of writers and creatives, Aberystwyth is a natural fit for the Wales Book of the Year Award Ceremony. We are incredibly grateful to Aberystwyth University for their generous support, and we look forward to working with all our partners to ensure this is a celebration to remember!”

Photo: Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Aberystwyth University’s Penglais campus will host the Wales Book of the Year Award Ceremony 2019.

Links:

Aberystwyth Arts Centre https://www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/

Llenyddiaeth Cymru www.llenyddiaethcymru.org/ www.literaturewales.org

Literature Wales

Literature Wales is the national company for the development of literature in Wales. It believes that literature belongs to everybody and can be found everywhere. The company’s various projects and activities includes Wales Book of the Year, National Poet of Wales, Bardd Plant Cymru and Young People’s Laureate Wales, Literary Tourism activities, Writers on Tour funding scheme, creative writing courses at Tŷ Newydd, Services for Authors (including Writers’ Bursaries and Mentoring), and Young People’s Writing Squads. Literature Wales is a registered charity, (number 1146560) and works with the support of Arts Council of Wales and Welsh Government. Lleucu Siencyn is the Chief Executive.

Professor Mike Christe of Aberystwyth University has been appointed co-chair of a global assessment on the value and sustainable use of wild species.

A Professor of Environmental and Ecological Economics at Aberystwyth Business School, Mike Christie is one of four international experts who will lead the assessment on behalf of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)

The study will focus on the diverse conceptualisations of multiple values of nature and is one of two major assessments by the IPBES starting this year.

Professor Christie will co-chair the assessment with Professor Patricia Balvanera (Institute for Ecosystem and Sustainability Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico); Brigitte Baptiste (General Director, Alexander von Humboldt Institute, Colombia), and Professor Unai Pascual (Ikerbasque Research Professor at the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), Spain, and Associated Senior Research Scientist at the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, Switzerland).

Speaking after the appointment was announced at the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), in Frankfurt Germany, Professor Christie said: “The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services aims to generate evidence to help protect the World’s natural resources. As one of the co-chairs of the ‘Values’ assessment, I will be leading a team of international experts to explore the multiple ways in which people enjoy and benefit from nature and, importantly, how people’s values for nature can be incorporated into policy decisions. It is thus a great honour to have been selected to chair this assessment and thus play a critical role in developing evidence that will support biodiversity conservation policies.”

The technical support unit, which will coordinate the production of the assessment, will be based in Morelia, Mexico, and hosted by the Institute for Research on Ecosystems and Sustainability (IIES-UNAM), the Secretariat of Institutional Development (SDI-UNAM), and the University Seminar on Society, Environment and Institutions (SUSMAI-UNAM) all within the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and the Mexican Commission for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO).

Professor Christie has also co-led an international study for the IPBES on biodiversity loss in Europe and Central Asia, and the findings were published at a conference in Colombia in March 2018.

IPBES was established in 2012 as an independent body, comprising 130 United Nations Member States, along with numerous NGOs and civil society groups.

It aims to provide a robust evidence base for better policy through science, for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.

Photo: Professor Mike Christie

Links:

IBPES www.ipbes.net

Study at Aberystwyth Business School
https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/abs

An illegal dog breeder in Carmarthenshire has been ordered to pay £13,500 for continuing to breed and sell puppies despite being refused a licence by the local authority.

Sylvia Griffiths, the owner of Glenview Kennels in Llandyfaelog, was prosecuted by Carmarthenshire County Council after animal health officers found she had ignored warnings that she could no longer breed dogs because her premises did not meet licence conditions.

Griffiths has held a breeding licence for Glenview since 1998, originally granted for up to 23 adult dogs.

However, when she applied to renew her licence in July 2016, animal health officers visited and found 74 adult dogs on the premises in overcrowded conditions with no free access to exercise areas.

Griffiths was given time to address conditions and warned that her failure to do so would result in her application being refused.

Officers made an unannounced return visit in December 2016 and found conditions had not been satisfactorily improved.

As a result, her licence renewal was refused, and she was told she could no longer breed and sell dogs.

However, after a concerned customer contacted the council in May 2017 it was discovered she was still breeding puppies and advertising them for sale on Gumtree.

Griffiths was invited for interview by animal health officers where, in a prepared statement, she stated that her dogs were well looked after and was committed to engaging with the authority in respect of the regulatory issues.

However, the council proceeded with a prosecution to prevent further illegal breeding.

The case was heard at Llanelli Magistrates Court. Griffiths was sentenced in her absence due to ill health, but was fined £3,500, ordered to pay costs of £10,000 and a victim surcharge of £120.

Cllr Philip Hughes, executive board member for enforcement, said: “We were pleased with the outcome of this case which demonstrates how seriously we take illegal breeding.

“We were not satisfied with conditions at Glenview Kennels and refused the licence renewal, however the owner ignored this and continued to trade.

“Taking a case to court is always a last resort, as we would prefer that breeders heeded our advice and acted within the law.”

Anyone who breeds or supplies dogs, including at home, requires a licence.

Anyone who is concerned that someone is breeding dogs illegally should contact the council on 01267 234567.

Householders in Llanybydder and the surrounding areas are being urged to have a clear out.

A waste and tyre amnesty is being held at the car park on Saturday, August 11 from 8am-12pm.

Most household waste can be taken along including, unwanted furniture, carpets and mattresses, electrical items such as fridge-freezers and televisions, as well as black bags.

A maximum of four domestic tyres can also be disposed of; however, tractor or lorry tyres will not be accepted.

The following hazardous waste items will not be accepted e.g. paint (only empty paint tins accepted), fluorescent tubes, batteries, chemicals, gas bottles, asbestos, garden waste, trade waste, construction waste, agricultural waste, glass e.g. panes of glass or furniture containing glass.

Residents are advised to please separate their waste and to bring proof of address or they will be refused entry.

The latest podcast from Phil Evans and Robert Lloyd.

The Big Cwtsh (Episode 25) is now on Soundcloud.