Croeso Menai is a local charity that helps refugees make North Wales their home and we are proud that we can host an event to raise awareness of their wonderful work.

Green Party Baroness Jenny Jones will be giving a talk where you can ask for the latest info from the House of Lords and the impacts Green Voices in the movement are making

The AGM is also an opportunity for you to elect your local Green Party committee who run your local party – the roles available are Local Party Chair / Co-ordinator, Treasurer, Secretary, Elections Officer and Social Media.

The event starts at 12:30 pm, light refreshments will also be available.

Price – The event is free however please feel free to make a donation

How to get here
Bus – X4, 4A, 57 62 run from Bangor Rail Station
Train – Bangor Station
Car – Treborth Botanical Gardens LL57 2RQ
Online – The event will be available online via Zoom

Agenda
Welcome & Apologies
Treasurer’s Report
Chairs Report – Members
Croeso Menai – Guest Speaker
Baroness Jenny Jones – Guest Speaker
Vacancies/Election of Officers
Q&A

If you have any questions please email contact@northwest.greenparty.wales

Elusen leol yw Croeso Menai sy’n helpu ffoaduriaid i wneud Gogledd Cymru yn gartref iddynt ac rydym yn falch y gallwn gynnal digwyddiad i godi ymwybyddiaeth o’u gwaith gwych.

Bydd Barwnes y Blaid Werdd Jenny Jones yn rhoi sgwrs lle gallwch ofyn am y wybodaeth ddiweddaraf gan Dŷ’r Arglwyddi a’r effeithiau y mae Lleisiau Gwyrdd yn y mudiad yn eu cael

Mae’r Cyfarfod Cyffredinol Blynyddol hefyd yn gyfle i chi ethol eich pwyllgor Plaid Werdd lleol sy’n rhedeg eich plaid leol – y rolau sydd ar gael yw Cadeirydd/Cydlynydd Plaid Leol, Trysorydd, Ysgrifennydd, Swyddog Etholiadau a Chyfryngau Cymdeithasol.

Mae’r digwyddiad yn dechrau am 12:30pm, bydd lluniaeth ysgafn ar gael hefyd.

Pris – Mae’r digwyddiad am ddim ond mae croeso i chi wneud cyfraniad

Sut i gyrraedd yma

Bws – X4, 4A, 57 62 yn rhedeg o Orsaf Reilffordd Bangor

Trên – Gorsaf Bangor

Car – Gerddi Botaneg Treborth LL57 2RQ

Ar-lein – Bydd y digwyddiad ar gael ar-lein trwy Zoom

Agenda

Croeso ac Ymddiheuriadau

Adroddiad y Trysorydd

Adroddiad y Cadeirydd – Aelodau

Croeso Menai – Siaradwr Gwadd

Y Farwnes Jenny Jones – Siaradwr Gwadd

Swyddi Gwag / Ethol Swyddogion

Holi ac Ateb

Os oes gennych unrhyw gwestiynau e-bostiwch contact@northwest.greenparty.wales

The post AGM Event with baroness Jenny Jones & Croeso Menai appeared first on North West Wales.

But this view, and the government’s obsession with economic growth, is flawed and in the medium term at least it is bound to fail, making future economic crises even worse.  This is because the economy rests on the foundation of nature and nature in the UK and globally is under the cosh of ‘grow baby grow’.  The foundations of the economy are weakening.

In his 2021 report, ‘The Economics of Biodiversity’,  Professor Sir Paval Dasgupta showed that nature is an integral part of the economy and that economic policy had to account for and mitigate its impact on nature. Policies and actions that damaged nature beyond nature’s capacity to recover were counterproductive and would lead to economic decline. He concludes, ‘Our economy, livelihoods and wellbeing all depend on our most precious asset: Nature.’

This conclusion has been further developed by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in a report published in January 2025 titled ‘Planetary Solvency, Finding our Balance with Nature’.  Lead author Sandy Trust stated the situation very clearly: “You can’t have an economy without a society, and a society needs somewhere to live. Nature is our foundation, providing food, water and air, as well as the raw materials and energy that power our economy. Threats to the stability of this foundation are risks to future human prosperity which we must take action to avoid.”

Actuaries assess risk advising business and Governments about the probabilities of success or failure of policies and projects.  They see an increasing swarm of risk facing us in the near future as a consequence of our failure to halt the decline of nature which is amplifying the effects of climate change.  Risks include fire, floods, decline in food production, water stress and the spread of pests and diseases.  They will lead to conflicts and mass migrations of people, leading to political instability.  All this will affect global supply chains disrupting the global economy.  They foresee a decline in global GDP of between 50% and 70% by the last quarter of the century.

In 2024 the Green Finance Institute calculated the cost to the UK economy of the degradation of nature. Their report: ‘Assessing the Materiality of Nature-Related Financial Risks for the UK’ concluded that the deterioration of the UK’s natural environment could lead to an estimated 12% loss to GDP by the mid 2030’s.  This would be a greater hit to the economy than either the 2008 financial crisis or the Covid pandemic.  This ‘hit’ would come during what Mr Starmer and Ms Reeves hope will be their second term of office. They should take careful note of these risks.

The losses are not just related to impacts on the UK environment such as soil loss, flooding and storm damage but also come from disruptions to essential supply chains that feed into the UK economy.  Problems in supplier countries of either environmental disasters or of consequential civil and political disruptions will impact on the operation of UK business and therefore UK GDP. 

The vitally important Food & Agriculture sector is particularly at risk through unpredictable climate, water shortage, flooding & drought, disease, pollution & loss of soil quality.  Sectors dependent on predictable water flow such as energy may experience disruption and loss. Problems in supplier countries will affect businesses as much as domestic problems.  Difficulties and increased costs for business feed through to the financial sector creating  inflationary pressure with the growing risk of defaults and bad debt.

This study adds further evidence to support the conclusion from the Dasgupta Review and others that an early orderly transition toward a nature-positive economy brings significant benefits for UK prosperity and financial stability, through reducing both transition and physical risks, as well as for people and planet.  Economies that have navigated the transition to a more resilient and sustainable economy and productive base will have a major competitive advantage over those countries that have doggedly pursued ‘business as usual’ policies.

The UK lacks progress in meeting targets to reverse biodiversity decline.  It failed to meet the targets it had agreed to in 2011 under the UN Convention of Biological Diversity and is not on track to meet the agreements made in Montreal in 2022 under the Global Biodiversity Framework as the State of Nature report 2023 makes clear.  Nature continues to decline in  all the countries of the UK. The drivers of decline are not being addressed  by Governments. 

This failure to properly address the decline of nature is putting our economic prosperity at risk, as these reports make very clear.  Pushing for developments to boost growth of GDP and riding roughshod over concerns for biodiversity are putting our future prosperity at risk.

The Institute of Actuaries states clearly that risk also comes from actions of economic actors who inhibit, contradict or block actions designed to protect and restore nature.  A Prime Minister who calls this concern for nature as NIMBYism is risking our future prosperity.  Lobbyists and media who try to block the transition to a zero carbon energy system are putting our future prosperity at risk.  Landowners who try to block the transition to nature friendly farming are putting our future prosperity at risk.

Wales will have to make the transition to a sustainable economy. Faced with harsh economic pressures, its transition is in danger of stalling.  As a small economy the needed change could be simpler and quicker than for the whole UK although the lack of finance will cause difficulties. A bigger problem though is the lack of cooperation and goodwill among the economic players.  Resistance to change is notable among landowners and some farmers.  Some of this is down to poor communication and also to a long history of distrust of government.  The stakes are high and Wales now has an opportunity to be a pioneer in developing a sustainable economy with the new products and skills that will be needed. The conservative mind set sees only the risk of making the transition and fails to see the opportunities. But the greatest risk lies with a delayed and chaotic transformation in the face of mounting crises.

 Mike Shipley

The post A Short term dash for growth comes with a long term price tag appeared first on North West Wales.

The Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee’s report published in January 2025 said that commitments made by the Government to nature restoration in Wales must be supported by a clear plan for action and delivery backed by the necessary resources.  The Committee, made up of representatives of all parties in the Senedd, found a lack of urgency saying: ‘If the Welsh Government is to deliver on its commitments for nature it needs to up its game, because nature can’t wait for it to catch up.’

To remind ourselves of the importance of nature: it is our life support system.  Without nature, we humans could not survive.  Nature is a complex system made up of all living things together with the chemical and physical structure of the Earth. As far as we know, Earth is the only planet we could freely live on.  Anywhere else we would have to carry our life support with us.

Too many people in high and powerful positions prefer to ignore this.  They take nature for granted and dismiss concerns for its welfare as a luxury matter that can be dealt with when the ‘economy is fixed’.  The economy though is heavily dependent on nature.  Nature provides a stable environment for  the economy to operate in, it provides the conditions for growing the food economic actors need, it supplies the water they need, the oxygen they need.  It supplies the materials the economy needs to function.  Without nature there is no economy.

Nature is the bedrock on which the economy is built and nature is under great stress and in places is breaking down.  Symptoms of this breakdown are the changing climate caused in part by a buildup of carbon dioxide beyond the capacity of nature to absorb, and the pollution that overwhelms nature’s self cleaning capacity.  Also the decline and extinction of species due to the activities of the economy that robs them of their own support system. 

If this breakdown continues, and current national and international policies will ensure that it does continue, human beings will pay a very heavy price.  Adequate food production will become more difficult, clean water will become scarcer, air will become damaging to health,  pests and disease will spread and threaten health.  The psychological impact of degrading wildlife will take its toll on mental health.

Much of this has been recognised by the UK and Welsh governments and both have made commitments, but words are cheap. What is urgently needed now, as the Senedd Committee spells out, is action backed by resources.  Restoring nature is not a luxury that can wait.  We all have a role to play, landowners and farmers, business, government and the general public.  We need to find the good will to work together to address the Nature Emergency for our own sakes and that of future generations.  Delaying action as the government is doing, is unacceptable.

Mike Shipley January 2025

The post The Welsh Government must up its game for Nature Restoration appeared first on North West Wales.

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Construction of the Trawsfynydd Magnox Nuclear Power Station in Eryri National Park began in 1959 and was completed in 1965.  It is one of 26 Magnox stations built in the 1950’s to 1970’s.  They were developed as dual function reactors, able to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons as well as electricity. [1]

To date,Trawsfynydd is the only inland nuclear powerstation in the UK, using Llyn Trawsfynydd as its source of cooling water. This reservoir was originally built in 1926 to supply water to the Maentwrog hydroelectric plant that remains in operation. [2]

The Trawsfynydd site, including the lake and the hydroelectric plant, is owned by Magnox Ltd, rebranded as Nuclear Restoration Services, a subsidiary of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, [NDA].  [3]

Decommissioning

Generation at Trawsfynydd stopped in 1991 after 26 years and decommissioning the plant commenced in 1993, defueling was completed by 1997 with fuel elements removed from the site and transported to Sellafield for reprocessing. [4]

The original plan for the nuclear station was to allow the radioactivity of the core to naturally decay and cool, making it cheaper and easier to finally demolish the reactor buildings and return the site to its original state.  The Care and Maintenance phase was to last around 60 or more years from closure.  This timetable was abandoned in 2019 when it was found that the Trawsfynydd reactor buildings were deteriorating and could not be relied on to remain safe for this length of time.  The decommissioning programme has had to be considerably accelerated with currently unknown impacts of the full costs of the clean-up.  [5]

It is not possible to get any realistic estimate of the full cost of making safe and restoring any given nuclear site.  The NDA acknowledges that it still does not have full understanding of the condition of the 17 sites across its estate, including the 10 former Magnox power stations.  The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee have described this inability to put a figure on the cost to the public purse for decommissioning as a ‘Sorry Saga’.  Safely dismantling the current nuclear stations will cost generations of UK taxpayers an unknown sum likely to stretch to well over £100 billion.  [6]

 The Trawsfynydd site is described as the ‘lead and learn’ site for decommissioning the Magnox reactors and lessons learned and costs will be applied to all 26 Magnox reactors in the UK. [5]  It is important that the learning process and clean up techniques includes the whole site and is not just limited to the perimeter of the reactor buildings.  For this to happen it is necessary for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and all involved to both understand and acknowledge the extent of contamination of the whole Trawsfynydd site including the lake.

Radioactive Contamination

During its operational phase Trawsfynydd was licensed to vent gaseous radioactive waste, mostly carbon dioxide, to the atmosphere and also liquid radioactive waste to the lake, including water from the cooling ponds. [7]

The site contains known areas of radioactive and non-radioactive contaminated  land and groundwater, resulting primarily from the generation phase of the station’s life.  [8]

In addition to this historic contamination of the site, Nuclear Restoration Services are proposing dumping  contaminated rubble from the urgent demolition work on the reactor building into the now redundant cooling ponds.  The Nuclear Free Local Authorities of Wales have expressed their concern over this plan and are demanding that this rubble be contained within purpose built and properly shielded containment fearing that the old cooling ponds would leak further contamination into the ground and lake.  [9]

Maentwrog Community Council expressed concerns many years ago about contamination of the Trawsfynydd site and about the cooling ponds that have been leaking since the 1970’s.  They were told in 2006 that there would be borehole analysis to determine the extent of groundwater contamination, to date no such report has been published.  [10]

The fact that the cooling ponds leak has been confirmed by Magnox itself in a Strategic Environmental Assessment in 2014.  Their report states: ‘The radioactive land and groundwater contamination is associated with leakage from the ponds during the 1970s/80s, due to a joint weakness in the pond structure. Extensive (9500m3 ) sub-surface low level radioactive land contamination has resulted.’  [8]

Maentwrog Community Council in their written evidence to the Wales Parliamentary Committee in 2016 also expressed their concern that plutonium particles had been documented as present in the lake sediment.  [10] It has not been possible to confirm the presence of plutonium through a literature search. Monitoring for radiation at the site has used gamma ray detectors, but plutonium is a very weak emitter of gamma rays so would not be detected in lake sediments using geiger counters on the surface. [7, page 7]

Health Risks

The presence of plutonium in the lake sediments adds to the concern that emissions from the nuclear plant, even though they were properly permitted, could be building up in the local environment, including food chains.  Health effects of low level doses of radiation have long been a controversial subject.  Canadian-American scientist Dr Rosalie Bertell researched the incidents and possible long term effects of radiation from nuclear weapons testing and the civil nuclear programme in the 1970’s publishing a book ‘No Immediate Danger’ in 1985 which documented the risks. [11]  Her work was largely ignored and many nuclear physicists tried to debunk her work and her qualifications to  question their assurances that there was no risk. There were even attempts on her life that caused her to move from the USA to Canada. [12]

In 2006, walking in Dr Bertell’s footsteps, Dr Chris Busby and others published a paper claiming to find a cluster of cancer cases associated with the Trawsfynydd reactor. [13 ] After this work was aired on a television programme in Wales in 2006 it was heavily criticised by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit and other nuclear scientists who claimed that his work was flawed.  Others thought differently including Michael Meacher, a former Environment minister in the Blair Government.  He called on Health specialists to take the statistics seriously and called for a full public enquiry on the issue of long term nuclear safety and the impacts of low level radiation before any further nuclear plants were built. [14]

North Wales Live reported Dr Busby’s findings and questioned the relevant health officials, who were reluctant to comment, just saying that the matter would be considered elsewhere. Public Health Wales responded that they could consult with expert bodies if concerns were raised but at that time there were no ‘no ongoing investigations into cancer clusters in the Trawsfynydd area.’

[15]

The Western Mail called on the Health Authorities to publish its own study of all the available data rather than simply dismissing Busby’s work. Dr Busby had been unable to review all of the relevant data. [14]

Plaid Cymru councillor and cancer patient Linda Ann Jones is a councillor for Tegil ward, Llan Festiniog, north of Trawsfynydd.  She has listened to concerns of local people about emissions from the  nuclear station over many years, well before Busby’s report. Jones has urged the UK government to consider the survey’s results seriously and to launch an investigation into the risks posed to local communities by nuclear power plants before allowing new plants to be built. [14]

 Conclusion.

The Green Party does not support further use of nuclear power for the generation of electricity. If honest and open accounting was used, nuclear power would be seen as a very expensive option for generating energy and it leaves a very costly legacy of waste and contamination.  The culture of secrecy and misinformation, driven by the military nuclear programme, must end for the civil use of nuclear technology.  The long term health effects of low level radiation and the robustness of current safety standards needs to be properly researched by independent scientists rather than those dependent on the nuclear industry for their livelihood.  While Dr Busby’s work may be questioned, due in part to the withholding of relevant data from his research, the concerns that he and Councillor Jones have raised must be taken seriously by the relevant Health Authorities and the governments of Wales and the UK.  To casually state that ‘no ongoing studies…’ are being carried out is unacceptable. 

References

1.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnox#Reactors_built
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maentwrog_power_station
3. Major nuclear company rebrands as ‘Nuclear Restoration Services’ – GOV.UK
4. Trawsfynydd | Office for Nuclear Regulation.
5. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Annual Report 2022/3
6. “Sorry saga” of disused nuclear sites will cost generations of UK taxpayer – Committees
7. Radiological Habits Survey: Trawsfynydd, 2018
8. Trawsfynydd Site Strategic Environmental Assessment Site Specific Baseline
9. Too short, ill-timed and clumsy: Welsh NFLAs critical of Trawsfynydd consultation
10. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/65314/html/
11. No Immediate Danger, Rosalie Bwertewll, Thue Women’s Press ISBN 0-7043-2846-1
12.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RosalieBertell
13. https://www.llrc.org/llrc/epidemiology/subtopic/trawsrept.pdf
14. https://www.wiseinternational.org/book/export/html/3267
15. Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station ‘responsible for elevated risk of cancer,’ claims academic – North Wales Live

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6 weeks of campaigning is over, the ballots have been counted and a new government is in power!

Over the 6 weeks, Greens from North West have been busy at hustings, sharing online content and spreading the Green message.

Harriet the Chair of the North West Wales Green Party expressed “How proud she was of all the candidates who stood for the Greens and allowed the people of North Wales to choose Green if they wanted too. In doing so we received a total of 4804 votes. A great result for our area as in the 2019 Election there were no Greens on the Ballot.

I want to thank everyone who voted for us and made all of the time and effort we spent worth it“.

If you were happy you had a Green Choice this time, please become a member and help us keep Green on future ballots.

Petra Haig – Bangor Aberconwy
Petra received 1361 Votes in her constituency obtaining 3.3% of the total vote.

Martyn Hogg – Clwyd North

This is Councillor Martyn Hogg first time standing in a General Election and he achieved 1391 votes with a total vote share of 3.3%!

Karl Drinkwater – Dwyfor Meirionnydd

Karl received 1448 votes the highest in our area! Da Iawn Karl! With a vote share of 3.6% of the total vote

Martin Schwaller – Ynys Môn

This was Martins’s first time Standing on Ynys Môn and if my knowledge is correct the first time we have stood a candidate in North Wales. Ynys Môn is an interesting constituency as it is a 3 way marginal. Martin received 604 votes with 1.9% of total votes

The post General Election Results appeared first on North West Wales.

Baroness Natalie Bennett – Greenparty Lord

Anthony Slaughter – Wales Green Party Leader

Martin Schwaller – Candidate for Ynys Ynys Môn

Harriet King – North West Wales Green Party Chair

Both Natalie and Anthony bought copies of their books for us to view sign and purchase.

We planned this event before the election but it coincided well for the people of Anglesey to be able to ask some key figures in the Green Party the questions that matter to them.

The post Green Talk and Q&A – Guest SPeakers – Llangoed Village Hall appeared first on North West Wales.

The post General Elections Candidates Selected appeared first on North West Wales.

The post Local Party Chair – AGM Report 2024 appeared first on North West Wales.

The day following our AGM in Menai Bridge a large group of us were pleased to be hosted by Menter Môn. In particular we were there to see the Anglesey Morlais Tidal Energy project that Menter Môn are bringing to fruition.

The project, near Ynys Lawd (South Stack) is a fine example of a very significant renewable energy project being delivered on time, in budget and genuinely creating long lasting, local, high value jobs  and stimulating career opportunities as well as the Welsh language.

The Morlais project is near complettion and will have the capacity to produce 240MW of carbon free electricity. This project is not just putting turbines in the water but also all the infastructure to deliver the energy from the tides right into the Grid.

We are impressed by the attention to the environmental impact of the scheme  and the sesisitivity with which the project is managed. It is a centre of excellence for tidal energy production and an example of how we can secure our energy future without the need for combustion of fossil fuels or of developing nuclear.

Menter Môn runs a number of innovative projects across Anglesey and Gwyndd. It is run as a social enterprise and as such is an interesting model for delivering projects on a non profit making basis.

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