Snips and snails...

Walking around the hills at the moment, one might be forgiven for thinking we’re in Texas, such is the number of cattle in evidence, coupled with a corresponding reduction in sheep. Of course, this might well have something to do with the introduction of Sheep tagging - the electronic sort, not a variant of the popular kids’ game. From this year, all sheep have to be ‘double tagged’ to ensure each animal has a unique identity, ‘Fluffles’, presumably, being considered inadequate in this modern day and age. Cattle, of course, already have their little electronic tags, so you know exactly which one just stepped on your foot. But that’s to fight things like foot and mouth. Thus far, the only rationale being offered about double tagging for sheep is that we have a duty to conform to EU law. Which doesn’t really seem adequate. The French, of course, will simply continue to ignore anything from Brussels which they don’t like and it does seem a pity that we don’t follow suit. That, however, would mean taking a lead from our Gallic neighbours, who - since before the Tudors - have always specialised in being distinctly irritating, one reason why our distant forefathers towed the UK away from the European mainland, a big moat between us and anyone who speaks with that funny accent being considered a good idea, in the great scheme of things.

So why do we need this tagging thing? Perhaps it’s simply to ensure we know the exact location of every sheep within the UK at any time. After all, that’s long been the ambition of most governments for all their citizens, so extending their remit to animals doesn’t seem illogical.



Stunning pictures on the Colwyn Bay local forum today reveal with crystal clarity how Eirias park has been allowed to deteriorate from its heyday in the ’50s. That a resort and attraction with such potential should have been allowed to slither into oblivion the way it has says a lot in itself, but the fact that the movers and shakers behind a proposed regeneration come not from the councillors but from a tiny body of extremely concerned residents, headed by the Ecological Friends of Colwyn Bay, an organisation formed through the Colwyn Bay Local forum, says even more.

But there’s more: revealing the disingenuity, if not downright dishonesty, of the ‘spokeswoman’ who argued passionately that filling Colwyn Bay with a mass of offices would somehow regenerate the town centre, based on the somewhat flimsy rationale that there wouldn’t be a canteen provided for the office workers who would then, presumably, be forced into the local chip shop for their lunches, Cllr John Oddy has published a link to CCBC’s own site, where clear evidence of the planning for such a canteen is revealed. Mind you, this was the same spokeswoman who revealed her master-plan for the old civic centre is to convert it into a ‘high class hotel’. Hmmm. Isn’t this somewhat at odds with CCBC’s assertions that there’s no future for tourism in Colwyn Bay? Not to mention being a daft idea...

CCBC’s planning department has a dismal track record, to put it mildly. It was, after all, their remarkable astuteness and commendable diligence that saw planning permission to convert the dilapidated tram shelter on West Shore delayed for three years after the original application, it was they who ‘forgot’ to copy the application to CADW and it was they who - generally - seek to block every innovation and new idea that might conceivably bring in more visitors to either Llandudno or Colwyn Bay.

And they call themselves public servants? Roll on the revolution :-)

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