After contacting every town and community council in Wales, the communities pressure group Cymuned has now contacted every county councillor in the country to ask them to declare their support for the ideas on the group’s website Homes4Locals.com. The website calls for planning permission for new residential building to be restricted to local need only, as is already happening in Yorkshire and Shropshire.

‘We believe the the voice of individual county councillors is extremely important in the context of the current housing crisis,’ says Aran Jones, Cymuned’s Chief Executive, ‘and it is extremely important that everyone can see how much support there is for ideas like this amongst elected members who perhaps do not happen to be on the management boards of councils.’

Cymuned’s letter to all the county councillors of Wales asks for two responses – for the councillor to answer Cymuned via post or e-mail to declare support for the ideas on Cartrefi.com, and for the councillor to request their County Council to implement those ideas.

‘This is the second step in a particularly important campaign,’ says Aran Jones. ‘There’s been talk about the housing crisis for over five years now, but attempts to solve it have been few and limited. Too much emphasis has been placed on affordable housing and not enough on ensuring sustainable local markets. If the county councillors of Wales respond positively to our request, every political party will need to engage in serious discussion on this matter as part of their Assembly election campaign this year.’

For more details, contact Cymuned’s office on 01758-612712.

The communities pressure group Cymuned has sent over 600 letters, one to every town or community council in Wales, to ask them to declare their support for the ideas on the group’s website Homes4Locals.com. The website calls for planning permission for new residential building to be restricted to local need only, as is already happening in Yorkshire and Shropshire.

‘We believe the the voice of our town and community councils is extremely important in the context of the current housing crisis,’ says Aran Jones, Cymuned’s Chief Executive, ‘and although too much power has already been moved from community councils to county councils, the opinion of town and community councils has to be taken seriously – they see the shattering consequences of the current system on a day to day basis in their own communities.’

Cymuned’s letter to all the town and community councils of Wales asks for two responses – for the council to answer Cymuned via post or e-mail to declare support for the ideas on Cartrefi.com, and for the council to contact the local County Council to request them directly to implement those ideas.

‘This is the first step in a particularly important campaign,’ says Aran Jones. ‘There’s been talk about the housing crisis for over five years now, but attempts to solve it have been few and limited. Too much emphasis has been placed on affordable housing and not enough on ensuring sustainable local markets. If the town and community councils of Wales respond positively to our request, every political party will need to engage in serious discussion on this matter as part of their Assembly election campaign this year.’

For more details, contact Cymuned’s office on 01758-612712.

White-haired Sam Kuntz of Denver, Colorado will be helping to distribute ‘Sing4Wales.com’ business cards in Cardiff this coming Sunday (04/02/07). Sam is flying over from America to spend a week in Wales, and has enjoyed ‘Sing4Wales.com’ so much he is eager to help spread the word about it.

‘We’re looking forward enormously to meeting Sam,’ says Aran Jones, Chief Executive of Cymuned, the group who put the website together. ‘His ready support has been a real pleasure to see, and he’s not the only person from America who’s been enthusiastic about the site – we’ve had a number of Welsh societies getting in touch to ask for posters to raffle at their annual Dewi Sant dinners, and to ask us to include particular songs on the site.’

Over a thousand people have visited the Sing4Wales.com website in the last three days, although Cymuned were not originally expecting a response until after the rugby match against Ireland on Sunday. Cymuned supporters will be distributing posters and business cards with the words to the anthem and Sosban Fach on them this Saturday and Sunday.

‘We’re delighted by the response so far,’ says Aran Jones. ‘We’ve had a lot of people from South Wales getting in touch to ask for posters and to offer support, and the posters themselves have also gone out to Canada, America, England and Italy!’

For more details, contact Cymuned’s office on 01758-612712.

A new website has been launched by the communities group Cymuned to help increase the support for Welsh teams. The website contains words, translations and videos of a range of great Welsh hymns and popular songs, and is designed to make it easy for Welsh supporters to become familiar with the music.

‘Everyone you talk to says that it’s a pity that the singing at Welsh international matches isn’t anything like as good as it used to be,’ said Aran Jones, Cymuned’s Chief Executive. ‘What’s more, anyone who plays for a team will tell you – when supporters really sing, it definitely makes a difference. We’re hoping that Sing4Wales.com will encourage more people who go to Welsh matches to make themselves heard!’

Cymuned members will be distributing full colour Sing4Wales.com posters around the pubs, clubs and shops of Cardiff this coming Saturday, in preparation for Wales’s opening game of the Six Nations rugby championship against Ireland. They will also be distributing over 6,500 business cards with the words to the national anthem on one side and Sosban Fach on the other. A limited number of Sing4Wales.com T-shirts will also be available.

‘We’re hoping the business cards will be just the right size for people to keep them in their wallets, rather than throw them away after the game,’ says Aran Jones. ‘With one of these cards handy, no-one else will ever need to get stuck in the same hole as John Redwood famously dug himself in his failed attempt to mime the Anthem!’

The website includes contributions from popular Welsh artists such as Meinir Gwilym and Siân James, and has thrown down a challenge to anyone in Wales who feels they can make a mark with their singing. Make a video, upload it to YouTube.com, and send the link to contributions@sing4wales.com, and you too could help build the best sporting atmosphere in the world.

For more details, contact Cymuned’s office on 01758-612712.