[lg policy] Wales: Regeneration & Renewal

[Harold Schiffman]

Tim Williams, Regeneration & Renewal, 17 August 2009

To Bala, for the National Eisteddfod. There to speak at a unique event
- the first debate held entirely in Welsh on regeneration policy - I
was as taken by the context as the pretext for my being there. The
context was the extraordinary beauty of this part of north Wales and
the language still spoken by a majority there, but now by only a
minority in Wales, overall. The subtext of the debate was: how can we
regenerate such areas of Wales while securing a future for that most
fragile of inheritances, our national language?

Look at the problem: the collapse of local industries has taken young
people away and sucked in retirees or downsizers, who tend to be
English. As wages have declined for local jobs, demand from richer
incomers has driven housing out of the reach of local Welsh speakers.
Here's the rub: creating high-value jobs locally is essential, but how
can this be achieved without sucking in even more English migrants?
The same goes for affordable housing - how to expand supply in such a
way that meets local need, rather than attracting outsiders who,
frankly, want to live on the dole somewhere beautiful.
The objective within that scenario must be to retain as many talented
young people as possible and attract back successful natives. Put
simply, Welsh language survival needs more than just legal protection
for speakers, official bilingualism and Welsh-medium schooling - all
of which are essential things that have been attained in the past 50
years. It also needs good jobs and housing in the areas where the
language remains strong. So language policy and regeneration need to
work together, in parallel. This is not just my view, this is also the
view of the deputy minister for regeneration in Wales, Leighton
Andrews, and his regeneration team. They led the debate at the
Eisteddfod.

I must declare two interests: I've been an adviser to this team.
Secondly, I believe the struggle to secure this language to be among
the noblest regeneration objectives in these isles. Against all the
odds, it has hung on and is, in the words of the patriot, "yma o hyd"
- still here. By the way, next year the Eisteddfod goes to Ebbw Vale
in the Heads of the Valleys. It's already being hailed as The
Regeneration Eisteddfod.

http://www.regen.net/opinion/ByDiscipline/Economic-Development/927100/Renewal-speaks-volumes-Wales/
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