South Wales Evening Post - 26 April 2007
A long time has passed since a Liberal Democrat-led coalition took over control of Swansea Council. Council reporter ROB GREEN looks at what has happened since Labour lost out in the June 2004 elections.
CLEAN streets, openness and no grand projects - that was what the coalition which took power in June 2004 promised.
Speaking at the Liberal Democrat Independent and Conservative (LIC) group's election manifesto launch Chris Holley (pictured right) said: "We want to get back to basics and concentrate on cleaning up the city.
"We will sort out the litter, graffiti, fly-tipping, roads and pavements."
Three months after winning power, coalition councillors voted through a pay cut for themselves and used the cash to pay for street cleaning machines. The deal freed around £420,000 for cleaning services and, at the time, Councillor Holley said: "By reducing councillor allowances we are able to invest directly into front-line services such as street cleaning."
So far, so good. However, less than 18 months later, Swansea Council cut the street cleaning budget by £150,000 a year.
Earlier this year, a new initiative was put in place to tackle grot spots across the city. The neighbourhood environment action teams (Neat) will patrol all 72 council wards and clean up problem areas pointed out by residents.
Concentrating on the basics meant there would be no grand plans under a Lib Dem-led council.
Councillor Gerald Clement (pictured right), who is now deputy council leader and the cabinet member in charge of leisure and tourism, said: "We need to look after what we have, and not dream about what might happen in the next few years."
The closure of Swansea Leisure Centre was, perhaps, the biggest single issue for voters during the 2004 election. Under Labour control, the popular centre had become so run-down that health and safety chiefs decided it was too dangerous to keep open. It was closed and, after a fortnight of tests, council leaders called time on the centre and announced plans to rebuild it.
When the LIC coalition came to power, leaders said they would look at the centre again, and £32 million later it is set to re-open this year - bigger and better than ever. Although it is not strictly a new project, the only thing to remain of the old leisure centre will be the outer shell. So whether it is grand project or not is open to debate.
As well, the administration has agreed a multi-million pound rescue package for the Guildhall, after a condition report showed it too was on the verge of collapse after years of neglect.
Some of Labour's grand plans were already well advanced and have been completed under the coalition. The £27 million Liberty Stadium opened in July 2005.
When it was officially opened, Councillor Holley said: "This stadium has been a long time in the making and it is a tribute to all those people in Swansea who put effort into making it happen."
It might not have been plain-sailing for the Liberty Stadium, with questions raised over a £2.5 million loan, which turned into a grant after being written off. However, that money was vital to get the stadium open on time, according to the council's current leaders.
Another flagship project, begun under Labour and completed under the coalition, opened a few months later. The £31 million National Waterfront Museum is exceeding expectations for visitor numbers, has won plaudits and been short-listed for awards.
Perhaps buoyed by these successes, the LIC coalition decided not to rule out big projects altogether.
A £12 million revamp of County Hall will turn it into a state-of-the-art multimedia library, cafe and customer service centre for residents. It is due to open in spring 2008, around about the same time the city's bendy buses start running.
The articulated buses are designed to look like trams, and it is hoped they will attract new passengers to use public transport. They are twice the length of a normal bus, meaning major works on the city streets just to get them round corners. It will take at least £10 million to get the roads ready.
Another £99 million has gone on replacing the council's ageing IT scheme. It was hoped the new computers and software would form the bedrock of a customer call centre, but that has now been dropped after costs spiralled.
Although the scheme was started under Labour, it was shaped by the coalition.
The coalition was also keen to bring a new sense of openness to Swansea Council.Speaking before the election, Councillor Holley described the council's cabinet system, where only senior councillors are responsible for decision making, as secretive.
He said: "It has meant that less information is getting to opposition and back-bench councillors, as well as to the public. Cabinet meetings are fully orchestrated affairs, in which there is no real discussion or disagreement on key policies."
However, since coming to power, nothing has changed, with decisions still being made in secret cabinet briefings. These decisions are ratified in public cabinet meetings.
Plans for webcast meetings were considered, but two years later there is no sign, despite Councillor Holley saying: "We are determined to find ways to modernise council meetings to make local democracy more open."
Repeated requests for reports and documents by the Evening Post have been turned down.
Safety reports on the Marina were only released last year during an inquest into the death of Craig Lucas.
Although the Post asked for these reports while Labour was in control, there was no success under the new administration.
Requests for documents on an £11 million deal with Asda for land in Gorseinon and a report into the state of the Guildhall have both been refused, while various other reports and documents have been partially released -after a fight.
CHANGING FACE OF GROUP
The coalition of Liberal, independent and Conservative councillors ended 24 years of Labour rule in Swansea Council.
Made up of 19 Liberal Democrat councillors, 12 independents and four Conservative councillors, the group had enough members to form a minority administration. The Labour group was reduced to just 32 members and the city's five Plaid members refused to join with either, meaning the coalition was the biggest single group in the council.
During the first meeting under the new group, it was described as a devil's cabal by Swansea's group leader, Councillor David Phillips. He said at the time: "People did not vote for this devil's cabal of political extremists, cryptofascists, racists, bigots and other supporters of the far right."
Councillors Phillips was stopped mid-rant, but he had made the point he had wanted to get across - that the LIC coalition members were not natural bed-fellows.
As if to prove the fact, the group has seen a number of personnel changes.
The first came in 2005, when Councillor Keith Morgan ditched Plaid to join the coalition, giving them 36 of the 72 seats in council. However, after Councillor Morgan's defection, the flow has been away from the group, rather than towards it.
Threats to quit have been followed up with actions in a number of cases. Independent councillor Ray Welsby left, but Councillor Richard Lewis decided to stay on board during a row over how the council was being run.
That was in March 2006, but the biggest blow to numbers came after Councillor Rene Kinzett took control of the Conservative group.
A political merry-go-round followed when he withdrew his party's support from the coalition. Two Conservatives rejoined the new Liberal Independent (LI) coalition and Councillor Margaret Smith went the other way, leaving the coalition with 31 of the seats.
