Swansea Council leader Chris Holley gives his personal view of 150 weeks in control by the Swansea Administration . . .
In June 2004 a historic election took place in Swansea which brought together three separate groups of councillors to form the Swansea Administration. This was created to counteract nearly 30 years of Labour control of the City & County of Swansea.
This took a great deal of commitment from these political groups to form an agreement to enhance our city and to improve the running of our council. This commitment makes a total mockery of the comments from Labour who claim that we only did it for money and nothing else.
In fact, one of the first things we did after taking office was to give 20 per cent of our allowances to pay for improved street cleaning.
When we were in opposition we never had a clear view of what was really happening at the council. But when we took control, what we found was extremely alarming. The actual working of the council, together with the systems and buildings were in a poor state.
This is not a criticism of the wonderful staff who were providing a service in very difficult conditions. No-one should underestimate the extent of the problems.
In 2001 an IDeA report was published, which made it clear that things had to change. Only now are we able to address some of those problems. Some of these problems are listed below:
Schools - it will cost many millions of pounds to make them fit for purpose.
Housing - it will take us many years to make our housing stock fit for purpose and cost many millions of pounds.
Many council buildings need major refurbishment. The Guildhall alone needs £30m to make it fit for purpose.
The council's own internal working systems need a major overhaul and modernisation, which is why we went ahead with our eGovernment programme.
Initially we set about trying to establish a list of priorities to change the direction of the council for the benefit of the city. This is not something that can be achieved overnight, but we have made a significant start. And let me tell you how.
We have made a huge difference to the local economy and confidence in the city centre. The infamous Castle Quays project never became a reality under Labour. Instead, work is now racing ahead on redeveloping the former House of Fraser store into a 21st Century shopping centre.
Our City Centre Framework has attracted interest from world-class developers and will transform the heart of our retail centre. We're already investing £3.5m to revitalise the retail core through street improvements. We've also taken away the Unifloc eyesore and replaced it with a welcoming green space.
In Social Services we're enabling older people to live independent lives, we've created salaried foster carers to provide safe homes for vulnerable children and we have a strategy to tackle domestic abuse.
We've made improvements to children's education by opening a specialist teaching unit at Pontarddulais, improved IT in schools, launched a children's university to provide young people new skills, faced up to falling surplus places by merging Bryn Nursery and Townhill School.
We're building a new Welsh medium school and we responded to ensure children didn't lose out following the fire at Penyrheol Comprehensive.
We have made environmental improvements a priority. We've increased recycling rates from 15.5 per cent to 27.4 per cent, introduced comprehensive road and pavement improvements, opened a new park and ride site and opposed dredging at Helwick Bank.
We know how important clean streets are to people, and that is why we've launched new clean teams who'll tackle grot spots across the City and County and we'll fine people for dropping litter.
We're investing in communities with pioneering projects such as Forge Fach and reducing crime through the Safer Swansea Partnership. We're providing top facilities for people to enjoy themselves.
The refurbishment of the Leisure Centre will give us a landmark destination for families. We're building a new bowls centre, we've opened a new library in Killay and we're creating a new central library.
The Dylan Thomas book prize is one of the major literary events and we've secured more county cricket in Swansea. We're tackling housing problems by reducing empty and void properties and investing in home improvements.
We've demolished Hazel Court to make way for an older people's village. We've balanced financial demands by reducing waste such as staff sickness by £316,000 and improving efficiency. Front-line services have been boosted and the Citizen's Advice Bureau is on a stronger financial footing.
All of this has been achieved while keeping council tax to a minimum for families.
The past three years have brought many challenges and there are many more on the horizon, but I believe we are making Swansea a better place.
