Authorities Betray the Welsh Language to Property Developers - Critics cite Cultural Suicide - Welsh Language Society Condemns

The passing of the 1536 and 1542 Acts of Union made English the language of law and administration of government. Although the Welsh language was not banned, it lost its status and centuries of steady linguistic decline followed.  Until the mid-19th century, the majority of the Welsh population could speak Welsh – more than 80%. The 2001 census showed that 20.8% of the population was able to speak Welsh (582,400 people), an increase compared to the 1991 census (18.7%). Welsh-speaking heartlands include Carmarthenshire in the south-west, Gwynedd, Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire in the north and Ceredigion in the west. The number of communities where more than 70% of the population was able to speak Welsh dropped to 54 according to the 2001 census, compared with 92 in 1991. It is argued that a high density of speakers is required for Welsh to be an everyday language of the community. Migration has had a profound effect on traditional heartlands, with many Welsh-speaking young people moving to urban areas to work, coupled with the arrival of people unable to speak Welsh. ( 2012 -The Guardian.com )

Impact of Property Development on the Welsh Tongue

The Welsh website “The Daily Post” have posted an article entitled “Cultural Suicide Fears Over 8,000 Homes Planned for Gwynedd and Anglesey”. The article reports on the alarm bells that have been set off in reaction to a massive planned residential development scheme in two strongholds of the Welsh tongue. A development of 7,904 residential units, which a group of prominent Welsh Language activists see as a “dagger at the heart of the Celtic tongue.”

 A group of “writers and poets”, including the chair of the executive committee of this year’s National Eisteddfod, Derec Llwyd Morgan, have written a letter to the respective leaders of the Gwynedd and Anglesey Councils.

The Daily Post reports that the group fear that the Joint Local Development Plan, as it stands, would be tantamount to cultural suicide. Among others who have signed it are the National Poet of Wales, Ifor ap Glyn, world famous author Jan Morris, eminent novelists Lloyd Jones and Patrick McGuinness and a number of Chair and Crown winners at the National Eisteddfod.  The letter adds: “Even more alarming is the fact that Gwynedd Council has not commissioned an independent assessment of the plan’s impact on the Welsh language. It should be a council’s basic duty to look after the welfare of the population it represents. These areas are the last strongholds of Welsh”.

Indeed, Gwynedd and Anglesey are the last major strongholds of the Welsh Language as reported in the 2011 census. In the government’s assessment of "Speakers by Local Authority", Gwynedd was ranked #1 with 65.4% of the populace speaking Welsh. Anglesey was #2 with 57.2% of residents speaking Welsh.  To characterize the developments as daggers aimed at Welsh speaking strongholds is an accurate description of the threat posed to the Celtic tongue of Wales by the planned projects. (Gwynedd Council will be discussing the Joint Local Development Plan on July 28 and it will be discussed by Anglesey Council on July 31.)

Meanwhile a similar conflict is brewing in the Gwynedd city of Bangor where a separate proposal to construct 366 homes in a Welsh speaking area has prompted condemnation by the Welsh Language Society or Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg.

The Bangor development proposal is especially noxious as the city has one of the lowest percentage of Welsh speakers in Gwynedd due to the overpowering presence of students and faculty, primarily non-Welsh speakers, who at times comprise over half the Bangor population.  The Society’s web site (linked below) has posted the following statement condemning the impact of the proposed development plan on the Welsh Language:

News from The Welsh Language Society:

Language campaigners have condemned Minister Lesley Griffiths' suggestion that she will allow the construction of 366 houses in Bangor.  

Menna Machreth of Cymdeithas yr Iaith said:

·         "It is disgraceful that the Welsh Government has sided with the company from Merseyside rather than than respecting the democratic process and Gwynedd Council's opinion on housing issues in Bangor. As it is, there are no more places for children at Ysgol y Garnedd (largest Welsh Medium Scholl in Bangor), and giving permission for 366 additional homes will mean that there is a massive threat to the Welsh language in this part of Gwynedd. The Welsh Government and Lesley Griffiths have shown a complete lack of understanding of the local situation and have once again refused to consider the Welsh language as factor in planning.”

·         "This raises questions about the Lesley Griffiths' (Minister responsible for overseeing development schemes) commitment to the Welsh language. We will consider the options available to us and others to challenge the decision. It is strange that the Minister has been able to find time to damage the Welsh language locally in such a way, whilst she has been delaying publishing planning guidance on how to consider the language for more than a year. Moreover, she has not explained this delay.  It shows that she doesn't care about the state of the Welsh language."

It is clear that the behavior of local authorities and Minister Griffiths represents dereliction of duty when considering the statement issued by the Welsh Government in 2013. Below is an excerpt from a Transceltic article from October 2013 "Government Acts to Minimise Damage to Welsh Tongue Caused by Property Developers": 

·         The Welsh Government  have announced on their web site that local planning authorities in Wales will be required to consult with the office of the Welsh Language Commissioner (Meri Huws) when preparing local development plans.  This move is intended to mitigate disruption to Welsh speaking areas caused by property development.  The announcement was made on the Government's website under the following headline: "Housing and Regeneration Minister, Carl Sargeant, today published guidance on how the Welsh language should be considered in the planning system". In making the announcement, Minister Sargeant is quoted as follows: We recognise that the planning system can help to create the social and economic conditions which give people the opportunity to speak Welsh. This revised TAN provides local authorities with clarity regarding how Welsh language considerations should feed into the preparation of their Local Development Plans.

·         The guidance means that local planning authorities who have identified the language as an important local issue, must in future take the language into consideration as part of their Local Development Plan (LDP) and must consult the Welsh Language Commissioner when preparing and reviewing the Plan. In this way planning authorities will be able to use their LDP to mitigate the impacts on the language that can result from new development.

http://cymdeithas.cymru/news/366-houses-bangor-minister-doesnt-care-abou...

https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Welsh-Language/WelshSpeakers-by-L...

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/cultural-suicide-welsh-language-gwynedd--13347717

https://www.transceltic.com/blog/tensions-mount-over-property-developmen...