Madam,

On count night, after the result of the 2016 Senedd elections, my public remarks from the platform included my saying I hoped we’d got an AM who would challenge Plaid on Gwynedd Council when they got it wrong.

Now we have Gwynedd Council going seriously wrong yet again (Call for impact of housing on Welsh language to be assessed).

Short of insisting on language tests and naturalisation certificates with deportation for any long-term residents who fail the tests, it is difficult to see how much more clearly Gwynedd Council could express its resentment of Welsh, English, Polish, Asian etc incomers who don’t speak Welsh.

To have five households not speaking Welsh amongst a community of 50 good Welsh-speaking souls would be a ‘severe situation’ according to Cllr Owain Williams. Why?

Simon Brooks, something of a savant in matters Cymraeg, recently declared all Welsh-language expressions equally valid. I agree.

Meanwhile, our MP Liz Saville Roberts expresses her belief that teasing the Welsh about their Welsh intonation is a hate crime. She upbraids Rob Liddle (MP aims to get the Welsh language protected under the Equality Act), whilst O J Thomas rightly upbraids Ms Roberts for not criticising attacks on English usage by monolingual native speakers.

Elis-Thomas should break away from his compliance with Gwynedd Council’s worst excesses as part of his epiphany which led him to quit Plaid. Saville-Roberts should abandon her criticism of excellent life-changing plans to build 182 families new homes in Gwynedd and Anglesey.

If the plan were properly implemented, 182 families would be in low-rent, council-built homes, thrilled to be part of Welsh society.

Our AM and MP should each make public their objections to Gwynedd’s attitude and name and shame the council as one deliberately trying to obstruct plans that should help the poorest off, those desperately needing new homes. After all, the project includes money set aside for Welsh classes for non-speakers.

The joint Sir Fon-Gwynedd committee’s demand that the Welsh Government give advice on the effects of the proposal on the Welsh language is obfuscation.

In a nutshell, Gwynedd Council should get on with it, building homes, and Liz Saville Roberts and Lord Elis-Thomas should tell ‘em so.

Yours etc,

Ian MacIntyre, Shelbourne Court, St John’s Hill, Barmouth.

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