Mid and West Wales Assembly Member JOYCE WATSON AM spoke up for rural communities at Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno when Dwyfor Meirionnydd Constituency Labour Party tabled a conference resolution on services in rural areas.NANCY EVANS of Blaenau Ffestiniog opened the debate, saying:
“We live in a constituency which has more sheep than people, where we travel long distances for services, even for bread, and buses and trains are few. Gordon Brown said we should aspire to treat all people fairly, but are the residents of Dwyfor Meirionnydd second class citizens? Shall we let Gwynedd Council always blame the Assembly? If Harlech Pool is to close the children won’t have their free swimming.”
“We live in a constituency which has more sheep than people, where we travel long distances for services, even for bread, and buses and trains are few. Gordon Brown said we should aspire to treat all people fairly, but are the residents of Dwyfor Meirionnydd second class citizens? Shall we let Gwynedd Council always blame the Assembly? If Harlech Pool is to close the children won’t have their free swimming.”
Labour’s Rural Affairs Spokesperson JOYCE WATSON AM said: 
“We all know that rural Wales has had difficult times in the past year. The threat of foot and mouth, bird flu, blue tongue and flooding are among the many challenges our rural communities have faced.
“People living in rural areas need high quality housing, health, education, social services, transport, and jobs, just like everyone else in Wales, regardless of where they live.
“The increase to the Welsh budget from £7 billion in 1997 to £14 billion this year, rising to £16 billion in 2010 will allow us to continue meeting the challenges of both rural and urban Wales, enabling key services including health and education to be provided for the people of Wales.
“The other Labour members of the Finance Committee and I welcomed the extra £4.7m given to local councils to ensure an increase of no less than 2% for every area, helping councils such as Powys, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Gwynedd deliver on the ground.
“Social justice has been at the heart of the Labour movement for over a hundred years and it will continue to be so. The government, both in Westminster and Cardiff Bay, have committed that rural Wales remains on the agenda and will be an integral part of policy making in the future.”
After a positive debate the conference backed the motion.
“We all know that rural Wales has had difficult times in the past year. The threat of foot and mouth, bird flu, blue tongue and flooding are among the many challenges our rural communities have faced.
“People living in rural areas need high quality housing, health, education, social services, transport, and jobs, just like everyone else in Wales, regardless of where they live.
“The increase to the Welsh budget from £7 billion in 1997 to £14 billion this year, rising to £16 billion in 2010 will allow us to continue meeting the challenges of both rural and urban Wales, enabling key services including health and education to be provided for the people of Wales.
“The other Labour members of the Finance Committee and I welcomed the extra £4.7m given to local councils to ensure an increase of no less than 2% for every area, helping councils such as Powys, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Gwynedd deliver on the ground.
“Social justice has been at the heart of the Labour movement for over a hundred years and it will continue to be so. The government, both in Westminster and Cardiff Bay, have committed that rural Wales remains on the agenda and will be an integral part of policy making in the future.”
After a positive debate the conference backed the motion.
19th February 2008
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