A separate Planning Inspectorate for Wales need to be established as a measure to protect the Welsh language in its traditional heartlands. That is the message from Bethan Jones Parry, President of Dyfodol i’r Iaith, after the publication of details about the language in the 2011 Census.

Ms Jones Parry said,  “Dyfodol yr Iaith calls for establishing an Independent Planning Inspectorate for Wales. Politicians in the Assembly need to consider this as a matter of urgency in order to ensure that efforts to enhance the language in the next ten years are not destryoed by damaging planning and economic decisions”.

Ms Jones Parry added,  “It is now evident that the Welsh language needs to be an integral part of economic planning and housing planning. Housing developments need to prioritise the impact of the development on the Welsh language” Continue reading →

Grants for the Welsh language in the community

Welsh language group Dyfodol yr Iaith welcomes the fact that the Welsh Government has continued its committment to provide grants for organisations that promote the Welsh language in the community. We also welcome the very small increase in the funding at a time of financial austerity.

Dyfodol would also like to see the Government implementing another of the action points outlined in its Welsh Language Strategy, “A living language: A language for living” namely action point 6: “Mainstream the Welsh language across all of the Welsh Government’s activities”.(page 24) There is very little evidence that this is happening at present. One example is the Welsh Government’s Strategy for Older People. There is not a single reference to the Welsh language in the document. The consultation period on the Strategy for Older People came to an end today and Dyfodol has presented a comprehensive response drawing attention to this basic weakness.

We look forward to an opportunity to have a discussion with the government on how to acheive the aims of “A living language: A language for living”.

Dyfodol i’r Iaith and Bangor Univeristy will be holding a conference on Sustainability and the Welsh Language on February 22nd in Neuadd Reichel, Bangor University between 10am and 4pm

Chair: Dr Einir Young

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