CARDIFF’S new Lord Mayor, Margaret Blaine, marked the start of her tenure by announcing an unprecedented new development at the heart of the city. In a move which could see the creation of up to 5,000 new jobs, Lord Mayor Blaine, 45, revealed plans to demolish Cardiff Castle, replacing it with a state of the art nuclear power station.
Ms Blaine was keen to stress that fears over the safety of the ‘Blaidd Drwg’ project were groundless. She also assured environmentalists that ecological considerations were at the top of her agenda, and demonstrated her commitment to green issues by sponsoring a dolphin.
Goronwy Siencyn of the Pan-Wales Culture, History, Sport, Industry and Heritage Institute later issued a supporting statement. He stressed that, while the castle was a notable landmark, it was, nonetheless, a symbol of English oppression.
“A lovely brand spanking new power station puts industry- very literally- at the heart of this fine city. Next to all the shops.”
The outcry that first greeted rumours of the ‘Blaidd Drwg’ nuclear power project has become considerably more muted in recent weeks.
This may reflect the success of a ‘softly softly’ approach from the new mayor towards local activists and the environmental lobby.
However, as reported this week, the ‘Summit on the Summit’- a picnic meeting on Snowdonia, where protesters were encourage to air their views- ended in tragedy when the train carrying delegates was derailed by an aggressive sheep. Ms Blaine expressed her deepest sympathies.
The new Lord Mayor described the project as a ‘real coup’ for the people of Cardiff. Joking that she had no desire to re-open the notorious divide between North and South Wales, she did want to point out that although Trawsfynffd had been mothballed, North Wales still had Wylfa. A power station in Cardiff ‘made the score one-all!’ quipped the new Lord Mayor.
She also revealed that at one point, Wales had nearly lost the project to the newly established Independent Republic of Cornwall, which would have been “unthinkable”.
(The newspaper image and the text from it come from this website.)