Cymdeithas yr Iaith have published the highlights of their conference ‘The Right to Adequate Housing: New Possibilities for Wales’ on their website. The conference was held on 16 November in the Pierhead building in Cardiff Bay, in the name of trying to ensure justice in the housing system in Wales. There was a particular focus on other countries in Europe, where in some cases, policies, legislation and new rules have seen the housing market being reformed and changed to ensure fairness for local people.
The conference followed a tour of Wales by members of the movement, to visit communities and to speak to people about the housing situation in their areas. The conference opened with a film of this journey, titled ‘Taith Deddf Eiddo, Tachwedd 2023’, which is full of contributions from people across Wales about the need for a solution to the housing situation. You can watch the video in full here.
The rest of the day saw many other contributions. To start there were presentations by Joseff Gnabo, Chairman of Cymdeithas yr Iaith and Mabon ap Gwynfor Senedd Member for Dwyfor Meirionydd. Following this there was a panel discussion chaired by Sioned Hughes between Catrin O’Neill, Linda Evans and Clarissa Corbisiero. Then three guest speakers discussing different elements of that which is possible in terms of reform by looking at the context of other countries in Europe. Dara Turnbull, Eduard Cabré Romans and Walis George spoke about interventions in Europe, the housing situation in Barcelona, and Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s policy proposals in turn.
There was then the opportunity to discuss the white paper on adequate housing that is expected to be published by the Welsh Government in 2024 in the form of a panel discussion with Dylan Iorwerth chairing and Mabon ap Gwynfor, John Griffiths, Alicja Zalesinska and Walis George all taking par.
You can watch all the sessions by following this link to Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg’s website, or by visiting their Youtube channel. Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s community group are meeting in Caernarfon on 7 December 2023 to discuss their plans for the rest of the campaign. You can find out more about that meeting by emailing post@cymdeithas.cymru.
