Cymdeithas yr Iaith has written to Carmarthenshire County Council to ask about a language forum that was due to be set up this month. The language pressure group has not heard about the forum and have raised a tongue-in-cheek question with council officers - “is our invitation lost in the post?”.

 

In April this year a full meeting of the council adopted the report of the Welsh Language Working Group which recommended that council and Welsh Government establish a 'County Language Forum.' The forum is supported to set the strategic focus on language regeneration and develop partnership opportunities with various organisations and bodies that work for the benefit of the Welsh language in Carmarthenshire and monitor the progress on local action plans. The council's action plan notes that the forum should be established in September.

 

Bethan Williams, area officer for Cymdeithas yr Iaith in Dyfed said: “The serious point here is that Carmarthenshire County Council must keep to the timetable it released during the Eisteddfod week last month to implement the language strategy. One important step was to set up a County Language Forum to ensure that people in the county are part of the move to develop the Welsh language, but we are half way through September and haven't heard anything about it.

“We took the Council at its word, and worked with it to celebrate the language strategy it adopted and the timetable to implement it. Cymdeithas will keep an eagle eye on the council in the coming months. On Saturday the 17th of January 2015 we will hold an open forum in St Peter's Hall in Carmarthen - "Tynged yr Iaith yn Sir Gâr / The fate of the language in Carmarthenshire". It will give people in the county a chance to decide whether the council is taking this seriously."

 

The Action Plan can be seen on the County Council's website