Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Whither the new chamber
Tonight's full scale rehearsal in the chamber of the new building, or Senedd as it is to be called, has been postponed amongst much talk of acrimonious meetings and over-large egos. It is true that all the party leaders and business managers are very frustrated by the delay.
The official reason is that the new technology is not working properly yet and having been over there this afternoon to sign onto the new system and to be shown the ropes, it is evident that there may be some substance to this. We were meant to be holding our first meeting on 31st January, although that must be the third or fourth date that has been unofficially bandied around. The word on the street now is that the rehearsal will be held then and we will be officially installed on 7 February. Whether that happens has to be seen.
In the meantime the bridge link between the Assembly offices and the Senedd has been locked for 'health and safety' reasons. The number of keys for the temporary door are limited (I was told that there is only one) and visitors need to walk around. Anybody would think that we were not welcome there, a suggestion that I am sure is untrue.
The official reason is that the new technology is not working properly yet and having been over there this afternoon to sign onto the new system and to be shown the ropes, it is evident that there may be some substance to this. We were meant to be holding our first meeting on 31st January, although that must be the third or fourth date that has been unofficially bandied around. The word on the street now is that the rehearsal will be held then and we will be officially installed on 7 February. Whether that happens has to be seen.
In the meantime the bridge link between the Assembly offices and the Senedd has been locked for 'health and safety' reasons. The number of keys for the temporary door are limited (I was told that there is only one) and visitors need to walk around. Anybody would think that we were not welcome there, a suggestion that I am sure is untrue.
