Keith was politically active as Labour Councillor from 1979-1983, then the miners' strike of 1984-5 when a strong Barry group held rallies and collected money and stuff on King Square. He was also active with the Anti-Apartheid movement as it grew from a pressure group to a mass movement with a consumer boycott and demand Nelson Mandela: Freedom at 70. At the end of the 80’s, he was prominent against PM Thatcher's 'Poll Tax', standing as Communist candidate in the 1989 County elections.
Keith became active on local environmental issues in the 90s, campaigning against the one-way system proposed to replace lower Holton Rd (via Merthyr St and a continuation of Wyndham St). He joined Barry FoE and assisted FoE's coordinator (from 1995) Byron Lewis in holding up Council plans to fill one of Barry’s two Graving Docks with toxic materials from the derelict western dockland. Byron found him a
breath of fresh air, being like-minded and confident on eco-matters. Sponsoring legal action, they forced the Council to put in a lining to stop the pollution leaching into the main dock (at a cost of ~£1million the Council wanted to avoid). They delayed the
Council's intention to give away Central Park for a supermarket
(developers Centros Miller) - the Council paid to move the Bowling
Green, but a FoE-supported judicial review fronted by local mums
whose kids depended on the Park held up the land transfer –
long enough for Kwiksave to build Barry's first town centre
supermarket down Thompson St, causing Centros to pull out in 2001.
Then the Vale Council proposed to pull down the Town Hall, all but
the facade, and build shop units on one side of King Square.
Keith was in the public campaign which won keeping the historic
building, with a new Library building added at the rear. 
Barry's Chemical Complex
Campaigning to clean up Barry's chemical companies was another of Keith's interests - with noises which each company denied, blaming the others. Dow Corning did admit to spots on car paintwork, but not to harming people’s health. FoE loaned a "Grimm" particulate monitor, in the early days of these pollution monitors. With the Cadoxton activist Joan Holt, Keith set it up to record pollution near the Cardiff road. This found sharp early-morning peaks, with traffic particulates peaking later, showing the plant being cleaned out via the chimneys - prior to restart for each morning’s shift. This led to requirements for continuous monitors at Dow Corning and other plants. Byron Lewis took the
“Grimm” monitor to some other FoE groups in south and north Wales
Regulations were also brought in on major accident hazards (CIMAH / COMAH) and planning, which led to the primary school being closed. The derailing of chemical tankers in October 2011, with evacuation of many families, led to the realisation of how dangerous were the movements of VCM from Merseyside (vinyl chloride monomer - highly carcinogenic and potentially explosive). Ships were brought in instead and soon afterwards BP Chemicals sold the plant, ending the shameful deaths from VCM liver cancer (angiosarcoma) of staff working there. Thus Keith, living then in Cadoxton, played a part in taming Barry's chemical works at a time when the authorities treated them as untouchable, because of the high-paid jobs.
Move from Cadoxton to Castleland
Keith moved up to Castleland and became Plaid Cymru councillor for the ward in 2004-2008. He then took on the role of FoE Coordinator from Byron Lewis, his campaigning "twin". He extended FoE support to campaigns beyond Barry - over the ash mound at Aberthaw power station (stopping it rising further, so they switched to infilling Aberthaw quarry); over housing land at Llanmaes offered for the privatised ‘Metrix’ training facility (abandoned, but the Vale retained the greenfield housing); over Tesco’s attempt to buy golf course land at Bryn Hill and over the Vale’s proposed road from Caerau to Pencoedtre across the Wenvoe valley. Won some, lost some. Keith introduced new
members to the group, inspiring them to challenge and resist where
possible, and was always ready to stand in at short notice to chair
public meetings etc.
2009: two incinerators hit Barry
The Vale had an enthusiastic recycling officer, Brian Mayne, whose efforts FoE very much supported. But he was replaced by a guy who insisted 30% was the maximum recyclable. This meant Barry was to have a ‘Biogen’ waste incinerator by Rank’s Flour Mill and a ‘Sunrise’ waste wood incinerator on the Castleland side. The Vale approved the former and refused the latter (against officer recommendation), which the Welsh Government then approved after a public Inquiry. Keith and FoE led sustained public resistance and neither proceeded. But in 2015, the Vale officers pushed through renewal of the ‘Sunrise’ permit, despite the public campaign. Big money came in from Aviva, FoE set up the separate DIAG campaign in which Keith was a leading light. And as we see today, the plant has been built but is not able to operate. Officers bending the law to avoid environmental impact assessment (EIA) has proved under FoE pressure to be the project’s Achilles heel. The announcement in March of a Welsh moratorium on new incinerators reflects the public distrust and opposition from Barry and other parts of the country.
Severn Estuary
Barry and Penarth FoE groups living by the Severn Estuary have always engaged with issues around a tidal barrage. The Bondi barrage from Lavernock Point would have been destructive to our local environment but give national benefits as a major renewable energy source. Local FoE tended to argue for a smaller tidal barrage upstream, near the Severn Bridge. FoE’s leader, Jonathan Porritt came down for a TV confrontation at Aberthaw’s Blue Anchor pub, where Keith stood his ground. That was about 1990 – two decades later the two FoE groups had merged and we saw off the second attempt to get the Lavernock tidal barrage, but by that time the Estuary was designated a European conservation site and major wildlife organisations were on-side. The Cardiff Lagoon idea for tidal generation was more interesting; Keith brought in the Swansea Lagoon company to explain it. In the end, he was opposed to it, for enclosing a large section of the wild natural estuary and for power generation with gaps – gaps that had to be filled with fossil-fuelled power. Despite central FoE and Welsh political parties lining up in support, the Swansea lagoon was vetoed by Westminster; with it the Cardiff lagoon idea disappeared. The group remained founder-members of the Marinet network of coastal groups (a FoE spin-off) who are like-minded on coastal environmental issues.
Hinkley nuclear plant
Keith was staunchly anti-nuclear, opposing the Hinkley-C nuclear station throughout, and regretting the environmental movement’s failure to stop it – as in the last years he viewed it building across the Severn from his home. In 2017-18, the Hinkley project’s intention to dump excavated mud off Penarth Head hit us. Central FoE shunned us, but Keith continued to argue the mud would surely contain historic nuclear discharges and supported the ‘Geiger Bay’ campaign led by Neil McEvoy to require full testing of the sediments. When interviewed for BBC TV on Penarth Head, he prepared to say a few sentences in Welsh - seeing that we needed to engage the Welsh-speaking community on the nationalist point of English mud dumped on Wales. The first stage dumping was lost in 2018, with the legal decision on EIA came too late. But Keith had the satisfaction of the campaign’s success on the EIA requirement in 2020, then of the second stage dumping application running into sand early this year.
Sincere environmentalist
As people have said, Keith was one of life’s sincere people and
true environmentalists, who put that above any political interest. After finishing his teaching career (primary schools in Wenvoe and Llangynwyd), he worked with the Forest Farm conservation scheme, leading teams of youngsters on conservation projects around Cardiff and the Vale. When its funding ended, he joined Cardiff and Vale College to assist special-needs students. He was an inspiration to many on environmental issues.
Keith was frequently seen out cycling, from his early days when he cycled to his primary school teaching job at Wenvoe to cycling part way to his conservation job at Forest Farm (he drove by car till he met Cardiff traffic, then parked and pulled out his bike for riding up the Taff trail). He regularly
participated in the “Barnardo” cycle-rides, 40 miles around the
Vale. In recent years, Keith was often out on his bike to keep fit and enjoy the Vale countryside. He played the flute for enjoyment, with a small group who played at a few clubs and ‘open mic’ evenings. He was able to enjoy last ‘lockdown’ summer, out many times on local beaches with grandchildren.
Changing orientation of FoE, England & Wales
Keith has lived through many changes in Friends of the Earth, from when FoE Cymru was independent, supporting campaigns on local issues (and the Welsh “acid rain” issue), then absorbed into the England & Wales FoE in 1994 when centralised campaign goals got priority (from GM-crops to ‘cuddly’ bees), to recent years when local issues have been given greater prominence. He did not allow his criticisms on some issues to detract from overall loyalty to FoE, carrying their banner to many public events. Throughout, Keith held to his strong belief in local activism, and gave FoE’s support to local campaigns in Barry and around the Vale.
Environmental activism
Keith contributed much to Barry over the years. Though politically engaged – a Plaid Cymru member for two decades, his main achievements were with Friends of the Earth, where he showed that community environmental activism achieves. Enthusiastic to the end, despite his COPD, Keith was looking forward to meeting the Barry&Vale group and resuming public activity post-lockdown, when death struck on 24th April. He lived to see the Biomass incinerator deadlocked if not yet dismantled.
