In Which A Day Trip To Porthcawl Makes Me Think About Blog Villian's Welsh Labour Council's Management Of Bridgend Town

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

On Friday wife daughter and myself had one of those rare days where we had the day together when one of us were not working and we all of a mood to go out. However as it was midday the decision as to where to go was not easy. The morning (it was about eleven) was bright so the obvious choice, nearby Barry Island, wasn't really a starter as being on a school break it was likely to be packed.

So I suggested Porthcawl. We would know side streets to park and then wander round a town and a seafront that we all liked. As no obvious alternatives presented itself it won the day.

Well I can't say it was the most enjoyable trip. Largely because the weather decided to be occasionally showery and permanently grey from the moment we arrived. We had clearly displeased the Bridgend weather gods by moving away from the area.

Porthcawl Town Centre

The town looked a bit weary that day and noticeably lacking in the numbers of people you would expect in an Easter bank holiday school break. However it was not the moment to properly judge the place. Partly as I said the weather was not a "Come to Porthcawl!" invitation (apart to idiots like me)  but also there was work being carried out along the seafront that also might have affected visitor numbers.

Some of this work was to bolster the town's flood defences but the other, advertised by a sign and partly financed by the National Lottery (of which I'll come back to later) was a forthcoming Porthcawl Maritime Centre.

Now exactly what this will provide we don't really know until this built but clearly this is designed to attract new tourists to the area as well as regular visitors whether the weather is sunny or stormy. And you know what? Building something like this in a seaside area is not unreasonable. There is a strategy at work.

And it got me thinking. There is something similar (though as I've argued in this blog before flawed) going on in Maesteg with the proposal to turn the town hall into a "cultural hub" (whatever that means). "Renovate it and they will come" seems to be the motto here. Thus boosting the economy of the town.

But as I've said there are problems. Not least because at time of writing financing is not secured as the council are waiting (longer than anticipated) for the result of their proposal to the National lottery. This being the third proposal. A refusal here could mean that the iconic building is abandoned. Something that would be a disaster for the town and the council will have only themselves to blame having badly mismanaged the originals proposals in the first place.

However when it comes to mismanagement that pales into insignificance when compared to the Welsh Labour Council's action regarding Bridgend Town. I've gone through in this blog how their arrogant incompetence have turned what I understood to be a once proud place into an urban tragedy.

When I looked around the town as I did a few weeks back it did not occur to me then of the possibility that the Labour council now realise the consequences of years of  their inept rule but do not have a strategy of how to deal with it because the problem has got so bad. Why is it that the only recent building/renovations of any significance in the town involve social housing (a good thing) over shops (why given the vast swathes of empty retail outlets do this?).

This is not strategy. This is town planning on the hoof

I mentioned before that there is "a taskforce" in Bridgend council that is dealing with the issue of empty retail space. According to the local paper they have sent a questionnaire to shop owners asking how they can improve the situation. A move that strikes me as shutting the shop door after the customers have bolted.

There is nothing in Bridgend Town that would attract the regular casual visitor and seemingly nothing planned. This would presumably mean that the Welsh Labour council are running the town in crisis management mode. If I'm right. This is just unacceptable. If I'm wrong then perhaps the people of Bridgend Town should be told what vision the council has for it's future.

Until the next time.