Caerphilly County Borough Council has reported footfall in the town centres of Bargoed, Blackwood and Caerphilly has risen by 10,000, compared to the same period last year.
In Caerphilly, visitor numbers were recorded as 47,101 by the electronic counter located on Cardiff Road near the junction with Park Lane. The period recorded was the week beginning October 31 – which was also the week of the town’s firework display.
Gas works in the town centre, which had closed off Cardiff Road until Friday last week, saw trade plummet for many businesses. At the beginning of the third phase of works, which cut off Cardiff Road, Caerphilly Indoor Market reported a drop of 60%.
A look at the previous week’s figure for Caerphilly town saw a 2% drop of footfall when compared to the same period last year.
In Blackwood, visitor numbers were reportedly up for the week year-on-year by 11% to 40,334. In Bargoed (South) they were up 6% to 6,246.
Cllr Ron Davies, cabinet member for regeneration, welcomed the latest statistics and said: “These figures are encouraging and show that local people are doing their bit to support the local economy. We are now in the critical pre-Christmas period for retailers so it is important that we continue to show support, especially in the current economic climate.
“We have a number of exciting festive events and activities coming up over the next few weeks which will bring even more people into Caerphilly, Blackwood and Bargoed. There are festive fayres, medieval markets and even an outdoor ice skating rink in Bargoed so I would urge residents to come along and join in the fun.”
I would question the accuracy and usefullness of these footfall figures. They indicated a healthy footfall at the start of the gas main replacement, when even a casual look at the town revealed it was very quiet. As one, doubtful, shop keeper told me "I have got my own footfall indicator that is absolutely reliable; I call it the till."