The number of shoppers heading into town centres across the county borough increased in the week leading up to the big day, according to figures from Caerphilly County Borough Council.
Caerphilly Council said the week beginning December 17 saw increases in footfall in town centres when compared with the previous week.
Blackwood saw an increase of more than 10,500 during this period, whilst Caerphilly town centre saw an increase of over 8,800. Bargoed North and Risca saw more modest increases of over 1,600 and 1,200.
Blackwood town centre boasted the highest number of visitors on average in December, with an average of 43,784 per week.
Cllr Ken James, cabinet member for regeneration, planning and sustainable development, said: “It is encouraging to see that local people are continuing to support the local economy, by taking advantage of the blend of independent and national retailers on offer to complete their Christmas shopping. This is another sign that even in a changing economic climate our town centres still remain as important as ever.
“There has been a great deal of regeneration in these town centres and we are optimistic that continuing developments will further increase visitors and attract businesses to the Caerphilly county borough.”
A scheme which saw all pay and display car parks across Caerphilly County Borough offer two hours of free parking in the two weeks before Christmas saw about 35, 500 take up the offer.
I am told the actual traders in the centre of our towns will tell another story.
For instance, Caerphilly town?, The Castle Shopping Centre,at the bottom of town, regularly, has a footfall figure each week of over 100,000 people shopping there, whilst, for some inexplicable reason the footfall at the `Top of Town` rarely gets above 35,000 and that included students going to school, walking the town at lunch times, and anyone heading for the railway station, coming into the top of town to go to banks, building societies, charity shops, bookies, and pubs, estate agents and travel agents, and not to shop with the small traders who are scraping a living to pay the bills. The small traders in these towns will say. what is obvious to everyone else, that the economic climate is having a dramatic effect on trade.
The worse is yet to come of course, when, benefits are cut, next month, Council tax increases are made, and benefit claimants pay more out of their basic benefits to the council by way of the ` Hardship Penalty` imposed on every household in the Borough. Clearly the spending power of all citizens will be dramatically reduced in the coming weeks.
The published footfall figures do not reflect what is actually happening in respect to money taken in the tills.
What world do these Councillor inhabit?, they seem to think that by telling something is the case that we will all believe them.
Councillor Ken James, the Cabinet Member for Regeneration in Caerphilly borough, and, therefore accountable to the residents of the borough for ensuring that our interests are best taken care of by tell the truth, and, not making embellished and wildly of the mark statements as if he is talking to people who do not live in these towns and engage with all things which are happening in our communities.
He should start be engaging with the residents up and down the valley, and not, take as fact, what he is told by officers who work FOR him tell him. Just take as an example for this flawed officer reporting the contents of the SECRET report, now totally demolished by Wales Top Legal Brains, and compiled by the Council`s Chief Executive, Councillors took that report on face value and look what is happening to in that issue. Total and complete disrespect, total and complete loss of public confidence in the Council`s Elected leaders, and public bemusement as to what is coming out next from this bunch of ` experts` who we employ to represent this borough in all civic Business. An absolute disgrace.
So the shopping streets were busier at Christmas than at other times of the year. Good grief, that must be the first time this has ever happened!
It's a good job we have the equipment and personnel to monitor this phenomenon, otherwise we would never have believed it.
Maybe a more accurate picture is the number of businesses that ceased trading this year?