Caerphilly town traders have been urged by local councillors to seek compensation after a slump in business caused by major gas roadworks.
Plaid Cymru ward councillors Colin Elsbury, James Fussell and Stephen Kent said that contractors Wales and West Utilities operate a compensation scheme and more information can be obtained by contacting them.
Councillor Elsbury, who represents the St Martin’s ward, which includes the town centre, said: “These are very difficult times for everyone but as ward members we would appeal to shoppers to continue to support Caerphilly and shop in the top of town.
“Despite the work by Wales and West Utilities the town is still very much open for business. As local councillors we are pressurising the contractors to carry out this essential work as quickly as possible.
“We are aware that the current economic climate is causing great concern to local retailers and the replacement of the gas main isn’t helping matters. We have had numerous meetings to try and alleviate the disruption to the town and its retail sector. It is a huge sense of frustration that utility companies are able to operate in such a way.
“There is a compensation scheme available to retailers and we would encourage them to apply for any loss of revenue.”
This really is good news for traders who can qualify for compensation as a result of the works now being undertaken in Cardiff Road in Caerphilly. Tesco will, Iceland will, Peacocks Will, and one or two long term independent town traders may.
But there has to be caution, what is failed to be said is that in order to qualify for compensation traders will have to `Demonstrate` ACTUAL losses over trading for a number of preceding years, over the same period of weeks or months effected by the works, the number of new or relatively new businesses operating in the Top of Town, i.e,. those most severly effected, like the market stall holders, and those who have moved into shops in the town over the past year or so, may well find their application for any compensation will be thwarted before they start the process, each trader should contact Wales and West Utilities to obtain a ` Compensation Pack` and the critiria is set out in those documents. This is not the panecea it is being portrayed to be in this report.
Dont celebrate Christmas to soon!!!!
At least someone is trying to do something positive about this situation! All the previous correspondent ever does is proffer doom and gloom about everything.
Facts Joe, not pie in the sky political spin proffering false hope to hard working cash strapped town traders,who only want to get on with providing a service to the public and growing their businesses, and, I think you may have misread the first paragraph of my comments.
I believe Mr. bond is making a perfectly resonable point that only long established businesses might qualify for compensation. It is misleading for councillors to imply that all the traders need do is apply to the compensation scheme to offset the loss of trade caused by the mains replacement.
There are many traders in the town that would not qualify for a compensation award; it would have been more reasonable for councillors to state that 'some retailers may qualify'.
Further to the input by Joe I should like to add that there is a minor selection of folk in Caerphilly who claim to represent local residents and who continually harp on about our elected Councillors. They never mention nor thank the Councillors for the additional work carried out by them who, in their own time and without financial reward, help with the firework display, with the Christmas lights, with helping to clear snow and ice from outside the homes of the aged etc etc.
The whiners who sling cheap shots from the sidelines would be better off trying to be positive and actually do something to help. I somehow think that they are too lazy or bitter by nature.
The ward councillors are the ones who are supposed to represent the residents of this ward, whether they vote for their party or not. They are paid handsomely to do so.
I too clear snow from my outside my neighbours homes; the difference is I did not request that the town council purchase my snow shovel, as our ward councillors did. I bought my own.
This really is a serious matter for Town Centre Shopkeepers.
It is not correct for Jeff to say Councillors do not get paid, or, that they work for nothing, in fact the three St Martins Plaid Cymru Councillors claimed £96,000,00p in expenses and wages, plus we, the ratepayers paid further ratepayers money into each individual Councillor pension pot, so Jeff`s comments are totally wrong.
Councillors used to do the job of Councillor for nothing, not any more, fact. It is actually their statutory RESPONSIBILITY to reflect and represent the people of their constituency, in this case the Town Residents and the SECONDLY the towns traders. So lets have no more incorrect statements supporting the unsupportable, County Councillors do get paid to represent us.
Sorry Jad,
You got the wrong end of the stick. I stated that that "…the additional work carried out by them who, in their own time and without financial reward, help with the firework display, with the Christmas lights, with helping to clear snow and ice from outside the homes of the aged etc etc."
The three Councillors that you are having a swipe at each received £13,000 per year and the County Mayor received an extra allowance as do all County Mayors due to the extra workload. So lets have no more incorrect statements shall we? It's going to be a great weekend of rugby, so smile.
Jeff is again wrong in fact.
The Three ward Councillors he so enthusiastically protests as being misrepresented actually claimed, and were paid, in excess of the £96,000 ( in the interests of accuracy this was expenses for the last two years published by Caerphilly Council) is Jeff saying the council published figures are wrong?, if so that would be a matter for the District Auditor I think, and if he is near to the Council in any way perhaps he should report what he seems to contend is a financial inaccuracy in the councils accounting processes. I quoted plus of course that pension pot contribution we made from our rates money.
Sorry JAD it is you who is wrong, again,
I have stated nothing inaccurate. If you think I have, please cut and paste my words in your reply but make sure that you check your facts first. Each Councillor was paid £13000 per annum for being a Councillor. Their assistance with the Fireworks displays, erecting and removing the Christmas lights and many other unseen jobs are not a part of their remit. They volunteered their time as conscientious residents. Unlike many who just try to find fault.
Anyone interested in finding out how much our councillors are paid can look it up on the Caerffili County Borough website. The £13,000 mentioned is merely the basic allowance, on top of this further payments are made for membership of cabinet, etc, plus expenses. A cabinet member can easily exceed £30,000 per year, this is all in the public domain and can be easily accessed.
It is always important to be accurate and not misleading in public comment and statement, particularly when you accuse others of not being accurate, Jeff is inaccurate in that Councillors do have a basic `wage` of £13,000 odd. But he does not say, he does not say what the following states and which is taken from previous pages on Caerphilly Observer which published the figures issued by Caerphilly Council, so simply in the interest of accuracy, the following is what those Council figures declare, if Jeff disagrees with the Councils figures, and he has any civic influences at all, he should draw the matter to the attention of the Chief Executive of the Council or directly with the District Auditor, or perhaps he would like to report this possible inaccurate accounting to the constituency AM Jeff Cuthbert who I am sure would be expected to seek formal clarity. The Figure show:-
Plaid Cymru St Martins Ward Councillors:
James Fussell 2009/2010 £18997 : 48p 2010/2011 £26970 : 17p
£45,000.00p over two years.
equivalent to at least 8 years
Old Age Pension for the same period.
Plus qualifying for a personal pension contribution to his pension pot.
Steven Kent 2009/2010 £13030 : 16p 2010.2011 £13407 : 87p
£26,400.00p over two years.
Equivalent to at least six years Old Age Pension for the same period.
Plus qualifying for a personal pension contribution from public funds into a pension pot.
Colin Elsbury 2009/2010 £10,457 : 97p 2010/11 £13,380 : 47p
£23,800,00p over two years.
Equivalent to at least five years Old Age Pension for the same period.
Plus qualifying for a personal pension contribution from the public purse.
Perhaps now Jeff will agree that County councillors DO get paid. They can claim expenses of course for their official Councillor duties so they should never be out of pocket.
A good life, and that is why so many candidates stand at local elections these days.