The road works that have plagued Caerphilly town centre for several weeks have finished two weeks ahead of schedule.
Cardiff Road, the main road through Caerphilly town centre, has re-opened to traffic following weeks of disruption to replace a gas main.
The closure had caused a huge drop-off in trade in the town with many local businesses angry that work had been allowed to happen before the busy Christmas period. Several businesses had warned of closing because the drop-off in trade was so severe.
Tensions ran high at a recent public meeting attended by Wales and West Utilities which was carrying out the work. Residents and traders voiced their anger at Caerphilly County Borough Council over the timing of the work.
Cllr Ron Davies, cabinet member for regeneration welcomed the early finish.
He said: “This is great news for the town centre and is an early Christmas present for the retailers as the road has re-opened two weeks earlier than planned. We can now look forward to the Christmas trading period and I would encourage as many people as possible to support the town centre and help give the local economy a boost.”
Local ward member Cllr James Fussell said: “Myself and my fellow ward members are delighted to see Caerphilly town centre back in business. The last few weeks have been very difficult for the retailers, but I’m hoping we can all work together to get Caerphilly back on track in the run up to the festive period.”
Labour’s Caerphilly MP Wayne David, who helped organise the recent public meeting, said: “I’m very pleased that Wales and West Utilities have listened to the people of Caerphilly, including the traders, and has responded to the representations made by myself and Caerphilly AM Jeff Cuthbert.
“I’m delighted that this important section of work has been completed two weeks ahead of schedule, but I only wish the council had something to help.
“The council were quite happy for the works to continue at their own sweet pace and it was only when people kicked up a fuss that Wales and West put their elbows into it. Two weeks is a significant time – especially near Christmas.”
The re-opening of Cardiff Road has come too late for one trader who after 40 years has decided to call it a day and move out of the town.
Waddon’s Jewellers was established by the late Llewellyn Waddon, a former county councillor. His family, which continued the business, has said crippling business rates and the gas works mean they have to quit the town
Lynda Gough, one of Mr Waddon’s daughters, told the South Wales Echo: “We are moving out of Caerphilly purely on the basis of the state of the town in general.
“We moved to this shop (on Cardiff Road from Clive Street) five years ago because of the redevelopment in the top of town and that fell through again, leaving some of our properties empty and unable to lease because of such high rates.
“Then the council has allowed the gas works to go ahead in the run up to Christmas, the town’s busiest time, and that’s finished us. Business is horrendous, takings are down 80%.”
The jewellery shop is now up for sale.
Statement from Wales and West Utilities – added on November 12, 2pm.
“Work on Cardiff Road Caerphilly has been completed 14 days ahead of schedule. This has been possible through insertion techniques allowing additional resources to be deployed in the area. It was always our intention to complete these works as quickly as possible and with the full co-operation and assistance of Caerphilly County Borough Council, we are pleased to have achieved our goal.
“The final phase of the road closure between Pentrebane Street and Park Lane has been completed on Friday November 11. Traffic management and road closure on Cardiff Road will be lifted and all advisory road signage related to this traffic management is being removed.
“New service connections have been completed for businesses including the British Heart Foundation, Gregg’s the Bakers, The Kings Arms public house, Roberts & Co., DPSA., Cash Generator and BetFred.
“We will be carrying out some planned minor work this weekend in the lane adjacent to Tesco and Iceland but this will not affect businesses and traffic flow on Cardiff Road.
“For the final completion of this overall project, we will, on Sunday, be undertaking exploratory trial hole works on the railway bridge. Traffic will be controlled by a ‘Stop’ and ‘Go’ arrangement.
“The planned Remembrance March this Sunday through the town centre will be unaffected.”
I am so relieved for the local traders that the road works are now complete. Personally, I believe that Eddie Talbot is recognised in some way for his efforts. Winter is here now and I am hoping that the council and councillors can now help in the winter months by ensuring that adequate supplies of grit are provisioned for use on side roads, pavements and car parks around the Town. If we get heavy snow in December as we did last year then the town will be a no-go area for pedestrians again.
It is good to see that Cardiff Rd. is now open once more. Amec have really upped the pace this last two weeks. Congratulations must go to the independent town councillors, Ed Talbot and Lee Jones who worked with Wayne David and Jeff Cuthbert to inject some urgency.
The public meeting with Wales & the West was an outstanding success; I cannot fathom why nobody from the council deigned to attend.
These works, without a doubt, caused great inconvenience to visitors, shoppers and trades people in the town over the last month or two.
It is a pity that the Plaid Cymru ward Councillors did not feel it prudent and responsible, as elected members to the council for the ward, to represent all the people of the town in this situation when they were asked to attend a meeting to discuss the problems the works were causing.
I wonder if they WILL attend on the same people when seeking their votes in next years election for Councillors to represent, again, the ward of St Martins on Caerphilly Council.
It is clear the people of the town owe a debt of gratitude to all those politicians who DID make representation on behalf of the towns people, and who`s actions accelerated the completion of the works, and we should not forget that Workers from Wales And West and AMEC attended the public meeting and gave a very respectable and reasonable representation of their role in the works in the town.
I notice that even prospective Councillors attended this public meeting, from parties other than Plaid Cymru and it was their contribution to the debate and which caused these works to be completed early.
As a retailer in the town I an very pleased that this important work has been finished earlier than expected, I would like to thank Wales and West utilities for recognising the harm the road closure was having on the Christmas trade, this is already a difficult time for retailers, I would like to thank everyone involved in the meetings especially Wayne David MP and Jeff Cuthbert AM for their support in organising the public meeting held with Wales and West Utilities to discus the problems and find a solution. It just goes to show what can be achieved when we all work together.
Let’s get the facts straight. It’s no good saying that a meeting changed the timescale for the road works to complete 14 days ahead of schedule. If anyone had spoken to WWU or AMEC, as I have done throughout the weeks, they would have been told that the trench working was now substituted for insertion techniques. This was confirmed by AMEC on the 10th October and known prior to phase 2 (Clive Street/Cardiff Road) starting, due to exploratory works carried out at each junction.
It was also confirmed to me prior to any meeting that AMEC were scheduling the work in phase 3 to finish asap, working with two gangs and over the weekends, although they had been working weekends previously.
I have also spoken to a number of traders during the last month and do sympathise with the situation that the road closure has had on their business, but refute that timing and work was the doing of the council. The deferring of the work to the New Year and the potential for longer road closure due to inclement weather made the late autumn scheduling the best option for WWU and the town, fortunately now the work has completed the remainder of November and all of December is available for traders as well as the Medieval weekend 10th and 11th December which I know does help the trade in town enormously.
How on earth could Cllr. Fussel know what the meeting achieved? He did not attend, neither did his political colleagues on town and borough councils, nor did any council officer.
The sole representation from the borough council was Cllr. Aldworth, from Bedwas, who attended to show support for the independents working together with their community, their MP and AM. It was a treat to see non-partisan meeting where people got together with their representatives in an attempt to solve a problem. This is something that Plaid Cymru, a party I have voted for many times, should take on board. The modern party appears insular, does not listen to any views contrary to their own and believes anyone who does not agree with them 100% is an enemy.
I read with great interest the comments posted by Mr Fussell, one of towns Plaid Cymru representatives on the Caerphilly Borough council, but he either confuses himself, or, he is trying to deliberately misrepresent us and the situation at the time of the public meeting as a justification for refusing to attend it, so, as he says, "lets get the facts straight",:- he says-
"it was also confirmed to me prior to any meeting that AMEC were scheduling the work in phase 3 to finish asap, working with two gangs and over the weekends, although they had been working weekends previously".
The meeting however were told by the senior officers of Wales and West, and the contractors AMEC that the works were "Scheduled to be completed by the 25th November" " we hope to complete it earlier and we are 4 days in hand at present, but we can give no guarantees to this".
Now it appears Mr Fussell already knew,before the meeting, according to his blog, that the works would be completed much sooner than that, how is it possible he now feels he can take the credit for that early completion when the most senior and on site officers of Wales and West and AMEC did not know it at that time, further, if Mr Fussell was in possession of this wonderful news which would have been an early Christmas Present for traders in the town who attended the public meeting, it was his civic duty to impart that information to the meeting. What really happened here is that the power of the people, and the services and efforts of the Caerphilly MP Wayne David and the AM Jeff Cuthbert, together with Independent Town Councillors Eddie Talbot and Lee Jones with the support of Richard Williams, traders and residents, galvanised the attention of the borough council, the Contractors and Wales and West Utilities in the knowledge that they had created a situation which has caused disaster and mayhem in the town, and they had to sort it out.
Well done all those concerned at the meeting including the contractors and Wales and West Utilities.Of Course Plaid Cymru Councillor did not attend and it appears had no intention of attending leaving matters to the assembled throng.
Years ago in 1968, at the time of Caerphilly By Election, when the Plaid Cymru`s candidate, the late Phil Williams came within a few hundred votes of beating Labour, the words of Wordsworth ran through my mind. "What bliss to be alive in such a dawn, but to young was the very heaven".However, I was mature enough to realise that not every one was as clever, level headed and mature as myself and that being human, politicians would have their faults. It would be obviuos that the Plaid Cymru Councillors have their faults, but to be honest, faced with the same problems of having the gas mains renewed, which was the responsibilty of Wales and West Utilties and their contractors, how would the Labour Party or the Ratepayers handled the problem. Would they have had a magic wand to do it overnight, would they have cancelled the Proms in the Park or the Milk Race. the job needed doing and the time aranged was agreed between the Council, which is a legal entity seperate from the Councillors, and Wales and West Utilities. As for the meeting called by the Labour Party nad the Ratepayers to discuss with Wales and the West Utilities the problems, the actual validity of the meeting is questionable, since the contract to renew the gas mains was between the Council and the Wales and the West Utilities
not the Labour Party and Ratepayers. In view of that the Plaid Councillors made the right decision not to attend, since the matter was Council responsiblity, and it could be argued that both the Labour Party and the ratepayers qwere acting beyond their powers, since neither groups are in control of the Borough. No doubt thre meeting will go down in folklore as a triumph of public opinion, orchestrated of course by Labour and the Ratepayers, but in fact the problem was already being solved by Wales and the West Utilities.
At last someone is trying to talk sense, the anti Plaid alliance between the Labour Party and the Ratepayers is a farce only equaled by the Jack Lemon, Walter Mathau film the Odd Couple, because any alliance between the Labour Party and the Ratepayer group is indeed an Odd Couple, or shoud we say Trio. Having worked in the Utilities Industry, I know any work carried out will have been months in the planning and organisation, and a public meeting will have done nothing to expedite the work. It is self evident from their comments that Wayne David, Jeff Cuthbert and Ed Talbot have no experince of engineering,or even the workings of the Council, in trying to blame local councillors for something that is the responsibilty of the Council Officers and the Contractors. I hope that when the local elections come, the voters remember this odd alliance between Labour and Ratepayer.
As an independent candidate, in 2008, I can assure everyone that there is no 'alliance' with Labour and Independents in this ward. There was, however, a coalition between Labour and Plaid running the assembly until the last election.
The town councillors responded to the wishes of those they represent and this was also true of the Labour MP and AM. I know the St. Martin’s independent councillors and they would be perfectly happy to work with any political group, including Plaid Cymru, on a variety of issues; if this was of benefit to the people in this ward.
As for the meeting not expediting the work I can only speak on what I witnessed. Wales & the West told the gathering that the work on Cardiff Rd. would be finished by the 25th November, though they were a few days ahead of plan. Lo and behold, the work was finished by the 11th November, following on from this meeting. Well done to Amec for completely revising the work plan, which the council had agreed to, and responding to the views of the public meeting.
Regarding the comment from John," the contract to renew the gas mains was between the Council and the Wales and the West Utilities". This implies that 'the council' is a body not be questioned and scrutinised by the people who pay for it, we the tax payer. It is a point of view, I suppose, but I regard the councillors and council officers as servants of the public. It is not healthy for them to think that rule by diktat is theirs by right. When the council gets it wrong they deserve criticism from their pay masters, even if this makes them feel uncomfortable. If I were a ward councillor I would have attended a public meeting, even if this meant taking some flak, as I would be acutely aware that the people there had a right to question any decisions I had made on their behalf. This, in my opinion, is how local politics should work.
It is obvious that both Jon Owen nor Ron James were at the public meeting, else they would have heard the `Senior Engineering Manager` of Wales and West Utilities say that the entire decision making and time table for undertaking the work in the town was down to the Council.
And god forbid were should have to elect engineers to the council when they have an entire department of highly skilled and qualified engineers working there already.
The final `spurt` to complete the works ( if indeed they are completely finished, and not just mothballed)is down to people power and absolutely nothing else.
I notice that some are still in denial that the gas works had to be done. I don't believe that decision can be made by a local councillor, AM or MP. However I do know the Welsh Assembly Government set the business rates which are causing shopkeepers so much pain.
I am a little confused by Bob Jones' comment. I have yet to see a single comment on this paper saying that the gas main did not need replacement. I think that is one thing that I, Ward Coucillors, MP, AM, commentators in this paper and Wales & the West can agree upon.
He is right about the business rate though, far too high in Caerffili and there is not a thing the council can do about it. This one needs to be addressed by Lindsay Whittle and Jeff Cuthbert. I hope they do so.
I have problems with the local ward Councillors over residents parking problems, but that does not prevent me feeling that the local Plaid Councillors have been unfairly targeted over the problems caused by the gas main renewal.
In answer to Richard Williams comment about the "Council", the Council is a seperate legal entity from the Councillors or the Officials. It is a body that has been established to run local government and provide services to the public. As a result the public have every right to query the activities of the Council, however, it was not the Councillors who were involved in drawing up the agreement between the Counncil and Wales and West, but the Officers of the the legal, and I hope the technical staff, who possess a professional expertise not available to the Councillors. I started my working life as a Mechanical Engineer in the Steel Industry, but with the decline of manufacturing, I`ve had to wear differnt hats, working at one time with a Civil Engineering Consultancy in the water industry, working on a sewer renewal project for Bath and North East Somerset Council. In that job, all liason was with the officers of Bath and North East Somerset Council and not the Councillors. The job took months of planning and oraganisation, and time scales were agreed between the consultancy and the officers of the Council. In that sewer renewal scheme, as with the renewal of the Gas main on Cardiff Rd,the only way the job could have been done more quickly was to employ more workers working longer hours, that was the decision of the Contractor and not the Councillors.
In reply to Arthur`s comments, I was not at the "Public Meeting" because I thought it a kangaroo court, arranged by political opponents of Plaid, and I was concerned about the actual protocol of an Labour MP and AM arranging a "Public Meeting", over matters that were the responsibilty of the Borough, that is controlled by another political party.
If I had gone I would have, to quote Arthur,
"heard the `Senior Engineering Manager` of Wales and West Utilities say that the entire decision making and time table for undertaking the work in the town was down to the Council.
And god forbid were should have to elect engineers to the council when they have an entire department of highly skilled and qualified engineers working there already."
A comment which confirms my point, that it was the Council, in the form of its entire department of highly skilled and qualified engineers working there that was responsible for the timing and NOTthe councillors, who are not engineers. If the Labour Party had been in control of the Borough and we had the same problems regarding the gas main renewal would the Labour MP and AM have been so keen to organise a "Public Meeting"?.
Jon Owen is wrong again on a number of issues, and there is no point in correcting previous mistakes in his methodology in respect to how modern local government works.
The fact is that the Caerphilly Council is a `corporate body`and the Councillors have complete corporate responsibility for the actions and processes of the Caerphilly Council.One only needs to study the Caerphilly Council`s constitution to understand that.
So however much Jon Owen would like to defend the indefensible,and I fully respect his right to do so, and, allow elected members to `sidestep` responsibility for the recent town centre fiasco, (although, I notice only one Ward Councillor is trying to do so, the others two Plaid Cymru ward Councillors are acting in a much more circumspect way by keeping their heads below the parapet on this issue), he will fail to do so, much better to own up and shut up, and live to fight another day. Jon Owen is doing no particular favours to his Plaid Cymru friends by misrepresenting the position.
Well Arthur, I am not trying to defend my "Plaid Cymru friends", since I dont think I have any, because my political outlook differs radicaly from theirs. While I agree that Caerphilly Council is a `corporate body`and the Councillors have complete corporate responsibility for the actions and processes of the Caerphilly Council.They do not get involved in the day to day business of running the minutae of the Council business, that is why we have Council Officers with the respective professional qualifications, and experience to do the work. Having been involved in similar work in the water industry in Bath and in Oil and Gas in the North Sea, I know, as I`ve said before, how much planning and organisation is needed even before any work on a project can start. I cant see how any intervention from lay people, as most Councillors are, can speed up any work programme once started. you could argue that as a "corporate body",and as such the councillors have corporate responsibilty for the actions of the Council, the people involved in dealing with Wales and the West were the paid officers, who used their knowledge and experience to agree the method involved and the time required to do the job, and to draw up the contract for the job. As I`ve said ,no Councillor, or anyone else for that matter, has a magic wand, or that wonderful Second World War would be invention, a "Sky hook", to make things happen overnight. The correct way of handling the problem would be for the Councillors to inform the Officers of the perceived problem, who should then approach the contractor to see how the problem could be resolved. There is also the point that having worked with Contractors, myself they normally want to finish a job as soon as possible to get on to the next one, you make more money that way, I cant really think that tWales and the West and their contacators were working to slowly, in fact each stage seemed to be completed earlier than planned, so there wasnt really a problem. Though not being involved with Plaid Cymru in any way for the last thirty years,and having issues with the local councillors over parking problems, I still feel that they have been unjustly criticised, and my reaction would be the same no matter who was involved.
PS Arthur, my name is John Owen, not Jon Owen, if you cant get my name right, should I really worry about your comments?.
It might be helpful if people have a look at my last blog. It objectively sets out a few facts. If people have a read of it they will be in a better position to come to a view about the background to the good news that the gas works has finished ahead of schedule.
John Owen- I rest my case in the fact you have to agree, and have done so,twice, in your comment above, that all elected councillors hold a corperate responsibility for the recent catasrtophy which fell over the town.
John Owen has, quite reasonably, said "The correct way of handling the problem would be for the Councillors to inform the Officers of the perceived problem, who should then approach the contractor to see how the problem could be resolved." This is how things should work. In the real world this does not happen. I have no confidence that my ward councillors would bother to represent me on an issue I raised.
I am not alone in feeling this. I am absolutely convinced that the residents and traders found a route to solving a problem by referring this issue to those who were willing to listen, the independent town councillors, our MP and AM. These people have differences in ideology but have the maturity to be willing to work with one another.
I used to be a Labour party member and have voted for Plaid too. I am dismayed that my ward councillors and the officers of the council were not willing to attend an orderly public meeting with Wales & the West representatives. I am told that they were invited but did not have the courtesy to even reply to their invitations. I would welcome a statement from the ward councillors that they are willing to work with Ed Talbot and Lee Jones (who are non-political) in future issues that affect the town. I think that I may wait in vain…
This is getting silly, Arthur, (aka A.N Onymous), fails to, or is unwilling to, see my point, as I said Caerphilly Council is a `corporate body`and the Councillors have complete corporate responsibility for the actions and processes of the Caerphilly Council. They do not get involved in the day to day business of running the minutae of the Council business, that is why we have Council Officers with the respective professional qualifications, and experience to do the work. In simple terms, the Councillors decide the policy, and the Officers execute that policy. But as good as they are the Councillors cannot change the laws of Physics and Engineering, because basically the laws of Physics and Engineering controlled the work on the gas main renewal. I would even suggest that they, and most of their critics, would not understand the laws of Physics and Engineering involved, but, hey, that democracy, The whole gas main renewal was really a storm in a teacup, and the necessary disruption was used by their opponents to attack the elected Councillors, who, as Councillors had no hands on control over the timing of the work organised by Wales and the West Utilities. Again, as I`ve said before I`ve worked in similar environment, and I know how all your planning and organisation can go wrong because, as an American politician said the unknown unknowns, but in this instance the planning worked and I think Wales and the West, and the Council can be thanked for the early completion of the work.
I am still concerned about so called success of the "Public Meeting", called by the opponents of the Councillors. An MP and AM should not intrefere in the affairs of the Borough, controlled by another party, it could be argued that they were acting beyond their powers,ansd while as individuals they have every right to raise their concerns, but as elected members of other political organisations, its almost akin to bullying, to use their postionas MP and AM to try an effect the running of an another autonomous political body such as the Borough. This is no doubt due to the fact that the Labour Party feel they have a god given right to run south Wales.As my grandmother always said the Labour Party in Wales was OK until all these English joined, and her mother was born in Gloucester. And my final word on the matter Arthur (aka A.N.Onymous), I am not defending my Plaid Cymru friends, I am working class boy from Nantgarw Road,born into the the Keir Hardie Faction, a Free Welsh Wales under the Red Flag of Socialism, and I dont think the local Councillors even know who Kier Hardie was, but then times have changed.
John Owen, one final point in respect to your insistance that this matter goes on and on and on, you say the Councillors do not have any decision making control over this " storm in a teacup" as you put it, well, I will say this for the final time, in this case they did, it was the Plaid Cymru Caerphilly basin Councillors who ALTERED, CHANGED, the timetable for the works, and it was this TIMETABLE which has caused all the problem for traders of the town, or, the storm in the teacup as you put it. You would of course have learned this had you attended the public meeting.
CLLR Ron Davies’s “early Christmas present” quote is quite frankly beyond belief. Similarly CLLR James Fussel’s “I’m hoping we can all work together to get Caerphilly back on track in the run up to the festive period” is equally as shocking. What these two elected representatives fail to concede is that the roadworks fiasco are anything to do with them. For CLLR Ron Davies to call the ending of the works an early Christmas present realy shows how this Plaid led adminstration has lost touch with the retailers in the town centre. It is not an early Christmas present at all!! The ending of the roadworks has only mitigated the loss of trade that retailers have spoken of.
I think the arrogance and general lack of leadership we are experiencing from Plaid Cymru over this issue and more will lead most people to believe that Plaid are unfit to govern. Come next May the voters will have their chance to punish them for the terrible mistakes they have made. We need a change in Caerphilly.