Caerphilly Gas Works – The Lesson to be Learnt
Thank goodness the main street in Caerphilly is open again. As we all know, the gas works were completed two weeks ahead of the schedule agreed by the council.
Local businesses are finding it tough these days and they can certainly do with the extra ‘footfall’ which will occur as a result of these two extra shopping weeks before Christmas.
However, before the dust settles on this issue, I think it is just worth reflecting for a moment on one of the key lessons which everyone might learn. That is ‘people power’ cannot be ignored!
Make no mistake about it, if the traders and local people of Caerphilly had not said loudly and clearly ‘we are not having this’, then the likelihood is that the gas works would still be winding their sweet way down Cardiff Road.
In my discussions with Wales and West Utilities, as well as at the public meeting which they attended, it was clear that they were concerned about public opinion and the ‘good image of the company’. That is how it should be. They are a commercial company and they need to have a positive reputation.
The same cannot be said for Caerphilly County Borough Council whose attitude towards the genuine predicament of the people of Caerphilly was beyond belief. No doubt, people will come to their own conclusions over this in next year’s council elections.
I make no apologies for becoming involved in this issue. The role of a Member of Parliament is not simply to be active in Westminster, representing his/her constituents; it is also about being in touch with people’s concerns and everyday realities within the constituency that MP represents. That is why, when people are in difficulty and facing hardships, I consider it my responsibility to become involved. This is what I believe and this is what I will continue to do.
Wayne David
Labour MP for Caerphilly
I have heared of politicians milking a situation for their own good and using other peoples misery to highten their actions, I need to repeat a statement made weeks ago on this forum:-
James Fussell on November 12th, 2011 at 1:59 pm says…
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.
Unlike Cllr Fussel I attended the public meeting that he was invited to. It was not Wayne David who decided what the original timescale would be for the mains replacement but the borough council. This was clearly explained by the managers of Wales & the West, who did attend the meeting.
It was also clear that Wales & the West worked with their contractor, Amec, to finish the work more quickly once they had seen the level of anxiety that the road closure was causing. It was they who said the work was due to be completed on the 25th November but that they were four days in front. If Cllr. Fussel knew differently why did he not inform the meeting?