In his regular blog for Caerphilly Observer South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle gives his take on recent news.
Supermarket Dominance
Caerphilly Observer readers will be well aware of my views on the planning committee’s decision to approve three shops on the site of the old Bowls Inn in my Penyrheol ward.
I opposed the development of yet another supermarket on this site because I believe it will further damage local businesses, many of them whom are already struggling.
I’ve got no problems as such with the Big Four supermarket chains, only that they appear to have taken over many of our high streets. I may be exaggerating a little but it seems that every corner you turn there is another supermarket, often Tesco.
The losers are the independent businesses which often have served their local community for decades or more. Profits they make stay in the area.
And there just doesn’t seem anything to stop the Big Four dominating further. I jokingly suggested that Caerphilly could soon be renamed supermarketville or Tescotown. But it did convey my frustration at the domination of these chains who send their profits to their corporate headquarters for distribution onto their shareholders.
The Bowls Inn decision also highlighted once again the difficulties many pubs are facing to survive. Not only is there the currently economic downturn with people having less to spend in their pockets and the smoking ban, but traditional pubs have been hit hard by the pricing policies on alcohol of the big supermarkets.
One aspect I’m pleased to see is the growth of independent breweries which have grown rapidly in recent years and offer an excellent alternative to beer from the big brewers. I hope they will continue to prosper.
Festive Greetings
I wanted to wish all residents a happy Christmas. It’s been a very tough year economically for families and individuals with worries over jobs and the hike in food, fuel and energy prices. I hope 2012 will be a better year than 2011 and we start to see a major turnaround in the economy.
It is particularly important that we make progress reducing the number of young people looking for work. I remember Margaret Thatcher’s legacy on our communities in the 1980s and I don’t want to see that repeated in the 21st Century.
Lindsay Whittle
Plaid Cymru South Wales East AM
I find it hard to understand why the Council have made this decision, while many people may not agree with the concept of Public Houses, they do provide a means of relaxation and a chance to socialise, where do the people of Penyrheol go now the Bowls has been closed?. Lindsey you should ahve put a preservation order on it, because it was the centre of the community for more than a century when my uncle`s wife`s family ran it.
I agree with Lindsay's comments about the Bowls and supermarkets. We are not progressing as a community but going backwards.
I also agree with his sentiments regarding providing jobs for the young people but I do hope the powers that be also think about the older jobless. Too young for pension but,it seems, too old for work. This is a catastrophic waste of talent and experience that is not mentioned much.
Tell me about it, I had somme talent and lots of experience, but no work, I had the problem for about three years, ,before I finally retired. Virtually no work in mechanical design in south Wales, though I was able to do a Norman Tebbit and get on my bike. I think I must have paid for the second Severn Crossing in three years.
Supermarkets seem to be taking over wales.
Our green and pleasant land is not going to exist the way we are going perhaps we will have to holiday in Ireland and scotland soon to see any green.
Small shops are suffering at the hands of the supermarkets. Villages are struggling to survive.
Also, Risca tesco is so big I cannot walk around it due to my mobility problems. No one seems to care though!
Blackwood gate retail park cannot attract businesses yet when a cinema and bowling alley idea is put forward and people are enthusiastic then planning dept are not interested.
They only want us to have supermarkets and housing estates that are unaffordable anyway.
Shop owners in newbridge are worried that they will lose custom due to new roads and pavements being built:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6VYy69dDEc
People are not being listened to at all.