Velothon Wales should not come to Caerphilly again, says MP Wayne David

News | | Published: 15:55, Monday June 15th, 2015.
Last updated: 16:18, Monday June 15th, 2015

Picture by Carl Jones - www.carljonesphotographer.com
Picture by Carl Jones – www.carljonesphotographer.com

Caerphilly MP Wayne David has said the Velothon Wales cycling event should not come to Caerphilly again.

Yesterday around 15,000 cyclists from across Europe rode through South East Wales.

Part of the 140km route included going through a large part of Caerphilly County Borough and Caerphilly town.

Mr David, who lives in Caerphilly, has said that the disruption caused to local people was huge and little, if any, benefit had been brought to the area.

The Labour MP said: For the people of Caerphilly, yesterday was a nightmare. Roads were closed, sometimes before the time on the advertised schedules, and information about the Velothon road closures were not widely distributed.

“I have had hundreds of people complaining to me about how the Velothon caused huge disruption and near chaos.

“While I appreciate that the Velothon might be good for Wales and a lot of money for charity has been raised, I very much hope that the Velothon will not include Caerphilly in future.”

Local anger at the staging of the cycle race was demonstrated when several competitors suffered punctures from tacks placed on the road in Caerphilly.

Race director Andrew Taylor told BBC Wales that organisers had worked “really really hard” to minimise disruption but that lessons would be learnt for next year’s event.

Wales Deputy Sports Minister Ken Skates has promised a review into the staging of the event.

98 thoughts on “Velothon Wales should not come to Caerphilly again, says MP Wayne David”

  1. I was against the Veleothon initially, but it seems to have been a success, apart from the idiots who put tacks on the road. The Velothon will have raised Caerphilly’s image in a wider. If Wayne David wants to complain, he should complain about his Labour Council not inviting the national cycle race and the Welsh Proms, which under Plaid were great successes.

    2. I’m confused as to your loyalties here John, this (Velophon) is a Labour council, Labour Assembly event. The Plaid Cymru elected representatives I had a meeting with tonight seemed to think along the same lines as me, a badly organised, overly disruptive event that needs major changes.

      Regarding ‘Proms in the Park’, which I think you mean as Welsh Proms are always in Cardiff, the only time Plaid held the event it was a washout, which I grant was not entirely of their doing, the sucessful ones were held by a Labour council, not my party so I think I can give credit where it is due.

      1. My loyalties are simple, I accept I might be unusual in the fact that some of my family were local Welsh speakers from Llanishen, and Caerphilly, of course we also had the mandatory grandfather from Pembrokeshire and great grandmother from Gloucestershire, so I grew feeling Cymry with a big C, as opposed to Welsh, English or British. Brought up with a mixture of the Whig theory of History, that things always get better, and the Marxist view that the iron laws of economics would ensure the emergence of working class rule. However, life didn’t turn out that way, the Labour Party, of which we were members, didn’t seem to be working for the working class, being locally an old boys network to ensure you got a job as a teacher, local government officer or politician. In addition, I found an hostility to the Welsh identity. So in 1968, Plaid came along, and seemed the answer, which it was, like I wasn’t made to feel like an alien in my own country, where we’d lived for a couple of centuries. But not really being a joined, and not agreeing with their ideas on Europe, I let my membership lapse. I still
        vote Plaid because they represent my centre left, social democratic views, but don’t blindly agree with all their policies. The Labour Party has become a Tory clone, the Tories are the Tories, and Ukip remind me of the old Ratepayer movement, a little rightwing English nationalist party, who in my experience like the Welsh Welsh less than the Labour Party did.

        1. Don’t forget the Caerphilly 10k this weekend, more road closures and complaints I expect, wait there this one is Caerphilly Council run and all the proceeds go to the council so wait until Monday’s headlines and the amazing success story the council will print…Double standards..

          1. The problem with this event was, and is, obvious, and has been discussed
            at some length, and that is far from the end if it. But, it is clear
            that there is some resentment in the FACT that the Welsh Assembly paid
            £900,000, to a private Company, in London, the money is clearly a
            contribution to the overall profits to be trousered by the Directors of
            the company, NOT CAERPHILLY COUNCIL or any other Council. In fact, I bet the Leader of Caerphilly Council, at least, Council Councillor Kieth Reynolds, would crawl over broken glass on behalf of the ratepayers of Caerphilly to get his hands on an extra £900,000 asa contribution to local budgets.

            They are in the BUSINESS of MAKING MONEY, they are
            not philanthropic in any way, they are prepared to cause major
            disruption to thousands and thousands of residents by shortcutting
            statutory regulation on road closures, health and safety, and other
            issues to do with public organised events, and it seems Local authorities and others, the Police, are content to let them do it.

            It appears that the
            Welsh Assembly are prepared to assist in the profit making endeavours of
            this London Based Company, and are therefore clearly complicit in any
            disruption, bad planning and poor organisation, and, the possible side
            stepping of the Highways Act regulations, if we are to believe other
            commentators on this site.

            When will local authorities, at all
            levels, learn that it is far better to meaningfully consult the `Piper`,
            BEFORE, the proverbial muck hits the fan?. the calmer such outporings on these pages would be,

            Responsible Elected Representatives in
            the Assembly particularly will have to provide answers before the next
            Assembly Elections, and, if the electorate do not like what they hear
            heads may well roll, or not, at the one opportunity the citizens of Wales have to
            act as executioner. next May. Unfortunatly the responsible Minister in the Assembly ( for giving away £900,000 of our money) represents a constituency in North Wales in which bike races have been curtailed due to public opposition. And it would therefore be unfair for other Assemby Members to suffer beheading by default.becuase residents feel they are equally responsible for this very generous financial gift to the Directors of A LONDON COMPANIES DIRECTORS.

          2. You better get ready Trevor because over 20,000 people have already signed up for next year, that’s 5,000 more than last weekend, on a positive note 60% of the people who cycled last week were from outside of Wales according to their registration Address..Surely instead of slagging off this event Local councils should be opening dialogue with the organisers instead to work out a viable solution.

  2. What an absolute nightmare this event was. I found out about the closure of roads on the day, and my particular estate was cut off altogether… So I was unable to get my car out at all! Caused a lot of grief to the plans I had that day. Lets hope they can bypass Caerphilly next time

  3. The problem was not the event but the organisation of it. Closing major roads for a period of 12 hours for recreational purposes is way too long. We have heard from businesses who had to close or had their trade hit badly and workers who lost money. For my part it meant rising at 02-00Hrs on the Monday morning in order to complete work that I normally carry out on a Sunday afternoon. But additionally what about those who are infirm and rely on carers to help them dress in the morning, cook their meals and so on? A thoroughly miserable day for them, cut off from help for 12 long hours.

    My view is that racing cyclists have the level of riding ability and fitness to justify short term road closures in order for them to compete. If this private event company wants to open up to anyone with a bicycle then they will have to share the road with other members of the public who have every right to use our public roads too.

    1. Just what i have been saying events like this need to be better run. A team of people who know what they are doing with consultation with the local people and the residents who it will affect.i have lots of ideas on how all the events around caerphilly can be improved and made better with just a small team. The events team would pay for itself if run corectly

    2. Did the following not apply?????

      Alerting the authorities

      It is important that event organisers alert a number of authorities and organisations of their plans. Events have different aspects (entertainment, environmental health, safety, and traffic to name a few). Some elements of an event may need licenses or special permissions from various different organisations. Similarly these organisations will be able to provide advice to event organisers to help make their event more effective and safer.

      Rather than the event organiser speaking to many different organisations local District Councils will usually act as a single point of contact and will distribute event details to most of the various interested organisations on behalf of the organiser. Accordingly event organisers should always speak to the various District Councils that would be directly affected by their event. The District Council may then convene a ‘Safety Advisory Group’ (SAG) meeting for all interested organisations to discuss the event. Or it may direct the event organiser to discuss the various aspects of the plan with the different organisations independently.

      Many District Councils provide websites with online forms to make it easy for event organisers to provide them with details of their proposed event.

      In addition to alerting the District Council, organisers of cycle races and time trials are also legally required to alert the police. In the case of cycle races police permission is required. See below for further details of these requirements.

      Its off your website so i guess you knew all along?????

      1. It’s not my website, and the Caerffili Town Council had nothing to do with the planning of road closures. We have not had a ‘district council’ for many years, since 1996 I believe.

        I have been aware of the decisions on roads to be closed and the length of time they were to remain out of bounds to the public for some time. I was against closing public highways for 12 hours then and still am. As I have written previously a bike race is fine, closing roads for a minority to play on is not; they can share the roads with other members of the public.

        1. Share the roads? are you seriously for real? 15000 Bikes on the same roads as Cars, Lorry’s, Vans etc, I seriously doubt you have ever rode a bike before but what you have posted is not only dangerous but dam right shocking for somebody in your position, please tell me Cllr Richard Caerphilly 10k is next weekend which closes down the ring road in Caerphilly and main routes from the north of the valley to Newport/Cardiff. It causes chaos and in convince to traffic and road users.
          This is a council run event which charges entrants and evidently makes money for the council. I very much doubt you’ll be publishing an article a week Monday in this paper saying that you never want to see the event in Caerphilly on the future.

          Maybe you should take a leaf out of the Newport East MP Jessica Morden books where she gave positive criticism, “It’s wonderful to see so many messages from those taking part in the Velothon appreciating what a wonderful part of the world this is. However there are certainly lessons to learn for the organisers and Welsh Government. Clearly the communication strategy could have been improved and I have raised this on behalf of constituents who have contacted me.”

          Maybe things could be learnt from this event and be a bit more positive about the borough in the future.

          1. Yes I am serious and I am real, I don’t know what ‘for real’ is really! For your information I have ridden on two wheels, both bicycles and motorcycles for more than forty years now. Also for information I have not published any article on the Velothon I have simply raised my concerns and the concerns of the residents of my ward on the stupidity and unfairness of closing off the only access road to where they live for 12 hours in order for a minority to play.

            Regarding the 10k road race if I receive complaints from residents I will bring them to the attention of both the Town and Borough Councils and may comment on this on-line paper too. None of my comments have stated that the bicycle race should not be held in future but I do say that a 12 hour long road closure is not sensible or fair to residents.

            Please do me the courtesy of reading my comments before rushing to your keyboard. I was elected to represent the electorate, both those who voted for me and those who voted for other candidates. The overwhelming majority think that 12 hours is far to long for major roads to be closed, especially for those who have no alternative route from their homes, and I agree.

          2. If you were elected to represent the electorate then why is most of the posts on this site from people local to you that DIDN’T know this event was happening, As i stated previously the routes etc were published last August so how come you as an Electorate didn’t let the people know around you that the road closures were for so long, you have already admitted you Knew long ago about the road closures surely your duty is to let the people who elected you know of the disruption? I for one voted for you previously but after some of your remarks on these boards i can tell you I certainly won’t be voting for you in the future, This is one voter you have definitely lost the faith of.

          3. I have looked through the comments and can only find one from a person who was unaware of the road closures. It is not possible for any council to inform everybody as we all use different methods to obtain news and information.

            The main problem was not that people did not know about the closures but that the closures were for too long a duration. This is what residents are concerned about and I will continue to highlight this point, both to Town and Borough Councils, should the organisers of this event want to inflict half day road closures on the residents in future.

  4. Oh no….could’nt use the car for 7 hours…..what a nightmare…..Am i missing someting,it was one day and loads of money as raised for charity…..get over it….if he wants to get people to visit Caerphilly,perhaps he could get something done about the idiots who park in the bus bays opposite old tesco,and around the station area…Dont get me started on Barclays Bank corner…You get off a bus/train,walk around the corner by irish Tymes,and the pavements are blocked….Buses backed up the other day because someone parked on the corner by the toilets…no police,no parking wardens or whatever they are called today……Oh look double yellow lines,lets park on the pavement and make people walk on Nantgarw Road,the main road into Caerphilly

    1. you say “Loads of money raised for charity” , I bet it wasnt more than the Million pounds it cost the Welsh Ratepayers to put it on, and as I understand it that money went to a private limited company and its directors in London. Not to Charity.

    2. Some people have to WORK on a Sunday. It is not all about not being able to use a car it actually about trying to earn a living and if Caerphilly is so bed, MOVE I would even be willing to give you a hand.

      1. Cretinous comment. If you dont like the disruption, if you dont like the inconvenience caused by a crowd of bike riders, MOVE, stupid and rediculous assertion. Or, Have I read your comment incorrectly?

  5. Myself and my family injoyed the the day immensely as did hundreds of others along the route. The road closures were advertised on line months in advance so I don’t understand what the problem is.
    Looking forward to next year already which according to the organisers will be going through Caerphilly again,
    Well at least residents can’t complain about not having enough notice this time around!
    It was a fantastic day!!

  6. I live in maesycwmmer and the access to and from my street was completely cut off however rather than moan about it, we planned ahead and then got involved with the rest of the community to cheer on the cyclists as they passed through. There was a street party through maesycwmmer and the community spirit was certainly out. I for 1 hope it comes back again next year.

  7. Wayne David, as the elected spokesperson for the people of Caerphilly is absolutely correct and so are the hundreds of local people who contacted him opposing this badly organised, badly planned, and badly executed grossly overstated `event`. He is joined by the voices of ALL other MPs covering the route of this cycle ride, including the UK government voice of Monmouth
    MP David Davies.

    This event is probably the worse organised, the worse communicated
    and the worse waste of public money event that one can, at this time of
    budget restraints, imagin.

    Almost £1,000,000 of public money gifted by the Welsh Assembly to the London Private Company who organised`(sic) it, and god knows how much more public money was spent on wasted police time, by Gwent and South Wales Police Forces ( more public money). Not to mention the hundred odd thousand pounds it has cost the ratepayers of Caerphilly Council, Cardiff City Council, Monmouth Council etc.etc just in clearing and cleaning, . hundreds of
    thousands of pounds lost by local Companies, Asda, for instance have
    already put the Welsh Assembly and the Private Company running this
    event on notice that they fully intend to make a hefty finacial claim
    for having to close their shops and the loss of business, wages paid to
    staff who could not get to work etc etc, based in part on the total
    meaningless phantom consultation both the Welsh Assembly Deputy Minister
    and the Event organisers insist took place, not with businesses it
    didnt, and not with residents, a Red Information leaflet posted through
    the door last week is not Consultation.

    This even is a disaster for South East Wales. Contrary to flippant comments on this item from someone who said he had arranged a holiday, well, thats a good solution,everyone who would normally work today, book a holiday?, the effect would be, closed businesses, etc, There was NO public consultation on
    this event, it maybe that the organisers have taken a leaf out of Caerphilly Council`s events manual, and, rather than ` consult` effected esidents, they tell everyone what they are going to do, like it or lump it.

    Well, this event will need to be seriously altered if it is to be even considered to go ahead next year, no doubt about that. What a total waste of public money, and, what a totally disproportionateeffect on the residents throughout the route of the bike ride.

    Solution?,to get some money back for the public who are paying for it, charge
    each rider £20, for the privilage of riding on empty roads for 12 hours.15,000 x £20 = ? and so far as I am concerned that money can then be donated by the organisers to Cancer charities.

    And as for John Owen`s comment about the proms in the park, what could they do year on year with a fraction of the Welsh assembly gift of £900,000? given to this London Company to oganise a bleeding `Bike Ride`, in the words of Catherin Tates Granny, “What a bleeding Liberty”?.

          1. Nice little earner for the private company who badly organised this.
            Me, nor my neighbours had a leaflet about this event, even though we were all cut off from the world.
            Marshalls were drafted from Birmingham from what I’ve heard (no benefit to the Welsh economy there).
            The road traffic signs were done by a company from Scunthorpe so I heard (no benefit to the Welsh economy there).
            Even the cyclists were moaning that there wasn’t enough food laid on (Welsh cakes, bananas and gels which after the first wave you were lucky to get).
            There weren’t enough toilets, so cyclists were peeing all over the place apparently. They also littered the place with gel wrap packets. Who cleans this mess up at whose cost?
            Questions need to be answered by the organisers, the Welsh Assembly and the Councils who allowed this.

    2. So please correct me if I am wrong but a private company Cannot enforce road closures with the direct council’s approval, so are you saying your council didn’t approve?

  8. What a narrow minded and short sighted view from our MP. While there were communication issues, this was a great event showing off our wonderful town and country. Typical bandwagon populist politics from labour again.

      1. No Jeff. David Davies has rightly criticised the organisation of the event, and questioned the subsidy given by the Welsh Government, but has not said the event shouldn’t be run. Two very different standpoints. DD was angry that the organisers had claimed support of local MP’s when that support hadn’t been made. WD on the other hand has simply said NO, in a way which is not open to making improvements to the organisation, just a big fat negative.

        1. I heard DD say, “this event must not take place again next year, the Welsh Assembly has to have a serious rethink about all the disruption it is causing to businesses in my constituency”, ” it is badly thought out and very poorly organised” it must not happen again.

          Wayne David has said the same? Has`nt he?.

  9. How did this event raise the profile of Caerphilly? There was nothing on the news, the BBC or even hidden away on some obscure sports channel. I watched BBC News 24 to see if there was anything on there. Nothing. I had a quick flick through the sports pages in a couple of papers this morning. Nothing. I have nothing against the race but out cash strapped Welsh Government are going to spend near to £1M then it needs to promote Wales.
    I struggle to defend it when on one hand the Welsh Government moan about Tory cuts then spend money on things like This

    1. I’ll be returning! I’m not Welsh, I will spend money in your country. There were 15000 riders going through lovely south wales yesterday, even if a fraction return it’s amazing publicity. I want to do The Tumble again and also want to try Caerphilly “mountain” again. If I happen to stop in the lovely town of Caerphilly then that’s business you wouldn’t have had before!

      Sorry for the “you”/”your” and generalisation on you actually being from Caerphilly and Wales.

      1. You are most welcome to ride any of our roads, including the hilly bit between Caerffili and Llanishen, any day of the year. The problem arises when people want exclusive use of a public road. A bicycle race is fine, shut the road for a couple of hours, the closure of a road for 12 hours is not acceptable to people who need to earn a meager living in a poor town or need regular basic care to make their life bearable.

        1. I’m not saying the road closing was communicated well but we live and learn. There will obviously be improvements to make and by next year I’m sure that will happen.

          What I did mention in my comment is I don’t know how people can’t see this as a good advert for the towns the Velothon went through? It will bring 100’s/1000’s of people back into the area (maybe more)

      2. It would take huge a influx of people to recover £1,000,000 quid the lovely people of lovely Wales and the even more lovely South Wales, spent on this bike ride. Not to mention the losses to local businesses.

        It would take a millenium to get a fraction of that back in revenue, certainly not worth the disruption, inconvenience or the social impact on many thousands of peoples lives,

        Each resident in Caerphilly has a legal right to work and care for their families, to live in their homes peacefully and without this sort of intrusion and restrictions into their families lives, they have a right to worship, they have a right to follow whatever pattern of their lives they choose to follow within the law. Many Many people were prevented from even travelling to churches chapels etc to worship, I know of a lady who has recently been widowed, she is still grieving over the passing of her partner in recent months, and was totally distraught that she was prevented from going to visit his grave on Sunday, a thing she has done for the last fifteen weeks. It mattered not one jot to her that people where enjoying a bike ride, she was prevented doing what she felt she had a duty to her dead partner to do. As it happens, it would be have been quite a simple thing for a simple alteration to a road closure around Caerphilly Town to have not effected this pensioners activities at all.

        1. On that note how about this article http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/velothon-wales-cycling-worth-90m-9439712. now with that in mind and the advertisement Caerffili got on Sunday tell me again how it would take an age to get that money back!

          Not to mention the money people already spent last weekend and before the actual event. I know of several people who went to Caerffili just to train for VW and spent days there. There were the people I met on the ride who had stayed in Caerffili the night before.

          I’m not saying the road closing was communicated well but we live and learn. There will obviously be improvements to make and by next year I’m sure that will happen. and the following 3 years after that.

          2. Ha, oh dear, the stupid is strong with this one. Caerffili isn’t exactly a town which can sustain itself without things like tourism and others spending money who visit.

            I’m happy never to give you any money what so every but I’m sure others in Caerffili will happily take what I’m spending

          3. Stupid comment!, CAERPHILLY CAERPHILLY CAERPHILLY, does not rely on outsiders to give anything to the town, it is, of course, a town that takes care of itself, certainly it does NOT benefit from MONEY brought into the town from outside. The residents pay their way, they are the STAKEHOLDERS in the town, they, in effect, own it, they own at least 95% of the properties, and they therefore pay a price for the disruption last week-ends road closures caused, but, as someone else has already said on this blog, for goodness sake be grateful for the contribution the disrupted residents and their families made towards your enjoyment.

            So, `Lucky whoever you are`, if, in fact, you are from outside the town at least spell it correctly.CAERPHILLY.

          4. Caerphilly = English Spelling
            Caerffili = Welsh Spelling

            As Richard Williams went with the Welsh spelling I went with that. So I am of course spelling it correctly!

            You really think Caerffili doesn’t benefit at all from any “outside” money? I’m not even that stupid to think my own town doesn’t need money to be brought into the region

          5. You Say: Lucky whoeveryouare, “I’m happy never to give you any money what so ever but I’m sure others in Caerffili will happily take what I’m spending” I take it therefore that you are NOTa proud rresidents or stakeholder in our town?

            I did not say the Town, and the County for that matter, does not benefit from outside income, I said, It does NOT RELY on such income, it is unfortunate when people consider themselves to be the reason why and how this town survives, simply because they visit it, visit the Castle, drink the odd coffee or two, and pass through, Or, more disingenously , according to some comments on this page, assume that to cycle through it a rate of knots one a day a year closing local businesses and resigning the elderly, infirm and disabled to their own homes for the day, well somehow save Caerphilly town from oblivion. an absolute inane assertion of course.

            It is the citizens of the town, its elected Councillors from all politicsl parties, and none, who will ensure that the town is maintained as a pleasent and calm place for residents and for visitors,( providing they can get here through Closed roads) and it is the stakeholders of the town who make the greatest contribution to ensure the town is sustained. Not a few bike riders to whom we award the privilage to disrupt our lives now and again, as someone else has already said more than once on these pages, be grateful for the privilage you are given to visit our town..

          6. Never said I was.. in fact my first comment on this thread said I’m not even from Wales, so it’s nice you have actually bothered to read before commenting.

            Sorry for the word twisting in terms of benefit vs rely, however we can all agree that any money being brought into a town is going to help with it sustaining that town for the future. I also never said tourism was Caerffili’s only source of income and as I haven’t been before I never considered myself a saviour of the town.

            Yes I was one of the cyclists on Sunday to pass through Caerffii the fact that I am going to be back and many others who were riding on Sunday have also commented that they want to go back to Caerffili shows that it was a great advert for your town (I assume you are a resident?). Even if a fraction of the 15000 people and their supporters come back increasing the income for not just Caerffili but all towns and villages then surely that’s a good thing.

            It may have cost businesses on Sunday (those that are usually open) but in the long run there are advantages to be had for being “stuck” for a few hours.

            My whole argument in this is that some seem to think there was no benefit to the activities that took place on Sunday.

            As I’ve said if you don’t want my money fine I’ll just cycle through and not bother ever stopping in what seemed to be a lovely town.

            Shame for comments like “be grateful for the privilage you are given to visit our town..” as it’s not exactly a privilege, I can come to “your” town whenever I feel like without an invite!

          7. You can visit our town whenever you like, of course you can, and as it`s such a nice town in which to live it is a `Privilage` to live here, and an even bigger privilage to be allowed to take advantage of our facilities, as a visitor. I notice, but not surprised, that as you as so keen to use the Welsh Language in a previous comment, i.e. the way you spell Caerphilly, not many Welsh people spell it the way do, you do not recognise that you have converted me, by name, to an Englishman, just for information, I was Born Welsh, I was Christened in Welsh with a Welsh Name. But you are not the only one to fail to recognise that. Even some local proud truely WELSH Politicians representing the Party of Wales often fail the same test.

            As for your comment about being `stuck` for a few hours, tell that to the sick, the ones who need care visitors, the infirm and he disabled.

            This event `could`, have a good outcome, if politicians learn the lesson of proper and meaningful engagement with residents and businesses, , learn the lessons of good planning and communications, and ensure that all those to be effected by this event are, in future properly considered and properly consulted.

            On a point of clarity, I have never commented that those taking part in the bike ride are in any way responsible for the problems they have become embroiled in, and, out of 15,000 of them ,only a handful have been critical of the critics.

            The problem on this event is not between residents and businesses and the Cyclists, it is between the Welsh Assembly Politicians, and the private company who ran the event, and the critics.

            Had some of the cyclists not acted with such a triumphant attitude with comments about, Road Closures, Closed down Businesses, inconvenience to residents, and doing more of the same next year but with even more inconvenience than this year, perhaps work would have already started in ensuring that what happened this year will not happen again in the same disruptive way and with same magnitude and impact.

          8. Sorry Trefor, please enlighten me on this? “you do not recognise that you have converted me, by name, to an Englishman” as I don’t believe I’ve referenced yourself in any gender specific or nationality?

            I agree comms were poor, that wasn’t the issue this part of the thread focused on. There is so much more to do for next year, like for example a bit more on the how do people get around in those 12 hours.

            What I focused on was the belief by some that there was no benefit to anything that happened Sunday. You’ve been excellent in your comments and very reasoned, but when you get broad sweeping statements like “WE DONT WANT YOUR MONEY, WE WANT OUR ROAD OPEN !!!” it doesn’t help anyone.

            Your town is lovely and I would love to sit down with you over a coffee (independent cafe) and discuss the finer points of all this. Maybe next year!

          9. Good, we seem to agree to agree, on the positive issues.

            You quite correctly pointed out that;-

            Caerfilli is Welsh spelling
            Caerphilly is English spelling.

            Trevor is an Englishman (Spelling)
            Trefor is a Welshman. just a small but important and proud distinction.

    2. it was on TV last night and is on ITV this Saturday, the event itself was advertised last August in all the papers including this one, the western mail and the Argus, road signs were put up for weeks also so people cant really say they knew nothing about it, its just plain ignorance by people, as for crowds did the MP actually see how many Children and family’s were on top of Caerphilly mountain, there were hundrends of people out watching and alot of pubs on the route were very packed for a sunday.

          1. Billy; Horses!!!! now thats another thing altogether.

            I wonder if the roads could `actually` be closed to horse riders, who have historic rights to do most things in most places,

  10. Its a disgrace that some half-wit thought it was a good idea to put tacks on the road, they were just endangering the lives of the competitors. It wasn’t the competitors fault that the PR for the event was so poor. With better PR, a higher profile and a more positive spin on the event with posters, high profile celebrities endorsing it, proper transport planning and more public awareness of the road closures this could be a marvellous spectacle. The problem was not with the event, the problem is that hardly anyone outside the cycling community were aware of the event. Bad PR is all it was. I think our MP is giving a knee-jerk reaction to the criticism, and I believe that not everything must have a financial element, think of the olympic torch what a great day that was, and the roads were closed, think of the big cheese, the disruption that causes, and not everyone is into fairground rides, think of the tour of britain, and the great support that had. All these events had proper advertising, positive PR and great public awareness, and the good people of Caerphilly embraced them and made it a positive experience. The Velothon could be right up there with these other events with a more high profile positive media presence. Blame bad PR not the event, which is a great spectacle. I’m looking forward to next year and a more high profile, positive experience, lets hope the authorities take it on, and people see it for the fun event it is.

    1. Wo up a bit, pal, “agreed for the next four years, got to live with it”? you are getting ahead of yourself. and, if you are a visitor to our Country behave yourself, and butt out.

      Ken Skates the Welsh Assembly Deputy Minister, who appears to have agreed to this ongoing situation, has a lot of answers to provide, and depending on his answers will depend if his party gets re-elected to the Assembly next May, including the member for Caerphilly, and, will depend if this bike ride happens again.

      1. We were “locked in” by the velothon, no chance of getting the car out. My daughter couldn’t get to a dance exam. No wait a minute…..We parked the car the other side of the course. My daughter got to her exam in time. I rode the velothon. It was one of the best experiences of my life, thousands along the course supporting everyone. I rode back to Caerphilly train station in order to watch the pros do it with my eldest. A fantastic day for Caerffili. To all the few hundred complainers, see you next year with 20,000 cyclists!!!!

        1. The `complainers` are the financial stakeholders in this town and throughout the course of this bike ride. Thousands of them, they are also the people who funded this fun run, to the tune of £900,000, be grateful for goodness sake. Ken Skates, the Welsh Assembly Deputy Minister, responsible for this debarcle, will have to force serious changes for future fun runs if they are to go ahead at all.

          You rode the course, you say, so be grateful that we, the taxpayer, allowed you to do so, and paid for the privilage, I have yet to see anyone expressing any gratitude at all, do not regard it as a `right`, it is`nt and it may not be in the future.

          1. If you are going to search for me on social media and then quote me, please have the decency to get my name correct. I am also a taxpayer, born and bred in Caerphilly. I am extremely grateful to everyone involved in staging the event. I am happy to spend my tax on events like this, I will also be running in the 10k next week. I am not that keen on the big cheese, but appreciate some people like it. I did not say it was a right to have this event. Maybe you should start a petition to get it cancelled, a good outlet for you and a few others to be as negative as you like. Good luck in getting more than 15000!!

          2. That is already in hand by the great and good,

            Above my pay grade and inclination I`m pleased to say.

            And, If you dont want your comments on social media to be repeated and hgihlighted ,dont make e`m, or at least stop grinning when you do.

          3. Good luck with that.

            What’s your pay grade got to do with this issue?????

            I did not say I could not be quoted. Please read my comment properly. Feel free to quote anything I post on line, I’ll stand by every comment. But as I said, if you quote me, get my name right please.

        2. Jeff Greenfell Says on Twitter. “Just grinning at the memory – weather, spectators, car-free roads”.

          So you must be grateful then Jeff? Not grinning at the inconvenience and disruption caused by this bike ride to residents and other road tax paying citizens I hope,

        3. I wonder where local Plaid Cymru Councillors are on this chaos, much of it caused on the streets of wards they represent. Were they consulted and FAILED to network that information with residents and businesses?. Surely you have the answers to this Jeff? being so close to them, and, are your Plaid Cymru friends supporting your sentiments of `Grinning` at other peoples misfortunes? i.e. those who could not get to work, those who`s businesses could not trade, and the infirm elderly and disabled who could not be taken care of.? give us all a clue!!!!

          1. You seem to know a lot about me????

            I hide nothing, I am a member of plaid cymru. Not all local plaid members agree with the velethon, but I do.

            And to suggest I am grinning at other people’s misfortune, well I would very careful if I were you. My Twitter post said I was grinning at my own enjoyment not the misfortune of others. Anyone reading this will see that.

            I loved taking part in it, and look forward to next year.

          2. Jeff, you actually said `grinning at the `car free roads`. that, I presume can be extrapulated as being happy that car owners could not use their cars on the roads which were kept `car free` for this Jaunt. And that appears to be the reason why thousands of residents are complaining aout the entire `party`.

          3. I answered your QUESTION,

            “I am extremely grateful to everyone involved in staging the event. ” in a previous reply.

            Maybe you should have read my twitter feed correctly. I did not say I was grinning at anyone, I retweeted what a fellow participant said. So you have quoted me incorrectly. However, I agree with him and repeat that I did enjoy the experience. You seem to be making this a personal attack on a grinning cyclist or me. I suggest you stick to the issue.

            The only way you have offended me is by not spelling by name correctly (unless intended of course). For which you have yet to apologise. If I don’t get one I will be reporting you.

          4. `OOOOOOooooooo! Toys, throw, pram, and out are words which come to mind,

            Spelling not a strong point with me, spelling youyr mane incorrectly was a serious and indictable contempt, for which I am truely sorry. Will that do?

          8. That`s it! you got it.

            O` No Andrew, you`ve done it again, one too many `E`s, and not enough `L`s Please do try better Andrew.

          9. I repeat, MY QUESTION, which appears to have so offended you Jeff

            “So you must be grateful then Jeff? Not grinning at the inconvenience and
            disruption caused by this bike ride to residents and other road tax
            paying citizens” I hope?

            Far from suggesting you were grinning at other peoples misfortune I simply posed the question, and the clue is in the question.,,

  12. Almost every big sporting event will have positive and negative impacts in the communities its centered on. You have to look around the corner a bit and ask if anyone has been inspired by the events, maybe to greatness. I’m sure many talented athletes have come from the valleys. I think if Caerphilly was to embrace events like this more good than bad would come off it. Go on Caerphilly, live life like a throwing knife. Get stuck in.

  13. I have only one thing to say to all those who took part in the total disruption of thousands of lives and to the detriment of dozens of busnesses, at the cost £1000000 I may add. Stay away !!

    1. Big Cheese,? Attracts 80,000 visitors into Caerphilly, according to the events team in CaerphillyCBC Offices it brings wealth to the town, all rubbish of course, Not one bit of evidence has ever been produced that the `Town` or the `Borough` benefits from it. The same goes for this bike ride too, no evidence whatsoever that any benefit will be extracted from it for the ratepayerts of the borough.

      Bike riders have less of a right to ride our roads than those who pay revenue to do so, they do however appear to be claiming this `jaunt` `Sunday outing` on our cleared roads as some type of `right`, They will not get away with that attitude, and the sooner some of those local people who took part in the Ride Out show some gratitude the better, but, it appears that some individuals making comment of this blog are doing so as unofficial spokemen for dormant, sleeping, local politicians, ward Councillors, to scared to put their collective empty heads above the parrapet for fear of being found out for the useless poblic representatives they really are.

        1. Wrong djw, the money generated by the Big Cheese is trousered by the transient traders brought in for the days of the `festival`, it is then promptly transported `out of the borough`, and actually, out of Wales.The Borough actually makes a huge LOSS on this festival week-end, The Gwent Police Costs are enormous, and the cleaning costs are totally disproportionate compared to the reduced and restricted cleaning costs we are currenlty suffering throughout the borough.

          1. Why don’t they use local bands and artists for the entertainment so some of the money could stay in the area? We have some great musicians in the area and yet whenever I’ve been to the Big Cheese the ones I’ve seen have all travelled down to the event from miles away (with the exception of the local choirs in the castle, which is sound business sense and they are great). And I presume stall holders pay somebody so they can trade; and people pay to park. I like the Big Cheese although will say I feel it has got very commercial and there is less entertainment than previously.

      2. Regardless of the benefit I would restrict the Big Cheese to being a biennial event to give the residents of Caerphilly a break. The Big Cheese is great for visitors but the noise, road restrictions, crowds, smells, and the drop in water pressure if there is a water ride is a price paid which residents are not compensated for.

        While it is easy to make claims about boosting business and extra money to the council we do not see the extra money. The nature of it means the boost in business for Greggs will see the extra profits go to the shareholders, not us. Greggs will not hire an extra member of staff either as the extra business does not justify one (they will give overtime to existing employees). Any economic benefit from the Big Cheese is trickle down economics. I take it you do not believe in trickle down economics in the sense of the supply side dominating (i.e. the government should forget employee rights and focus on boosting big business over anything else as the money will trickle down to the poorest), so to accept trickle down economics in the case of the Big Cheese is selective.

  15. The recent Velothon appears to have contravened all manner of legislative and insurance conditions. Cycle road racing is regulated according to the Cycle Racing on the Highway Regulations, 1960. Under these regulations, the police must be notified of an upcoming road race and the race must comply with what are termed the standard conditions, such as a limit on the number of riders.

    The Velothon got around these regulations by classifying itself as a ‘sportive’, not a race, and therefore not subject to these rules, including the requirement to obtain a permit. In addition organisers are not permitted to introduce any competitive element.

    That includes not being allowed to rank finishers in time order, who instead can be listed alphabetically, nor can prizes be awarded to those completing the course in the quickest times.

    However if you look at the following page from the Velothon website you will see that is blatantly being disregarded :- http://www.velothon-wales.co.uk/en/results/20…

  17. I still think the event is inspirational, its going to have an effect on peoples lives. Why don’t the local authorities use Local people to do things like this? bring the money and jobs into the Valleys instead of sending the cash to a company in London if that’s where it went. No need to start everyone in Cardiff, have start points in all the towns on route, spread the wealth about.

  18. I have a lot of respect for Mr David and I don’t know how much money was made or who benefited but based on his own description that, “While I appreciate that the Velothon might be good for Wales and a lot of money for charity has been raised,…’ it would appear to be that he considered it a beneficial event. The issue was that ‘ I very much hope that the Velothon will not include Caerphilly in future.” This is a little bit ‘not in my back yard’ and while I do believe he may be representing a lot of people’s feelings in this (at least according to a number of commenters), I think we have to realize that sometimes, no pain is no gain. If it works and it puts us out for a few hours on a Sunday, and it is making a positive contribution, then great – let’s keep doing it. It did bring people to the area and even if there were no immediate financial benefits, surely it raised awareness of the area as a place where things happen. We can’t just accept the nice things like the Proms, and the Medieval Market – which no one seems to have a problem with cos they brought/bring money to the area – and not accept things that are apparently just benefiting other people even though they are still increasing awareness of the area. In fact, people enjoying the novel event and going away with happy memories is in itself a result.
    As for the angry people who threw tacks on the floor – this is appalling. Imagine the consequences of a crash – there is no excuse for this behaviour. People are having to reroute journeys or park their cars elsewhere for ONE DAY! C’mon Caerphilly. Chwarae Teg.

  19. It is very sad to see so many people in the Caerphilly area are still living in the dark ages.

    Velothon type events have been taking place all over the world for many years, but bring an event to Caerphilly and what happens? All the old Dinosaurs start emerging from their caves.

    20,000 people have so far pre-registered for next years Velothon and I sincerely hope it comes through the Caerphilly area again

    Some say the Dinosaurs died out because they couldn’t adapt to the changing planet – don’t let that happen to you.

    1. You are quite right Mike, people need to adapt to face changing conditions. But, from elderly residents, Sunday workers, businesses, councillors and our Member of Parliament we are hearing, loud and clear, that closing off our major roads for 12 hours is far too long.

      Let us see if the Velothon company can adapt to this circumstance and work with the people that actually live here and ensure that any future event takes the local populace into consideration, not just those who wish to ride bicycles.

      Some commentators have said “it’s only one day a year” but this is not true for residents of the town. We have foot races, markets, the Big Cheese and the Velothon is just another event that impacts on their desire to have a normal weekend, whether that is to enjoy quiet relaxation or go to work to sustain their families. Supporters of Velothon that have the attitude of “We are coming back next year so tough luck” or similar are likely to get short shrift from townspeople who may persuade their civic leaders to close the event down.

      Like you infer, adapt or perish, let’s see what the organisers of Velothon will do.

  20. Because of the road closures I was unable to get to B&Q to pick up supplies to do a job on Sunday. This was my own fault cause my Mrs warned me in advance the roads would be closed but I didn’t listen to her. Next year I’ll plan ahead, it’s as simple as that. Lucky 7, come back to Caerphilly/Caerfilli whenever you want mate it wasn’t your fault that the event organisation was off kilter and the road closures were a bit excessive. Having said that a mate of mine did the race and said the clear roads really made the difference. living in the centre of town comes with many advantages but now and again you gotta put up with this sort of thing for the greater good. I say be the better man and suck it up now and again. In Wales we suffer from a phenomenon called the “Commity man” who isn’t happy with anything. Imagine if you will the retired general type with nothing better to do. To many won’ts, cants, shouldn’ts and must nots, gets on my wick.
    I’ve read so many sophistic arguments here in the comments it’s like reading cif on the sodding guardian.

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