LETTERS DISMAL FUTURE FOR PORTHCAWL Dear Editor, I am a resident of Porthcawl and have just read your (Councillor Charles Smith) proposals for Porthcawl in the January issue of the Seaside News and feel Very disturbed by them. It appears to me you will discourage families from visiting their local Seaside Town for the day and encourage people with a lot of money to visit and stay in an All New Luxury Spa Waterfront Hotel. The Eastern Promenade has been taken over by New Landscaping and now means disabled mobility scooters and children on roller skates, small scooters and tiny bikes will not be able to use it, I thought we were meant to be encouraging children to exercise and enjoy the Seafront but they have now been excluded as have disabled people. Today Sunday 9th January 2022, Salt Lake car park is full, the proposals for a multi-storey car park at Hillsboro Place will never accommodate all visitors or people working in the Town. Pamela Thomas, Porthcawl
A VOICE FOR THE FUTURE We want to take this opportunity to thank BCBC for engaging with the entire town prior to presenting their final proposal for Porthcawl’s once in a life-time Waterfront Regeneration. For holding multiple meetings with teachers, children and parents in all the local schools and for ensuring the Future Generations commissioner was involved in formulating plans that prioritise those set to inherit the town. We want to thank them for engaging with the many and varied groups that have needs and hopes for Porthcawl and for holding crucial forums with small groups of local residents. For involving Sustainable Wales, the WI, Rotary, all Arts groups, coastguards, surf schools, all clubs, teenagers, business owners and toddler groups. The RLNI, Civic Trust Society, charities, surgeries, care homes and so many more integral bodies within the town. We want to thank them for listening to their concerns, opinions and needs and creating a utopian vision that puts community above capitalism, environment above greed and creates a space that allows Saltlake to develop organically and in harmony with nature and its surroundings. Thank you for being so humble and gracious in re-evaluating your plans to urbanise our seaside town and instead allow the residents of Porthcawl to create a space that fulfils their needs; with such facilities as a lido, pump track, wellness center, low rise buildings, eco homes, and, in stark contrast, greenspace for future generations to adapt as and when it becomes necessary. We salute you! A Voice for The Future
A DEPRESSING READ Dear Editor, I used to like reading the Seaside News, but lately it’s actually very depressing. Firstly shame on the Conservative members Mr. Wallis and Mr. Giffard on shaming and blaming the Welsh government for everything. That shouldn’t be made public. Why don’t they come up with a better idea and put it forward. Another point is, that people in Porthcawl are always complaining, but what about the people living in Bridgend? Bridgend town centre is in desperate need for upgrading. I like going local for shopping, but at the moment it’s no fun walking through the town centre of Bridgend. So put that in your pipe and think about it! Gabriele Martinez, Bridgend 8 | seaside news
RESPONSE TO TOM GIFFARD ‘COALITION OF CHAOS’ Dear Editor, Tom Giffard’s article in the News section took my breath away - his explanation for our struggling NHS being due to decades of mismanagement by Labour! As he states, the NHS was at breaking point before the pandemic, yet in 2010 when the Conservative Government came to power our NHS was healthy, one of the best in the world. Over the next 10 years across the whole of Britain the NHS was financially squeezed, billions of pounds went not to direct patient care but to administer contracts handed to private providers, we have lost thousands of doctors and nurses (bursaries for training nurses were stopped in 2017), beds have been reduced, and a failing social care system has resulted in beds being blocked with nowhere for elderly patients to be discharged to, and ambulances queuing outside. Yes our NHS across the whole of Britain is indeed broken - the direct result of deliberate Conservative policies over the last decade. Many people are now having to pay privately to obtain care - privatisation of the NHS by stealth has long been suspected and is becoming a reality. Mr Giffard, as a Conservative, must know where the blame for this dreadful state of affairs lies, and trying to apportion blame to Mark Drakeford and Plaid Cymru is beyond belief. J Ball, Porthcawl
UNAMBITIOUS REGENERATION PLANS Dear Editor, I agree entirely with a previous letter that concluded that the ideas recently presented for the regeneration of Porthcawl are total madness but have quite different reasons. The town has long been cursed by baffling decisions for decades, one of the most damaging being the closure of the railway station. A very close second must be the utter folly of allowing a housing estate and large supermarket to be built on the premier site available for meaningful regeneration. This is the most telling and painful sign of the under-aspirational approach of BCBC to the regeneration of Porthcawl. Porthcawl’s rich maritime history appears to have been written off. It’s baffling that the option to open up the inner harbour basin to provide a marina facility with sufficient critical mass to draw in associated businesses and industries has previously been dismissed but will now be lost for ever. Many prosperous coastal towns today thrive because they have maintained and celebrate their maritime heritage as an essential part of their DNA and put it front and centre of their planning and commercial development strategies. This town deserves the opportunity of a thriving marina large enough to support the development of maritime businesses and tourism. Tony Harris, Porthcawl
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