Armchair criticism is always going to be easy
JUDGING by the tone of Suzy Davies’s column last week, it would seem that the recent full page the Gazette devoted to the positive news coming out of Bridgend Indoor Market, much of it from the traders themselves, struck quite a nerve.
We try not to engage with sniping from the sidelines, but her column was so inaccurate and unfair that we are making an exception.
The regional AM took credit for organising a petition calling on the council to look into depedestrianisation, but doesn’t mention that the council was already doing this before she handed the petition in.
She then questioned why it should be so difficult to “come up with the dosh” needed to carry out the work. Do we really have to point out that it is the UK Government who have instigated the austerity measures which by 2020 will have wiped £75m off our budget, and which is ultimately forcing us to reluctantly consider the closure of important things like public toilets, the bus station and day centres?
We have also made it clear from the very beginning that any access scheme from Queen Street through Market Street would require external funding, and the application process, which involves Welsh Government, is ongoing.
Saying that the council is “presiding over the further decline of the town centre and indoor market” was a cheap shot, but she went on to acknowledge that issues such as reduced footfall are country-wide and not specific to Bridgend.
Whether it is the new improvements at the indoor market, town centre events and festivals, new car parks, new communities living at the heart of the town centre, new infrastructure, the work of the Bridgend Business Forum, efforts to attract fresh trade and investment or schemes which are helping to restore town centre buildings and bring them back into public use, the council is continuing to work closely with partners such as Bridgend Town Council, CF31 BID, traders, property owners and many more besides.
While achieving and delivering actual outcomes is hard, timeconsuming and often thankless, armchair criticism such as this is always going to be easy.
Councillor Richard Young, Cabinet Member for Communities Councillor Charles Smith, Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration Bridgend County Borough Council