Illogical changes will kill off trade in town
I AM appalled by the council’s decision to “widen” the pavement in Talbot Street, Maesteg, by encroaching into the 20-minute parking bay and thus removing, at a stroke, the ability of motorists to park conveniently close to the shops there.
The truth is that officers at BCBC were totally opposed to retaining this bay when the regeneration of the town centre was under way some years ago and only backed down thanks to a campaign in the Gazette and a petition signed by more than 1,000 people arguing that it must be saved.
The coronavirus crisis has given them the excuse they need to do away with it and I know from my 40 years as a journalist on the Gazette that things initially designated as temporary have a habit of becoming permanent.
By removing this parking bay, trade to all the shops in the street and the market will suffer. We have three bakeries, a greengrocer, a butcher, a deli and other businesses that will be affected.
Whatever damage already done to traders in Maesteg by the pandemic will be exacerbated by this ill-thought through decision. You might as well erect a sign saying “Maesteg Town centre closed – please go straight to Tesco.”
Although the council says it is acting to maintain the safety of shoppers by widening the space where they will pass each other in Talbot Street, what they are doing is utterly inconsistent with what’s happening elsewhere in the borough.
Look at any of our other small shopping centres and you will see narrow pavements – in Aberkenfig, Kenfig Hill, Pencoed, Ogmore Vale, Pontycymer, to name just some. Are all of these to be widened artificially in this way? I think not.
People have been visiting Talbot Street throughout the lockdown because of the food shops and pharmacies located there without any problems. People just step to one side to let others pass. The pavement on the opposite side of Talbot Street is just as narrow but apparently it’s OK for shoppers to walk down that side of the street but not the other. Come again?
The council are doing what they are in Talbot Street because the proximity of the parking bay enables them to do so. It is opportunist and illogical and will have devastating effects on the viability of shops throughout the town centre.
I urge everyone to protest to the council and to their local members. This decision must be reversed and the barriers removed before they kill the town centre dead. As far as Maesteg is concerned, the most deadly threat to its future comes from a handful of bureaucrats and not the killer virus.