Traders are ‘hanging on by fingernails’ in ghost town
TONYPANDY’S high street used to look like any other bustling high street.
The town at the heart of the Rhondda used to have people queuing out the doors of its shops and you’d have to be careful not to bump into anyone as you walked through the throng.
Running a business back then was a lucrative career – but now it’s a constant struggle.
In October 2017, our reporters visited Tonypandy after it was handed the unwanted accolade of Wales’ worst shopping district.
Now more than a year later, the town has been branded the fourth worst retail location in the UK and the worst in Wales.
Commercial Finance experts ABC Finance have been investigating where the UK has been most affected by the decline of the high street, based on shop vacancy rates and Tonypandy came in fourth place in the UK, the only Welsh high street to feature in the list.
Speaking on Thursday, Mike Penrose, who has run Dunraven Shoe Repairs for 40 years, said: “If nothing changes they can build a concrete wall across Porth and flood the lot. Because it’ll be a ghost town.
“It’s a ghost town now, but we’re just hanging on by our fingernails now and unless they do something we can’t go on like this.”
Wahid Saraj recently set up a business on Dunraven Street after moving from London.
Since opening his ornaments and jewellery shop around three weeks ago, Wahid said he’s not made more than £50.
Wahid said: “Nobody comes. If it continues like this we’ll have to go back soon.
“Greggs, the gambling shop and the charity shop do OK and that’s it.”
Even Mike, who once employed 16 people, said he struggles to make much more than £100 a week.
He said: “I’ve taken £8 this
Wahid Saraj, who runs an ornaments shop on the high street
morning. This week taken £100.”
Shop owners are now even more worried about the future after two banks announced they would close on Dunraven Street.
Barclays and Santander are both set to shut up shop in 2019, getting rid of two of the main attractions on the high street.
The area has already seen a number of recent changes, including allowing cars to drive down Dunraven Street.
The scheme was discussed with traders in 2017 and the work has since been carried out, but some traders say it’s contributed to the decline, with fewer people walking past their shopfronts.
Yako Yahia ran a restaurant on Dunraven Street until November when rising costs forced him to close.
Yako came to Tonypandy from London in 2011 and said he “fell in love” with the area and its people. I haven’t
Yako Yahia in front of his chip shop he has had to close due to lack of business
Now he’s angry at the situation in the town he now calls home.
Yako said: “All this money they spent on the road, why don’t they spend it on the businesses instead?
“If you had any knowledge and even some experience of business then you would take this money and help businesses first and then you can look after the road.”
What does the council say? A spokesperson for Rhondda Cynon Taf Council said: “The council continues to work with local traders to improve the retail area across all of our principal town centres, in difficult times for high streets across the nation.
“Tonypandy has received significant investment in recent times, and in November 2018 the council delivered a major highways project to remove the pedestrian-only area of Dunraven Street.”