TRYING TO TURN TOWN AROUND

I took him around the town and a told him the issues we were having. He was quite surprised - I was quite blunt

Lesley Richards

Seeing someone dragged up an alleyway was the norm. That was the point the town was getting to. It was in decline

It’s a valuable tool to investigate and it’s a deterrent. We use it all the time. It’s a massive plus

Llanelli police inspector Justin Evans

LESLEY Richards was standing outside the building society she manages in Llanelli when she got talking to a local businessman.

The conversation went from the branch needing a coat of paint to Llanelli itself.

“I said, ‘ Don’t get me started about the town’, and he said, ‘Why don’t you do something about it?’” says Mrs Richards.

That was just over two years ago and since then Mrs Richards has been on a mission to make Llanelli a safer and more welcoming place.

She became a director of business support group Ymlaen Llanelli in March 2017 and started chairing it eight months later.

She spoke to 70 traders in the town, had a meeting with Carmarthenshire Council leader Emlyn Dole, requested town centre crime figures from Dyfed-Powys Police - and then linked up with chief constable Mark Collins.

“I took him around the town and told him the issues we were having,” says Mrs Richards.

“He was quite surprised - I was quite blunt.”

Asked for examples of those issues, she replies: “Managers of some shops were not happy for female staff to be working late on their own.

“We had security vans refusing to come into the town centre to deal with the banks. The impact was massive.

“Police vans and cars were outside my bank daily.”

She adds: “Seeing someone dragged up an alleyway was the norm.

“That was the point the town was getting to. It was in decline.”

Mrs Richards recalls leaving an event at Llanelly House, Bridge Street, at around 8pm one evening when a group of teenagers approached.

“One of the jumped right in front of me - up to my face,” she says. “I told him to get out of my way.”

A few seconds later she heard a bang.

“They were throwing rocks at windows,” she says. “They took out 17 panes of glass.”

Last September, the first new batch of CCTV cameras were installed in the town.

A CCTV rollout across towns and communities in the Dyfed-Powys force area was a key election pledge of police and crime commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn.

Mrs Richards says there are 19 cameras in Llanelli now, with another four on their way.

She firmly believes the ones previously in place should never have been removed.

And for the last year or so the town centre has had a dedicated police officer and three community support officers.

Mrs Richards says: “The police have had massive budget cuts - there is only so much they can do.”

But she says the town’s PC, Aled Davies, has made “a hell of a difference”.

She says: “I would go into shops and say: ‘Have you met Aled?’ If they said no I would text him and he would go and introduce himself.”

Mrs Richards has contacted the 70 traders she originally spoke to - and interviewed a further 142 businesses in the town.

“They say things are much better,” she says. “They are are not afraid to come into work. They are happy.”

Ymlaen Llanelli, meanwhile, has organised a string of community events - from an 80s festival, open air cinema, superhero day, and the Great Llanelli Get Together.

More are planned in the coming months.

“The best thing is when you go to one of the events and you see people laughing and having a drink - you get a sense of satisfaction,” she says.

“You know the hard work you put in is working.”

Mrs Richards, who manages the town’s Nationwide branch in Stepney Street, concedes the town centre still has a few issues.

“They won’t be there much longer,” she says. “It’s all in hand.”

The 52-year-old, who lives in Ystradgynlais, doesn’t expect everyone’s minds to change overnight.

But she feels many people are on a “downer” about Llanelli.

“People need to understand it’s getting better,” she says. “The crime figures are coming down.”

According to the police website www.police.co.uk there were 518 and 511 incidents in May and June respectively last year in the wider Llanelli town ward.

There were 452 and 371 incidents in the same two months this year.

The county council has spent £4.5m buying and renovating properties in Llanelli and key sites are being offered for development.

The Theatr Elli building in Station Road is being revamped into a cinema and live music venue.

A local development order, enabling businesses and property owners to make some changes without planning permission, is also in operation to help fill vacant units.

Mrs Richards points to this team effort and says: “Anything that fetches people into town has got to be a good thing.”

She first worked in Llanelli 10 years ago when she covered for a colleague for a few days.

“I thought it was a fabulous town,” she says.

She returned on a fulltime basis five years ago and was dismayed at the difference. “It had changed a lot,” she says.

But now her optimism has returned. “Everybody is working so hard to make the town better,” says Mrs Richards. “We are getting there.”

Llanelli police inspector Justin Evans also endorses