What makes Pontyclun a successful place?

Whenever I visit sites of Ancient Greece I am reminded of how many thousands of years people have yearned for a ‘polis’ – a shared space in which we engage with others, share dreams, argue different points of view, provide mutual support. We yearn for successful towns. They are a feature of every civilisation.

What Makes Pontyclun Successful?

I have recently returned, on a temporary and part time basis, to the role of being a special adviser to the First Minister of Wales – such is the advantage of losing my Pontyclun seat on RCT Council.

One of my tasks has been to create a discussion within Welsh Government on what makes a town successful.

I suggest that all of Wales could look with interest at what is being achieved in Pontyclun.

We are a small town which grew rapidly up to the year 2000. In 1980 the population was 4000. In 2000 the population was 8000 as a result of the new housing in the Hendy, Ynys Ddu and Brynsadler.

A Shared Public Space

Population growth does not always create successful towns; it can just create detached, soulless commuter zones. The challenge is to foster a shared space that brings people together. Our success in Pontyclun  has been to create a town centre that brings people together when they live in the various villages of Brynsadler, Talygarn, Hendy, Mwyndy, Miskin and Groes Faen.

Public Amenities

It is a feature of a successful town that central and local government continues to invest in town centre public amenities.

Pontyclun Primary School, with 540 pupils, is in the town centre. Y Pant Secondary School with 1400 pupils is close by.

Our GP clinic in School Street is adjacent to our main street. We kept our town library open and it is near to the school and shops. We have kept our Community Centre and Café 50 as amenities that bring people to the town centre. We recently created Pontyclun Park as a place that brings people together.

In 1990 we re-opened Pontyclun Station and this brought people into the town centre.

Elsewhere in Wales we can see the negative effect of moving schools,  health centres and other shared amenities  to out out-of-town, green field sites. The gleaming new citadels of concrete and glass can only be approached through a fume of congested traffic; and the town centre is left behind, vacant and empty.

Voluntary Action

A successful town harnesses the energy of local people who come together to create and share the same space. We are lucky in Pontyclun to have the people and the local groups that bring us all together.

Pontyclun Rugby Club, in the town centre, has over 500 playing members: men, women, young and less young. With all their families, volunteer coaches and organisers they bring life to the centre of our town.

Pontyclun Football Club, which socialises in the Pontyclun Athletic Club, has just as strong a playing base with the same volunteer spirit. It brings people to the town centre.

Pontyclun Running Club meets throughout the week in the centre of Pontyclun.

Our choirs such as Cantorian Pontyclun meets at Café 50 in the town centre. Llantrisant Folk Club has an international reputation and meets at Pontyclun Athletic Club.

Pontyclun University of the Third Age was created only two years ago. With 150 members and over 20 learning groups, it brings people to the town centre.

Churches and Chapels, such as Bethel and St Paul’s, bring hundreds of people together in the town.

   

Less successful towns than Pontyclun have less voluntary action and it is less focussed on the shared space of a town centre.

Innovative Business

Successful town centres cannot rely entirely on shops. It is inevitable that we will buy more and more on the internet. The town centre businesses that succeed will offer the personal service that the web cannot provide – cafes, restaurants, sociable bars, hairdressers, beauticians. An innovative business like Giles Gallery offers unique products and services that cannot be gained digitally – it brings people to the town centre and benefits when our local voluntary groups and public services bring people into town. When food retailers, like our Deli and Butcher, offer local and distinctive products, they succeed.

We need businesses to locate in town centres so that their employees can use the town centre shops and services. Businesses in Pontyclun that provide this role include Churngold in the old chapel, Rina Consultancy on Clun Avenue, Concrete Canvas opposite the Pant School.

A Lively Community Council

It is my privilege to chair Pontyclun Community Council which buzzes with energy and imagination. When we organise a Christmas Festival, a Summer Festival, providing lights and flowers, a walking festival, a music festival, a public park, Café 50 - we bring people to the town centre.

When the Community Council works with the volunteers in the Community Garden and the Environment Group, we make the town centre attractive to people. We provide the town car park which is crucial to bringing people to the centre.

A successful town needs a lively and engaging town council.

The Future for Pontyclun

Nothing is guaranteed – towns go backwards as well as forwards. We need continued investment in our town centre public amenities. We need to attract and support the next generation of volunteers that will lead our voluntary groups and our local council. We need the excitement and innovation of new business leaders.

The inherent tendency of capitalist markets is to centralise into ever fewer and larger conurbations. We need governments to provide the support and infrastructure, including transport, that allow local towns to thrive. What we do not need is any more out-of-town retail parks.

In 1896 Pontyclun Football Club coined the socialist mantra ‘Gorau chwarae, cyd chwarae’ – those who play the best, play together. Successful towns need that same spirit.  

Paul Griffiths

Chair

Pontyclun Community Council

Traffic & other road issues!

Traffic in Groes Faen

Two years ago Cardiff Council gave a planning consent for 10,000 new homes around Creigiau and St Fagans.  Pontyclun Community Council and RCT Council objected to this planning application arguing that the resulting flow of traffic through Groes Faen to Junction 34 would cause huge disruption. The Planning Inspectorate and Cardiff Council did not respond to our objections.

Groes Faen residents are already feeling the impact as construction traffic adds to the flow of traffic through the village. RCT Councillor Margaret Griffiths and Community Councillor Carole Willis have been working with residents to make the case for safety measures on the road through their village. They called a public meeting and are working with residents to make the case for a pelican crossing, mini roundabouts and cameras which record average speeds.

We are continuing to meet the RCT Director of Highways and we are pressing for extra expenditure on these projects.  

Mayhem on Heol Miskin

All of us attempting to get in and out of Pontyclun along Heol Miskin will know that there are two sets of traffic lights with one way traffic at each.

The first piece of work is to make good the retaining wall that prevents the road from sliding down the hill into River Ely. It was last year that this wall was assessed as being at risk of slipping away.  RCT Council has commissioned contractors to repair the stone retaining wall - a three month project costing over £100,000 It is a nuisance but the work is essential.

The second piece of work is the up grading of the main gas pipe as it joins all the new gas pipes on the Hendy where residents have spent the last year watching the new gas pipes being ‘moled’ under the pavement. I have asked why these two pieces of work are being done at the same time. I was told that one period of disruption may be better than two separate periods.

Safe Walking Routes in Pontyclun

Last year Pontyclun Community Council submitted a series of proposals which would make walking through Pontyclun safer. Following two rounds of public consultation  RCT Council has bid for money from Welsh Government to:

·         Introduce an island in the middle of Cowbridge road near the War Memorial.

·         Move the bus stop from Tescos to the Masonic Hall and construct a new bus shelter making access to busses easier for wheel chair and pram users.

·         Introducing dropped kerbs at several crossing points.

·         Introducing a 20 mph zone around the Primary School, around the Cowbridge Road shops and on Station Terrace.

I thank everyone who has participated in the consultation. As a result several detailed amendments have been made to the scheme which will be implemented during the next year.

Community Council Budget

Due to increases in employment and energy costs the Council has agreed to increase its annual budget from £113,410 to £118,480. The average cost to a household for the Community Council will increase from £32.50 to £34.20. Our expenditure will include the provision of Pontyclun Park, Café 50, public toilets, the car park, Ivor woods, 24 miles of footpaths, summer flowers, Christmas lights, grants to local groups, summer and Christmas festivals. Our full budget can be found on www.pontyclun.net. I think the Community Council gives very good value. I would welcome your comments and suggestions on our budget.

Council Tax

A recent report by Cardiff University shows that council budgets in Wales, apart from schools and social services, have fallen by over 40% since 2010, due to the cuts in public expenditure by the UK Government. The number of jobs in Welsh local government has decreased by over 20,000. We have fewer libraries, leisure centres, day centres, litter pickers, rubbish collectors, road menders etc etc. And still people blame the Council for every shortcoming. http://sites.cardiff.ac.uk/wgc/files/2019/02/local_government_finance_report_Feb19_final.pdf

Pontyclun Volunteers

Partly as a response to council cuts we rely ever more on the army of volunteers. Each week our own Environment Group and young Duke of Edinburgh volunteers are out picking litter.

A resident was complaining about council workers not removing the fly tipping outside the bedsits at the bottom of School Street. I joined the volunteers and removed the rubbish.

Dog Poo!

We all love dogs and all dog owners who pick up dog poo. Residents in Miskin have asked that I remind dog owners of their legal duty to pick up dog poo and bin the plastic bag. If you don’t, you risk a fine. You will certainly lose the friendship of your neighbours.

Pontyclun Road Runners

Congratulations to Pontyclun Road Runners who have organised an amazing ‘Couch to 5k’ programme over the past two months. Hundreds of residents have been introduced to running for the first time.

I have been a participant with the road runners from their very beginning three years ago. The organisers have been inspiring and I am pleased that the Community Council has been able to help with the cost of training ‘coaches’.

Margaret and I do the weekly 5k Park Run at Porthcawl. Margaret has the support of the plastic knees inserted by our wonderful NHS. We recommend running for all – this is a photo of our run in the Christmas sunshine.

Paul Griffiths
Chair
Pontyclun Community Council

A tourist destination - Pontyclun?

A Tourist Destination

When I explain to local people that it is an aim of our Community Council to promote Pontyclun as a tourist destination, eyebrows are often raised with the unsaid question – “are you serious?”. I am! I was therefore delighted when a resident provided me with a cutting from the Huddersfield Daily Examiner with the heading “Travel Report Pontyclun”.

The article begins “Pontyclun is a vibrant village in south Wales, 13 miles north-west of Cardiff. With impressive castles and beaches galore within a short drive, it provides the perfect base for our family getaway”. The article, which has been syndicated to a range of local newspapers around the UK, goes on to list the range of restaurants and hotels in and around Pontyclun.

When the Community Council invests in the Christmas Lights, the Summer Flowers, Pontyclun Park, Ivor Woods, local walking routes, we aim not only to serve local people but also help to attract visitors.

Miskin Village Green

An impressive group of Miskin residents has submitted an application to RCT Council for the area of land to the north of Newmill Gardens, Dol-y-Llan and Maes y Wennol to be declared a ‘Village Green’. This would be in recognition of its uncontested public use over many years and would protect the area from further development. The application will be considered by an inquiry to be held on 12 – 15 March at Tyla Garw Community Centre. 

  

Miskin Flowers

The Community Council has an established policy of providing 12 hanging flower baskets in the centre of Pontyclun, 6 in Groes Faen and 6 in Miskin. The aim is to concentrate provision in areas of greatest impact. We recently reviewed provision for future years and we concluded that the baskets in the centre of Miskin were not having the desired impact. The Council is considering the proposal that we should locate a flower bed with hanging baskets at the intersection of Heol Miskin with New Mill Corner – opposite the entrance to Manor Hill. If you have views on this proposal please let me know.

Ann Cale

With sadness Margaret and I share the information that Ann Cale died at the beginning of January.

Ann was a member of Pontyclun Community Council for many years until she retired in 2012. Margaret and I were both privileged to have served the Council alongside Ann for several years before her retirement and we recall the depth of her local knowledge and her commitment to the community. Even after her retirement she would keep us on our toes with her regular reports of tasks that needed to be performed by either RCT Council or the Community Council.

Willie Llewelyn

On 23 January Pontyclun Rugby Club hosted an event to celebrate the life of Willie Llewellyn and the publication of his biography by Phil Grant. Willie was born in the Rhondda in 1878 and had an astonishing rugby career. He was capped by Wales on 20 occasions, winning three Triple Crowns and beating the All Blacks in 1905, and played for the British Lions on 15 occasions.  In 1900 Willie moved from the Rhondda to London to study Pharmacy and to captain London Welsh. When he retired from international rugby he opened a pharmacy in Tonypandy. Such was the public esteem of Llewellyn that his pharmacy shop was spared the wrath of the Rhondda miners in their ‘riot’ of 1910 as they responded to being locked out of the mines and attacked by the murderous militia dispatched by Home Secretary, Winston Churchill.

Willie Llewellyn later retired to Pontyclun and was made a life member of Pontyclun Rugby Club in 1967. His grandson, Dr Mike Jones, was President of the Club until last year.

Paul Griffiths

Chair
Pontyclun Community Council