NEWS

You can make a difference if you just try. The biggest disease in Pontypridd is apathy, don't catch it and don't pass it on. If you want things to improve them do something about them. Write or email the local paper, write to your MP, write to your AM, write to your local councillor and keep writing until things change or they do. Don't give up and until you change Ponty for the better! We shall try to update this section with local news every week or so but don't forget that most news is posted on the message board daily.

21 June 09

Lions lose 1st Test after two Englishmen in the front row get stuffed and an Englishmen on the wing fails to score two tries. Things looked up after two Welshmen came into the front row so hopefully next Test they'll start.

13 June 09

Another win for the Lions in SA, with Ponty boy Martyn Williams playing well and scoring a try and James Hook kicking the winning penalty. Pub guide updated with some pic's plus a review. WPC ends next Sunday and lots of entries flooding in now even though the Observer hasn't promoted us much this year despite a few press releases. (Ah, well, so much for YTS journos eh!) Entries from France, Greece, Australia, Ireland, Abu Dhabi to name but a few this year, yet hardly any from Ponty which is a bit sad :( Must be more writing talent overseas then.

 

Good news that the asbestos and needles have been cleared up from old Brown Lennox site, (thanks to Severn Insulation) but sad that this huge bit of land is going to be wasted.  They could have teamed up with probation, South Wales Police and turned it into a game reserve where rich Americans could pay handsomely to shoot scumbag druggies who roam our streets instead of being locked up or in hospital. Opposite is a photo of just some of the syringes found in the old BL site - a regular haunt of the drug culture that is so prevalent today :(

4 June 09

Great win for the Lions this Wed against Transvaal and the Welsh lads played well. New pub opened in Taff St. - The Patriot - real ales and friendly atmosphere. The local paper also has news of a Beirut 2 type development planned for the precinct (Beirut 1) which has Lidl and Wilkinson pencilled in - wow! Can't wait! Also talk of a hotel which Ponty certainly needs. Should take about a year to complete so Christmas 2010 we'll all be buying our Christmas pudding from Lidl - horray! Why am I not happy about this "development" I keep thinking...?

1 June 09

Wins for Wales & Lions with Lee Bryne and Jamie Roberts looking sharp, while Adam Jones and Martyn Williams (despite knobhead Barnes' uneducated comments) also playing well. Lots of nice weather at moment and lots of nice debate on the forum with 120 members now. Could do with 1000 but we'll have to wait until people tire of Facebook I presume :)

 

Election fever grips country, before swine fever has its turn and although everyone is disgusted at the pigs with their snouts in the trough at least people are suitably annoyed enough to talk about politics now and should hopefully all turn out and vote, although the monster raving loonies of the BNP and UKIP might benefit from this :(

22 May 09

New rugby pages finally incorporated into this site, just use the new links above. A few of the old pages kept and updated a bit. The old domain name is up for sale, call it £200 ono? Drop us an email anyway. British Lions tour getting underway soon, although far too many English in there me thinks, plus not enough Cilfynydd boys. Still, there you go.

 

Lots of debate regards BL site and European elections on forum so don't be shy, sign up and tell us what you think. Over 100 members now which is pretty good for the new board.

 

Poetry competition is in last month so still time to enter and win £300 1st prize, £150, 2nd or £75 3rd. Recognition for 17 other writers too! My new book is out now and can be bought online for just £6.99 including postage and packing.

12 May 09

New message board a bit slow these days, maybe its the "blue" colour eh Barney? Anyway, hope to get more posters online soon so look out... Only a month left to enter Welsh Poetry Competition and win 1st Prize of £300 or a runner up cash prize. If you don't enter you can't win as they say.

16 April 09

New message board launched on 13th April. 50+ members in a few days too! Ponty rugby website being incorporated into town site (this one), coming soon.

28 March 09

Dave Lewis' publishes his first book - a poetry collection spanning 24 years. To buy "Layer Cake" just visit his website or click here.

11 March 09

Very quiet recently on the board. Maybe people are reading the site instead?  Wales get ready for Italy this w/e, this author is soon to be an author (more later), poetry competition going well but no entries from Ponty yet!  Are there no poets here? Photography Exhibition - Gartholwg LLC, Friday 20th March - Friday 3rd April.

1 March 09

The Welsh Poetry Competition launches today on St David's Day so time to get writing and send us those poems. We have a new judge in Mike Jenkins and increased prize money this year. All details on the web site - click here. Wales lose to France, Ponty lose to Cross Keys to go out of the Welsh Cup so not much to cheer about on the rugby field. Wales still in with a chance of the championship though.

18 Feb 09

Lots more shops added to web site, few photos updated and a new judge chosen for the Welsh Poetry Competition! All will be revealed on St David's Day so check back then! Wales get off to a great start with 2 out of 2 in the 6 Nations while talk of a valleys region is still very much alive. Town development funds are cut due to the current situation so we wonder what projects will be prioritised? Obviously a sports centre and swimming pool but then again we don't always get "obvious" do we?

3 Feb 09

Thanks to all who made Sue's party such a great night. Thought we might do an annual "50th" every year and make it part of the Ponty social calendar? Thoughts on that at the usual address... Enjoy the snow, more to come the weather men say! :) Just hope the fans arrive safe and warm somewhere between here and Edinburgh as we all get ready for 6 Nations fever again with Wales favourites to win back to back titles. Shopping page and other links updated - remember buy online with us and help keep the site going!

21 Jan 09

After loads of argument about the way forward for the town development we publish a new column on the writing page. Weather hampers rugby for a few weeks but we are assured that the lounge will be ready for the biggest event of the year in 2 weeks time. Web Design Wales launch a new site design (using CSS), but keep prices low. Advertising in the business directory is still only £30 a year (surprised Blueberry's haven't taken us up on it?)

1 Jan 09

Happy New Year to you and Happy 11th Birthday to us.

 

Woolworths, Adams, Stead & Simpson and Ferraris closed, M&S is just an outlet now, we predict more shops (chains) to go under with the credit crunch and increase in internet shopping (just click here for bargains). But, looking on the bright side... maybe now the town planners will see that the only future for towns all over the UK is as "green, tourist" centres - cafes, pubs, food places, parks, squares, statues, fountains, artwork, history, culture, outdoor pursuits etc.

 

What will 2009 bring we wonder? Well, a few things are certain. We have a new judge for the Welsh Poetry Competition... (more later), we will have loads of debate regards the new town development because after 30 yrs+ (and 11yrs of this website) we are told it's finally happening (fingers crossed they don't just pour concrete on things and call it done but take on board what every sane person knows - see above). Wales look to a third Grand Slam in recent years, the prospect of a new valleys region seems likely and there's lots more happening in and around Ponty. So stay tuned to our website and forum for all the latest!

8 Dec 08

Lots of regeneration talk on the message board and quite right too. A new plan in the offing, lets hope they prioritise a sports centre, swimming pool, more parkland, town housing and make any development sustainable.

 

 Taff St

 

The Market Company is due to open Blueberry's this Wednesday which should be good. We've heard it's fantastic! Let's hope it inspires them to clean up the rest of town they own:

 

 Town Hall

 

19 Nov 08

Lots of updates to the website, including the links, shopping and writing pages (including links to published poems etc.). Plenty of bargains online now for those "early" Christmas shoppers (I'm a Christmas Eve man myself).

 

Wales take on NZ on Saturday but we're not hopeful, especially after wearing yellow last match and playing like a team of Canaries!

 

Photography Exhibition KO's off next Monday @ Gartholwg Lifelong Learning Centre, free entry, 24th Nov-12th Dec, cafe upstairs. Well worth popping along to see.

8 Nov 08

Bad start for Wales in autumn internationals as they lose to SA in Cardiff. Amazon store updated for Christmas, with lots of bargains coming up on the board soon...

18 Oct 08

What's on guide updated. T-shirt shop also has new address - www.pontytown.co.uk/tshirts. RCT finally clean up the wall by the train station (maybe the Queen is coming?). Now we just need Arriva Trains to clean up the station, perhaps open the toilets and police the platform...

 

Rows on the board about £tensofthousands's being wasted on "rubbish" sculptures and artwork for the town. A bit arse backwards if you ask me, we need a nice town first, then artwork afterwards. The lights on the new metal seats in Taff Street don't work for starters! How much did that cost?!

12 Oct 08

Lots of the usual action on our board but a disappointing start to the season for Ponty with just 3 wins out of 5 in the premiership. Political news is that Ponty AM Jane Davidson will stand down in 2011 - would we notice you have to ask? Last chance before Christmas to take advantage of our cheap advertising as the New Year will see us increase our business directory listing to £30 a year. And for those looking for cheap presents this year why not try our shopping page?

20 Sept 08

Few more businesses added to directory (still only £25 a year!), good KO to season last week for Ponty rugby with a great win over Neef, more board members signed up, the sun is out at last and Photography site re-designed.

6 Sept 08

Lots of stuff on the message board - www.pontytown.co.uk/messageboard so why not send the address to your friends and get them posting too.  Links pages updated.

 

Our Town Development Plan

Over the past eight years we've made it clear what we'd like to see happen in our town and now that we have a new Labour controlled council perhaps they will listen to the people. After all, Plaid didn't listen so we voted them out. Below is a round up of our current thinking...

St Catherine's Corner: The new development is underway. The vicar is against it. We are against it and we think the people will be against it when they see it. Time will tell so watch this space... (Note: We did say - with the widening of the road the church looks lovely now, so lets not block the view with a hideous concrete construction or car park. Let's build some small units for multi-nationals and local shops in a 50:50 mix. Any construction must be done using sustainable local materials. The Welsh Assembly is supposed to be promoting this so we should get any funding we need. Lets commission an architect that likes the work of Gaudi and say we want the same! With a unique and attractive development at the northern end of town people from the valleys going home every night by car, bus and train will be enchanted and want to visit!)

Maritime/Sardis: There is a huge amount of land/space here and so we propose the first of our sports centres for the town. An Olympic size swimming pool, state of the art sports centre with basketball facilities (to attract the Rhondda Rebels to town), a modern multi-gym for use by Pontypridd rugby players and academies, and future regional (Warriors II) rugby team, a secure bike park for users of the centre, a cycle track and indoor tennis courts. There is plenty of car parking at Sardis Road already plus we have the rugby club nearby (which obviously needs knocking down and rebuilding). Morbaine want to put shops and more concrete here which we are against for a number of reasons: more cars = more pollution, where will Ponty play? and we want a sports centre!

Brown Lennox: The site had the chance of a small Morrisons store (they even promised to pay for the restoration and upkeep of the canal) but while Labour led RCTCBC passed the development - the WAG (Carwyn James, Labour) turned it down. Great to see democracy and the will of the people being ignored in Ponty.

So what now... Well, we'd still like a Morrisons there (or Aldi or Lidl), we'd still like the canal cleaned up, we'd also like a visitor centre/shop for the canal, but what we'd really like is a sports centre with a 25m swimming pool with secure bike park. We don't need a car park as there is already one at B&Q etc.

The idiotic roundabout can be designed properly (i.e. demolished) and we can have access to the site here as well as a slip road for traffic to go north to Merthyr and Aberdare (not sure why it wasn't done to begin!). The Glyntaf slip road can also be reopened and speed restrictions imposed (like at Taffs Well) so everyone driving past Ponty is made to slow down on the A470 and sees how wonderful it is and wants to visit!

Park: The Park is a War Memorial Park and we should never forget this. It is also the only decent thing in Ponty at present. So it makes sense to have more of it not less. We need to reduce (or eliminate completely) the number of cars entering the Park (only ambulances and a couple of council trucks are needed surely?). There should be no car park in the Park under any circumstances. Cars increase pollution, are a danger to our children and there is no need at all for us to destroy (or at the very least, erode) our "jewel in the crown". On the site of the RCT run down Day Centre we should build a new Environmental Centre for the schools of Pontypridd (c.f. Cardiff Museum's centre). Built from local sustainable materials of course, again the Welsh Assembly will pay for this, and a secure bike park opened in the Park. Think about it, if the Health Centre and Day Centre are to close then this means we should have more land for Parkland, not less.

Good news is that after years of campaigning the council has just allowed part of the Taff Trail to run through the edge of the Park - so some good news!

Town Centre: The Parkland should be increased not decreased. The precinct is ugly, dirty and outdated, so pull it down. We extend the Park across the River into the area of the precinct and landscape the ground there. We add cobbled stones, flower-clad lanes or even an open plaza - this could be the new cafe quarter, benches, cafes, statues, viewing points across the river and park for wildlife etc... This area should have 100% local shops with all-weather areas facing the River. We need cafes overlooking the River Taff. Flats can be built above the shops also overlooking the river and would mean people living in the town! NO multinationals over a certain size should be allowed into this area - there aren't any now are there! Not that we want to give in to this current obsession with car parks that certain people seem to have but we could have a small underground car park here as well.

One excellent suggestion is to have the RCT council offices relocated here - this would bring in a lot of trade to the town. The whole of Taff Street should be pedestrianised of course and deliveries finished by early morning or staggered throughout the day. Shops should be given extended licenses to open until 10:00pm if they wish and the whole area lit up so making it safer and easier to police. With pubs banning smoking soon we should see more families enjoying the town's pubs and eateries so let's make sure it's safe. Street friendly trees can be planted the entire length of Taff Street as well as being replanted along Gelliwastad Road. We should be looking to make Pontypridd the most attractive town in Britain and hence attract more visitors than we could cope with! Free, clean toilets might help. We would also suggest that the "Goods Yard" have a train station put there to link with the new bus station. Disabled access for town should also be improved.

We'd also like to see a Circular Walk introduced to Ponty and the surrounding area (e.g. Taff Trail, Museum, Old Bridge, Taff Street, Fountain, War Memorial Park circuit, The 5th Welch Memorial, Rocking Stones, Round Houses, Machine Bridge, cottages on Broadway, Tumble, Train station, Sardis Road, Thomas Telford's Newbridge Viaduct, St Catherine's Church, Muni Arts Centre, Llanover Arms, Newbridge, Taff Trail). This walkway could have special "paving stones" and/or plaques that could inform users of the historical significance of sites. It should of course link up to the Taff Trail, which as we've said earlier should run through town, with a cycle lane. A great way to liven up town, attract visitors, promote our history and it will cost the council next to nothing. We have offered to do a FREE website for the town council of the Circular Walk as long as they cover domain name and hosting costs.

We also have another plan - a bigger and better idea - far more visionary - looking way into the future (well 10 years anyway). We sent this in to the Observer:

I Have A Dream

Last night I had a dream! With the increasing proliferation of out of town stores and shopping on the internet continuing to increase very soon every small town centre in Britain will be deader than Ponty is at the moment. But this is no nightmare. We have a chance to create something special. With Cardiff, our nations capital, only a short trip away, Caerphilly and it’s castle even closer, the historic Rhondda, Cynon and Taff valleys on our doorstep and the rugged Brecon Beacons beyond, Ponty doesn’t need to compete. We already have much more than we need at hand. Our solution – lets turn Ponty into a “Green Town”. Ponty is ideally placed to become one of the best looking and most attractive towns in Britain - it has history, setting, wonderful people and a beautiful Park already here - you can't turn Milton Keyes into that can you? If you dropped a bomb on the precinct you’d do £5 worth of damage so that is to our advantage too - like Germany after the war we can redevelop our town as we want. We can turn Ponty into a really great place to live. State of the art sports centre and Olympic-size swimming pool on the Brown Lenox site. Replace the precinct and car park with low-rise flats and local shops amid more parkland overlooking the river – get people living in town again. More pubs and clubs, more cafes. Lets turn Ponty into the leisure and tourism centre of South Wales. With vision Blaenavon has reinvented itself as a tourist book town – Ponty is bigger and better! Lets abandon dreams of attracting multinationals in order to turn our very special town into a carbon copy of every other boring and bland town in the UK where one High Street looks the same as the next – lets go for gold! Pedestrianise Taff Street, plant trees along all our streets, get the Circular Walk underway, no more cars, our house prices will rise as pollution becomes a thing of the past, well-lit streets help police police - crime falls, council can charge more council tax, Australians will want to emmigrate here for a better life. Anyone in power brave enough to build a bright healthy future for our children?

 

If you think any of these ideas are good (or close to your own thinking) then copy it and send it to your local councillor and demand they bring it up at the next meeting they attend or you won't vote for them again. Keep writing to them until things start to change for the better. If you have something to add then post it on the message board for all to see. Tell everyone about your message board and encourage people to sign up and start posting. Don't just sit at home moaning - get active! It also might be worth picking on one small part of the plan and continually demanding that it is done, e.g. planting trees everywhere, that way the small mind of your average councillor isn't overloaded with too much information. OK, joke :).

 

Email the Western Mail with it. Send it to Carwyn James at the WAG. Let Kim Howells and Jane Davidson know. Send it to your friends. Start posting on our message board. Write to the Observer. Get involved in anyway at all. Don't except second best. Demand the best for your town and your children. And never give up. Fight for what you deserve. Think BIG.

 

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