I was told that the Daily Mail was at it again, attacking Llanelli. So I looked it up and read the rubbish they had written. There will always be local people who are negative about our town.
However, I know so many local people who care about the town and are working very hard to make improvements. I am one of them and I know so many others who are making a difference. The town centre is already looking better. We cannot do things overnight but many of us are trying to improve the town.
There are many cafes in Llanelli and I often spend some mornings working in them, talking to the many people who are there. Early in the morning there is a lovely cafe where I have a very well-cooked breakfast and the service is great. I go to another cafe during the day and sit on comfortable sofas to work.
The Mail does not do its research correctly. I am not a member of any political party so I am happy to correct their first error. In their keenness to blame Labour, they do not realise that the County Council is run by Plaid and it is the County Council which has the big money to improve the town centre.
Many town centres are having problems but we, the local people, care about our town. I am not embarrassed to be from Llanelli nor have I seen many drug addicts around the place. In fact I have not seen any and I walk around the town centre all the time. I see the lovely hanging baskets put up by the Town Council and enjoy them. Those who think that Reform will make a difference, think again. Take a look at what Nigel Farage has actually done and you will find that it is zilch and all he has done is enrich himself.
The reason why the Town Centre no longer has big shops is because Trostre, an out of town retail park has taken all the big shops away. ASDA is the only supermarket in the town centre because it did not give up on us. However, Llanelli has not gone downhill because positive local people are making a difference. It is so easy to complain but it is not so easy to get up and volunteer for your town. In the Mail article it says that people have moaned about nothing to do. I’ve been in the town at night and it is buzzing with live music,pubs and local people performing at St. Elli’s church, so you hear beautiful voices and music all over the place.
It is not political parties that make a difference. It is only you, the local people, that can do it.
We have choirs, amateur dramatics, musicals, arts and crafts and not to mention sport at the weekends. Join us. There is so much talent in this town it is absolutely amazing. There is plenty of footfall here.
However, there is still a great deal to do and we , local people, are doing our best. So we can put out a call to more local people to support Llanelli. If you are unhappy about something, come and join us to make a difference. There is a wonderful Facebook page called “The Positive Side of Llanelli.” Have a look at it and you might be surprised.
The trouble is we need more money put in the right places. If you are worried about something, write to your local County Councillor and if you do not know who they are, find out. Get to know them and talk to them. You also need to know which council is responsible for what. Normally there is a County Council and one Town Council but in the borough of Llanelli, you also have a rural council and several community councils so it can be very confusing.
Find out which council and their reps belong to you and make contact. Make them work for you. That is what they are there for and they need you to be involved.
We have a wonderful indoor market and we have a great coastline. We have so much to be proud of. The photo of the empty post office in the Mailonline article is ironic because I, as a local person, am involved in trying to turn it into a lovely town museum. We have the volunteers, the will and the ability to do it but finance is always a problem. Local experts are helping us which means a great deal to us and we are getting there, little by little.
We also have local people who form groups of litter pickers who volunteer at the beach but if there is rubbish in town, people can pick it up and put it in the bins. There are plenty of bins in the town centre. Be a pal and pick it up and put it in the bin so that you can be proud of your town.
It is frustrating trying to help the town. Unfortunately there are always people who can be negative and also many of them have their own agendas and do not want to see success. We have to persevere and continue our struggle to make Llanelli a great little town again or even think about city status to raise the level of the town. It is worthy of being a city but people laugh and make negative remarks instead of saying,”Why not? Let’s give it a try”.
The journey towards that is a learning process anyway because people can work together, complete strangers meeting up to work for the betterment of Llanelli.
Don’t knock Llanelli down but let us work together to make it a great place again.
This article is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Llanelli Standard or Red Brand Media.
There is a very famous song
This is one of the lines
I would like to take you by the hand and lead you through the street of Llanelli to show you things to make you change your mind
Please explain why these stupid floor lights have been installed in the centre of town and why they are on 24 hours a day please tell me why they took the special designed bench for Llanelli away
Please tell me why we have 2 multiple storey carparks that look like they are coming down
You talk about the hanging baskets when the building they are hanging from are near to falling down
Please tell me why when the drains in the walk way in Stepney Street were cleaned 17 tons of mud removed and so far on 2 thirds have been done when are they going to do the last 3rd
You tell us you have never seen any drug addict in Llanelli town centre well go and sit in the circle next to the job centre and they will find you
Talking about the circle 10.000 pound was spent on the 2 SS flower planters which now the drinkers and the druggies just dump their rubbish in
Yes there are people doing good things but when the CCC is hell bent on doing nothing for Llanelli The News paper had it right
For Mr Darkin even to think of calling it Llanelli City is unbelievable
The centre is a mess they cleaned up the canopy roof and it needs it again
YMCA has 4 brand new empty shops
and in November there will be 5 more new empty shops at the top end of Stepney Street
Nothing will change if you can’t see the problem that Llanelli has
It has a huge potential if under management of people that live here and care for Llanelli and not put the egos and careers first
The best thing that could happen is to give Llanelli back to Llanelli Council and get the people out of Llanelli Council and put the people that care and wish Llanelli to go forward
You did not say anything about all the people that spend days weeks and months up at Stradey Park Hotel to keep it as a Hotel
Which now starting to hold big events again
Millions have been spent on Llanelli and look at it
Now in October there will be a blue print of how Llanelli will look in 10 years time well that should be interesting will the public be able to see it
Please tell me about all the money and time that was spent on cleaning the pavements out side the TV studio only for a few months it was like it was before and the same cleaning the circle 😶
So many things are done in Llanelli with out the local people being asked about
The so called new sport centre looks there was no design to it and the color is horrible
They could have designed in away to bring people here just to look at it
They put 2 statues of horse 🐴 head up in Scotland and 1000s go to see it
Now why could they not design one of the building like a rugby 🏉 as that what Llanelli and Wales are famous for
Look at the years and mess at Sandy water park round about and the money that costing
Look at our local hospital and what happening there
Look at local police force you talk about picking up rubbish and CCC have taken the bins away
Classy town hall. Meet you by the map.happy memories. Then they built that monstrosity along side it. what a waste of our council tax money. that was downright criminal
Spots centre & Bryngwyn both look like prison.