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The
Editor Glamorgan
Gazette Brackla
Street Centre Bridgend
CF31 1DD Fax:
01656 304904 5th
January 2001 Dear
Sir, As
a newcomer to Bridgend County Borough, I have been impressed by the outstanding
natural beauty of the coast line and remaining rural areas
– this is a very valuable asset for the local community which risks
being destroyed by old fashioned attitudes to planning and development. Bridgend County Borough Council is currently reviewing proposals for the redevelopment of Porthcawl, the key element of which is a new superstore. The proposals, which we hope will be made public soon, are still shrouded in mystery. What we do know, however, is that the proposals neither meet residents’ demands for a swimming pool for the town nor do they address the issue of the use of the Sandy Bay site which the Council has now cleared of caravans. It seems that the Council’s current vision for Porthcawl includes a superstore, additional retail space and a new housing estate on the Sandy Bay site. Clearly, the Council hopes that the sale of land to property developers will raise funds for the Borough to be spent on services in Porthcawl and elsewhere. I would like to suggest that this approach, though understandable, is misguided and short-term. The
core stated objective of the Porthcawl Regeneration Strategy is to ‘make the
resort of Porthcawl more attractive to visitors and extend the season’.
All over Europe, regional and local Governments have understood that
tourists want ‘to get away from it all’.
They see the numbers in the resorts of the 1950s and 1960s declining as
tourists’ tastes have shifted to new unspoilt areas, rural ‘farm’ holidays
or sailing and trekking holidays. To
protect their valuable tourism revenues they are working to pull down
unattractive post-war budget resort developments and restore areas of coastline.
Times have changed, and we should think about the potentially damaging
impact to tourism of continuous development.
Already new housing construction in Bridgend County Borough means that
towns and villages run into each other and the character of the landscape has
been altered. If we want to assist
the long-term economic and social development of the area, should we not think
again? I
would like to propose that Bridgend County Borough Council should review its
Porthcawl Regeneration Strategy. They
should consider if the long-term interest of the whole Bridgend area and its
sustainable economic prosperity would not be better served by protecting the
coast line, by restoring damaged wasteland, and by turning the Sandy Bay area
into coastal park land. In this way
we really could ‘make the resort of Porthcawl more attractive to visitors and
extend the season’. Yours
faithfully Tania
Brisby Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bridgend
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