I’M disappointed to read that the development of the 1.93 Hectare Grillo site, adjacent to Burry Port Harbour, purchased by Carmarthenshire County Council, is going to be put on hold for up to another four years. This site was a part of the Burry Port Harbour Regeneration Masterplan. The Grillo Factory was demolished some 12 years ago and the site remained dormant ever since. It’s now littered with mounds of earth and rubble, making it an unsightly eyesore on the main approach to the Harbour’s popular Eastside.
Those with long memories will clearly remember images of the Masterplan released by Carmarthenshire County Council 15 years ago. Wonderful and exciting news at the time, its highly ambitious regeneration project promised to transform our Harbour’s Eastside into a commercial Leisure Waterfront with opportunities for retail shops, hotel, pub/restaurant and housing. In turn, it was supposed to give a welcome boost to our local economy and bring much-needed jobs to the community.
After all these years of raising our hopes, this Masterplan has still not materialised, but occasionally it does see the light of day when it’s brought out from County Hall’s bottom drawer and presented with a big splash in our local press to show it’s still alive and kicking. Reminding us all of what’s coming and how lucky we are going to be in the future. Then, the Masterplan is returned to the County’s bottom drawer once again and forgotten about until the next time it’s needed to keep our communities’ hopes and spirits up yet again!
It seems this Regeneration promise for our Harbour has sadly been nothing but a pipe dream. For over 15 years our community has been pacified with nothing more than empty promises, excuses and spin. The ugly reality is now stagnation, Town centre eyesores, neglect and under-investment that is now blatant for all to see. Burry Port seems to be in a time warp. How many more years is this going to be allowed to go on for? The town needs to wake up to this sad predicament before it’s too late. Burry Port has so much potential but there doesn’t appear to be the motivation, drive or enthusiasm from our local County Council leaders to realise this and get things done. Nothing ever seems to come to fruition in Burry Port. Promises now need to be turned into action, the sooner this happens the better for our communities long term future.
Near the Grillo site is the Fair Field site, which is another example of unutilized development land, owned by Carmarthenshire County Council, where Tesco was to have built a supermarket creating 150 jobs in the community some 12 years ago. Surely, after all this time another investor could have been found for this prime parcel of land? What about a Garden Centre that would bring a different type of business into the town? These are very popular in other areas. Fortunately there now seems to be a glimmer of hope for the town as we see new businesses opening up. This shows they have confidence in Burry Port’s future and good luck to them in their endeavours.
The Windsor Club is also an eyesore in the town centre. This could be a golden opportunity for Carmarthenshire County Council to purchase this site for housing accommodation for senior citizens with easy access to shops/Doctors and transport hubs conveniently nearby.
Not forgetting the land formerly known as ‘Scotts Yard’, which is another abandoned site in the town centre, adjacent to the bus interchange again owned by Carmarthenshire County Council. Some ten years ago it was earmarked for an activity centre with accommodation for young people to learn and enjoy Kayaking and Canoeing with easy access to the Harbours. This project was suddenly dropped and never heard of again, hence the empty derelict site. This town centre parcel of land was originally gifted to Burry Port by British Rail back in 1968, with the intention of it being used for the good of our community. This town centre site should be returned to Burry Port using an asset transfer from Carmarthenshire County Council to the town council so that they can decide on its future use.
The County Council have already sold and leased off some of our town’s valuable assets without even consulting the community nor the town council, with decisions being made secretly behind closed doors. In future, our community and the Town Council should be consulted in any major decision making and not be left out or sidelined, as has been the case in the past. This is disrespectful and undemocratic and there needs to be far more accountability from our County representatives from now on.
It’s very disappointing that Burry Port has been overlooked in Carmarthenshire’s £143 Million Council House building programme to construct 900 new homes across the county over the next 10 years. Our town desperately needs traditionally built Council houses for local families and should, most definitely, be included in this much welcomed new building scheme.
As one of Carmarthenshire’s largest towns, Burry Port taxpayers pay a considerable amount of money into the County Council’s coffers. Why are other areas in the county receiving substantial investment in facilities and regeneration? Do their elected representatives have stronger and louder voices? Has Burry Port been abandoned and forgotten by Carmarthenshire County Council? Or are we just out of favour? Whatever the problem is, Burry Port expects and deserves better.
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