THE PONTYPRIDD CHAMBER OF TRADE.
www.pontypriddbiz.co.uk
From Mr G F Orsi, Chairman Pontypridd Chamber of Trade.
4 High Street,
Pontyridd.
To.
Leader of RCT,
Head of Economic Regeneration RCT,
Head of Highways RCT,
28th Jan 08
Dear Sirs,
The Chamber of Trade has recently distributed 200 survey sheets throughout the town. To date, over half of the completed replies have been returned. Attached are the results to this survey. The figures speak for themselves. I feel that the strongest point made is that over seventy five percent of the replies feel that their customers find Pontypridd more difficult to use. This should be of the gravest concern to all of us it means the scheme is unpopular with the customers and they tend to vote with their feet.
Can I also bring to your attention the footfall figures that RCT have compiled (Pontypridd Town Centre Visitor Evaluation Analysis, Issue One, Quarterly Report, Sept/Oct/Nov & Figures for December).
I cannot emphasise too strongly how clearly the visitor numbers mirror the reduction in business activity in Pontypridd. In essence, the increase in footfall for December was minimal, as demonstrated by your findings; a totally unacceptable situation to find ourselves in and we feel a direct consequence of the experiment.
Using September as a base (there are no other months to use these are NOT month on month increases).
The increase for Oct was just over 4.%.
The increase for Nov was just under 4%.
The increase for Dec was just over 5%, a negligible increase on the base month of Sept and only 1.0% better than Nov, on what should be the “bumber” month in trade. In simple terms this translates to having an increase of 15,000 more people in Taff Street during Dec than there was in Sept, which equates to a count of under 600 per day. This should concentrate your minds as well as it has ours.
The Chambers position of wanting to support the experiment (all be it with caveats that were not included in the trial anyway) has become untenable and impossible to maintain even though the experiment is in its initial stages. This was confirmed by the open meeting where a motion to suspend the trial was unanimously carried. The motion was:
“The pedestrianisation experiment has led to serious trading losses at the busiest time of year and we call on the authority to suspend the experiment with immediate effect.”
The business communities serious ongoing concerns, never mind the next quarter is palpable. I cannot reiterate more strongly how urgent the suspension of the experimental traffic order is. Pontypridd is facing the double whammy of a failing economy because of the credit squeeze and a traffic trial which is unpopular and unworkable. You must act NOW.
Yours sincerely,
