A council has defended much-criticised construction work which left town centre traders reeling from what they claimed were months of disruption. Officials have argued the town will benefit in the long-term from having a “top-class bus station”.
Work began to revamp Carmarthen bus station in the town’s Blue Street in April 2022. Initially shop owners, shoppers, and motorists were advised that there would be 12 weeks of disruption on the one-way street. However difficulties arose over the following months meaning that the work would ultimately take much longer than first anticipated. You can keep up to date with the latest Carmarthenshire news by signing up to the local newsletter here.
Just after Christmas traders complained that the footfall on the street had taken a hit due to the scale of the work, which has cost hundreds of thousands of pounds after Carmarthenshire Council secured a grant from the Welsh Government. Some claimed that access to their shops was denied to shoppers because of the scale of the work being carried out on their doorsteps – something which turned out to be more complicated than first thought due to underground cables and piping in the area.
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One of the business owners affected – Justin John, who co-owns The Flower Studio with his wife Sandi – said: “It’s hard to quantify how much we’ve lost out on in financial terms because we are quite a new business which is still bouncing back from Covid. It’s more about a missed opportunity – we were looking to really grow our business in 2022 but this has happened and it’s scuppered those plans.” Fellow business owner Nia Maynard, who owns One of a Find, said: “I need my shop to make a living. I only moved into this shop in March last year after relocating from another premises in Mansel Street. Had I known this was going to happen and that it would take this long I would never have taken on the lease here. We have lost out massively on trade and we will not see any compensation for the loss in earnings.” You can read more from disgruntled shop owners about the situation they’ve faced here.
One of the county councillors representing the ward covering the Blue Street area, Alun Lenny, was asked about the situation at a meeting of the council's cabinet. Cllr Lenny said the work carried out has already made the area more attractive and that once completed the revamped bus station will provide a boost to the town.
“The Carmarthen bus station improvement scheme, enabled by a Welsh Government grant, will comply with Llwybr Newydd – a national strategy that sets out different ways to support public transport,” said Cllr Lenny, a cabinet member for resources at Carmarthenshire Council. “When the work is finished Carmarthen bus station will be a much more welcoming, inviting, and safe place for passengers. It includes larger bus shelters in Blue Street with railway station-type electronic boards displaying bus schedules. The work has already made Blue Street more attractive with pavement resurfacing and safer places for pedestrians to cross the road. It will also be a much-improved link between the railway station and the town centre.
“I fully appreciate that the development has not been without its difficulties. The work was hindered due to a late response from utility providers who might have cables and piping underground. Work was also suspended between mid-November and early January so as not to disrupt local businesses over the Christmas period. Free parking was provided at the Blue Street car park during that period to alleviate any impact on businesses.
“It’s true that entrances to a couple of shops were obstructed. That was unfortunate but it was only for a matter of hours and the contractor made efforts to offer temporary access for customers. Work on the pavement outside the shops finished a couple of weeks ago. It’s a marked improvement and resurfacing the street itself will happen overnight this week weather permitting. Work will then continue to make significant improvements inside the existing bus station area which is off-street. When work finishes in the spring Carmarthen town will have a top-class bus station, which should attract more passengers to Blue Street and the town centre itself.
“Traders claiming that work on the scheme has affected their business have asked for compensation. There is no compensation scheme within the non-domestic rates regulations and for individual businesses to prove that they’ve suffered financial hardship council officers would need access to bank accounts etc as evidence that the hardship was a direct result of the development work. Either way I’m confident that once completed the new Carmarthen bus station will attract greater footfall to that part of our town and be a substantial boost to traders in Blue Street."
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