Caernarfon struggling like many other towns!

Hi Everyone,
First of all let me apologise for taking so long to update my blog on Caernarfon's favourite website, but as you can guess, CaernarfonOnline has become very time consuming with all the new people we have on board and it is taking more and more time to keep up to date. I am so grateful to Michael Sol Owen and Dylan Jones for providing us with exceptional Blogs and they, in turn, are guaranteed many readers by the simple fact that they are on COL.
BLOG Yourself?
If any of you readers would like to have a free Blog on COL then drop me a line and I will set it up for you. You don't need to be involved in politics or a councillor or anything really, but if you feel you have anything to say or want a soap box then get in touch with me today.
I promise that we will be back to speed next week regarding the website by providing you with up to the minute news and articles about everything going on in town.

Last year I wrote about the top 20 hits and misses we had in Caernarfon but this year I've decided not to repeat this as in this present climate it is not really a fair judgement on our town as we are in the middle of a recession not forgetting the dreaded credit crunch which is hitting nearly everyone I speak to.

As I write the pound is only worth $1.32 (compared with $1.85 the same time last year) and for the first time ever the pound is now on par with the Euro! This is bad news for the economy and one which has indeed been self made with banks and credit card agencies charging what they like on desperate customers who are trying to make ends meet. It was inevitable that something had to give and it looks like it may take years for us to get things anywhere near normality.

Gwynedd is really up against it this year because the Assembly has given them such a tight budget to work with. This will no doubt mean more cuts to our services. Therefore pointing the finger at Plaid Cymru is a none starter, they are the scapegoats and easy target in all this. (and no I am not a Plaid supporter - completely neutral that's me)- Agreed they've made mistakes and some have been very costly. but this is the same for Labour and Conservative run councils around the country. Everyone seems to be getting on the bandwagon about the loss in Icelandic shares, yet no one would have complained if this had turned out to make a packet for us. We are all trying to make ends meet, we bring in a wage and we try to balance what we spend. Some of us choose to put our money in the bank, others choose shares, others dabble in higher risk investments. Whatever we try to do, we try to do it to make more money, sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. This is life and now we must deal with it in what has now become hard times.

Last year a lot was said about the Doc Fictoria complex. I still hear through the grapevine that some councillors are continuing to have a moan about this place instead of now looking at ways of making it all work for the benefit of the town.
Sure Gwynedd sold it for a £1.00, but how much money has the Watkin Jones Group ploughed into the complex? Keeping it in mind that houses are not selling nationwide at the moment, how long will it be before they even break even? It is not the ideal time to sell property as prices are dropping by the day. But no one seems to care about the big businesses these days, it seems that more noise is made about the little corner shop closing down.

The loss of Woolworth is going to have a massive impact on Caernarfon. Woolworth has (for a long time) been an institution and the heart of the town. When the Nelson burnt down in Caernarfon many moons ago we lost something very important to the community, luckily at the time, we had the likes of Woolworth's, Burton's, Currys, Fosters and many more big names to attract shoppers into town. NOT ANYMORE!

The Chair of the Traders Association in Bangor has decided this week that enough is enough and is closing his shop in the High street, stating that the age of the small shop is over, that is clearly bad news for Caernarfon, because most of our shops are small.
Woolworth's closing means that we cannot rely on the usual "punters" coming into town, also the word is that up to 60 workers may be made redundant at Cibyn. also the abattoir has been struggling for years and its still only January!

Empty Shops
Walking around the town it's alarming how many empty shops we have. Some have been empty for years and no offers are being made.
Many of you have written in to ask who will take over the empty Woolworth store and many of you seem to have heard different things. Stermat have been mentioned, then Iceland and the latest is another Pound Shop.
Whatever we get (if anything) we need it and we need it fast, otherwise more and more shops will be closing.
Ty Bach Twt on Bangor Street has already spoke of their concern that business is down drastically and they may have to open only on selected days during 2009 and many others may choose to do the same.
Caernarfon is fast becoming a seasonal holiday destination which operates only a few weeks a year.
No one seems to be saying that they are doing well anymore, everyone seems to be blaming this that or the other. New Year Celebrations were held more at home this year as bars and pubs were left counting customers instead of till receipts.
The smoking ban obviously affecting trade as it was too clod to stand outside the pub having a cigarette when they could do it in their own armchairs at home at half the price.

The Maes
Personally I was always against stopping traffic coming into town and I stand by my view that this will be the death of Caernarfon.
Common Sense tells us that you need to make it as easy as possible for people to shop. People need to have things on their doorstep and the more difficult you make it for people to come into town the less they will come and obviously the less they will spend.

I live in the heart of town and to exit I have to drive past Post Bach and then to the roundabouts at Pool Side? When coming from North road I am forced to deviate towards the same roundabouts to come into the Maes.
I can therefore confirm that it has been months since I drove up Bangor Street.
When trying to buy an item in Siop Modur a few months back I found it very difficult to do it with the car (and I needed the car with me for the product I was purchasing).
Parking was impossible therefore I ended up going to Bangor, parking at Halfords and getting my product there instead. THIS IS BAD NEWS FOR CAERNARFON! If others are doing the same then what chance do our businesses have.
The Chairman of the Chamber of Trade has had his shop up for sale for the last two years, this is clearly not a good sign when the Chair wants to throw in the towel! It seems that selling up shop is not even easy either as he is not the only one trying to sell up, many others are in the same boat with very little interest show by others to move in and set up shop.

So what of all this? What does this spell out for Caernarfon? Well quite simply, if things don't start picking up soon, we are going to see even more closed shops and more businesses going into receivership. Let's face it, if the big guns are struggling, what chance do the little ones have?

More bad news I'm afraid
Ty Tryweryn Centre in Maesincla is also threatened with closure with more loss of jobs, this is also down to lack of funding by the Assembly.

Caernarfon Town F.C. are struggling at the foot of the Welsh Premier League and looks like they will be relegated this year. This may be the right way to go as sometimes taking a back step helps you to move forward.

Good news on the horizon though.....
Watkin Jones continues to invest in the town and will shortly be starting work on the St Helen's Road area. This is a site which is in desperate need of developing.

Tesco have completed their plans for the new development at Cibyn and hopefully this will give us all something to look forward to and provide much needed jobs to the town.

What of the existing Tesco site? What will happen there? Word has it that affordable housing will be developed on the site.

Caernarfon Wanderers are making good progress and they seem to have the right people in place to take them places.

The Castle is now more accessible for the disabled after last years fiasco in the Vets day when many couldn't make it into the castle to see the ceremony.

Word is that Beating the Retreat will be back again this year and even though there have been some concerns about the Bryn Terfel Faynol Festival. It is hoped that following meetings with such people as the Alun Ffred Jones the Heritage Minister and many others. the event will hopefully go ahead to celebrate Ten Years of music at the Faenol.
The 30th Annual Media Festival takes place in Caernarfon this March, which (even though not open to the general public) will attract quite a few people into town,
Feed My Lambs is now up and running after many years left derelict, Ty Ysgol will soon open its doors for the first time and The Noddfa is now online and going from strength to strength.

I may have left a few things out and I apologise if i have not mentioned some things. It was not my intention to list everything this year as things looked so grim. But at least we have a few things we can look forward to.

I therefore wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope we are all here same time next year with a better smile on our faces.

Pob hwyl a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i chi gyd.

Gareth

Hall of Fame on www.Cofis.co.uk

www.Cofis.co.uk has proved very popular with many of you and I can inform you that we still have a few hundred photos to add over the next few months. As we add new faces to our pages, we are receiving more and more photos from you, our visitors. Keep them coming and I promise we will add them as we go on.
Our Hall of Fame on www.Cofis.co.uk has been up a week now and by all accounts most of you have enjoyed it immensely.
As you may know, we asked our visitors to nominate different people from Caernarfon's past and present who (in their opinion) had done something which merited their inclusion on out Hall of Fame. With exercises like these, we would never find 20 people who everyone would agree on, but never the less we received 60 names and an independent panel of 6 people narrowed them down to the final 20 which are honoured on our pages.
We were aware that people may be scrutinizing the final decision but we have not received a single complaint except for one person who told us, he had not heard about some of the winners. So in this respect I was very pleased to be able to educate him through the site about the hero's of the town's past.
I hope you all enjoy reading about these very important people who now have a lasting tribute on our website.

Back to www.CaernarfonOnline.co.uk

Caernarfon Eye Sore

I can't believe it's been a few months since my last entry on here. But as I've been ever so busy with the New "Cofis" website (as well as adding bit's and pieces to COL), It's been pretty hectic.

Caernarfon Eye SORE!
Well it wasn't here long, but long enough for us to receive the largest number of complaints we've ever had about the awful Big Wheel.
Locals and visitors alike contacted the site to say they were amazed to see that work had been stopped on the Maes just so that a fairground attraction could come to town.
We are led to believe that this was not actually true, but the fact remains, it was ludicrous that the work was stopped and even more ludicrous that they allowed to big wheel to be parked on our half completed square.
A square which has cost nearly £3million so that it raises the profile of the town and what do we get on it? None other than the awful Caernarfon Eye Sore (as it's been dubbed by many of you).
Let's hope there was no damage made to the new slates!

In all we received 133 complaints and many of these alarmingly came from visitors who pledged never to return, as their idea of visiting a World Heritage Site was ruined by the Eye Sore in front of it.
I must say I tend to agree and let's hope that councillors and Gwynedd sees sense not to allow it to return to the Maes.
If they must have it then put it somewhere else.

Where?...................................

How about Rhyl?

People never fail to amaze me!

Thousands of trees are felled every day in such places like the Rain Forests of the world, and we humans should be very concerned because of it.

If these trees are not replaced then it will effect our home - namely planet earth.

But, wait a minute.....

Now, some members of the public and (more worryingly some councillors) are up in arms because a hundred year old tree has been removed from the Maes!!!

Gwynedd Council has explained that it was not a protected tree and had been deemed dangerous to the public.

It seems to me that some people just like to complain! They actually enjoy it! Week in week out we see the same old moaners in the papers, complaining about the same old issues. If it's not the Victoria Dock project then it's the doctors surgery and if it's not that then its something Gwynedd Council has done. I realise that not everything Gwynedd Council do is right and in my opinion they do get things wrong as much as other councils. BUT......

This latest complaint in my opinion really takes the biscuit!

Let's look at this logically....
An old tree has been felled in Caernarfon, a tree which most of us haven't even noticed unless you sit under it or work by it on a regular basis.
Gwynedd Council have decided to take it down, because it is dangerous!

If they had left it there and someone got hurt then rightly so, people should be complaining.

The council have made a decision and made a decision in the interest of public safety!!!

Don't you think that this is what we pay them to do?
It is so easy to be wise AFTER an event.
In this instance, the council takes action BEFORE anything happens and it is criticised.

This was a Bloody tree! One which will (no doubt) be replaced by other's....

Looking at the plans for the Maes, I can see loads of trees earmarked for planting.... More than there were in the first place!

A tree may be a living thing, but it is not an animal, no one died here so what's all the fuss about?
In life things change, things are taken down and rebuilt -FACT!
I agree that some old buildings have historical value and should be preserved, but this was a flippin TREE!!! It had no historical value except the fact that it had been there all our lives.

The same could be said about Wembley Stadium and they took that down and rebuilt a better one!!! (Shame they can't rebuild a better team, but that's another matter)

These moaners make me so sad..... because if it wasn't for them then the town would have a chance. As it is, we argue about anything and everything no matter what.

Get a life guys. A tree is only a tree and it WILL be replaced by another.

One of these days, we may see a project go ahead in town without someone criticising it.

Then again Caernarfon Town FC may one day win the Welsh Premier League.... We can all live in hope!

Back to http://www.caernarfononline.co.uk/

Private Number Plates?

Hi again,

I can't believe how quickly time passes by and it's been quite a while since my last entry on here. But I felt I just had to include this little snippet.

Having visited Ysbyty Gwynedd today, I was amazed to see a car ambulance with a private number plate!!!

Seriously, I couldn't believe my eyes when my wife pointed out this flippin thing standing proudly outside the hospital.

A lot of people have indulged in this expensive hobby, with the most apt belonging to Paul Daniels... MAG 1C

But even that was surpassed by this paramedic......

Surely someone is taking the mickey???

Would you travel to hospital with this number plate?

I'll leave it for you to decide.....

Here is what we saw....

Wait for it......





Dead On Arrival!

A lesson from the Aussies?

I was sent this by email today and thought I'd share it with you all.
Political correctness has gone nuts in the last decade and it's about time someone put a stop to it.

This story could also be adapted to local politicians who think they know better than the locals. You know the ones I am talking about. (Especially those who need to use our taxes to pay for their translation services at meetings)

This is what I was sent:

Britain needs a leader like this!

Prime Minister John Howard - Australia Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks. Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.

Quote:'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.' 'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom' 'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society - Learn the language!

'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.' 'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why.

All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.' 'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.'

'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.' Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, British citizens will find the backbone to start speaking and voicing the same truths.

Read in between the lines and act intelligently at the up and coming election.
If they ain't from here then don't vote for them - Simple!

Welsh Football

In a week that could see Wales win the Grand Slam we see a Welsh football side making it to the Semi Finals of the FA Cup.
Cardiff City may well make it to the final they previously won back in 1926 when they beat Arsenal.
Cardiff it seems is a law into themselves as they choose to play in the English League and totally snub the Welsh Premier and Welsh FA Cup.
Even if Cardiff win the English FA Cup, they will not be entered in the European competition as Cup winners because the English FA cannot endorse them as they are a Welsh Team and the Welsh FA cannot endorse them as they have not won a Welsh Cup???

What a scenario!

Both Colwyn Bay and Caernarfon Town FC were exiled from playing at home for years because they refused to join the Welsh Premier League. After years of wrangling and loss in revenue as well as court costs, Caernarfon Town FC backed down and joined the Welsh League. By then the team was depleted and cash was hard to come by.

Caernarfon was a team who reached the 3rd Round of the FA cup all those years ago, were down and out following their exile and they have NEVER fully recovered.

The weekend epitomised all this when a lowly 79 turned out to support the Canaries. (and who says they were ALL home fans?)
Another bad season has resulted in low gates and lack of support from a local Town Councillor only served to rub salt in the wound.

We all know how bad the standard of Welsh football is and playing in this 'third rate league' has resulted in Caernarfon Town reaching their lowest ever state.
Cardiff City’s success in the English FA only proves that Caernarfon should have stuck to their guns and fought this ridiculous rule.
A rule that forbid them to play on their own pitch, just because some bureaucrat told them they had to take a backward step and join a lesser league.

The question is why do Wrexham, Swansea and Cardiff get away with it? While the Canaries have to suffer gates of only 79 supporters?

Al l I can say is that I hope Cardiff win the English FA Cup!
Now that would be in ‘your face to the Welsh FA’ wouldn’t it?

Anyway,
Best of luck to The Welsh National Rugby side on Saturday!