Photo essay by Colin Jones. The streets shown are not typical of Rhyl West as a whole. Only a relatively small area of the ward is affected - and only temporarily - but for how long?
It's a point well made - that the people of Rhyl have had no say in how their town has been neglected and then used as a dumping ground by unscrupulous private landlords and some public agencies. The additional burden to social services, health services and policing/probation in the area must be enormous. The answer to the problem won't be forthcoming until power moves from central government (which doesn't care whether someone's a problem in Salford or Rhyl) to local communities.
Welsh Government officers have seen the video and written to say that cash flow is not holding up progress. They admit to a staff retention problem but this has been resolved. They hope to open an information office at 41 Abbey Street on or soon after 1st October 2012 so that residents and visitors can walk in and find out what's going on. That's made the effort of making the video worthwhile.
A visit to the site today (April 16th, 2013) has revealed very little progress. A small number of houses have been demolished on the elbow of Abbey Street and Aquarium Street. Early Summer visitors seem likely to be faced with rows of boarded up houses on which no demolition or renovation work has been attempted.
In May 2012 a report by the Centre For Social Justice said that in Rhyl West 67 per cent of people aged between 16 and 64 were receiving-out-of-work benefits. That’s a higher percentage than anywhere else in the UK.
As of 1st December 2012 the information office is still not open in Abbey Street, but may have set up at the old church in Princes Street. This is a controversial choice of location because some residents refuse to recognize the building as a bona fide community centre, don’t like the people running it and won’t go there for information of any kind.
In the video it was not my intention to make a nationalist or racist point. Many problematic people in Rhyl West have been sent here by rehabilitation and resettlement organisations - without being given much choice. They wouldn’t be here in large numbers if we didn’t have so much rented accommodation. Welsh Government is on the right track by clearing some of it. The thing is, how long is the area going to look like this? It is depressing for residents and shocking for visitors.
It's a point well made - that the people of Rhyl have had no say in how their town has been neglected and then used as a dumping ground by unscrupulous private landlords and some public agencies. The additional burden to social services, health services and policing/probation in the area must be enormous.
The answer to the problem won't be forthcoming until power moves from central government (which doesn't care whether someone's a problem in Salford or Rhyl) to local communities.
Welsh Government officers have seen the video and written to say that cash flow is not holding up progress. They admit to a staff retention problem but this has been resolved. They hope to open an information office at 41 Abbey Street on or soon after 1st October 2012 so that residents and visitors can walk in and find out what's going on. That's made the effort of making the video worthwhile.
Thank you, Marc. I agree absolutely.
A visit to the site today (April 16th, 2013) has revealed very little progress. A small number of houses have been demolished on the elbow of Abbey Street and Aquarium Street. Early Summer visitors seem likely to be faced with rows of boarded up houses on which no demolition or renovation work has been attempted.
In May 2012 a report by the Centre For Social Justice said that in Rhyl West 67 per cent of people aged between 16 and 64 were receiving-out-of-work benefits. That’s a higher percentage than anywhere else in the UK.
As of 1st December 2012 the information office is still not open in Abbey Street, but may have set up at the old church in Princes Street. This is a controversial choice of location because some residents refuse to recognize the building as a bona fide community centre, don’t like the people running it and won’t go there for information of any kind.
0:04 Used to be Bob Cardwell's amateur radio shop, 'North Wales Amateur Radio Mart' in the good old days.
As of 1st November 2012 the information office is still not open.
In the video it was not my intention to make a nationalist or racist point. Many problematic people in Rhyl West have been sent here by rehabilitation and resettlement organisations - without being given much choice. They wouldn’t be here in large numbers if we didn’t have so much rented accommodation. Welsh Government is on the right track by clearing some of it. The thing is, how long is the area going to look like this? It is depressing for residents and shocking for visitors.