Metro

As an aside, while looking for Metro stories I came across this thread from people who live in the Cardiff Capital Region's western fringes: http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/s ... s7U3mSLR0I

Yeah except there is no update, just some soundbites about a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes! I'm not sure what the purpose of these public displays is either, maybe it's some time wasting. How about some actual progress? This is becoming procrastination in the extreme

It's the kind of thing they might do if there was an election coming up. Oh, hang on...

You beat me to it Ash.

As an aside, while looking for Metro stories I came across this thread from people who live in the Cardiff Capital Region's western fringes: http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/s ... s7U3mSLR0I

They do have a point, but I don't think they realise it's a metro for the whole region, not just Cardiff. Connections to the valleys will contribute to the future of those areas. Any district that has poor access to its capital city will not do that well.

Also, these posts are from July. Since then a new city deal for Swansea has been proposed, with the backing of both the public and private sector, so their arguments are a little out of date.

It must be said though that for a region with half the population of the whole of Wales, I don't really see the huge disparities that our fellow countrymen shout about. Surely a region with 50% of the population should get around 50% of the funding. I don't know the true figures, but it can't be much more than 50%, given that most of the developments in Cardiff are privately funded (and I'm not sure many people realise this).

As an aside, while looking for Metro stories I came across this thread from people who live in the Cardiff Capital Region's western fringes: http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/s ... s7U3mSLR0I

you really need to add NSFW to your posts before you post such filth as that

I don't know the true figures, but it can't be much more than 50%, given that most of the developments in Cardiff are privately funded (and I'm not sure many people realise this).

Nowadays, Cardiff gets relatively little public sector 'regeneration' money - far less than its population share. Swansea gets much more of that.

And you're right. I've heard peole say "they don't need more shops in Cardiff, there's plenty. Why did THEY spend all this money on Cardiff again?" in relation to St Davids. I've heard that from (mainly older) people in the Valleys and Swansea.

I think the older generation of people outside have a problem with the city. Don't get so much griping from younger people.

And I think it does just reflect the incredibly informed nature of some people. I think they really do think theres someone sat there planning where to build shopping centres or houses. Thats because there is on some level (planning system, LDPs etc). But thats about land allocations. Its ultimately private sector money that does most of the building - and takes the commercial decision of where to site things.

RC - You're talking about places where there is a long history of central planning. I remember a friend from the valleys saying to me that as well as the industrial decline, there's not much of an entrepreneurial culture in the valleys. I suppose that's just not how the economy there was.

I think its the combination of a big role for the state.. and traditionally big employers (mines, factories, etc).. Rather than a small business sector.

On the Metro. Yeah, timing of these 'announcements' / PR is a bit dubious I must admit. However, it does seem that stuff is slowly moving through the process. Don't forget how slowly High Speed 2 is grinding on (if they pulled the plug on that and invested the money in smaller schemes, we'd be better off!).

It would be interesting to see the WAG spend per head in the various geographical regions of Wales. I've looked but I can't find the information. I did see a table breaking down spend per head on economic development a few years ago - I remember Anglesey was bottom of the pile and Cardiff was somewhere in the middle.

Does WAG publish this type of information?

I read the Guardian website quite often. Whenever there is a story about Wales/WG that is open for comments there are always at least a few comments (usually from the same individuals) who state as fact that north/west/mid Wales are seriously shortchanged in terms of funding. I'd like to be able to refute this (if it is refutable) but the information is not readily accesible. You can find out about WG funding for individual arts or transport projects etc but that really doesn't show the whole picture.

Anyone know where this info can be found?

I think its the combination of a big role for the state.. and traditionally big employers (mines, factories, etc).. Rather than a small business sector.

On the Metro. Yeah, timing of these 'announcements' / PR is a bit dubious I must admit. However, it does seem that stuff is slowly moving through the process. Don't forget how slowly High Speed 2 is grinding on (if they pulled the plug on that and invested the money in smaller schemes, we'd be better off!).

I've sort of changed my mind on HS2. The benefits of being able to get to London faster may be dubious but I don't know how else in the long term you solve the issue of congestion without building a new line. Surely it provides benefits as well to more local trains and freight? I do worry about it's connection to the wider rail network though. How much easier will it be to get from Cardiff to Leeds?