What’s wrong with Whitchurch?

I’ve spent this week talking to lots of different people in the village and asked them one question: What’s wrong with Whitchurch?

I’ve lived here since I was 9 months old and slowly but surely I fear things are changing for the worse. Cardiff North is the nicest part of the City (ok, I am biased!) and people pay high prices to live here and have some of the highest rates in the County. As a kid, I remember taking my bike to Princes News on Foreland Road for my paper-round and leaving my bike outside the shop totally unattended and if the echo was late printing it would be left outside for a few hours and remain untouched. These days, a bike outside a shop would be swiped in minutes. Maybe that’s more of a change in society in general than what’s happening locally. Who knows.

The Three Elms has been hot topic lately with residents who live opposite it who have launched a rather savage attack on the pub for it’s problems, despite the police saying problems were not common and the council licensing department not having any complaints either. These campaigners would have you believe that the pub is encouraging young people to come and get sloshed off their faces and then carry on to do whatever they please with no consideration of public property or it’s neighbours. I don’t think thats true at all. There have been isolated problems at the elms and the management have been very open to the reports and have addressed the issues but for some people it’s not enough and they wont be silenced until the pub is closed. Why would people do this? There is no need to write to the echo or take photos and videos of people fighting outside or throwing glasses around. It has happened, nobody denies this but there is no need to launch a crusade on the pub. The management have put in new restrictions allowing over 21′s only on a Friday and Saturday night aswell as not allowing drinking outside the main entrance. Speaking to the Manager, it’s worked and the result is a much quieter friday and saturday evenings. This might result in takings suffering a little but for a pub that is food-driven then it’s not really a problem and the staff are quiet happy with this.

So what really is the problem? Perhaps there isn’t one.

On another note there is a new shop opening in the village next month at the old Threshers store, next door to the Fino Lounge. It’s going to be a Baguette Express. I’m not sure what has happened in the village in recent years. It seems to be a collection of Charity shops, Hair Salons, Estate Agents and Food establishments. Where has the variety gone? There are several sandwich shops already in the village: Greggs, Mannas, Ozzys (on the roundabout) and the rear of the Village Diner. There might be more I have missed but do we really need another one? People sometimes travel great distances when they visit Whitchurch. I’ve spoken to people at the cuppa with a copper days who travel from the valleys, penarth and today there were people there from Pembrokeshire. What’s on offer here? Ummm a few banks, 12 hairdressers, 5 charity shops, 10 choices for lunch and concorde discount in a pear tree. There is still the odd bit of diversity such as the pet shop and plenty of long established private traders such as Holloways Jewellers, Birds Fish and veg store and more.

My involvement with the Community Centre has opened my eyes to a few surprises. Quite a lot of people don’t actualy know where the community centre is. A woman who came in to have a look at the place recently asked if we were putting anything on for teenagers over the summer. Who is we? The committee provide the centre, it’s down to the community to do something with it. Everyone talks but very few bother to do anything.
I was disappointed to hear the youth club does not open during the summer holidays and that there is not really anything organised for the teenagers to do. Yet people only complain when the kids get drunk in the park or throw stones at cars out of shear boredom.

Every year the flags go up as the Whitchurch festival crawls out from under a rock for 2 weeks and for 2 days at christmas we see santa and the lights go on in the village but there is no real community involvement, which is a real shame.

The new Traffic Enforcement Officers seem to be doing a good job but as soon as they turn the corner the usual mayhem comes back outside the Co-op.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not just using my own website for a rant. I genuinely love living in Whitchurch and I still think it is a great place to live, and ideal to raise kids in a relatively safe and secure suburb. But a lot of the welcome and friendly faces are now staring into nothing or shoulder-barging their way rushing into oblivion.

I ask you, the 15,000 people who live here, What is wrong with Whitchurch in your view, and what can be done about it?

Please feel free to post your views below or if you’d like to write your own article then get in touch!