Cae Glas residents fight back against bad image

RESIDENTS of a Llanelli housing estate are fighting back against the ‘bad image’ being given to them in the local press.

Buoyed by recent newspaper reports branding Cae Glas, Felinfoel, ‘hell on earth’, local councillor Hugh Richards and a team from the council’s housing department carried out their own door-to-door enquiries to speak directly to tenants.

Of those that gave their views as part of the informal survey, tenants in 20 properties stated that they had not encountered any problems. Only six agreed that there were problems on the estate.

Cllr Richards said: “We realise that there have been problems in this area, but we do feel that this has been blown out of proportion. The way to deal with problems is to talk to people – and that is why we wanted to give residents the chance to have their say.”

Of the tenants that did share concerns, the problem highlighted most was an apparent rise in young people from other areas of Llanelli congregating in Cae Glas to drink alcohol and causing a nuisance.

Shaun Lewis, Housing Services Team Leader, said: “We felt it important to talk to residents directly and hear first-hand about any problems they are having.

“We do feel that the negative stories have had a bad impact on the area, and this is especially concerning as this a mixed estate with many privately-rented properties – and of course this does impact on the businesses of local landlords.

“All in all, we were encouraged by the responses of the tenants who felt that minor problems have been exaggerated.

“A few tenants mentioned that youths from other areas were starting to congregate locally, and this is something which we will aim to resolve by working with partners.”

He added: “We also encouraged tenants to come to us when they have any problems, as this will allow us to investigate and hopefully resolve any differences before they escalate.”

Council officers will re-visit the area to speak to tenants who were not available during this informal survey, in order to gain as many views as possible.