Sidelines

[Previous entry: "ltp2 consultation"] [Next entry: "aviation fuel tax"]

News from mid Wales, where in a 5 week trial timber deliveries will switch from road to rail and take the train from Aberystwyth. We spent a lot of time in the 90s in Aberystwyth, a stonking town with then top nightlife, getting there by both rail & road. Aberystwyth's (and many other small Welsh towns') charm used to lie in its isolation. But over the decade, the A44 became more congested through the Cambrian Hills. In the early 90s Safeways, MacDonalds, Wetherspoons etc arrived making it more attractive to pleb tourists in their wake, and it didn't seem quite so isolated when you were in a 40mph convoy of a Safeways juggernaut and a queue of cars bearing Aston Villa stickers across the hills. We fear the pressure will soon be on, if it's not already, for quicker access from the motorway system, and that means big upgrades on beautiful roads.

And where is the Tourist Board likely to stand on developing easier access to Aberystwyth and the surrounding hills? A Tourist Board sounds harmless enough, but a large part of it's job is to maximise economic benefit from tourists to an area, and to an extent its success is judged on the numbers who come rather than the quality of their experience. To this end, Tourist Boards may often press for improved access including faster / "safer" / new roads. So we have for instance Cumbria Tourist Board supporting a (highly improbable) plan for a 12 mile bridge across Morecambe Bay helping people in cars get to the Lake District.