Forget inward investment, let’s look inwards
With one of the most spectacular castles in the world, does Caernarfon get the visitors it deserves?
IT IS OFTEN said that by local people that if Caernarfon was in Ireland, its fate would be very different.
The town would always be bustling with activity, tourists would flock from every corner of the world to visit its impressive castle and there would be plenty of upmarket shops in which they could spend their cash. The dramatic mountainous and coastal backdrop would provide a perfect platform for a booming and prosperous economy driven by tourism, and of course there would be plenty of jobs available for local people.
As it stands, Caernarfon has failed to reach its potential. Although tourists do visit, they tend to arrive on a coach and wander around for an hour or two at most. Very few of them spend any money in the town and, to be honest, you can’t really blame them. While there are some fantastic shops in Caernarfon, such as the wonderful bookshop Palas Print, they tend to be off the high street and not immediately apparent to those who are visiting for the first time. And since the high street itself is such a depressing site, with a number of closed down or tired looking outlets, it hardly encourages anyone to tarry a while. The local economy is in dire need of a reboot, and there is a shortage of employment opportunities in the North Wales region as a whole.
This is one of the reasons why the announcement in February that a prison was going to be built on the outskirts of Caernarfon, on the former Ferodo site, was welcomed by the majority of local politicians and councillors. While there were other reasons – such as the need for such a facility in North Wales to serve the local community, enabling easier rehabilitation of prisoners closer to their families as well as the opportunity to develop unique Welsh language services for prisoners – the main driving force for supporting the plans was undoubtedly the prospect of economic gain with the possibility of up to a 1,000 permanent jobs being created, along with 850 construction jobs. This would have been worth £10m a year to the local economy, providing a much needed cash injection into the region.
Certainly, there had been some concerns about the plans. Some people worried that the presence of a prison would make Caernarfon a less popular tourist attraction, while others were concerned that house prices would drop in the town. In addition, the location of the site, on the banks of the beautiful Menai Straits, had been somewhat controversial, with many people preferring a different kind of development there. However, an alternative proposal had not been forthcoming and with no one else coming forward for plans to build on the site, the council and local politicians had little choice but to be pragmatic and support the plans for a prison, realising that the economic pros outweighed the recession-flanked cons.
The reversal of this decision in late September was, therefore, a bitter blow not only to those who had been campaigning for a prison in North Wales, but to Caernarfon itself. The population on the whole had been supportive. People had seen the prison as an opportunity for the community rather than a threat which, hand-in-hand with the new court building, could have turned Caernarfon into the North Wales centre for law. This had the potential to prompt barristers to open a chamber in the town, as well as other businesses that would have supplied the prison with various provisions. All those hopes have now been dashed, and Caernarfon has been left disappointed once again.
The blow has been slightly softened by the announcement last week that Gwynedd Council has secured a £2.4 million windfall from Europe to invest in regenerating Caernarfon. Local people have been consulted on how best to spend this money, and no firm plans are in place yet. Although this is undoubtedly good news and will compliment the redevelopment of the Maes which has already gone ahead, the root cause of the problem will remain: the lack of employment opportunities in North Wales on the whole.
Many friends have been forced to move elsewhere in order to find suitable employment, and although they’re now approaching their thirties and would love to move back to start their own families, the economic opportunities just aren’t there. This has been a problem for decades, and there are no easy solutions. The Welsh Assembly Government is trying its best to attract investment into the region, but the current financial climate is hampering attempts, and the area also needs support from London. Unfortunately, London seems to be looking elsewhere – why else would we have had the decision not to go ahead with plans for the prison in Caernarfon? North Wales is once again losing out.
But perhaps, rather than focusing all energy on attracting inward investment, emphasis should also be placed on how the North Wales economy can capitalise on its own natural beauty and resources. Although many people visit the area and much has been done to develop Wales brand over the past few years, tourism still hasn’t fulfilled its full economic potential.
The truth is that we still have a long way to go before we can compete with countries like Ireland in exploiting all Wales has to offer. Perhaps that boils down to the confidence of a nation, something Wales has certainly lacked in the past. This is changing, but perhaps a more strategic approach to tourism is needed. Places like Caernarfon should be must-see places to visit and explore rather than somewhere useful for a coach to stop on a general tour of the area. Just by appreciating and making the most of what it already has, the local economy could become far more sustainable and profitable and offering far more opportunities for local people.
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This is a superb article. Very evocative and with a strong sense of more can be done. Caernarfon truly is one of the unpolished gems of Wales.
With a Unesco World Heritage site to boot!
Great stuff heledd!
I think the wider point of this article is hugely relevant, and ultimately pays into the people of Wales being more positive about themselves and their land.
We have such a rich and diverse land, one which needs to be promoted with the same zeal and positivity others places do. We are slowly seeing that change in the Valleys, with people beginning to merely look around them and see what economy that can be built around them.
I do not argue we should turn Wales into a parody of itself to attract tourists, but ultimately we need to deepen the experience of people when they visit, particularly in North Wales and outside of Cardiff generally.
I recall a recent article or letter by a visitor to Caernarfon bemoaning the opening (or rather the closing) times of the main attractions there. Tourists unable to visit the castle at 4 pm in the summer was the main point. Shops shutting early and opening late, all made the place unattractive to a long stop over.
We will continue to get the results we get, unless we change something. A prison would create economic value, just as an Amry Barracks would, but a lot more must be done locally to stimulate change throughout Wales. The government is not the only source of good ideas for change. So let’s get our heads on and create change without waiting for it to be delivered from Cardiff/Westminster.
There is something counter-intuitive about celebrating the castles of conquest, a point Alun Ffred has been discussing recently. I noticed in the Western Mail’s article on Cadw last Saturday there was a reference to trying to get people to adopt a more long-term perspective. Perhaps a little more nonchalance would be helpful – something along the lines of …. when we let Eddie Longshanks build his castles we always knew they’d come in handy for something … Even so it’s important to avoid the Ruritanian-esque stuff associated with Caernarfon.
Excellent article – Wales home needs more stuff from the west and north.
If the Irish model works – and Cardiff and London can’t deliver – could there an agreement forged with the Irish government’s Department for Arts, Sports and Tourism to run North Wales tourism.
Obviously it would have to be a commercially viable arrangement for both parties but devolution of power shouldn’t just be about strategic arrangements between big institutions.
I know it is a bit left field to hand over responsibility to another country but the important thing is the people of Caernarfon deserve the best. Practically it could work through the creation of a pan national tourism region of a sort seen in mainland Europe. Alun Ffred Jones would obviously remain constitutionally in charge but he would seed day-to-day responsibility for a period of time across the water.
It is obvious what Wales would gain, but the Irish too it would offer benefits
- Better control over North Wales ports;
- Maximising the currently under-utilised transportation between Wales and Ireland; and
- Developing the Irish governments good relationship with the Manchester airport as a hub for north American travellers
Given north west Wales proximity to Dublin. Why not?
A positive post in the face of disappointing news about the prison. It would be great to increase the visitors from other parts of Wales as well as from Ireland, England and beyond. Sitting here in Swansea, though, the simple torture of trying to get anywhere much north or west within Wales is a huge disincentive. I do not really want to have to travel an hour in the wrong direction to Cardiff first to get on the Gerallt Cymro train (the “Ieuan Express”) before the great trek begins. Maybe little that can be done in the short term beyond what One Wales is doing but please keep pushing, Heledd, for a proper internal transport system for Wales.
Prison would have been a disaster.
Invest in Caernarfon? Try Gwynedd Planning. But Sioned Williams in economic development is excellent, I understand.
To be tourist friendly takes investment in both the infrastructure and the people. I will never understand why in Llanfair PG all the retail is run by non-Welsh companies. Why not invest in encouraging enterprise? The market is there. There is a major need for another upmarket hotel, the Celt is not enough. Tourists want good places to eat and enjoy a coffee after 5 pm if possible.
I love Caernarfon but it it just doesn’t look as if it loves itself. The shops, cafes and feel needs to be brought up to far more to what tourists and business visitors expect – even demand.
I still am stunned that a supermarket sits on one of the prime tourism sites right on the seafront.
There is so much that could be built on to generate a booming tourist and business market, but honestly is there the will?
A thoughtful article.
Perhaps we shouldn’t get too carried away by Ireland. It was deluged with EU money for years, but those days are over and it will be interesting to see where they go from here – now that their economy is in a dire state.
To an earlier commentator I say ‘Let’s put that conquest stuff behind us.’ The castle is a gem to be celebrated and enjoyed by visitors who come and spend money. Would we have such reservations about our sparse Roman edifices?
We need to get our beautiful scenery and places of interest better known, but also stimulate more enterprise. Wales cannot rely on inward investment as much in the past (we’ve learned the hard way), and yes, we need more indigenous and small scale enterprises. We need both.
But start a business anywhere in Wales (or the UK) and you are immediately punished by ridiculous business rates. I have just had a demand for payment for the stairs and upstairs landing in my small business. I have to pay several times the amount of council tax that I pay for my home, which is larger.
So why not encourage start-ups in population centres like Caernarfon by slashing business rates – or removing them entirely for, say, five years? I know Plaid have an interest in this. We can’t all work in the public sector, or the whole economy of Wales will slip ever further down the EU league.
And finally, isn’t it odd that we pin our economic hopes on a new prison?
Will,
In replying to Heledd Fychan’s post in those terms I was aware that I was conveying some of the reservations which have possibly hindered tourism in Caernarfon in the past. I’m quite happy to put the conquest stuff behind us and would be even happier if the Royal Family could too!
Thanks you all for your responses. We knew from the moment we had it that Heledd had written us an excellent piece, and thought-provoking it proved to be also, judging from all the comments.
Since beginning WalesHome.org, we have found that local issues like this provide some of the greatest debate and, working on the assumption that a large amounts of responses equals plenty of interest, we are keen to find more of the same.
If you think you have a story of this kind that has become an issue in your part of Wales, please drop me a line at duncan@waleshome.org and we will take a look into it.
Once again, thanks for all your comments.