Heol y Gors Cwmgors Ammanford

moneyistooshorttomention

Davesnave wrote: »

Many people who head west are empty nesters, retiring from their main employment.

Those who go to Wales might do so because they can't afford to go to the Westcountry.

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Exactly the case in this instance and those of us that are recent incomers are all contributing pretty heavily to the social fabric of the community and have all taken on voluntary positions in the community of one type or another. Right now I can see some of the community are feeling pretty pleased with what we've all been doing since moving here:)

That's before we start going into just how much money we have been putting into buying goods/services locally.

dgtazzman

I moved to the area from the SE (Northampton) last year. I'm currently renting just out of LLandeilo and am waiting for my new build to be completed in Cross Hands.

True, if you are a young person looking to find work locally, there are probably better choices, but I work abroad, so the lack of work locally is of little concern for me. I wanted to get away from the busy SE and have a lot of family living in Bridgend. I was going to buy in Bridgend first, but that town is really run down and also busy as hell, so I went looking a bit more rural.

I personally don't like Ammanford much from what I have seen of it, it's quite a little focus point for traffic with rather narrow streets, which results in relative traffic chaos, but there's plenty of nice little villages around it.

Cross Hands isn't big, but it has a small retail center, which has a sizable coop and an Aldi, so works for me. No train station, but workable bus link to Swansea/Cardiff and beyond should I need it. There was going to be a big new Sainsbury's Superstore there, but that was shot down due to disagreements over planning.

I bought there as Cross Hands itself it quite quiet, while all the immediate necessities are in hand reach. It's also smack in the middle between Carmarthen and LLanelli, both of which I think are quite nice towns, Carmarthen more than Llanelli. Also, I was able to buy a house there for under 200k that would have probably cost towards 350k in Northampton (putting it out of my reach) and I can sit out in my new garden in the Sun listening to the birds, rather than traffic noises. Not going to make a lot of money on the house if I sell in future, but then this is a long term home, so that is of absolutely no concern to me. I just want to have a nice place to call me own and enjoy for many years to come.

If you do buy new build in the area, negotiate, there's quite a bit of competition at the moment between the different developers. This is probably largely down to Persimmon deciding to build some large developments in the area, while there aren't that many buyers looking to move into the area,

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Exactly the case in this instance and those of us that are recent incomers are all contributing pretty heavily to the social fabric of the community and have all taken on voluntary positions in the community of one type or another. Right now I can see some of the community are feeling pretty pleased with what we've all been doing since moving here:)

That's before we start going into just how much money we have been putting into buying goods/services locally.

Yes, the natives were just waiting for you to save them, with your sophisticated ways.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

ognum wrote: »

Why does it matter to you who moves there, if they buy a house they will be contributing to the local society by paying council tax, shopping at local shops, going to church, using pubs etc.

Why are you so unhappy about it?

You go and have a look at the kind of people that have moved to that area for a cheap house. A staggering number of them are doing it, ironically, to "get away from the immigrants".

carefullycautious

:eek: Oh no I did not want the question to incite anger. I have just been looking around different areas with a view to maybe retiring somewhere quieter but still with accessibility to shops GPs dentist etc.


There is no way I would go to a new area with a Holier than thou attitude or that I am somehow better than anyone else as I am bringing revenue to the area.


Scorpion I hope I have not caused offence to you

Davesnave

carefullycautious wrote: »

:eek: Oh no I did not want the question to incite anger. I have just been looking around different areas with a view to maybe retiring somewhere quieter but still with accessibility to shops GPs dentist etc.

Large movements of people, for whatever reason, have always caused tensions. They alter the nature of the areas they move into, which some of the 'natives' find unsettling.

When my family moved west in the 1950s, I felt this resentment, even as a young child.

Ironically, when I moved back again to this area of Devon in 2009, I was immediately shocked by the amount of estuary English I heard, which is funny, because I'm a Cockney by birth.

Now I've settled-in, I see that incomers, of all ages, play a significant part in the life of this community. The parish council, for example, is roughly 50% locally born, so are the country market sellers, the drama group, the skittles teams etc. No one needs to be a maths whizz to work out the rest.

However, this part of Devon isn't particularly accessible or well-known, which means that the influx of migrants from other parts of the UK has been steady, rather than sudden. We have few second homes here and the tourist trade is modest. Go somewhere nearer the coast and things are different, with high house prices and large numbers of empty properties in winter time, causing real concerns for the locals.

The Ammanford area you mention has high accessibility, and although not especially attractive in itself, it's quite close to the Brecon Beacons and other lovely areas of scenery. As a close-knit, formerly strong mining area, where 50% of people are still able to speak some Welsh, and with relatively high amounts of deprivation, it's maybe not the best place for speculative building.

Nevertheless, building has occurred and people with no former links to the area have moved in, simply because of the bang for their buck, rather than a genuine desire to forge a new life there. People flocking to a place because it's accessible to another place where they'd much rather be, isn't a great recipe for personal happiness and stable communities IMO.

ognum

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

You go and have a look at the kind of people that have moved to that area for a cheap house. A staggering number of them are doing it, ironically, to "get away from the immigrants".

So, I have read this a few times and must be slow or something, I'm not sure what it is saying.

Are you saying these are Welsh people moving from other areas of Wales populated by other nationalities

Are they English people moving to get away from other immigrant incomes in their home area.

What are the 'kind of people' you refer to.

I am sorry if I sound profoundly 'thick' but I just don't understand.