Carmarthen core group member, Jenny Fox, shares an update on the Ffordd Ymlaen – Streets Ahead project, which aimed to transform King Street within 100 days.
100 days we said… to make a difference in an independent street of Carmarthen. Why not? Over hundreds and hundreds of years, Carmarthen had always had its precious ‘King Street’, where independent traders, national shops, and commerce had worked from. It was the place where Romans had walked, a Bishop had been led to be burnt at the stake, and everyone had witnessed the queues to watch Jurassic Park premiere at the Lyric Theatre on the same night as the premiere in London.
In recent years independent traders had stayed in King Street, but national shops had closed, with commerce vacating for out-of-town properties. What could be done, and how could LocalMotion be the radical changemaker and bring the community back to the street?
Ffordd Ymlaen – Streets Ahead – rolled into town with an ambition to pilot a programme of improvements and involve the community in making a difference in their town. Empty shops, rusty benches, dark lanes, charity businesses, old bike parks’, cooperatives were approached to be part of the project.
January 1st 2023 was the project’s start day and it was clear to see that people felt passionately about their street. Youth groups started to litter pick, community mental health organisations picked up paint brushes, and permissions were sought for bringing colour to the street.
We worked in partnership with Carmarthen BID who paid for spring daffodil hanging baskets, and with Carmarthenshire County Council who deep cleaned all the lanes into the street. We wanted to deliver on designing murals, but more course attendance and engagement was needed, and we would have liked to have been more disruptive but also wanted to keep everyone on board. Carmarthen Town Council assisted in providing barriers and organising teams.
With the coming together of local groups, businesses, and individuals, scaffolding went up, paint pots were opened, and the project commenced. It was great to see the buildings being transformed with cleaning products and paint.
Everyone had an opinion which they shared, and the balance of listening was difficult at times. Private owners of businesses wanted their property painted, with some questioning why their building was not included, and why others like them had had this investment. Debates were had over colour schemes, flower borders, ownership, and respect for the street. Other streets in the town were jealous, and many businesses were very opinionated. However, we can look back and celebrate other events that this project has inspired in the street, the nurturing of people power, creative working, community words and feelings, and how important the vision is to enable the future of Carmarthen to develop and flourish.
We now have a strengthening community, who are inspired by what has already happened and willing to move forward with a cohesive community vision. Groups are working together on projects, and Ffordd Ymlaen – Streets Ahead – is working its way up from the bottom of the Carmarthen Regeneration Forum agenda to the top. While LocalMotion invested in a variety of the project’s activities, groups and individuals also invested their own time, resources and funding into improving the town and creating a happier place to live.
All this activity has led not only to an improved place to live and work, but has brought a greater sense of place, where inclusivity is the way forward and all groups can inspire each other. The community is starting to join together and lead the way. Exciting times lie ahead!