Protecting the future of Pontarddulais

25/03/2026

Just to remind we will be in the Rugby Club this evening at 7pm if you want to drop by and polish off any comments or thoughts before the consultation deadline for Land at Bolgoed Farm.

We will have some typical responses that you can look at - so if you don't know where to start you can grab some ideas.

Everyone welcome - even if you want to ask about other developments :)

17/03/2026

Quick reminder that I will be at Bont Elim today between 12:00 and 1pm. Cllr Kevin Griffiths will also be there - so if you have any questions on the Bolgoed Farm development, feel free to call in for a quick chat 😁

29/11/2025

https://www.derwenmay.com/95-new-homes-public-consultation/?fbclid=IwRlRTSAOXvyVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe5HKal6nop2GAyduMjsxWF6FSPhqwFMWRPcUNUTysSph1Dew2uqNdZgX5BzA_aem_zqG4hPlggegkvqiBZMHgng

Derwen May Homes invites the local community to share their views in a 95 new homes public consultation for Bolgoed Farm, Pontarddulais.

29/11/2025

Plans have been unveiled for 95 new homes at Bolgoed Farm in Pontarddulais, adding to growing concerns over large-scale development in the town.

13/11/2025

*** Sigh.... the problem about putting things in your calendar is that you believe your calendar!! *************

Our regular monthly meeting is NEXT THURSDAY at the Rugby Club - 7pm in the back room. Everyone welcome.

Looking to talk about the Natural Resources Wales instructions regarding the Burry Inlet that have been given to council Planning teams (in both Swansea and Carmarthenshire). If you've not come across this then tonight might be a good night as it has massive ramifications for developments right down the line of the river Llwchwr.

Also looking to talk about what we can do with the visual evidence that we've seen before - I always reference the video of the water pouring out of the cricket club wall! As well as this things like images of queues on the Penllegaer roundabout caused by the new crossing signals - meaning people heading onto the A48 are queuing back across the 2nd lane of the A483.

If anyone has any questions - please drop me a line. I'll try to be a bit more organised next month!

11/10/2025

Interesting read

https://swanseabaynews.com/7000-homes-promised-just-300-built-swanseas-housing-blueprint-falters/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=jetpack_social&fbclid=IwZnRzaANXeHVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHoNDpmMOYVzapUeA5QLhBK56auag_F8_XZK8oO_qKu-3eR224_eciffYGkhl_aem_a9ch7ncLQ1ZcGPPV_sN5kA

Swansea’s Local Development Plan promised 7,000 homes in five years. Six years later, fewer than 300 are built as major sites stall and new rules bite.

12/09/2025

I'm pleased to say that I have been co-opted to fill the position of Town Councillor for the Dulais West Ward. If you're like me and wondering where this covers then draw a line straight down from the industrial estate down to Llys Morfudd (by Tesco) and then draw a line from the bridge to Glyn Llwchwr Road and you're pretty much there 😁 (with a little side detour up Caecerrig Road 😁 )

I'd be grateful if you gave my page a follow here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579748652374 - my initial contact details are on there, but bear with as I fit in training for the role around my job - more will come!

If you have any questions, suggestions, complaints, hints, tips or if there's anything I can try to help you with, please feel free to reach out. I'll not pretend to know all the answers - but I will guarantee I'll find them out if asked.

I do a bit of running in my spare time so as the nights draw in you might see me up and down the pavements as an excuse to get to know some roads I've not been down yet!

03/09/2025

03/09/2025

What kind of things are the Pontarddulais Working Group we looking to put together at the moment?

Progressing a complaint against Swansea Council
We have raised a complaint to Swansea Council that the length of time it's taken them to send the information over to the Welsh Government is "unreasonable". The process is that once an application is called-in the decision moves to the Welsh Government and Swansea Council are supposed to send them their Planning Officer's report. This hasn't happened - I suspect because if they did the Welsh Water objection to building on the water main would be there and it would most likely get rejected.

Ultimately we want to take this to the Public Service Ombudsman as a complaint - but we need to jump through the Swansea Council hoops first.

Collecting "official" evidence.
We've learned from talking to people involved in the Gowerton development just how much evidence we need to put together. And importantly - how detailed this needs to be. So we need to collect things like:

All official correspondence from Welsh Water.

FOI requests to Swansea Council and Natural Resources Wales for all records of flooding, incidents and complaints in the area.

Looking to see if we can get our own Transport Assessment - perhaps in conjunction with Pontlliw, Fforest and Hendy.

Information from transport providers on how many trains / busses get cancelled.

Help with tracking these things down - writing letters, emails etc - is a key part of the next step.

Collecting "supplementary" evidence
While we've seen photos of flooding issues this needs to be put onto a different level - tagging photos to a location on a map, time and date etc. so that we can clearly present evidence.

Same with traffic - queues, parking etc.

Help with pulling all of this information together to present a professional-looking view of what goes on in real life is a key part of the next step.

Keeping momentum going.
The people involved in challenging the Gowerton development are REALLY active - Facebook, meetings, WhatsApp. While we might oppose or support the development it's important to keep an active community to show exactly how the community views the development.

Help with social media posts on a regular basis, posting pictures / videos highlighting problems, polls etc is a key part of the next step.

Want to help but think you wouldn't know where to start? So did we! We learn as we go along 😀

If you can spare some time - pop along to the rugby club this Thursday (4th) at 7pm. We usually meet for about an hour.

01/09/2025

The Pontarddulais Working Group is meeting this Thursday (4th September) in the Rugby Club at 7pm. If anyone is interested in contributing going forward - currently we are looking at how we can learn from the Gowerton application in terms of submitting information to the Welsh Government when the Call In application proceeds. There is opportunity to also help with managing social media - Facebook, whatsapp groups etc as well as opportunities go gather evidence for our submissions (photos, videos, writing to various specialists / public bodies etc).

There's no specific time commitment - we meet once a month for around an hour to check in on how things are progressing..

If you'd like to contribute please let me know - or come along to our meeting on Thursday .

04/08/2025

If your young ones are interested in skateboarding or have never tried, the Council is providing FREE sessions over the Summer holidays on a Tuesday afternoon. This week the sessions will take place in our hall at the Mechanics Institute and will be newbies and under 8s from 2pm to 3.30pm and over 8s and those with a little experience from 3.30pm to 5pm.
You MUST book a space as they are limited by the numbers we can provide tuition to. Also if you've booked and can't go, please remember to cancel your space so those on the reserve list can go.
STARTING TOMORROW, TUESDAY 5TH AUGUST 2025