New DWP office for Treforest – are there any benefits for us?
The Department for Work and Pensions has submitted an application to RCT Council to create an new HQ on Treforest Industrial Estate. They are no doubt very confident that this application will pass as they have already announced their intention to close several smaller offices and open this new one.
The press article in Wales Online recently said that up to 1,700 staff would be coming there and that this development could be the catalyst to regenerate the area and attract new businesses.
Now this is all well and good but firstly these are not new jobs. The DWP is closing smaller offices around South Wales and relocating. Still, on the face of it new investment in the locality sounds good.
It may not sound quite as good, however, to those people who regularly spend a considerable amount of time of their working day stuck in traffic on the A470 and surrounding roads. Another 1,700 staff coming in to that estate every day is going to add to the pressure on the road network.
Already people struggle to get on to the A470 at Pontypridd in the morning and are regularly stuck in jams at Coryton. The end of day rush hour sees cars backed up on the dual carriageway trying to get off, particularly at Upper Boat at the top end of Treforest Industrial Estate.
New businesses and jobs are desperately needed in Pontypridd and the valleys, but they have to have the infrastructure to go with it. Gridlocked roads are not likely to attract new businesses to the area and certainly won't meet favour with commuters.
Cllr Mike Powell
Welsh Liberal Democrat
Trallwn, Pontypridd.
