Pontardawe concrete blocks on shopping street spark outrage

The concrete blocks have created more room for pedestrians to keep two metres apart

Residents and traders are outraged by "ill thought-out" barriers that have blocked off disabled parking bays in a busy shopping street.

Concrete blocks have been installed along Herbert Street in Pontardawe to allow for social distancing.

Neath Port Talbot council leader Rob Jones said people kept moving the plastic barriers previously used.

Greengrocer Kelly Frost criticised the council's actions as "a war against disabled people and local businesses".

She claimed the concrete blocks were "unfair" and would deter shoppers from visiting the town, saying her shop had already "taken a hit" in lower takings since the plastic barriers were installed in June.

A local resident who gave her name as Leanne told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the new barriers would limit the number of elderly and disabled shoppers visiting the town.

Some claim older people and those with disabilities will be deterred from visiting the shops

She said an elderly relative in his 70s fell while walking along Herbert Street last Wednesday, the day after the concrete bollards were installed in the disabled bays, forcing him to park further down the street.

"He has literally been the first casualty, within the first week, of those ridiculously, ill thought-out bollards," she said.

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Mr Jones said officials on a site visit to inspect the plastic barriers had "witnessed one driver pulling up and attempting to kick the barriers out of place rather than look for an available parking space elsewhere".

Council workers removed the plastic barriers to make way for concrete blocks

"We spoke to traders on the side of the road who were operational at the time and were experiencing queues, and they supported the continued use of barriers to manage safe queues," he said.

"They also indicated their frustration at the constant removal of the barriers by third parties and confirmed that they on occasion have had to reinstate them. 

"There was a reliance on council staff having to go back to put them back in place. This was not sustainable on a daily basis given the restricted resources available."