With this in mind, I was slightly disappointed that the UK Government has announced that the electrification of the Swansea to Paddington line will end at Cardiff, missing out Bridgend completely. The people of Bridgend will miss out on quicker, cleaner and quieter transport, while local businesses will also lose out.
Plaid have been proactive in developing an approach to adapting a 21st century business infrastructure for Wales including better mobile, broadband and free Wi-Fi as well as a modern transport system to move Wales forward. Our technological improvements include linking every business and home to fast broadband and creating Wi-Fi hotspots across the country.
Implementing broadband lines will enable speeds of 100 Mbs, which will help make Wales a truly wireless nation, giving Welsh businesses the tools to be competitive. Plaid also has plans to improve mobile reception and to electrify many of our rail lines. Improving Broadband is fundamentally essential in developing the Welsh knowledge economy, which involves economists, computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians, chemists and physicists and any other information based service. Our plans will ensure businesses and individuals can network and innovate.
Bridgend’s geographic location nestling between both Wales’s two major cities, Swansea and Cardiff, often means that businesses overlook Bridgend to favour locating their businesses to areas that have a more advanced infrastructure. However, our plans will open up new opportunities and will make more Welsh communities appealing to businesses. We also have plans to establish a voluntary scheme called Wi-Fi Wales, where social areas such as train stations, pubs, cafes and libraries will sign up to providing Wi-Fi for the community. In a relatively densely populated area like Bridgend, this could allow many businesses and individuals to benefit.
Mobile phone reception has also been identified as a problem. A Plaid Government would lend money to local community groups in order to give them the power to tackle mobile phone signal problems. This has already been a major success in Ceredigion, which is home to the university town, Aberystwyth. A local community not for profit group has received a £164,542 grant to pay for a signal mast, which will benefit 1,500 people. This is an exciting opportunity, which I hope can be put to use in Bridgend and Porthcawl.
With a local train station and nearby motorway, which connects the people of Bridgend to Cardiff, London and to the west, Swansea, Bridgend is already well equipped to support business’s transport needs. We will improve this experience with a new stock of trains and buses that will include free Wi-Fi making commuting in and out of Bridgend an enjoyable experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment