The Barry Blog is a regularly updated comment and discussion of life in Barry, a seaside town in south Wales, UK. It aims to highlight and discuss issues affecting the town and its future development and prosperity.

The author is a lifelong resident of the town and is passionate about ensuring the that the town remains an attractive place in which to live, work and play. The blog aims to be a-political, following no particular political dogma or political party. Unfortunately national party politics is regularly echoed in the local council chamber, often to the detriment of the town and its residents. The Vale of Glamorgan and the town of Barry would be better served by its local authority if councilors put local issues first before jumping upon often irrelevant party political bandwagons.

The town of Barry is growing, new residential developments are springing up across the town particularly in the regenerated docklands area. New businesses are also being established bringing employment opportunities to the up and coming generations and offering greater range of services and choice to the local population. These new developments and businesses also generate additional income for the local authority - that money should be re-invested back into the fabric of the town. Old buildings should be maintained and redeveloped for new uses, the local environment should be kept clean and attractive, local facilities need to be maintained and improved and business should be encouraged to locate and expand.

Neglect in the local fabric, both environmental and social has a long term detrimental affect on the life of the town as a whole. The downward spiral of social disorder starts with lack of respect, how can our local youth respect authority when local parks and facilities they use and see on a daily basis fall into disrepair. Domolition, closure, selling off assets and selective neglect seems to be the policy of the local authority when a little bit of investment in maintenance and improvement goes a long way in fostering confidence and pride in the town. Graffiti is rarely applied to well-maintained facilities.

Most of the residents of Barry would like to stay here, work here and continue to enjoy the natural local environment. We are extremely luck to live in an area with such easy access to a beautiful coastline and a wide choice of places to go and things to see an do. We already have a pride in our local town, all we seek is to have the fabric of the town maintained and improved for future generations.

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