Its been a while but I just wanted to update you on some great businesses in Barry and the Vale of Glamorgan. Despite the downturn in the economy and the prospects for slow growth, business in Barry have been both surviving and thriving.

CASS Scaffolding are a new national level scaffold erecting firm who have launched with a bang. They have been successful in winning multi million pound contracts throughout the UK and notably supplying the scaffold for the refurbishment of the Grand Pier in Weston Super Mare and the National Museum and Galleries of Wales temporary roof protection system using an innovative  HAKI sliding roof.

MVC Building Services are  a professional construction firm in Barry and provide building services in The Vale of Glamorgan and throughout South Wales. They build anything from a garden wall to a block of flats, however, I have personally  seen some terrific extensions, garage conversion and conservatories built recently by them.

Room Designs and Furnishings are a specialist form of interior designers, providing soft furnishings and interior refurbishments for hotels, guest houses, commercial property and residential homes. They have a studio in Park Crescent offering fantastic quality curtains, decorations and soft furnishing to the general public as well as corporate clients.

In the early hours of this morning Sunday 17th August (10.10 Beijing time) David battled hard to come in sixth in a very competitive 1500 metres freestyle race which saw a new champion being crowned. Even the great Grant Hackett was beaten into silver position by  Tunisia’s Oussama Mellouli.

David managed to keep pace with the leaders until the final 200 metres where the extra effort to qualify for this final in Fridays heats took its toll. With ‘nothing left in the tank’ David still managed to beat off the competition from the two Chinese swimmers. With this performance, although disappointing by his standards, he is still a world class swimmer.

He now swims again on Thursday in swimming’s equivalent to the marathon, the 10,000 metres open water race. Surprisingly this is a distance that David has only ever swam twice before, so best of luck David.

Just a quick note to say that David Davies from Barry has qualified for the final of the Mens 1500 metres freestyle at the Beijing Olympics. The final will take place in the early hours of Sunday Morning at 03.10am British time (GMT) and will probably be shown live .

He qualified in 5th place with a respectable time of 14mins 46.11 seconds. Grant Hackett from Australia has broken the Olympic record in his heat posting a time of 14 minutes 38.92 seconds.

It should be an exciting final on Sunday.

I have written about this issue before: Barry Island needs a hotel now.

With the ‘credit crunch’ being talked-up all the time and the general air of gloom and doom, people are seriously looking to holiday at home this year and many UK resorts have seen a boom in bookings. Why not Barry Island? Because there’s nowhere to stay!

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This month ideas on the new Cardiff airport access road were published in a series of exhibitions and by leaflet drops to residents of the Vale of Glamorgan. The access road is long overdue and attempts to expand the airport have faltered because of the limitations of the existing road to the airport from the motorway network.

Three ‘corridors’ are among the proposals:

Corridor A - runs along existing roads from junction 33 of the M4, by-passes ‘Culverhouse Cross’ and continues down through Wenvoe along Port Road. Improvements to the existing roads are proposed in places with further by-passes at Wenvoe and north of Barry but this option still relies upon the existing roundabout at the top of the Docks Link Road.

Corridor B - again runs from junction 33 of the M4, uses the existing Culverhouse Cross roundabout, follows the A48 with options to by-pass St.Nicholas then approaches the airport along the five mile lane with further options to re-route traffic away from Weycock Cross.

Corridor C - Is virtually a new road from junction 34, running through the Pendoylan area but by-passing the village, crossing over the A48 along a stretch of the five mile lane with options to link either to Weycock Cross roundabout or the roundabout at Penmark.

More detailed information can be found on the National Assembly website

As with all new road schemes there will be controversial decisions and land will be compulsorily acquired. Where there is no doubt is the need for this new access. The existing road network is struggling to cope with local traffic especially at Culverhouse Cross. There are too many roundabouts through Wenvoe and Barry, four schools are currently sited along Port Road and Tesco in Barry has a major impact on traffic.

Coupled with increasing commuter traffic between the Vale and Cardiff and the new development at St.Athan projected levels of traffic are set to increase. The airport needs its own dedicated link to the the Motorway network if it is to compete against Bristol, Birmingham and attract more international flights away from London and the South east.

People complain that flight supplements from Cardiff force up the cost of holidays. With increased traffic at the airport, operational costs decrease relatively per aircraft which means lower airport charges per aircraft.

An expanding Cardiff International Airport will be a further boost for the South Wales economy. It will create jobs and opportunities for local businesses and will bring in much needed revenue from abroad by improving linkages with other European capital cities. It will be for business as well as for holidays and will offer greater choice and flexibility for travelers.

I feel that the best option from the proposals presented so far would be Corridor C.

Yes I know it runs through some expensive agricultural land and some wealthy land owners will be affected. But junction 34 is not as busy as junction 33, it offers a direct link with only the village of Pendoylan marginally affected and Barry will benefit from a diverting traffic away from Port Road.

There is still the issue of improved public transport to consider. There are no real direct road links from Cardiff City Centre to the airport along which frequent and express bus services can run. The existing railway offers the most direct route, however a more convenient link is required between the terminal building and the existing Rhoose Station.

This is a debate that will run on for quite a while and I have only touched on the tip of the iceberg. I am in favour of the airport expanding, even though I live along the flight path. Others I fear may not be so enthusiastic. I encourage anyone in receipt of the National Assembly’s questionnaire to fill it in and make their views known.

What do you think?