Comment DBCC-7818

Dear Sir/Madam

As one of the Regional Members of the Welsh Parliament for South Wales Central, I wish to make the following comments:

Ultimately, I believe that there is a strong case for the constituency of Pontypridd to be merged with Cardiff West and not Merthyr Tydfil & Aberdare.

As you may recall, large sections of Cardiff West were once in the Pontypridd Parliamentary Constituency, these include the settlements of Pentyrch, Creigiau, Gwaelod Y Garth, Capel Llanilltern, and I even believe Radyr – all of which left the constituency following the Fifth Periodic Review in 2010. More recently, the town of Pontyclun, which includes Miskin and Groesfaen, has been added from the Pontypridd constituency to Cardiff West following the 2023 Periodic Review.. This in itself has caused an electoral abnormally, as parts of the ‘Pontyclun West’ electoral ward still reside within the Pontypridd Constituency, as this has also been highlighted in your initial proposals.

The joining of Pontypridd and Cardiff West is further supported due to strong community links, with the bulk of the Pontypridd constituency looking south towards Cardiff for work, retail and social activities. Indeed, the settlements of Llanharan and Llanharry have particularly strong connections with Pontyclun, likewise does Talbot Green and Llantrisant. Furthermore, settlements such as Llantwit Fardre, Efail Isaf, Church Village and Tonteg, have strong connections with Creigiau and Pentrych due to their close proximity. This is all supported by strong transport links, including rail and bus – which isn’t as strong for these residents going to Merthyr and Aberdare.

Turning to Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare, I am concerned that the vast majority of residents who live within Pontypridd have no connection or affinity whatsoever to this proposal, as outlined in the previous paragraph, and the constituency would be better suited being joined with Rhondda and Ogmore, who not only share strong cultural links due to their industrial history and legacy, but strong infrastructure and transport links. This is further highlighted by settlements such as Ynysybwl, Glyncoch and Cilfynydd being transferred out of the Cynon Valley and into Pontypridd at the last periodic review – all of whom firmly identified with Pontypridd and not with Aberdare and the Cynon Valley.

it should also be noted that one of the original proposals of the 2023 Periodic Review was to merge the Rhondda and Cynon Valley constituencies. Which again recognised the strong links that these two constituencies shared.

Turning to the ‘knock on effects’:

Instead of Cardiff South & Penarth being joined with Cardiff West, it would be joined with the Vale of Glamorgan constituency. This is not only supported by the fact that large sections of the constituency already share a local government boundary, but that settlements in Cardiff South & Penarth were recently in the Vale of Glamorgan constituency – eg Dinas Powys. Again, both the Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff South & Penarth share strong community and transport links, with the bulk of the Vale looking towards Cardiff for social, retail and employment. With, in turn, residents in Cardiff South & Penarth looking towards the Vale for social and recreational activities.

Instead of Bridgend being joined with the Vale of Glamorgan, it would be joined with Aberavon Maesteg. Again, this pairing makes sense due to the sharing of local government boundaries, that residents in Aberavon Maesteg look primarily towards Bridgend for social, retail and employment, and that there are strong transport links between the two. Likewise, they have greater ‘shared history’ together when compared to that of Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter, and I look forward to your response as soon as possible.

Joel James MS

Member of the Senedd for South Wales Central
Shadow Minister for Social Partnership

Respondent type

Member of the Welsh Parliament

This comment refers to

The entire area under review.