• 25-30 years since the mines closed, the South Wales Valleys remain the most socially and economicall
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[img]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3680/13540159174_098aefa4ca_b.jpg[/img] [i]The former Lewis Merthyr Colliery at Trehafod in the Rhondda Valley [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/99220921@N03/13540159174/](Image Source)[/url][/i] [quote=WalesOnline][b]Former South Wales mining communities are the most socially and economically disadvantaged of all Britain’s former mining areas, a damning report published says.[/b] The State of the Coalfields study paints a grim picture of the lives of 757,000 people living in former mining communities in South Wales, one quarter of the population of Wales. Comparing their lives, job prospects and health with other former mining areas and the rest of the UK the report commissioned by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust found they lag behind in all areas and there is a ‘compelling case’ for continued support and funding”. The report, led by Professor Steve Fothergill, from Sheffield Hallam University, found [b]17% of all adults of working age are out of work on benefits in the South Wales Valleys[/b] compared with 16% in former mining communities in Durham, 14% in Yorkshire and a national average of 11%. In the South East just 7% are unemployed on benefits. [b]On health almost one in 10 adults across South Wales say their health is bad or very bad - nearly double that of the South East[/b] and higher than 6.9% in former mining communities in Scotland, 7.4% in Yorkshire and 8.6% in Durham. A massive [b]10.7% of the entire population of the South Wales Valleys claim disability allowance[/b], double the national average and above similar communities in Durham at 8.2% and Yorkshire 7.6%, the report adds. The report also found [b]20% of people of working age in the South Wales Valleys had no qualifications[/b], compared with a national average of 15% and there are [b]41 jobs for every 100 people of working age, the lowest of any former mining area.[/b] A Welsh Government spokesman said: [b]“The decimation of the coal industry in the South Wales valleys in the late 80s and early 90s was a devastating blow for our valley communities, leaving a scar that will take generations to heal. These findings highlight the realities of the challenge we face, such as long-term ill-health and long-term unemployment. As a Government, we have a relentless focus on doing everything we can to meet those challenges."[/b] [/quote] [url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/coalfield-areas-still-blighted-25-7289984]Source[/url] [url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/article7291688.ece/binary/Click%20here%20to%20read%20the%20full%20State%20of%20the%20Coalfields%20report]Link to report[/url]
Wow, that's depressing. Why hasn't the government tried to do something with the place?
[QUOTE=pkhzor;45157469]Wow, that's depressing. Why hasn't the government tried to do something with the place?[/QUOTE] For one, It's a pretty massive area, [url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.6660838,-3.2131869,11z]that stretches from the outskirts of Cardiff and Newport in the south, to the start of the Brecon Beacon National Park in the north[/url], that's filled with hundreds of little towns and villages, most of whom's entire existence relied on the coal mining industry. The coal mining industry itself was pretty much closed by Thatcher's UK government, in the span a few years, and there wasn't really much of a plan on what would happen afterwards - how to get these people back to work again. I guess it was just assumed that these things would just sort themselves out. The geography of the area is also a big problem; as beautiful as the valleys are there isn't much space to put a bunch of factories and other big buildings, which has made companies reluctant to move there. And of course there has been dire under investment in this area, with a massive lack of infrastructure; this place has an ageing [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valleys_%26_Cardiff_Local_Routes]commuter rail network[/url] with incredibly old and slow trains, that has huge gaps in the network (you can thank Dr. Beeching for that), and only now is the Welsh Government planning to build a [url=http://wales.gov.uk/topics/transport/integrated/metro/?lang=en]metro system[/url] of sorts based on the current network, something which should of been done years ago. The places that have been fortunate to have good transport links; local railway stations, connection to main roads like the A470, [url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Cardiff+Queen+Street/Pontypridd,+Rhondda+Cynon+Taff/@51.5316227,-3.1954848,12z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x486e1cb7e57fb67b:0x20cc03b8c0a89d7f!2m2!1d-3.170189!2d51.48196!1m5!1m1!1s0x486e10b2c113730d:0x5bf8cb4f9e7fb376!2m2!1d-3.342314!2d51.600774!3e3]such as Pontypridd[/url] have simply become commuter towns for Cardiff. These places need investment, but the fact that there doesn't seam to be many obvious solutions means that not much has been done. I guess it's sort of like Detroit, though probably not [i]as bad[/i] honestly.
The USA also has a HUGE stretch of mining towns throughout Appalachia in particular, they are absolutely garbage incest-filed piles of refuse.
[quote] A Welsh Government spokesman said: “The decimation of the coal industry in the South Wales valleys in the late 80s and early 90s was a devastating blow for our valley communities, leaving a scar that will take generations to heal. [/quote] its been 30 years since then though, with government assistance there should have been some industry that could have sprouted up there by now
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;45158104]The USA also has a HUGE stretch of mining towns throughout Appalachia in particular, they are absolutely garbage incest-filed piles of refuse.[/QUOTE] I can vouch for this. It's pretty bad, my family is upper middle class and we're one of the few people that actually have a home that isn't a trailer. ;-;
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