Carmarthen is the county town of Carmarthenshire and some of the facilities are really quite poor. Take the Leisure Centre in Johnstown for example, it has some good facilities but it also has poor facilities. The swimming pool, athletics track and astroturf are good but they're not top quality. The tennis courts are poorly maintained and the gym is tiny. If we want to promote sports in Carmarthenshire and create the athletes of the future, then what we really need is a bigger leisure centre with more modern facilities. Not only then might we nurture the next Kelly Holmes, but it might encourage a whole generation of couch potatoes to become more active too!
Carmarthen has no places where you can go for a fun family day out. If Carmarthen were to get a ten-pin bowling alley then it would definitely attract more families and youngsters. If we want to attract more families to Carmarthen we need to stop wasting money on things such as Carmarthen Bowls Centre near Carmarthen Park, that only appeal to the older generation. We need to move with the times. Bowls is not a fun family activity - the rules are quite complicated and the slow pace of the game would put most children off. The fast, action-packed, bright lights of a bowling alley certainly wouldn't.
Another thing that could attract families and young people to Carmarthen is a new multi-screen cinema. This would benefit Carmarthen as people from out of town would come and use it aswell as local people. What better way to help local businesses! The current Lyric cinema only has one screen and it very rarely gets the new films. If we had a multi-screen cinema we could keep the Lyric for productions and performances for the amateur dramatists amongst us, and it would also then keep all the film-buffs clued up.
Carmarthen needs more big name clothing stores aimed at young people. I know many of my friends travel to Swansea or even Cardiff to buy clothes, as the shops in Carmarthen don't have a large enough selection of trendy clothes. At the moment we have shops like Burtons and Next but they are quite small and don't offer a wide enough selection. If we had a much bigger Next or Burtons store more young people would shop in Carmarthen and not spend their money elsewhere. Most young people not only want to be entertained, but it's important to look the part too.
I also think Carmarthen town centre needs more places for youngsters to eat. At the moment all we have is a Wimpy and that's not a very good place to go. Perhaps introducing a KFC or Burger King would improve things. I know this doesn't promote healthy eating but you don't have to go there all the time. KFC and Burger King are big name restaurants and this could also attract more people from out of town. Maybe some funky, cosmopolitan eateries would perk the town up a little, what would be better than eating on a different continent every day!
I've read in the local newspaper that Carmarthen will get a new multi-screen cinema, new stores and a ten-pin bowling alley, but nothing has emerged regarding these reports. Let's hope that the council start to take on board what we youngsters want and need. There is plenty of history in Carmarthen, it's beautiful and a great place to visit, but there needs to be a more modern look as well. We need to look to the future. After all, we are the future!
Peter
your comments
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Jade from Portsmouth
I used to live in Carmarthen but I think that it's a great town. I used to go to Q.E. High with some of the best mates ever Rachael, Becky, Louise, Sammy, Tasha - miss you all. It needs more shopping centres around and more stuff to do as it gets quite boring after a while. Love all my mates! Seee you soooon xoxox
Wed Mar 19 09:35:55 2008
Meg
There needs to be more facilities for the younger generations but we need to be careful that we don't alienate the older generations in Carmarthen. However, a bowling alley or a more substantial cinema complex would be a great idea as well as a skate park for all us teenagers!
Wed Aug 15 12:22:02 2007
Hanz
Yer I agree Carmarthen needs more facilities especially cinema, bowling all them things! and more new shops, plus Rowan is right there needs to be a place for skaters/boarders.
Fri Oct 27 11:00:02 2006
Rowan From Carmarthen ye boi
what carmarthen needs is a decent skatepark to get us skaters off the streets and out of that park!! give us a roof or sumfink we get cops cumming when were skating cos there aint a decent place for us to skate the skate park is all old and rusted an be well dangerous!!
Thu Oct 5 08:59:11 2006
Ray (Ex carmarthen girl =[ )
Yeah I agree that Carmarthen could do with having more attractions such as a bowling alley & cinema. Where I live now we have all these things but to be honest we don't use them as much as we could as it all costs £6 per ticket, or if you short enough you can pass as a kid :)]
But on the other hand the lyric is pretty good and traditional, and as someone has already said with the introduction of mainstream entertainment Carms may loose its charm. Already I've noticed it has changed a hell of a lot and I'm scared one day I'll come back and not remember the place I've grown up in!
So er, I guess its a yes and no to the whole spruceing up.
But a really good article, I wish my school could do something like this, no doubt there will be enough feminists (I go to an all girls school.. eekk)w ho have strong points of view.
Thu Apr 13 09:56:06 2006
William from Carmarthen
I think we need to be careful with the whole 'multi screen cinema' idea. I don't know how much the towns Lyric theatre relies on showing films, but if we ended up not being able to keep it open because of a new cinema then live theatre, concerts and all the local amateur societies could suffer. We need to concentrate on the arts in Carmarthen too.
Sat Mar 18 13:01:46 2006
Sarah
I think Pete has very valid points but what you need to be careful of is turning Carmarthen into a cosmopolitan town and taking away the character that attracts people there. Carmarthen has a charm about it and I would hate to see too many big and great ideas overhauling the towns natural heritage.
Wed Mar 8 13:52:39 2006
Laura from London
I am soon to be moving from the bright lights of London to (what seems to be through research) quiet Carmarthen. I am looking forward to the change but would still like to see some familiar clothes shops as expected of a teenage girl. I hope your article helps speed up the process of expanding and modernising Carmarthen.
Sat Jan 7 22:52:02 2006
billy jo bob Carmarthen
well done smashing report! fantastic good read hope to here more from you!
Thu Dec 15 12:38:28 2005
Random Girl
Yeah, you tell 'em Pete. *nods knowingly*
Mon Dec 12 18:19:07 2005
Robin Davies, Carmathen
Lots of good comments there, Pete. Certainly ten-pin bowling has the potential to attract people of all ages. Mind you, when my wife & I go to the gym at 7am (we're in our 60s) we don't see many people under 30 there! Pete's right about the clothes, but probably wrong about KFC & Burger King. He's right about cosmopolitan eateries, though.
The olds who run Carmarthen (not too well) need to take more notice of what young people say.
Mon Dec 5 19:37:53 2005
Cillian Barry
That's brilliant Pete.
Wed Nov 16 21:47:45 2005
Ell Westhoff
Well done Pete.
Sun Nov 13 21:17:43 2005
Do you agree with Peter? How do you think Carmarthen could be improved? Add your comments here.
