These photographs were taken today by Yours Truly.Click on a picture to see a bigger version.
The photo at the top shows the ‘railway end’ of Elwy Street. The new structure near middle of picture will be a medical centre. Whether the centre brings new medical services to the area, or just the same old ones brought together under one roof, is not yet clear. Either way, it seems a pity that we had to lose daylight in order to get it.
In Victorian times it was recognised that daylight is an important element of the environment. For example, corner buildings at the prom end of Rhyl High Street were single-storey to keep the street suitably light and cheerful. Eventually one was replaced by the Woolworths (now B&M) building whose developers were obliged to set it way back from the kerb so that no daylight was lost.
The lower photo shows the ‘Wellington Road end’ of Elwy Street where Rhyl Youth Action Group (RYAG) is in the process of destroying another single-storey corner by building on top of it. RYAG has already caused disquiet among some residents in the area by creating new flats in Wellington Road then letting NACRO have them to house young offenders.
Make no mistake, Rhyl is a better place with projects such as RYAG than without, but I would appeal to friends there, and the massed ranks of public representatives and permission-givers, to pay closer attention to the needs of residents in Elwy Street, Wellington Road and round about. We need fewer offenders and more daylight, not vice versa.
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