Ammanford a forgotten town (From South Wales Guardian)

Ammanford a forgotten town

7:30am Wednesday 16th September 2009

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FURIOUS community leaders in Ammanford have blasted Carmarthenshire Council for barely advertising the town in a new guide on where to go in the county.

But tourism officials have hit back, saying that as Ammanford was already popular, they decided to advertise smaller towns in the area.

Irate town councillors said they were disgusted that only Amman Valley Leisure Centre and the indoor bowls centre were the attractions mentioned in the brochure.

Councillor Jane Potter said: “It features Kidwelly, Burry Port and Newcastle Emlyn but I think we’re only mentioned in the whole brochure twice and that’s not on.”

Cllr Potter, who earlier said that Ammanford was being treated like a “third-rate town” by the council, said she had tried to contact the people behind the brochure, but hadn’t received a reply.

Councillor Paul Allchurch labelled the brochure “disgusting”.

“I asked staff down in North Dock why we had been left out but they couldn’t answer me.”

Cllr Potter asked for the town council to send a letter to the county council to express their disgust.

“It has shocked me that they think we are barely worth a mention,” she said.

However, Carmarthenshire Council marketing and tourism manager Huw Parsons, hit back, saying: “We have over 20 towns in Carmarthenshire and it is a supplement to a main guide which does feature Ammanford.

“Discover Carmarthenshire does not feature Carmarthen or Llanelli either.

“Visitors often know the three main towns so we decided to focus on the smaller towns which are a large part of the attraction of the rural county of Carmarthenshire.”

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