There is one thing I hate and that is being gloom and doom about places but with Llanelli, I do need to say some honest things and some facts.

Why on earth does Carmarthenshire County Council build flats with retail units underneath when they can barely fill the shops that already exist in the town centre?

I am honestly unable to even count on my fingers and toes how many empty shopfronts there are. Yet we’re creating even more retail units that will probably open for six months, struggle to survive, and then close like so many before them. CCC are creating an even larger problem that what is currently there.

The council talks about regenerating Llanelli, but regeneration isn’t about building more empty units. It’s about making the town a place where businesses actually want to open and where people actually want to spend their money.

Just look at St. Elli Shopping Centre. There’s still an unbuilt food hall that was supposed to help breathe life back into the town. Years later, it’s still not there. How can we keep talking about investment when key projects never seem to materialise?

The reality is that Llanelli town centre has very little life left in it. Walk through it on many weekdays and it feels quiet, with too many shuttered windows and “To Let” signs. That’s not a criticism of the businesses trying to survive. It’s a sign that the system isn’t working.

Running a shop has become far too expensive. Rent, business rates, energy bills and staffing costs all add up, while customers are increasingly shopping online because it’s simply cheaper and more convenient.

Even when people do head out to the shops, many choose Parc Trostre or Pemberton Retail Park because they can park easily, everything is in one place, and prices are often better. Around Christmas, plenty of shoppers don’t even stay in Carmarthenshire, they head to Cardiff and St David’s Shopping Centre because there’s a far bigger choice of shops and a much better shopping experience.

So why isn’t the council looking at ways to make Llanelli competitive again?

Why not increase taxes on out-of-town retail parks and use that money to support businesses in the town centre? Offer incentives to encourage retailers back into Llanelli. Subsidise 50% of a new shop’s rent for the first six months. Reduce business rates for independent retailers. Make it less risky for people to open a business instead of watching another empty unit appear.

The council can’t keep expecting different results by repeating the same strategy. Building more retail space won’t fix the problem if nobody can afford to occupy it.

Llanelli doesn’t need more empty shops, it needs reasons for businesses to stay, for new ones to invest, and for people to come back into the town centre. Until that happens, all we’re doing is adding more units to an already growing list of empty ones.