Poor TV portrayal of Merthyr and Blaenau
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worst places to live in the UK.
The two areas, which have suffered from the decline in heavy industry,
are among a top 10 to be featured in a Channel 4 programme this week.
But councillors in the two areas believe that they are becoming
attractive places to live, with relatively low house prices and
increasing investment and job opportunities.
Research for the forthcoming show The Best And Worst Places To Live In
The UK: 2006 has ranked Merthyr Tydfil at third and Blaenau Gwent at
ninth.
Last year the two areas were ranked eighth and seventh, respectively.
The London District of Hackney is the worst place to live, following
the analysis of the UK's 434 local authorities.
The results were based on five criteria for home-buyers - crime,
environment, lifestyle, education and employment.
Both Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent are recognised as areas of high
deprivation and a large sector of the population suffer from health
problems - the 2001 census found that 30% of people in Merthyr Tydfil
and 28% in Blaenau Gwent had a long-term limiting illness.
Merthyr Tydfil has the highest percentage of male incapacity benefits
claimants of anywhere in the UK and Blaenau Gwent is also in the top
eight, five of which are areas in Wales.
In some wards in Merthyr Tydfil as many as one in four of the working
age population are on incapacity benefits.
Last year Blaenau Gwent had one of the highest unemployment rates -
7.8%, compared with a Wales-wide figure of 5.1% - in the UK.
And, in terms of education, 56.9% of pupils in Blaenau Gwent and 56.3%
in Merthyr Tydfil achieved five GCSEs at grades A* to C.
But Councillor Jeff Edwards, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council's
cabinet member for economic development, said, "People tend to have a
perception of Merthyr as a place of the dark satanic mills of 30 to 40
years ago, but now it is a totally different place.
"When people come here to see it, they are pleasantly surprised.
"We are now starting to see the fruition of many years of working to
make Merthyr Tydfil a regional centre for the valleys."
And Councillor Don Wilcox, a former mayor of Blaenau Gwent, said,
"There are a lot of problems in Blaenau Gwent, and I am sure there are
a lot of other places with similar problems.
"But when people constantly talk the place down, it doesn't help us -
talking the place up wrongly doesn't help either. There needs to be
more balance.
"We have a lot of talented youngsters here in Blaenau Gwent, a group of
whom recently won an award for a film about Aneurin Bevan and the
health service.
"It is a good place to live because of the people who live here - the
people are resilient and whatever problems there are, we will face up
to them."
Property hunter Phil Spencer, who presents the show, said, "We've only
just come out of hiding after the storm this show created last year.
"But it's all based on official data. We're merely presenting the facts
- harsh as they may be."
And co-presenter Sofie Allsopp added, "All the research is rock solid.
We look at every single local authority, all 434 of them, and the
figures speak for themselves."
The Best and Worst Places to Live in the UK: 2006 will be broadcast on
Thursday on Channel 4.