ABERYSTWYTH has been labelled the ‘dirtiest town in Wales’ as a number of visitors blast the state of the town.

From a YouTube video with more than 15,000 hits where the town is branded ‘the dirtiest town in Wales’ and described as being ‘worse than Rhyl’, to a German tourist who has been visiting Aberystwyth for years and was left ‘saddened’ by the state she found the town on a recent visit, calls are being made for action.

In a recent visit to the town, a couple who tour the UK in a campervan visited Aberystwyth and documented what they found on their YouTube channel, Travel Trolls TV.

In the 45-minute video, they walk through the town and describe the beach as being ‘the ugliest they have ever seen’ and commenting on the sandpit where the paddling pool used to be on the promenade, say ‘they’ve had to build a little sandpit for the kids to play in as the beach is so bad’.

One of the presenters, Dan, said of the beach: “This has to be the ugliest beach I have ever seen in my life. Even seagulls can’t be bothered flying over it.”

His partner, Mazzy, added ‘it’s filthy’.

Asked what they thought of the town, they say ‘I just wish it was cleaner’.

Dan adds: “There’s a place in Wales called Rhyl and that’s really run down. And I am getting that feel about this place. No offence to Aberystwyth, but I expected it to be more of a beauty spot.

“The place has a lot to offer it’s just a bit run down. It needs a bit of work.”

They also bemoaned the lack of signage around Aberystwyth Castle.

Later in the video, the couple are standing near the clock-tower at the top of Great Darkgate Street and say: “It’s all a bit dirty. The streets are dirty, everything needs cleaning up. There’s muck everywhere. It’s such a shame. It’s got a lot of potential has this place.

“There’s a lot of police around. Got a feeling it might be quite a crime-filled place. There’s something not quite right about the place.”

A German woman who has been a regular visitor to Aberystwyth has also been in touch with the Cambrian News over the state of the town.

Katrin Scholz wrote: “Aberystwyth is my absolute favourite town and after having to miss out on a trip there for three years due to Covid, I was overjoyed to be able to stay in my beloved Aber for four months this summer.

“Even though the time was wonderful overall and I enjoyed my stay very much, I was very saddened by the state the town was in. Sadly, I can’t remember ever having been in such a dirty and littered place before.

“The filthy entrances of empty shops, especially in Great Darkgate Street, rubbish in corners and on pavements and streets, overflowing rubbish bins, stench in Pier Street among others, dog poo on pavements, front gardens mistaken by residents for rubbish dumps - what a sad and off-putting picture of what should be a beautiful town.

“I wonder why this problem is not being tackled comprehensively and competently. What works elsewhere must surely also be possible in Aber.

“I have spoken to many people, tourists and residents alike, who are all disgusted by the situation.

“If something doesn’t change soon, I see big problems ahead for the town: I can well imagine that tourists will eventually feel repelled and prefer to go somewhere else in the future. If that happens, the town will be in a vicious circle; less income will come in, so less can be invested, the situation will get worse, even fewer tourists will come, etc. The end would be a sad existence as a run-down seaside resort that is past its prime.

“The rubbish creates at least two other problems in my opinion: It attracts rats and seagulls and it contributes significantly to the pollution of our seas.

“The people in charge seem to accept all this knowingly, and I absolutely cannot understand it. How can they be so indifferent? They have a beautiful place with so much potential and they let it rot like this? Unbelievable!

“I see the effort that the waste collectors and the voluntary litter-pickers make. But these individual measures will not solve the overall problem, as we now know.

“The people in Wales have always seemed to me to be very responsible and motivated, committed to good projects with a lot of energy and conviction.

“I appeal to everyone involved with Aberystwyth - the administration, residents, business owners, shopkeepers and homeowners to get together and start a concerted effort. With the motto: ‘Let’s get our town clean’.

“There is a whole range of measures that can be taken and I think benchmarking is also possible in this context. Look at how other tourist places do it. If this is done properly, you will not only be able to solve concrete litter problems, you can also use the action for marketing purposes for tourism.

“The town has to ask itself what kind of tourism it wants: cheap tourism with a lot of noise, rubbish and antisocial behaviour or maybe a little more sustainable tourism with people who are more aware of their environment and their fellow human beings.

“Join forces and make Aberystwyth again what it actually is: a gem on the Irish Sea.”

The Cambrian News put the complaints to Aberystwyth’s deputy mayor, Cllr Kerry Ferguson, who responded saying: “We know that there is a lot of work to be done in Aberystwyth to improve the ‘state of the town’, as a town council, we have been working hard over the past few months to raise the issues and discuss solutions with Ceredigion County Council. “

In recent months, Cllr Ferguson says the town council has hired additional street cleaners who work 20 hours a week over the summer months to try and ease the litter problem.

It has also ‘borrowed’ a street cleaner and recently power-washed many of the main streets in the town in an effort to make the town look tidier and have asked Ceredigion County Council if this will return as part of their programme.

Cllr Ferguson added: “Finally, discussions are in place with Ceredigion County Council on a regular basis in terms of more long-term support that the town needs – with especially looking at refuse collections and problems the town experiences – which are unique to us in Ceredigion as a university seaside town. Everything above has been achieved within the past few months with thanks to our staff in the office, our residents presenting their views, and our councillors agreeing to the additional works/responsibilities that we normally wouldn’t have.

“Town councillors are well aware of the issues facing Aberystwyth that you mention in the quotes, and from a personal point of view as a business owner it’s sometimes hard to see the positives however – there are many people and groups working hard to clean and tidy Aberystwyth. Myself and my partner arranged a ‘tidy the town’ event in May in a personal capacity, Caru Aber regularly host litter-picks and do great work to promote the town, town and county councillors also organise ward specific litter-picks regularly too.

“In terms of the high street, many of the properties are owned by absent landlords, which means it’s hard to track them down to ask them to clean the window or power-wash the building – and I’m not saying that as an excuse, I’ve tried to contact them to discuss other initiatives in the town such as lowering rents, using empty windows for art and so on.

“There are a lot of positive quotes about Aberystwyth too, and I think it’s important that we promote how beautiful our seaside town is, while working together to restore pride of place. As a town council I certainly hope that we will continue to discuss with Ceredigion County Council; and as a business owner and someone who works a lot in the community, I will continue to work as hard as I can for the benefit of the town, our businesses and our people.”

Ceredigion County Council said: “Aberystwyth has a special built and natural environment which is respected and valued by the vast majority of locals and visitors, and it is important that all stakeholders play their role in both promoting the many positives that Aberystwyth has to offer, and seek to address the localised issues and challenge the subjective views expressed by those looking to paint a negative perspective of the town.”

It said the council provides regular and reliable waste collection services in Aberystwyth town centre, as well as street cleaning and associated activities that includes scheduled collection of more than 150 litter bins in Aberystwyth town.

It noted that a household waste site is in close proximity to the town, which is open almost every day of the year. As well as providing public information, it said it offered early morning waste collections, street wheely bins, heavy duty sacks and was “promoting the Caru Ceredigion brand, which is underpinned by positivity. This extends from people actually doing positive things with regards matters that are important or of concern to them in their community and looking to maintain the positive profile Aberystwyth and Ceredigion rightly deserve as fantastic places to live and visit”.

“As mentioned above,” the spokesperson said, “there are things which are, of course, beyond the direct control of the county council and residents and businesses have a role to play with regards their properties and the impression these convey, which can include and extend from how they store and present their waste through to their general maintenance and upkeep.

“We are unaware of the ‘stench’ referred to in Pier Street and therefore are unable to provide any indication to what role, if any, the county council would have in respect of this.

“While it is always disappointing to hear or read of any negative feedback this is of course subjective as they are views and opinions. As Aberystwyth continues to attract a wide range of visitors in numbers, many who return on a regular basis, it can only be concluded that the views and opinions communicated to you are not necessarily shared or held by others.”

The Cambrian News also approached the town mayor, Cllr Talat Chaudrhi, but no response was received.

♦ Is Aberystwyth dirty? Is Ceredigion County Council keeping it clean? Is there more that can be done? Share your views at facebook.com/CambrianNews/ or email us at [email protected]