I MUST congratulate the organisers of the Barry Wartime Weekend - what a spectacular show we enjoyed - especially the Red Arrows which is a display I never thought would come to Barry Island.

As a resident of Barry Island my main complaint would unfortunately be the traffic congestion, especially on the Saturday. I left my home to travel into the Town Centre and after nearly an hour had only reached Barry Island Railway Station at a snail's pace.

I rang the non-emergency number 101 and asked if we could have some help with traffic control and was informed that nobody had told them that there was a Red Arrows display during the afternoon, and no provision had been made.

Standing a little way along from the Station were 3 male PCOs - Public Community Officers - and I asked them if they could help with the traffic movement. At the small roundabout on Whites Corner, there is traffic joining from the main car park and 3 other roads and it becomes a deadlock very quickly. They informed me that they were unable to 'close the roads' - which I hadn't asked them to do, and eventually walked off.

It makes sense to anyone that if you managed the traffic at this point, say a dozen cars from each direction, the flow would be much faster and visitors wouldn't become so impatient. It actually took my journey from my home on the Island to the Ship Hotel 1 hour and 10 minutes!

Several work colleagues told me the following week, that they deliberately stayed away from the Island due to the traffic problems, and one colleague had to leave her husband in the car and walk to the Knap with her dog and baby in the pram, and it had taken over 2 hours for him to reach them!

Surely some traffic controls could be put in place during these busy and popular times? We are after all trying to encourage visitors to the area.

A local resident

Via email