Canton enjoys the highs and lows of being just outside the city centre. What are the main concerns of the people here?
Residents of Canton often need to watch out for litter while stepping out.Canton, or Treganna in Welsh, is an inner-city district and community in the west of Cardiff and is one of the most ethnically diverse of Cardiff’s suburbs, with a significant Asian population comprised of Chinese, Pakistanis and Indians.
Being so close to the city center, Canton experiences very heavy traffic and littering. Often the streets are unclean and residents have suffered missed rubbish collections this year.
We took to the streets to get local opinions on the everyday issues in Canton.
Louise Roberts, 74, retired
“I think the main problem with the Canton is that the ground is very dirty, and you’ll see that there’s a lot of chewing gum on the ground, and they don’t to clean it. You can clear it. I have seen it been cleared where we use to live before…”
Muhammad Mid, 43, worker
“I won’t lie, what I see is (that the streets) are not clean, but people are paying the council tax for cleaning services. The people keep paying but is never clean. So far, I know the taxes are too high for the quality of space. The UK taxes compared to the rest of the world are very high…”
Bhuab Said, 22, school teacher
“It’s a very busy area, it’s a high street”. “I think it’s really congested”.
“They’re quite good, it gets me active. I’m not usually an active person but I’ve gone away from using a car to [bikes].” “I only use my car on the weekends, so I’m trying to like, do my bit for the environment.”
“It’s multicultural, there’s a lot of different people, a lot of different religions a lot of different cultures. It’s good because people come into contact with other people. It’s about acceptance.”
Non Griffiths, 22, graduate
“It’s close to town and really close to the city center. It has a nice community feel especially with buildings like Chapter and there’s quite a lot of things to do. Like I’m going to ballet now at the Chapter. There’s like cinemas around the place, lots of shops and stuff.”
“When there’s rugby that’s an absolute nightmare because, you can’t park your car anywhere. Then, Cardiff City Stadium is also just over there. It gets really busy and the bus routes aren’t great.”
Audrey Lee, 79, retired
“Parking. Well, not so much parking because there is a lot of car parks, but its people parking, like this now, two sides of the road. You can’t get through if there are vans or buses. There’s so much traffic you can’t drive because you have to stop and let people cross the roads. On the whole of Canton is okay, too much charity shops.”
Luke Galea,19, worker
[There’s]not much space for the cars like, know what I mean? Too much parking on the sides of the road.
“[Buses are] late all the time, I think they’re overpriced. They’re stinky, nasty…I prefer riding my bike than going on bus, cos’ I get there quicker as well.”
Luke says of Canton restaurants, “Different tastes of the world, in one place, on one road…My favourite? It’d have to be Mediterranean food and Turkish, and stuff like that.”
Darren Flower, 37, barber
“I think this is a lovely part of Cardiff. I’m very lucky to live just at the top of the road there. It’s convenient for my business. I can’t see there being any problems here.”
[I love] the people and the little pop up places where you can eat. There’s lots to like about Canton really. We’ve got beautiful parks, we’ve got Victoria park.
“There’s too many to choose from”
Nick Lakhman, 26, shop owner
“I think Canton is overcrowded. I run a business here, I’ve been here for over 20 years, I’ve come in over the last two years or so, and, for example you can’t even park…The family has owned a shop for over 20 years. I’ve come into the family business in the last 18 months, and in those months all you can see on the street is building, building, building.”
David Small, 59, social worker
“There isn’t a problem for me at all in Canton. I would say that there are lots of different people in Canton therefore the people in Canton might interpret problems for them differently…I see Canton as a vibrant happy community. I value the differences there are in Canton in terms of the people, in terms of the type of community. I come from the perspective that Canton’s a really nice, fortunately happy place.”
Lyn Breen, 47, employee at Canton fruit market
“There’s a lot of traffic, and if you get any problems along this road, it just stops everything. Had a big bus come along and stop, and it’s just queuing along the way. Cowbridge Road is a nightmare. Had quite a few accidents on this corner. Just puts everything to a standstill. People can’t come in [to the store], can’t go, they just get fed up and leave.”