POLITICIANS and residents have spoken out following a report identifying "above average" levels of poverty in the Pontypool area.

The ‘Pontypool Deep Place Study’, by Dr Mark Lang, labels the town as a ‘disadvantaged community’ but aims to find solutions to problems ranging from health inequalities to housing conditions.

The report encompasses Pontypool, Brynwern, Cwmynyscoy, Panteg, St Cadocs, Penygarn, Wainfelin, Snatchwood and Trevethin, adding that 3,560 households in these areas are poverty stricken.

While acknowledging that areas of "deep poverty exist in close proximity to relative affluence", the report reveals the Pontypool area surpasses the Welsh poverty average of 23 per cent.

The Trevethin area experiences the highest level according to the study, with a 53 per cent poverty rate and 75 per cent of children under the age of four living in deprivation.

Following the release of a Guardian article by Aditya Chakrabortty on the report, titled ‘Just about managing? In towns like Pontypool that’s the dream” a debate on poverty has ignited in Torfaen.

The journalist described Pontypool as a “story of riches squandered, of dynamism blocked and of a entire community slung on the slagheap” painting a picture of the town as post-industrial wasteland.

While many politicians and figures have stepped forward to defend the town and highlight projects tackling poverty, the issue remains a divisive one.

Trevethin resident Sally Dixon, believes Pontypool has suffered a decline and there should be more grant initiatives to allow residents to “trade in their town”.

“When I was little Pontypool used to be a thriving little town and you would go to the market on Friday for your fish and sweets. It was always really busy,” she said.

“I often say how can it be possible that I’m in more poverty now than I was when I was little with my mum and dad, who had eight children.

“I have always worked but I would class myself as living in poverty and regularly use food banks. In fact a lot of people in the community use them.”

Mum-of-four Sara Moa, 37, of Newman Road, Trevethin, also agrees that poverty is an issue and that she has to work “damn hard to put food on the table”.

“Trevethin has always been classed as a poverty area and had that shadow over it,” she said.

“There are no jobs for anybody and the community shops have all shut down due to the rates being put up.

"There are times when I need to use food banks but I’m too embarrassed to go. Sometimes I worry what I have brought my children into. Something needs to be done.”

Torfaen’s MP, Nick Thomas-Symonds, published a response to the Guardian article stating portrayals which paint a “bleak picture” without recognising positives in communities “help no one”.

The MP credited the work of Trevethin-based charity TRAC 2— which donates goods saved from landfill to the community — and community centre Cold Barn Farm, which hosts a food bank.

“Every day people are doing incredible things with scarce resources. We have a community spirit that puts far more prosperous areas to shame,” he said.

“As someone who was born in the Eastern Valley, grew up here and is now raising my own young family here, I see the strength of our community as well as the challenges.

“We must take care that we build hope rather than extinguish it. That yes, we identify problems, but instead of ending there, we look to solutions, as Mark Lang’s report does.

“But negativity will not help that cause.Instead we need to talk up our area, to show employers that Torfaen is a great place to do business."

Mr Thomas-Symonds added that “the reality of poverty in modern Britain is stark, but it is not that simple” and that struggling working families are not “lazy or feckless” but “trying to do the right thing”.

Proposed solutions include tackling literacy issues, mental health problems and self-confidence as ‘barriers to employment’ and addressing the need for “more jobs and better jobs” in the valleys .

Cllr Lewis Jones, of Trevethin ward, said: “Unfortunately, the Guardian article hasn’t gone beneath the headline statistics to appreciate the support the council and partners are providing in Trevethin or to understand the deeper challenges that communities like Pontypool and the rest of the UK faces as a result of central government cuts.

“In Trevethin we have seen a number of positive developments in terms of new private housing provision on the hospital site and Folly Road and new traders taking over businesses in Trevethin.

“Things in practice are more positive than the report suggests and the article makes no mention of the fantastic community spirit that exists in this community.”

Earlier this month, Torfaen County Borough Council proposed a solution to tackle poverty with the launch of sustainable employment scheme ‘Communities for Work’.

The voluntary programme is supported by the European Social Fund through the Welsh Government and aims to get adults and young people furthest away from the labour market into employment.

This includes focusing on economically inactive and long term unemployed adults and reducing the number of 16 – 24 year olds who are not in education, employment or training and developing 'soft skills' such as time keeping and confidence.

Torfaen council’s housing, planning and public protection head Cllr Gwyneria Clark launched the scheme at the Life Station in Trevethin and hopes it will “break down the barriers to employment”.

“Our aim is to work with 750 people over the next year, tackling the root cause of poverty and unemployment in some of our most disadvantaged communities,” she said.

Chairman of Pontypool Community Council, Jon Horlor believes Pontypool’s decline into poverty started in 1979 with the advance of Thatcherism and the drive to reduce heavy industry, with several major employers in the area shutting down.

The councillor also believes that recent welfare reforms such as the Bedroom Tax, In Work Tax Credits and cuts to disability allowance are part of the problem, “hitting residents hard”.

“These good jobs put money in local people’s pockets. This was money that kept the local economy going whether in shops, the market, or the businesses that supplied these firms," he said.

For Nikola Masters, of the Friends of Pontypool Town Group, one solution to improve Pontypool comes from making the town attractive to shoppers and traders.

“Our aims as a group are to improve the town centre and the shopping experience, attract more traders and create more jobs,” she said.

“It goes full circle. If we can rejuvenate our town that means more footfall and more traders operating within [...] it makes a nice place for people to live and work.”

Torfaen Council’s deputy leader, Cllr Anthony Hunt, welcomed the deep place report on Pontypool stating it provided a “deeper understanding” of the needs and opportunities for Pontypool’s communities and most disadvantaged.

He stated that the council has “significantly increased spending on information and advice services” and invested in services like TRAC 2 and Cold barn Farm to help provide a wider support network.

A host of council supported anti-poverty schemes also operate in Pontypool including Flying Start, Families First, Communities First and employability support programmes including Bridges in to Work, Communities for Work, Working Skills for Adults 2 and Break Through.

Mr Hunt believes these schemes are “helping people achieve an income and socially acceptable standard of living”.

“It is vital we address the widening inequality that UK wide economic changes to benefits, employment and the cost of living have driven,” he said.

"At a borough wide level, we are signed up to the Cardiff Capital Region process, identifying land for employment and attracting new inward investors (and) providing support for local employers and encouraging Young Enterprise and start-up ventures.

“We’re also working as a public service board to address the worsening long term health conditions that “austerity” is making so much worse, trying to narrow gaps in life expectancy, meeting local housing needs and providing skills suitable for a future economy."

The deputy leader believes this approach can help people to “increase their income, reduce costs and minimise the significant impact of welfare reform.”

As Welsh Government statistics reveal plummeting footfall across Gwent and many of Pontypool’s shop lots lie empty, many residents have spoken of Pontypool being beyond repair.

Cllr Jon Horlor, who has lived in Trevethin for 50 years, believes that the future of Pontypool is equally in the hands of its residents.

“With little help forthcoming from people outside our area it’s up to our own people to try and drive this area forward, whether that is working with the town council or the likes of Nikola Masters” he said.

“We have TRAC 2 in Trevethin, a food bank at Cold Barn Farm and local people working hard to offset this poverty but it’s about tackling the symptoms.

“The illness is the lack of good paying jobs and so I welcome Torfaen council’s initiative.”

To view or download the ‘Deep Place Report’, visit www.cardiff.ac.uk/sustainable-places/research/projects/the-deep-place-study.