Author: Rhys Gregory

New drone images show how a key element of the Mumbles coastal defence project is being successfully put in place. The photos show how hard-wearing steel sheet piles have been driven into the seabed close to the sea wall that’s more than a century old. The piles will, in due course, form a key part of the improved wall’s foundations. They’re being driven to a depth of up to around 2m below existing beach level. Once construction is complete, they won’t be visible. Laid end to end, the sheets would stretch around 6km in length. Their total weight is around…

A large number of parks and green spaces across Neath Port Talbot have once again reached the high standards required to fly the coveted Green Flag. Environmental charity Keep Wales Tidy this week (Tuesday, July 18th, 2023) revealed the 280 sites across Wales which have received the internationally renowned Green Flag and Green Flag Community Awards including many in Neath Port Talbot. This means the council’s parks have met high quality standards across categories including environmental efforts, excellent visitor facilities and community involvement. This is all thanks to a great team effort by our dedicated staff and passionate volunteers from…

More than 1500 school pupils across Neath Port Talbot have attended a series of workshops aimed at developing vital safety skills. Crucial Crew, which has been running on an annual basis for more than 25 years, made a face-to-face return this year after two years of virtual sessions due to the COVID pandemic. The event was held over a two week period at Frwdwyllt House in Taibach and comprised of 50 primary schools. The Year 6 pupils rotated between 10 different workshops lasting 10 minutes each, all delivering key messages on topics such as how to tackle dangers, playing safely,…

Are you over 65 and driving regularly? Would you like to brush up on your driving skills in a free one-day refresher course? Pembrokeshire County Council runs regular Mature Driver courses, which aim to help keep older motorists driving safely for longer. The courses are held at Haverfordwest Fire Station and run from 10am to 4pm. Funded by Welsh Government, they consist of: an informal classroom-based session in the morning a practical driving session in the afternoon with an approved driving instructor. Idwal David from Tenby (pictured, left) praised the course, having completed it recently. “You’re never too old to…

The Council’s Cabinet has agreed proposals to introduce subsidised bus travel schemes across Rhondda Cynon Taf during key periods of the 2023/24 financial year. A £1 maximum single bus fare for all travel between July 24 and September 3 (inclusive) has been agreed and, depending on the success of this scheme, a repeat of this subsidy could be implemented between December 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023 (inclusive). In addition, Cabinet also approved the introduction of a 1-year 7-day bus travel pilot scheme for all post-16 school and college students that are in receipt of a public bus season ticket…

Street Food Factory, operating since 2019, have expanded their business with a new bespoke mobile food kitchen to keep up with demand for their products and service.  The company has gone from strength to strength since the pandemic with revenue and sales up over 23%. They regularly provide a range of delicious food for the hungry staff at places such as Unilever, JR Gilbert Engineering, and others around the Oakdale area. 80% of their business now operates through online purchase, at streetfoodfactory.co.uk. They also offer food delivery through the evenings. Street Food Factory received £24,249.00 from the UK Government through…

Another Caerphilly County Borough resident has been awarded £500 for recycling their food waste as part of the Borough’s Mash for Cash campaign. Mr and Mrs Roberts from Pontllanfraith have been announced as the latest winners of Caerphilly County Borough’s Mash for Cash campaign. The initiative was launched in March 2022, with an aim to increase food waste recycling participation and contribute to Welsh Government’s decarbonisation targets. And sees houses monitored with one food recycling participant chosen at random each month to win £500. All Caerphilly County Borough residents are eligible to win the cash prize providing they put their…

Monmouthshire County Council is proud to announce that more of the county’s attractions and open spaces have won prestigious Green Flag Awards this year. The awards, presented by leading environmental charity Keep Wales Tidy, give recognition to the locations that offer excellent facilities while demonstrating an ongoing commitment to delivering great quality green space. This year sees Green Flag Awards going to the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal (included for the third consecutive year), Tintern Old Station (award winners since 2009), Caldicot Castle Country Park (since 2013), Castle Meadows Abergavenny (since 2014) and Bailey Park in Abergavenny. The Monmouthshire & Brecon…

A trio of Merthyr Tydfil businessmen have formed a new company to develop a ‘problem’ brownfield site into the county borough’s latest business park. The area of land at on Pant Industrial Estate, Dowlais – formerly used by ICI as a chemical plant – will be transformed into an estate of 14 factory units, specifically for micro and SME businesses. The project is the first in Merthyr Tydfil to have been awarded a Welsh Government Property Development Grant – of £2.6 million towards an overall development cost of around £5m. With the working title ‘Paisley Business Park’, the scheme is…

Visitors to Cheshire’s Blue Planet Aquarium are in for a whale-y-good time this summer, as the highly anticipated BRICKLIVE Ocean Exhibition lands throughout the aquarium from 21st July to 3rd September. BRICKLIVE Ocean is an immersive exhibition showcasing a fish-inating collection of hand-built brick statues, made from 1,328,371 toy bricks that give a fin-sight into the mesmerising world of marine life and life under the ocean wave. The 25 brick models combine family friendly entertainment with education, with the model collection including octopi, whales, turtles, crabs, dolphins and sharks (real ones can also be visited at the Aquarium, which is…