Author: Rhys Gregory

Plans for an upgrade of Cardiff’s Pentwyn Leisure Centre have been agreed by Cardiff Council. The scheme will see the centre benefit from: A new 20m x 8m pool, heated by a ground source heat pump. A new cafeteria. A new fitness gym on the ground floor. A new full-sized 3G pitch and mini pitch. A refurbished family-changing facility. A new hall and external space which could be leased to a third partner – potentially to create an area for padel tennis on site. Roof mounted solar panels. Public consultation will now be undertaken and potential changes would be considered…

The council’s Employability Bridgend team are organising a ‘Positive Pathways, Festival of Wellbeing’ event on Thursday 29 June at the Bowls Hall, Bridgend Halo Life Centre. The event is part of Employability Bridgend’s re-launch following a change to funders. Through Welsh Government’s Communities for Work+ funding and UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, the Employability Bridgend team is able to support wellbeing as part of the employability journey, a vital step before people access training or work. The free event, which is open to all, will take place from 11am until 3pm, with wellbeing talks, crafts, aromatherapy, yoga, beauty treatments, bounce…

SWANSEA’S pioneering free bus initiative has been a smash-hit with residents, new figures reveal. The city’s free bus offer will be making a welcome return for the summer holidays next month, but new official figures show how the initiative has encouraged hundreds of thousands of trips by bus locally. Council figures show that in its launch summer in 2021 almost 214,000 people took advantage of the offer between July and August. That figure rose to more than 222,000 in the same period the following summer. And now it’s been confirmed for the weekends of this year’s school summer holidays too,…

The award winning, energy positive Bay Technology Centre at the Baglan Energy Park has been officially opened by Secretary of State for Wales the Rt Hon David TC Davies MP. The Secretary of State was welcomed to the new building on Thursday, June 22nd, 2023 by the Leader of Neath Port Talbot Council, Cllr Steve Hunt. Cllr Hunt said: “Supporting this council’s Decarbonisation and Renewable Energy Strategy (DARE), the centre is a step change in approach to building design and surpasses the ‘net zero’ concept to provide what is in effect a building as a power station – the first…

The Council has provided a progress update on the major ongoing repair scheme to Berw Road Bridge (White Bridge) in Pontypridd. Please be assured that significant works activity is continuing to take place behind the scaffolding platform and underneath the bridge, which are not visible to the public. The current phase of work is focusing on the penultimate section of the bridge’s middle span. Concrete repairs have been completed for this phase of work – including the removal of 140m2 of hard concrete material along with 137 individual structural concrete repairs. Residents will shortly notice works activity as the contractor…

Wales international and football icon Aaron Ramsey opened the ‘Cruyff Court Aaron Ramsey’ at Trinity Fields School & Resource Centre on Friday. In a ceremony organised by the Johan Cruyff Foundation, Aaron Ramsey was joined by Leader of the Council, Cllr Sean Morgan and Syslia Cruyff, Johan Cruyff Foundation Board Member and daughter to Johan Cruyff. The facility has been built in partnership with Caerphilly County Borough Council and the Aaron Ramsey Foundation with the help of funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The day began with a press conference which took place on the new pitch. School…

Funding has been secured this financial year to start the construction of the new Active Travel bridge across the Usk, and revised plans for the entrance gates to Castle Meadows have been agreed between Monmouthshire County Council and Transport for Wales. A planning application to improve paths through Castle Meadows, Abergavenny will be considered in the near future by the Council’s Planning Committee. Planning discussions were delayed from July’s planning meeting while a query from Natural Resources Wales about the ecology of the site was explored. A trial cattle grid with a gate at Castle Meadows will be removed and replaced…

The Council’s Licensing Department is receiving information that unlicensed drivers are continuing to operate illegal ‘taxis’ across Merthyr Tydfil. All licensed drivers and vehicles are assessed by the Council to ensure they are maintained to an acceptable standard and are safe and suitable to carry passengers. Unlicensed vehicles will not have the correct insurance in place, with drivers not having undertaken the relevant safeguarding checks. Neither will their vehicles have been assessed and could be in an unroadworthy condition. “Last year, we issued a warning to members of the public about the dangers of travelling in unlicensed vehicles – and…

Community representatives from across Powys have been given advice on how to deliver successful climate and nature emergency action plans. More than 60 delegates attended a free Powys Town and Community Council Environment and Nature Event held at The Pavilion in Llandrindod Wells on 14 June. The conference, organised jointly by Powys County Council and Llandrindod Wells Town Council, was held to mark The Great Big Green Week (10 – 18 June). It included speakers from a range of organisations, question and answer sessions with panellists, workshops, information stands and opportunities for networking. “I found it inspirational and have been…

Powys County Council have secured Welsh Government funding, for a Safe Routes in Community Active Travel project near the Priory Church in Wales School, in Brecon. Identified on the Active Travel Network Maps (ATNM) by the community and school, the existing footpaths were described as poor or unsuitable for making journeys by foot, particularly for those travelling to and from the school. The project has been designed to address these issues and improve access to the school and will be the first step in developing a wider local active travel network throughout Brecon. The scheme will improve active travel provision…