Author: Rhys Gregory

Neath Port Talbot councillors have agreed to put forward for Welsh Government funding five school building projects with indicative costs totalling around £106.2m. The approval came from members of the Education, Skills and Wellbeing Cabinet Board on November 24th. The projects represent the council’s next phase (Band C) of investment under the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme. They are: Llangatwg Comprehensive A replacement 11-16 Secondary school for 850 places and new 16 place Learning Support Centre (LSC). It is proposed to construct the new school on the playing fields of the existing site. On completion, the existing buildings…

Neath Port Talbot councillors are being asked to approve free Christmas parking for Neath, Port Talbot and Pontardawe town centres from Saturday 10th December 2022 to Sunday 1st January 2023. Members of Neath Port Talbot Council’s Environment, Regeneration and Streetscene Services Cabinet Board will be asked to agree the offer at their meeting on December 2nd, 2022. An officers’ report to the Cabinet Board says: ”Our town centres and the traders who operate in them have been significantly affected during the pandemic with many experiencing a decline in trade. “To support our town centre economy it’s acknowledged that providing free…

A Newport shop owner had disposable vapes with higher amounts of nicotine-containing liquid than allowed on sale, a court was told. Vapes were found in Lifestyle Express on Corporation Road with between 2,500 and 3,500 “puffs” in each tank. The legal limit is around 600 puffs or two millilitres. Patel, aged 53, pleaded guilty to one offence of having disposable vapes available for supply that breached the regulations. He admitted a further three offences of failing to include an information leaflet with the products. Cwmbran magistrates fined him a total of £1332 and ordered him to pay costs of £1046…

Woodfieldside Senior Citizens Group has been able to continue staying connected thanks to funding from Caerphilly County Borough Council. The group, who have been running for over 30 years, recently found themselves struggling to cover the costs of travelling to meetings and activities, due to the rising costs of transport. Community Connectors, based within the Council’s Caerphilly Cares Team, helped the group overcome this issue by working with Paramount Travel to arrange transport for members of the group to their weekly sessions and one off activities, including their annual Christmas meal. One of the group members, Mrs Baker, said “I…

Developing connections along the two canal corridors within Powys is the focus of the Canals, Communities and Wellbeing project and, whether you’re a resident or a visitor to Powys, we’d love to know what you think about our canals. Until 11 January 2023 we’re gathering your thoughts and comments so that we can shape our future plans around your ideas and needs. Whether that’s what you’d like to see improved, or what currently prevents you from making the most of the canals and their surrounding areas. Working within a corridor of 5km along each side of the Montgomery and Monmouthshire…

 As one of the most important events in the Welsh rural calendar takes place the Minister for Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, is encouraging visitors to this year’s Royal Welsh Winter Fair to call in to the Welsh Government stand The Minister will be attending the event today [Monday, 28 November] and the stand in the South Glamorgan Hall will be open on both days. Information on the Sustainable Farming Scheme, Farm Health and Safety, Agricultural Pollution, avian flu and many other topics will be available with staff on hand to help with queries. The Winter Fair will also provide the…

The Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden has announced £4.5m over the next three years to support the delivery of the culture, heritage and sport goals and actions in the Welsh Government’s Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan. The Action Plan is part of the Welsh Government’s Programme for Government and the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru. More than £2.8m has been shared between 22 local, regional, national or independently run culture, heritage and sport organisations across Wales. All projects receiving funding have a focus on co-production, demonstrating a commitment to placing lived experience at the centre of policy, service…

New biosecurity and housing requirements will be implemented for poultry and captive birds in Wales as surveillance of avian influenza suggests a heightened risk of disease for Wales over the winter months. Interim Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales, Dr Gavin Watkins, said these steps were being taken now to get ahead of a possible increased level of avian influenza virus in the environment and build extra resilience to the important measures introduced in October through the Wales Avian Influenza Prevention Zone. These will come into force across Wales on Friday, 2 December. From this date, it will be a legal…

The Welsh Government is currently consulting on how substance misuse treatment services for young people and families are provided in Wales. Over 500 children in Wales receive support for substance misuse, while more than 4,000 receive care and support due to their parents having substance misuse problems. The Welsh Government wants to improve services for people up to 25, enabling better assessment of individuals’ needs and developing a model for a single service for people with multiple or complex needs. There has been a rise in demand for support for substance misuse for children and young people in recent years.…

The covid-19 pandemic changed a lot of things in our everyday lives. We have all been witnessing limitations in our lives and have been forced to step carefully to avoid getting infected with the new unfamiliar virus. However, the pandemic has not exclusively been a bad thing for our society since it has forced us to use new digital tools to live our lives. Since it was no longer possible to go to work, school classes and other institutions on a regular basis, we had to make use of digital tools such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. These tools have…