Author: Rhys Gregory

This week (23 November 2022), a public-private consortium unveiled their transformational bid for a Celtic Freeport, which will deliver an accelerated pathway for Wales’ net zero economy. The bid is expected to generate over 16,000 new jobs and generate up to £5.5 billion of new investment. In front of a packed audience chaired by renowned BBC broadcast journalist, Sarah Dickins, and on the eve of the freeport bidding window closing, the bid team unveiled their vision to create a green investment corridor with long-term commitments on major port infrastructure upgrades, skills development and innovation, all rooted in the fair work…

Revisions to Community Meals Service, known as ‘Meals on Wheels’ will be considered next week to ensure a service is maintained in RCT in the face of rising inflationary food and energy costs and the financial pressures all councils will face next year. Cabinet are being asked to agree to consult on a preferred option to retain the service with an uplift in the daily charge and renewed service delivery model. On Tuesday, November 29, Cabinet Members will consider a report outlining four options for the service’s future delivery. Increased financial pressures on local authorities have brought significant challenges into…

Santa has been spotted delivering a £500 cheque to a food waste recycler in Caerphilly County Borough. Clare Burton from Aberbargoed has been announced as the eighth winner of Caerphilly County Borough’s Mash for Cash campaign, which sees one lucky food waste recycler chosen at random each month to win £500 cash, and was presented with a cheque by the CCBC Waste and Recycling team, one of whom was dressed for the occasion. The Mash for Cash campaign was launched in March 2022 with an aim to increase the number of residents currently recycling their food waste, whilst the prize…

A recent report highlights the efforts made by Caerphilly County Borough Council to enhance biodiversity. The Council’s Environment and Sustainability Scrutiny Committee endorsed the updated report at a meeting held on 16th November. Caerphilly County Borough Council has a legal duty to maintain and enhance biodiversity to promote the resilience of ecosystems under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016. Included within the report are several initiatives successfully delivered by the council, which aid in the protection of biodiversity within the borough. These projects include the adoption of a Green Infrastructure Strategy in November 2020 which aims to build on the significant…

Monmouthshire County Council, in collaboration with Overmonnow Primary School and Ysgol Gymraeg Y Ffin, is set to create Welsh medium seedling provision in Monmouth. The local authority has outlined plans to open a third Welsh-medium primary school in Monmouth in the Monmouthshire WESP 2022-32 as part of its wider strategy to support and grow the demand for Welsh medium education across the county. A seedling provision, as an extension of an existing Welsh-medium school, will enable the Council to open the Welsh medium seedling provision in Monmouth in September 2023 and provide a firm basis to open the new Welsh-medium primary…

A new Welsh Government grant scheme to support energy efficiency improvements and decarbonisation across Residential Social Care providers, which will help the sector deal with the cost of energy crisis, has been launched and is now open for applications, Ministers announced this (23 November). The £1.4m scheme is part of Welsh Government’s Backing Local Firms Fund, which has been established to support businesses in parts of our local everyday economy, also known as the Foundational Economy, to deliver more of the products and services required by the public sector, helping to create more and better jobs closer to home. The…

Rail passengers are being urged to plan their journeys carefully this Saturday (26 November) with industrial action set to impact services across the Wales and Borders network. Transport for Wales (TfW) is not involved in Saturday’s strikes and will be running its full Saturday timetable, but industrial action by the train drivers’ union ASLEF at 12 other operators means TfW services across the network are likely to be very busy. With Wales versus Australia also taking place at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, customers in some areas are advised to only travel by rail if necessary. Saturday 26 November TfW…

Black Friday deals are now live at St David’s Cardiff with brands offering exclusive discounts across the whole weekend. Guests at the city shopping destination can find Black Friday prices at dozens of brands from fashion and beauty to homeware and jewellery. Discounts at St David’s include 60% off at global beauty brand Morphe and jeweller Ernest Jones, half price shoes and bags at Kurt Geiger, 80% off perfume at The Fragrance Shop and up to 30% off at Hollister. Other deals include up to 50% off at Levi’s, 20% at Superdry, 30% off at Ted Baker and 15% off…

This December, Lucie the Porthcawl Land Train will transform into the Santa Express, welcoming Steelworks Santa on board for three days of festive family fun. Following the success of last year’s Santa Express, Lucie the Land Train, run by homelessness charity Emmaus South Wales, will again undergo a festive makeover in preparation for Santa’s arrival on Wednesday 28th, Thursday 29th and Friday 30th December. Joining Steelworks Santa on board Lucie the Land Train will be The Family Claus; Mrs Claus will lead some traditional carol singing and Chief Elf, Candy Cane, will spread her own brand of Christmas cheer. Once…

A leading containerised storage company is to open a new self-storage park in Porthmadog as it continues to expand across North Wales. The Lock Stock Self Storage site will be on the Penamser Trading Estate on land next to the town’s Aldi store. The one-acre site will be Denbigh-based Lock Stock’s 26th storage park across North Wales and the borders and will have capacity for over 160 20-foot-long containers. It will be their third storage park in Gwynedd, joining sites in Bangor and Caernarfon, and will be the first in the south of the county. The new storage units, in…