Author: Rhys Gregory

Pembrokeshire’s Folly Farm is on a conservation mission, and its newest arrivals are as important as they are adorable In an effort to protect Wales’ declining wildlife and raise awareness on now extinct Welsh species, Folly Farm has welcomed two furry new arrivals – a pair of male Welsh wildcats. Their home is an impressive new exhibit built almost entirely by the zoo’s employees. Wildcats used to be a common sight throughout Wales. Just slightly larger than a domestic cat and closely resembling a tabby, they once roamed freely and are thought to have been the inspiration behind Welsh myths…

Wales will be taking on Georgia on Saturday November 19th at Principality Stadium. With the kick-off taking place at 1pm – there will be a full city centre road closure from 9am until 5pm to ensure all ticket holders can get into and out of the stadium safely. The M4 motorway is expected to be very busy – please plan ahead – and avoid the congestion in Cardiff by using the park & ride at County Hall in Cardiff Bay. Gates open at 10.30am, those attending the rugby match are strongly advised to plan their journey and get in early. Please pay…

Plans setting out how the Council intends to deliver the next phase of its ambitious housing development programme, creating another 1,700 new homes for the city have been unveiled. Against a backdrop of extreme pressures on housing availability in Cardiff, the Council is seeking a new housing partnership scheme arrangement to ensure more high quality, energy efficient homes can be built at volume and pace. The partnership scheme would be the second of its type the Council has embarked on, following the success of the award-winning Cardiff Living partnership with national developer, Wates Residential. That £320m 10-year programme is delivering…

Exciting plans for a new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the river Taff have been unveiled, part of the wider regeneration of Grangetown’s Channel View estate. The Council is embarking on a £80 million redevelopment of the Channel View estate in Grangetown to replace existing homes suffering from subsidence and structural damage and create a greener, more sustainable, more attractive neighbourhood for the existing community. As part of the masterplan approved by Planning in December 2021, the proposed new footbridge will provide an active travel link for pedestrians and cyclists between the Channel View estate, the Marl and the area…

Bridgend County Borough Council’s Cabinet have approved plans to start a consultation process about increasing the council tax charge for owners of second homes and long-term empty properties. The local authority has powers available to charge council tax premiums through the Housing (Wales) Act 2014. The proposal would help to bring empty homes back into use to provide safe, secure and affordable homes and would also support the council to improve the sustainability of local communities. A long-term empty property is defined as a place of residence, which is both unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for a continuous period of at…

A carpenter and a virtual assistant are among more than 50 new Swansea businesses to have benefited from start-up funding support in the last six months. Grants of up to £1,000 were made available to successful applicants in the latest round of a scheme run by Swansea Council and funded by the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund. Although the scheme has now closed for applications, further funding support for Swansea start-up businesses is expected to be announced in the early New Year. Edward Enticknap, from Morriston, is among those to have benefited in recent months. He used the start-up funding…

Neath Port Talbot Council and housing association Tai Tarian are teaming up to make sure land across the borough will be best managed to encourage biodiversity and promote well-being for future generations. Both organisations are working together to identify the areas that could suit activities such as football and picnics while letting grasses and flowers grow elsewhere to encourage bees, butterflies and rarer plant species. The council and Tai Tarian aim to work in partnership as they believe this will get more people behind the change while improving visual amenity for residents in all areas. All areas of land will…

Young musicians in Pembrokeshire recently enjoyed a day rehearsing music with professional musicians from the Band of the Welsh Guards, before performing alongside them in a special evening concert at Haverfordwest High VC School. 56 pupils from nine schools took part in the event, practising a variety of popular pieces and new repertoire under the direction of Bandmaster WO2 Michael Mcgowen, who made the sessions a fun and educational experience. The day also included a presentation from LCpl Ben Harries about life as a serving musician in the Army. The pupils’ hard work culminated in an evening concert that was well…

A new indoor cycle storage unit, the first of its kind in Newport, was officially opened this week in Skinner Street. Spokesafe Newport offers 24/7 access to cyclists looking for a safe place to store their bikes when visiting the city centre. The unit has been set up by Gap Wales, a Newport-based grassroots charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers, homeless or vulnerably housed people, and victims of human trafficking, and works to make Newport a better place for all. Gap Wales already runs several successful projects in the city, including the Newport Refugee Bike project, a scheme that…

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Cabinet has unanimously agreed to an independent re-evaluation of safety measures along the B4251, known locally as ‘Wyllie bends’. This decision was made during a meeting held on 16th November where Cabinet members heard the views of local Councillors and Mrs Jo Jones, the mother of Laurie Jones who died during an accident on the road in 2019. Cllr Sean Morgan, the Council’s Leader, said “This stretch of highway has seen several unfortunate accidents in recent years, two of which were sadly fatal.  We offer our condolences to those families who lost loved ones and thank…