Author: Rhys Gregory

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) in partnership with Jazz Heritage Wales, will host the fourth annual Documenting Jazz Conference at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea, from the 9th to 12th November 2022 – and in preparation, five pianos are being scattered around the city – to make music accessible to all. Staff and students from the University’s Swansea College of Art have initiated the Street Pianos project. Subject areas including, Art and Design Foundation, Surface Pattern and Textiles, Illustration and Fine Art have taken on the challenge to each design a street piano that will be situated in…

Joanne Hughes set up her own accountancy firm to look after tax matters for clients and be their “accountant”. Instead, Hughes deceitfully tricked three firms into a tax payment scam. From 2014-2018, Hughes stole £280,000 from three small businesses, reassuring them their payments were for HMRC when they were in fact being paid into her own bank accounts and not being sent on. An investigation was set up in 2019 after one of the businesses new accountants informed them that their books looked “awful” and something was going on. The 48 year-old pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud and…

A PROMINENT name in North Wales agriculture will lead commercial land and property developments on a 15,000-acre farm estate. Rhys Davies, from Llandyrnog, is the new Estate and General Manager at Rhug Estate, near Corwen. He takes over from Emma Story, who will move on to become Strategic Lead for Nature Recovery and Carbon Sequestration as part of an upcoming Welsh Government project on Wales’s Designated Landscapes. Having previously worked as a chartered rural surveyor, agricultural banking manager and latterly chief executive of Farmers Marts, Dolgellau – which during the pandemic became a world leader in the sale of sheepdogs…

Bridgend County Borough Council’s Cabinet has approved the start of a public consultation about a proposal to expand Coety Primary School.  The proposal would result in Coety Primary School’s capacity increasing from 420 to 525 places for pupils aged four to eleven years.  In order to address the demand for places at Coety Primary School, an options appraisal was launched, which identified the need to increase provision at the school. This resulted in a preferred option being identified in the form of a two-storey, four-classroom extension. Additional housing has been constructed at Parc Derwen, which was not planned as part of…

Highways repair crews have embarked on a six month tour of Swansea to tackle some of the city’s worst road defects. The road repair crews are part of Swansea Council’s PATCH highway maintenance programme which operates annually, repairing larger road defects in all communities throughout the city. The teams will spend up to two weeks in each ward in Swansea, starting in Pontarddulais and Gowerton before moving on to Gorseinon and Cockett. The scheme will come to an end in April 2023 when the maintenance crews will visit Llansamlet and Waterfront (Swansea Marina). Andrew Stevens, Cabinet Member for Environment &…

The waiting is over and the nominations for the 2022 Sport Pembrokeshire Awards have been revealed. A total of 186 nominations have been received in 13 categories for individuals and teams involved in a variety of different sports across the county. The three finalists in each category will be announced in the Western Telegraph on Wednesday 16th November. The overall winners will be unveiled at a gala ceremony at Folly Farm on Friday 25th November, organised by Sport Pembrokeshire. The awards are sponsored by Valero, the Western Telegraph, Folly Farm, and Pure West Radio. “We’re delighted to have received so…

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, in partnership with RHA Wales, secured funding from Welsh Government’s Phase 2 Homelessness Capital programme to construct much-needed residential accommodation specifically to meet the needs of young people in our communities who may need access to a supported living scheme. The project is located in Hughes Street, Tonypandy, with easy access to the nearby town centre and local amenities. The scheme will deliver 4 x 1-bedroom self-contained studio apartments on the lower and upper ground floors and staff accommodation on the first floor. The scheme will be managed by Hafan Cymru who specialise in providing support…

A Treforest business which used its manufacturing expertise to supply key products like hand sanitiser in response to the pandemic, just weeks after being flooded by Storm Dennis, continues to go from strength to strength. Gwalia Healthcare, based at Treforest Industrial Estate, specialises in manufacturing medical devices and pharmaceutical packaging. Through positive support and engagement, the company has a close working relationship with the Enterprise team, part of the Council’s Prosperity & Development Service. Gwalia recently hosted Vaughan Gething MS, the Welsh Government Minister for Economy, along with the Council Leader and Chief Executive. The Minister visited the company in…

Cllr Philippa Leonard, Cabinet Member for Planning and Public Protection at Caerphilly County Borough Council, has called on Welsh Government to review greyhound racing in Wales. Greyhound racing is currently unregulated in Wales, unlike England where tracks are subject to the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 and tracks are registered with the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) and are subject to UKAS accredited self-regulation. In her letter to Welsh Government, Cllr Leonard said “I share the concerns voiced by animal welfare charities for racing greyhounds throughout their lives, including when their racing career ends.  The available data on…

Powys Library Service is holding a competition for children and young people to design the new library membership card. The competition is open to anyone aged between 4 and 16years old and will be split into two age categories: primary school children (aged 4-11), and secondary school children (aged 11-16), with a prize for the winner of each category. One of the winning designs will be chosen to create the new library membership card. The theme for the competition is ‘What do Libraries in Powys mean to you?’ and designs can be created using any medium such as paint, drawing…