Author: Rhys Gregory

Principality Building Society has donated £100,000 to welcome its two-year charity partnerships with Tŷ Hafan and Hope House Tŷ Gobaith children’s hospices.  Colleagues at the largest building society in Wales voted overwhelmingly to support the two charities, who provide paediatric palliative care for hundreds of children across Wales and the borders each year.    Tŷ Hafan, who are based in south Wales, and Tŷ Gobaith who are based in north Wales and the borders, will work closely with Principality whose colleagues will endeavour to raise as much money as possible to make a difference to thousands of children and their families.…

A 53-year-old man from Barry has today pleaded guilty to the murder of Robert Farley, who was found dead in his home in Barry on September 3rd 2021. At 0.38am on Friday September 3rd, 2021, South Wales Police responded to a 999 call in which it was reported that a man was threatening to shoot people. At 0.40am, officers attended The Knapp in Barry and found Lee Whitlock, who matched the description provided. Whitlock then led officers to the home of Robert Farley, claiming that they were friends and that he had not heard from him for a few days.…

A consultation has been launched to help understand what matters most, in terms of wellbeing, for people and communities in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg area. The consultation, which takes the form of an online survey, gives residents the opportunity to have their say on a Wellbeing Assessment which will go on to form the basis of a Wellbeing Plan to be published in April 2023. Bridgend Public Services Board (PSB), a group of public sector and not for profit organisations who work together to create a better Bridgend County Borough, managed the assessment which was carried out jointly with the…

Radical and wide-ranging plans to transform Cardiff Bay into one of the UK’s leading visitor and tourism destinations will be reviewed this week. On Thursday, Cardiff Council’s Cabinet is to examine a detailed report that outlines the progress of existing projects and unveils exciting new possibilities which could help transform the Bay area, including: The latest news on the Cardiff Indoor Arena, which will now have a capacity of 17,000 up from earlier projections of 15,000. Proposals to ‘green’ Lloyd George Avenue creating an urban park, replacing the underused current dual carriageway road system with a standard single carriageway, removing…

One of Swansea city centre’s most well-known buildings could get a fresh new look – with three tall green walls. The Dragon Hotel and Swansea Council hope to get planning permission to create the living walls on three sides of the prominent Kingsway Circle building. They will reach up to six storeys. Designers working on the project have submitted a pre-application submission to Swansea planners. They say the walls will feature plants such as boxwood, wallflower, honeysuckle and wisteria. A maintenance plan would be put in place. Swansea Council has worked with the Dragon to secure Welsh Government funding for…

A vacant shop in Caerphilly town centre will be demolished over the coming weeks to allow exciting regeneration plans to progress in future. Work starts this week on the demolition of the former Specsavers building, located at 25 Cardiff Road, in support of Caerphilly Council’s ambitious development proposals for the town. It is hoped that plans can then be progressed for a new boutique hotel development on the prime site overlooking the castle in future. Demolition contractors are already on site preparing the internal work required in preparation for the full demolition of the building in order to support the…

Primary school pupils and volunteer groups in Caerphilly county borough are planting 5,000 trees from 7-11 of March to celebrate Tree Planting Week and in a bid to tackle climate change. The tree planting is being arranged by the Green Spaces group and is the start of Caerphilly’s decarbonisation journey to support local habitats, biodiversity and contributes to the Welsh Governments tree planting ambitions. Pupils from Ystrad Mynach College and Ystrad Mynach Primary School will join Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Countryside Rangers at Ynys Hywel Farm, in Wattsville. In 2019 the Council became only the second in Gwent to declare…

Community groups in the Caerphilly county borough benefitted from £16,660 in grants between October 2021 and January 2022. Caerphilly County Borough Council administered these grants though its Voluntary Sector Grants budget and the Welsh Church Acts Fund scheme.  The council’s Grants to the Voluntary Sector Panel were updated on this spend during a recent remote meeting. Grants allocated through the council’s General Criteria Awards included support for a range of community groups including Cefn Hengoed OAP Association, Darran Valley History Group, Bargoed and District Art Society, Western Valley Camera Club, Players’ Theatre, and Trinant Brownies and Rainbows.  Several individuals also…

Opening on Friday 4th March, The Cabin is a safe space for 11-25 year olds to socialise, meet new friends and talk about any issues, with help from Monmouthshire County Council’s Youth Service. Prior to its replacement, The Cabin had been very small with limited capacity, and was not fit for purpose. With significant help and support from Abergavenny Town Council and Monmouthshire County Council, funding for the removal and replacement of the existing Cabin with a more fit-for-purpose structure was provided to use as a youth centre, with brand new equipment and activities being provided by Monmouthshire Housing. The…

Monmouthshire’s streets should become even safer as 20mph zones are being introduced by Monmouthshire County Council this month. The first of these projects will see Abergavenny, Llanfoist, Magor, Undy, Caldicot, Portskewett and Caerwent all lowered from 30mph this month as part of two Welsh Government funded pilot projects. Plans for the introduction of pilot 20mph zones across Monmouthshire were raised at Monmouthshire County Council’s full council meeting last December. This follows the announcement in 2019 by the First Minister that 20mph should be the default speed limit for all residential roads in Wales. Subject to Cabinet Member approval on 9th March,…