Author: Rhys Gregory

An investment of £50,000 has been allocated to tree planting across Rhondda Cynon Taf as part of its commitment to tackle Climate Change and to create a more resilient Wales as part of the well-being and future generation act. Trees are vital and release oxygen which we need for our life. As the biggest plants on the planet, they store carbon, stabilise the soil and give life to the world’s wildlife. Thanks to the investment over 600, small, sapling, hedge row trees will be planted in the coming weeks across the County Borough – 200 in Rhondda, 200 in Cynon…

RCT has agreed an updated funding package for the proposed new Welsh Medium Primary School in Rhydyfelin – to deliver a £14.183m investment for the community. A report to Cabinet on Monday, February 28,outlined the updated financial position of the project following a previous update in June 2021. Since then, a Strategic Outline Programme has been submitted to Welsh Government which incorporates, among other updates, a commitment to achieve a net zero carbon school. Welsh Government approved this in September 2021. The proposed development will be on the current Heol y Celyn Primary school site, and would welcome the school’s…

Lane closures will be in effect on Newport Bridge and the Old Green Roundabout from Monday 7 March for three weeks. The closures are required to facilitate emergency repairs to Western Power apparatus. The lane closures in place are as follows: Newport Bridge – the two middle lanes of the road on the Old Green Roundabout side of the bridge. This will be the right-hand lanes of both directions of travel. The closure will run from the roundabout to just after the point where the westbound bus lane ends, to allow traffic heading towards the roundabout to filter into the…

An award-winning business school is coming to Bridgend County Borough next week which offers free support to entrepreneurs of the future. Rebel Business School, in partnership with Bridgend County Borough Council, will be delivering their popular course at Halo Life Centre from the 21-25 March 2022. The free course, which is part of the local authority’s Elevate and Prosper project, will help local start-ups throughout the county borough to get their ideas off the ground and existing businesses to grow. A spokesperson for Rebel Business School said: “Since 2011, our courses have been showing a new way of thinking and…

A pioneering council-led new green energy sharing initiative looks set to create Wales’ first low-carbon village in South Cornelly. The Low Carbon Communities Initiative aims to see how locally generated renewable electricity, produced as a result of solar power can potentially be shared with other homes nearby. Bridgend County Borough Council, in association with Challoch Energy, NuVision Energy Wales ltd, Passiv UK and the Welsh Government, launched the scheme in order to explore the potential of creating Local Energy Markets where renewable electricity can be traded with participating homes. A small number of households in the South Cornelly area that…

Plans for a new velo park at Llanfoist, Abergavenny were discussed at Monmouthshire County Council’s meeting of full cabinet on Wednesday 2nd March. The project would help provide facilities for cyclists across Monmouthshire, as well as hosting some local and national events. Council members agreed that a capital budget of £492,000 be created in the 2021/22 financial year to fund the construction of the first phase of the Abergavenny velo park. The report was put forward by Councillor Lisa Dymock, cabinet member for Social Wellbeing, who said: “The project has been developed in consultation with a number of stakeholders including…

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council has invested in an enforcement vehicle fitted with the latest technology to help its fight against illegal parking. Cameras on the parking enforcement vehicle photograph number plates and are enabling officers to prosecute offenders by way of penalty charge notices – civil offence charges rather than criminal. “The cameras will be used by the parking department to capture vehicles parked illegally at zebra crossings, bus stops and zig zag markings around schools,” said Cabinet Member for Public Protection Cllr Geraint Thomas. “We’re doing this so that our roads don’t become blocked, our children are safe…

New re-use scheme at Brecon Household Waste Recycling Centre sees charitable venture, Tools for Self Reliance Cymru, recycle and refurbish old and unwanted hand tools for African grass roots community groups. Together in collaboration with Powys County Council and Potter Group, Tools for Self Reliance Cymru (TFSR Cymru) have set up the re-use scheme in Brecon which collects the second-hand tools recycled at the HWRC by Powys residents. The tools are then collected by the Crickhowell based charity, who, with the help of skilled volunteers, refurbish the items and either sell, to raise much needed funds for the charity, or…

As part of the active travel routes in mid-Powys, the much-improved shared use path between Cwmdauddwr and Elan village will reopen for users by the end of March. Along with improving the surface of the shared use path, the route has also benefited from repairs and widening of bridges and gateways, shoring up of embankments, and the introduction of safer crossing points for pedestrians and cyclists. The removal of barriers and the instructions for gates crossing the path to be left open (unless access to the neighbouring fields is required by the landowners to move stock or equipment) will ensure…

First Minister Mark Drakeford will today (Friday 4 March) publish Wales’ longer-term plan to live safely with coronavirus. Together for a Safer Future will mark the start of Wales’ transition beyond the emergency response to the pandemic – emergency measures have been in place for two years. It sets out how Wales can live safely with coronavirus – just as we live with many other infectious diseases – and what that will mean for public health services and protections put in place to respond to the pandemic, including testing services. Wales will remain at alert level zero for the next…