Author: Rhys Gregory

Work to begin the first phase of an active travel route in Treowen, Newtown, will begin Monday 21 February. Identified following previous consultations on the county’s Active Travel Network Maps, the route will improve walking and cycling facilities on the North side of Heol Treowen from Treowen Primary School towards Dolfor Road. The pavement will be widened to become a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians. This will also improve the surface of the existing path and increase safety for all users, particularly for families and pupils going to and from school. Funded by Welsh Government, this is the…

Over 1,700 trees have been planted in Tremorfa Park for the Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) at a special event to commemorate Cardiff’s status as a Champion City. More than 150 volunteers from the local community were invited to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”, in partnership with Trees for Cities and the QGC, at Tremorfa Park on Saturday 12 February. The tree planting event also contributes to Cardiff Council’s ambitious Coed Caerdydd project which will see over 16,000 trees planted across the city this year, over 3x more trees than we planted in 2019. Local schoolchildren from Moorland Primary and…

Children from Llandaff City C.I.W. PrimarySchool opened Llandaff Fields Play Area on Friday, where children are now welcome to explore and play after completion of a huge revamp. Works at Llandaff Fields Play Area started in October 2021 and completed on Friday 11 February. Cardiff Parks Department invited schools from across the city to provide their thoughts and ideas on how the play area could be developed. Pupils from Creigiau Primary School, Kitchener Primary School, Millbank Primary School, Severn Primary School, St Cuthbert’s Primary, St David’s Primary School, St Monica’s Primary School as well as separate entries from other children…

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is investing a further £40,000 in its red dog waste bins and is improving the availability of ‘doggy’ bags in a bid to help irresponsible dog owners. The majority of dog owners across the County Borough are responsible, but those that are not, are leaving their mess behind them for others to step in – or worse. There are over 1500 red dog waste bins across the County Borough all situated in well-known dog walking locations and hot spots. The latest investment will now see more bins installed or replaced where needed and the addition of…

Pembrokeshire Communities are being invited to apply for a ‘Happy to Chat’ bench to help tackle loneliness and isolation. ‘Happy to Chat’ benches feature a simple sign which reads ‘Sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping to say hello.’ The benches are being made available thanks to an Age Friendly Communities grant. Pembrokeshire County Council’s Older Person’s Champion, Cllr Simon Hancock, said: “Some people may go days or even weeks without the simplest of human contact and are living in increased isolation so the ‘Happy to Chat Bench’ seeks to break down that social barrier and encourage conversation. “As…

The regeneration of Swansea is benefiting with funding of £740,000 this year from a grant scheme managed by Swansea Council. It’s helping businesses and other organisations invest in local areas thanks to money from the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns “placemaking” programme. The funding helps revitalise town centres across Wales with schemes such as creating new homes above commercial premises, upgrading vacant commercial units to bring them back into use and creating biodiversity projects such as green walls and green roofs. Swansea Council projects aided by Transforming Towns this year include the creation of the popular new Market Garden at the…

Bridgend County Borough Council’s cabinet have approved a three-year strategic plan for children’s social care in Bridgend. The plan sets out the purpose of children’s social care in the county borough and emphasises the importance of culture, behaviour, and values in delivering that purpose. The purpose in the plan is: Working together to enable better outcomes for children, young people and their families via strong relationships, effective practice and timely and responsive services, which support children and families to live together (wherever possible) work on difficulties and safeguard children from harm’ The strategic plan sets actions for the next three…

Bridgend County Borough Council will contribute funding and officer support towards the Senior Open Championship when it visits Porthcawl in 2023. It was announced last year that the Senior Open – Europe’s only senior major championship golf tournament – would return to the Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in 2023. The tournament first visited Bridgend county borough in 2014 and saw more than 43,000 visitors travel to Porthcawl to watch Germany’s Bernhand Langer, the most successful player in Senior Major Championship history, triumph by an incredible 13 shots ahead of Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie. Today, Cabinet approved a £50,000 contribution towards the…

The very first Parc Margam 10k run raising money for the Mayor of Neath Port Talbot’s Charity Fund is to get under way in the beautiful surroundings of Port Talbot’s Margam Country Park on Sunday, March 13th. Entrants can choose between 10k and 5k routes and as well as enjoying the run through the historic park, they will help raise funds and awareness for the two very worthy causes chosen by Neath Port Talbot Mayor Cllr John Warman’s Charity Fund this year  – the Neath Port Talbot Cancer Challenge and British Heart Foundation Cymru. The brand new event is being…

Wales has today become the first nation in the UK to require all of its licensed commercial fishing boats are fitted with a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). Boats 12m or more in length were already required to have such a system in place, but an Order coming into force today means those under this size, more than 350 boats, must have a VMS device. The under 12 metre fishing fleet makes up around 97% of Welsh registered fishing boats. The VMS will transmit the geographical position, date, time, speed and course of a boat, at least once every 10 minutes,…