Author: Rhys Gregory

City residents will be able to take advantage of the #FreeRideSwansea initiative throughout the remaining festive period. Apart from Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when no buses will be running, all bus passenger journeys starting and finishing in Swansea will be free until 7pm on December 31. However, passengers and residents heading for the shops or hospitality businesses are being urged to continue to follow the Covid-19 rules updated by the Welsh Government yesterday (Fri) , including wearing masks while on board buses. The free festive travel initiative started last month and thousands of passengers have been able to save their…

A revised map outlining Bridgend County Borough Council’s plans for creating a local active travel network has been submitted to Welsh Government. With almost £3.3m funding in place to support the scheme, the ambitious map forms part of the local authority’s commitment towards providing a comprehensive network of active travel infrastructure. It will offer greater choice for residents who wish to use alternative ways of getting around such as cycling or walking. As well as offering an alternative to using motor vehicles, active travel provides a wide range of benefits such as increased health and wellbeing, improved social inclusion and…

Monmouthshire County Council’s full council meeting on Thursday 16th December included an update on the plans to improve Abergavenny bus station, which was first constructed in the 1930s. Following a successful funding application to Welsh Government for £180,000 earlier in the year, it was confirmed that improvements will be completed before 31st March 2022. These include an increase in size of stand 1’s platform to allow a larger new shelter to be installed, with information boards and tactile paving. Stand 2 will be removed completely to allow a flow of traffic through the bus station. All platforms will have dropped…

A new service which allows residents to check when their waste and recycling will be collected and help to log a missed collection has been launched. Monmouthshire County Council’s new skill, for those using the voice-enabled digital assistant Alexa, allows residents to access information relating to their waste collections by simply asking their Alexa device questions such as ‘when is my next recycling collection?’ The skill, which has been built and developed by We Build Bots makes up part of wider offerings to residents providing convenient and advanced methods of checking important information such as waste collections. The creation and…

Work will begin in the New Year on work to make crossing the road in a section of the town centre safer for pedestrians. Following a public consultation last summer, an ‘informal crossing’ at Victoria Street will become a zebra crossing with a much wider raised area for pedestrians. The project is one of a series of walking and cycling improvement schemes being carried out by the Council as part of its Welsh Government-funded Active Travel programme. Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Transformation and Commercialisation Cllr Geraint Thomas said: “We’re often asked what the term ‘active travel’ actually means. “Encouraging people…

The north-bound carriageway on Queensway (railway station side) will be closed several times over the Christmas period to allow work on the new Devon Place Bridge to take place. The main span of the bridge will be installed during this period. As this goes over the railway track, it can only be done when trains are not running. The carriageway will be closed during the following times to allow for the delivery and assembly of the crane which will lift the spans into position: Tuesday 21st December – 21:00 to 06:00 Wednesday 22nd December – 21:00 to 06:00 Thursday 23rd…

Rhondda Cynon Taf’s Cabinet has received an update on the work currently being undertaken in preparation for Rhondda Cynon Taf to host the National Eisteddfod in 2024, with focus being placed on community engagement. A report to the Cabinet meeting on Monday, December 13, has outlined the approach being adopted and the activities being planned within local communities to ensure the Eisteddfod is successful – not only before and during the festival, but also to ensure a significant positive legacy. The Council appointed a project officer in 2019, to work closely with National Eisteddfod Officers in promoting the festival and…

The development of a sustainable mixed-use scheme including new housing, retail and bus interchange on Waun Gron Road was granted by Cardiff Council’s Planning Committee this week, subject to a call in request and legal agreement from the developer on the conditions that have been set. The scheme, on the site of the former recycling centre in Llandaff,  will deliver 44 new council homes, office and commercial spaces as well as a new access road designed to integrate the proposed transport hub with the residential development. The new properties, part of the Council’s development programme to increase the availability of…

The contract to construct a new £6million primary school to be located at the St Edeyrns development, has today been awarded. Delivered by Halsall Construction on behalf of Persimmon Homes, the new primary school will be the first provided as part of Cardiff’s Local Development Plan (LDP) and will become the brand-new home forSt Mellons Church in Wales Primary School, which will relocate from its current site inLlanrumney. The new build school will serveparts of Pontprennau and Old St Mellonsand be located east of the Pontprennau link road. It will be a 1 formofentry, accommodating 210 pupils including a 48…

Investment to tackle the climate and nature emergency will be at the heart of the Welsh Government’s budget, published later today. Targeted, green investment of more than £160m revenue and a total investment of £1.8bn capital will be committed over the next three years. Responding to both the climate and nature emergency it will be spent in a range of areas including the national forest, biodiversity, active travel, the circular economy, renewable energy, flooding, and decarbonising housing. Wales has a legacy of over 2,500 coal tips pre-dating devolution and due to the growing impacts of climate change these tips are…