Author: Rhys Gregory

On Friday November 19, Aber Falls opened the doors to its new Welsh Farmer’s Market in Abergwyngregyn, with a special festive launch ceremony, officially opened by Welsh TV presenter and celebrity Siân Lloyd. Funded by the Coastal Communities Fund, the Aber Falls Farmer’s Market will provide local and independent Welsh businesses with a regular platform to showcase their products, whether it be food and drink or arts and crafts. The market is looking to connect the local community with small and upcoming businesses, by showcasing the best of Wales and encouraging the community to support these local suppliers. To celebrate…

AN ESTATE agent laid foundations for further growth in the new year after sweeping the board at national awards ceremonies. Williams Estates was a big winner at both the ESTAS and British Property Awards following a successful 12 months. Despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the North Wales company – which has sites in Holywell, Denbigh, Mold, Rhyl, Ruthin, Prestatyn and Rhuddlan – recruited six new bilingual staff in past months. And the 25-strong team had even more to shout about having secured top industry accolades; they won six titles at the recent ESTAS, including their ninth Gold for…

Construction work will start later this month on a major new office development at the former Oceana nightclub site in Swansea. Providing space for 600 jobs, the development set for 71/72 The Kingsway will include 114,000 square feet of commercial floorspace with flexible co-working and office opportunities for innovative tech, digital and creative sector businesses. The start of work follows-on from Swansea Council – which leads on the scheme – signing a contract with main contractor Bouygues UK for the development build. Due for completion in the summer of 2023, the five-storey scheme will be carbon zero and worth £32.6…

Morgan Sindall Construction and Pembrokeshire County Council have celebrated reaching the halfway stage of delivering Haverfordwest’s £48.7m landmark new Haverfordwest High VC School building. The milestone was marked with a ‘topping-out’ ceremony, where the client team were invited to witness for themselves the dramatic progress that has been made on the former Sir Thomas Picton School site. The milestone also represents a continuing commitment to transforming Pembrokeshire schools into high quality 21st Century school environments. The strong partnership working between the authority and Welsh Government is providing learners with the very best facilities. The new school building will accommodate 1500…

For the second year in a row, Pembrokeshire residents have been crowned the best recyclers in Wales. The Welsh Government has confirmed that Pembrokeshire remained the best-performing local authority area for recycling from April 2020 to March 2021. A total of 73.2% of all waste collected by Pembrokeshire County Council was recycled during that period – the highest figure Pembrokeshire has ever seen – and up from the 72% the previous year. The Welsh Government recycling target for local authorities is 64%. Cllr Cris Tomos, Cabinet Member for the Environment, said he was extremely proud at Pembrokeshire topping the charts…

Caerphilly County Borough Council is appealing for residents, staff and businesses to support their local foodbank this festive period. Foodbanks provide emergency food and support to families and individuals who find themselves in financial crisis.  They rely heavily upon donations, particularly over Christmas, and have seen demand for their support increase because of the pandemic. The council is collecting cash donations as part of this year’s appeal to enable foodbanks to purchase the supplies they desperately need. There are also donation points located throughout the county borough where items of non-perishable food can be taken throughout the year: Rhymney Integrated…

Newport City Council declared an ecological and climate emergency at its full council meeting yesterday evening. A motion declaring an emergency, which was unanimously approved was proposed by Councillor Jane Mudd, leader of the council, and seconded by Councillor Jason Hughes, cabinet member for sustainable development. In passing the motion, the council recognised that climate change is one of the defining issues of our generation, one that needs all of us working together to tackle it. As well as declaring an ecological and climate emergency, the motion commits the council to: continue the good work that we have started and…

Newport City Council has teamed up with a new prize draw app to offer residents the chance to win prizes just for using litter bins. Litter Lotto is a monthly prize draw which offers participants the chance to win prizes ranging from £5 to £10,000. Players can take part by downloading the Litter Lotto app and uploading a picture of themselves disposing of their litter (or someone else’s) into a bin. Each player will receive one entry into the monthly prize draw for each picture they upload. While funding for the prizes comes from Litter Lotto’s corporate partners, the council…

A culinary contest, pitting Cardiff’s best healthy cooks against each other, is back. Cardiff Council’s Money Advice team, in partnership with Food Cardiff, is on the look out for 50 households ready to rise to the challenge of producing nutritious, delicious dishes based on recipes developed by theCardiff and Vale UHB Nutrition and Dietetics team. The initiative will begin in early December and follows a successful healthy cooking project run earlier this year when challengers were tasked with creating a week’s supply of delicious family meals by following the online video tutorials or easy-to-follow, budget-friendly recipe cards. The fifty households…

Climate Change Minister Julie James has just revealed details of a pilot scheme to tackle the impact second home ownership is having on some Welsh communities. Speaking in the Senedd, the Minister confirmed the pilot will bring together a range of actions to address the impacts large numbers of second homes and short-term holiday lets can have. The Minister told MSs that Dwyfor had been chosen for a pilot which will launch in January with support from Gwynedd Council. The first phase of the pilot will build on the practical support Welsh Government is already providing to address affordability and…