7 minute read
NEWS
PLACEMAKING IN PORTHCAWL
Thanks to everyone who attended the recent drop-in sessions at the Grand Pavilion and provided valuable feedback on the council’s placemaking plans. With exhibition boards offering full details now in place at Cosy Corner and also available to view at the council website, there is still time to give your views and help inform our draft placemaking strategy. Among the potential opportunities that we want to explore as part of this are a modern multi-storey car park at Hillsboro Place, a luxury spa waterfront hotel, landscaping and pedestrianisation along the Eastern Promenade, a multi-million Metro bus link, the extension of Dock Street, fresh community space and much more. We remain extremely ambitious for delivering realistic, sustainable regeneration in Porthcawl. Placemaking is all about organisations, businesses and communities working closely together to deliver balanced development which meets local needs as well as planning criteria and legislative requirements. We want this to be a meaningful, worthwhile process which contributes towards our aspirations for Porthcawl, both as a visitor destination and as somewhere to live and work, so please view the exhibition boards at Cosy Corner or online at www.bridgend.gov.uk and provide your feedback so that we can work towards making these opportunities a reality.
COUNCILLOR CHARLES SMITH Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration Bridgend County Borough Council Tel: 01656 643643 www.bridgend.gov.uk
REGENERATION FUNDS FOR SALT LAKE
Making sure our local communities have the investment they need to thrive is something I am so passionate about as your representative for Bridgend and Porthcawl. And the upcoming regeneration funds for Salt Lake are a real opportunity for Porthcawl. That’s why I hosted a community event to hear from local people about ideas that matter to them – what they want the regeneration to look like. The Porthcawl Regen Dragon’s Den event was at the Hi Tide Inn, with a panel of judges including special guest DJ Lee Jukes. They rated ideas by local businesses, organisations and societies. I always want to hear from people in the community what ideas they have to support businesses, create new homes and attract tourists to Porthcawl. That’s why I put on the event, to hear a wide range of voices from across the community about how the regeneration can benefit everyone in Porthcawl. Investing in our local communities across Bridgend and Porthcawl is vital. That’s why I want to hear from you what your ideas are – if you want to get in touch please contact sarah. murphy@senedd.wales
SARAH MURPHY MS Member of the Senedd for Bridgend
NEW GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS TO TAKE PLACE
It’s great to see that 10 local nature reserves, parks and outdoor areas in Bridgend County Borough are set to benefit from a £580,000 Welsh Government ‘green spaces’ grant. Wilderness Lake in Porthcawl, Frog Pond Wood Local Nature Reserve in Pyle, Bedford Park Local Nature Reserve, Parc Tir Iarll in Llangynwyd, Parc Calon Lan in Blaengarw, the Ogmore Washeries and Aberfields in Ogmore Vale, Tremains Wood Local Nature Reserve and Brackla Hill, Maesteg Welfare Park and Craig y Parcau in Bridgend will all share in the new funding. Part of the Cwm Taf Nature Network Project, the scheme is designed to create a partnership of organisations who will manage green infrastructure for the benefit of local people, businesses and communities. Improvement and regeneration work will be carried out to enhance access to high-quality green spaces, and engagement with communities will take place to develop plans for providing more ‘early years’ learning spaces. People will also be encouraged to think about how they interact with nature, and to discover what is on their doorstep. We have all come to recognise the importance and value of green spaces during the Covid-19 pandemic, and this project will be of great benefit as we seek to promote greater awareness.
COUNCILLOR HYWEL WILLIAMS Deputy Leader Bridgend County Borough Council Tel: 01656 643643 www.bridgend.gov.uk
Thanks to £2.87m investment from the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, plans are moving ahead to introduce charging infrastructure for electric vehicles across Bridgend County Borough. The first round of this will focus on candidate sites at the John Street and Hillsboro Place car parks, Salt Lake, West Drive, Mallards Way and along the Eastern Promenade. It also includes the Rhiw multi-storey, Innovation Centre, Pencoed park and rides and car parks at Brackla Street, Tondu Road, Tremains Road, Neath Road and Maesteg town centre. Each site is currently being assessed, and more details will be available soon. In other news, county borough businesses are showcasing their festive products online this Christmas as part of a festive drive to encourage residents to shop locally. A Digital Christmas website and app have been made available where businesses can advertise their products for free, and shoppers can take advantage of special offers, promotions, discount codes, competitions and more. You can also visit the Digital Christmas website for a virtual flight through Santa’s grotto, and a virtual meet-and-greet with Santa’s reindeer. Finally, there is just enough room left for me to wish all residents a very merry Christmas, and a happy New Year – see you in 2022.
COUNCILLOR HUW DAVID Leader of Bridgend County Borough Council Tel: 01656 643643 www.bridgend.gov.uk
SCHOOLS UNDERFUNDING MUST END
AS a former school governor I was alarmed by a report published by the National Association of Head Teachers Cymru, which showed the true impact of years of chronic underfunding of schools in Wales. Per pupil funding in Wales stands at £6,600 - £100 less than England and a whopping £1000 less than Scotland. A school with 1,000 pupils – and many have more – loses £100,000 compared to England. That’s the money that would pay for repairs, for new equipment and cover other capital costs, which heads say they need. The recent budget has delivered a massive boost to the finances of the Welsh Labour Government which is getting £2.5 billion more from the UK Treasury this year on top of the £15.9 billion it was due to get anyway. This money is meant to help Wales recover from the shock of the pandemic and as the education of our children was so badly affected by school closures, Welsh Government is honour bound to ensure that it is used to boost education spending. What it cannot do is squander it on vanity projects like Universal Basic Income under which everyone would be given a state income regardless of need or means.
DR ALTAF HUSSAIN Welsh Conservative Regional MS for South Wales West
WELSH GOVERNMENT MUST INVEST MORE IN SPORT
Oscar Wilde once said that a cynic was someone who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. I am afraid that the Welsh Labour Government may be in that bracket as it has failed to invest enough into grassroots sport in Wales despite the recognised value of sport not only in health terms but also in hard cash. The FAW has done a study, which showed that football clubs and players generate a total of £552 million for the country. This is made up of £263m for the economy, social benefits of £84m and savings to the Welsh NHS of an estimated £206 million. Putting a price on how being healthier saves the NHS money is difficult but there is the non-monetary value of having a fitter population in terms of people living longer, better lives not blighted by the diseases caused by obesity and inactivity. That really is priceless. As Shadow Sports Minister, I urge Welsh Government to invest more in all sports and sporting activity in Wales in pursuit of our long-term aim of creating a healthier population able to work productively for longer and enjoy their lives to the full.
TOM GIFFARD Welsh Conservative regional Senedd member for South Wales West
DOES PORTHCAWL NEED A TRAMWAY OR LIGHT RAIL LINK?
Public transport is massively important to every community in Wales and Porthcawl is no different. The Cardiff Capital City Region Deal, which is jointly funded by UK Government, Welsh Government and local authorities, places the improvement of transport infrastructure at the heart of economic regeneration and has decided to fund a new bus terminus in Porthcawl. But some Porthcawl residents say there’s no need for a new bus station as bus services operate effectively using the existing stops in the town. It has also been suggested that the money would be better spent carrying out a feasibility study into the possibility of creating either a light rail link or tramway between Porthcawl and the railway station at Pyle. This would give Porthcawl residents a direct link into the rail network. While a feasibility study does not commit anyone to anything, it would look into the pros and cons of providing Porthcawl with a fixed link similar to the railway line, which closed in the 1960’s. Or would this be a waste of money? What do you think? Let me know by contacting me by e-mail at Jamie.Wallis.MP@ Parliament.UK or writing to me at my office in Lias Road, Porthcawl.
JAMIE WALLIS MP for Bridgend
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