The Vale of Glamorgan Council has set out 18 commitments and priorities for the next year, with a focus on education, roads, green spaces and town centre improvements, topping the agenda.
The ambitions are part of an Annual Statement, which was considered by the Council’s Cabinet last week. They also include a plan to increase council house building and more resources to support the vulnerable, tackle poverty and drive economic growth.
The statement and commitments have been guided by resident feedback and Vale 2030, the Council’s five-year plan, which contains five wellbeing objectives to:
- Create great places to live, work and visit.
- Respect and celebrate the environment.
- Give everyone the best start in life.
- Support and protect those who need us.
- Be the best Council we can be.
Cllr Lis Burnett, Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: “Residents have told us what matters to them and we have listened carefully to that feedback.
“It has helped set the Council’s future direction and identify the areas we most need to focus on. We want to be clear and accountable about this.
“The Annual Statement reflects our ambitions and sets out what we plan to deliver over the next 12 months.
“This includes improved school facilities, pupil performance and opportunities for young people.
“We want to make our towns and villages cleaner, continue our excellent recycling performance, fill even more potholes and invest in parks and leisure facilities.
“Our housebuilding programme will give more people comfortable, modern places to live. We will also increase the support available to vulnerable people and efforts to tackle poverty.
“We intend to improve transport links, particularly in the rural Vale, and drive economic growth by creating more opportunities for businesses.”
The report to Cabinet contains 18 commitments about what will be achieved in the next year:
- Complete the new brand-new school builds at Ysgol Llyn Derw and St Richard Gwyn, make further progress at Ysgol Iolo Morgannwg and start work on Sully Primary.
- Improve school attendance and support for those with additional learning needs to deliver the best possible outcomes for all pupils.
- Work collaboratively to support schools in delivering balanced budgets.
- Invest in youth services by expanding frontline services across the whole county, increasing the focus on post-16 support, developing a youth village in Pencoedtre, more outdoor opportunities and alternative education pathways to support more young people and make sure their voices are heard.
- Introduce a new street cleaning service across the county that is more responsive for residents and leads to cleaner local environments and town centres.
- Reduce carbon emissions in our supply chains by using data to make more climate-friendly buying decisions.
- Expand the weekly soft plastics recycling service to all Vale residents following a successful trial last year.
- Continue the council house building programme, completing the temporary housing scheme at Cadoxton House and older persons accommodation in Cowbridge, whilst beginning work on more family housing at Hayeswood Road in Barry and older persons accommodation in Penarth.
- Submit the Replacement Local Development Plan (RLDP) to Welsh Government setting out a framework for sustainable growth.
- Deliver improvements to the look and feel of all four towns through Transforming Towns funding and complete our programme of public toilet refurbishment by improving facilities in Albert Road, Penarth.
- Invest in parks, country parks and resorts across the Vale, including a refurbished splashpad and skate park at Pencoedtre in Barry, open space improvements at Palmerston and Bendricks Road, the full refurbishment and extension of Cog Road play area in Sully and improvements at Seel Park in Dinas Powys.
- Convert the Barry Dock Office into start-up business space and begin developing the Water Sports Centre and Mole that will provide enhanced leisure facilities and more housing, including affordable homes, at Barry Waterfront.
- Invest in public transport services in the rural Vale which makes accessing services and work more convenient.
- Extend our work in partnership to focus on tackling poverty, working with those most in need.
- Support 50 per cent more people to live independently by expanding our reablement services and other ways of caring for people.
- Make it easier to access advice, support and employment services by improving how we join up our services and those of our partners and make further improvements to the accessibility of information on the Council’s website.
- Deliver a new communications strategy which increases opportunities for residents to get involved, share views and shape our work.
- Make our services more accessible, responsive, and financially sustainable through our transformation programme, Reshaping.
The Council says there will be regular progress reports on the commitments available on its website and social media channels, over the year ahead.
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