Residents grill council Cabinet

25 July 2012

Vale residents took the chance to question Vale of Glamorgan Council Cabinet members on Monday evening (23 July) during the council’s first ‘community’ Cabinet meeting.

In a bid to make council decision making more transparent, the council’s new Labour led Cabinet have decided to take their fortnightly public meetings to the local community.

Every few months one of the meetings, which are usually held in the afternoon at the council’s Civic Offices, will be held at a community venue. The first was held in the Barry Town Council chamber.

Residents listened intently to the Cabinet’s discussion of the 20 items on the meeting’s agenda – many chosen because of their importance to Barry; these included reports on the future of Barry Waterfront and Barry Island Pleasure Park, Nell’s Point, Barry regeneration and the marketing of the town’s historic Pumphouse.

At the end of the meeting the audience was invited to question the Cabinet members on any of the agenda items and to raise issues of concern.

Leader of the council, Councillor Neil Moore, said: “We were delighted with the response to our first community Cabinet and our audience welcomed the idea of taking the meetings to the community. Many took the chance to question us, raising an interesting range of issues, such as parking on Barry Island, the proposed link road for the Island, concerns over development in the Vale and the pressures on the area’s infrastructure, and the lack of play provision for disabled children.

“We gave full answers wherever we could and where needed we will be further examining the issues raised and investigating what actions are needed.

“We will be holding similar meetings over the coming months, the next will be in Llantwit Major and I hope local people will take the chance to question us again.

“I’d like to thank everyone who gave up their time, on a lovely sunny evening, to attend the meeting and for taking part so enthusiastically."