Rob's Weekly Round Up

04 April 2025

Helo bawb,

As we near the end of the first week of April, I thought I’d share some pieces of good news to take with you into the weekend.

Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone who has been involved in the launch of Vale 2030 – our new Corporate Plan – which sets the Council’s course of direction over the next five years and beyond.

As I have mentioned previously, Vale 2030 was the result of extensive consultation with residents through our Let’s Talk about Life in the Vale survey, feedback from the recent Panel Performance Assessment (PPA), input from Elected Members and engagement with our partners.

It is a blueprint for how the Council operates over the next five years, with a focus on the following Wellbeing Objectives:

• Creating great places to live, work and visit
• Respecting and celebrating the environment
• Giving everyone a good start in life
• Supporting and protecting those who need us
• Being the best Council we can be

As we transition to the new plan, work is underway to develop different ways of communicating the Council’s new approach to residents, colleagues, partners and Elected Members.

The changes include a new tone of voice for how we as a Council communicate with our residents, as well as how our external media communications will be used to tell the Vale 2030 story - you may have noticed that our websites look a little different too to align with our Vale 2030 values.

Vale 2030 contains fresh commitments around partnership working and delivering for communities.

This is a fundamental shift as the Council moves to be an organisation that will increasingly facilitate the provision of services locally – supporting our partners to make a real difference within their specific areas.

There are also proposals to enhance the scrutiny process and hold more informal briefings with Elected Members and bring all Councillors together regularly to discuss progress against Vale 2030 commitments.

Vale 2030 sets out the bold ambition to continue delivering for residents by creating Strong Communities with a Bright Future, and I sincerely look forward to seeing what we can achieve together over the next five years.

I would encourage anyone interested in learning more about Vale 2030 to join me along with our Director of Corporate Resources Tom Bowring for the online question and answer session on April 8.

In other news, there have been a few positive developments in relation to housing in the Vale this week.

One of the Council’s newest housing developments was recently completed. Llys yr Eglwys – which sits on the site of the former Colcot Clinic - is a collection of one-bed homes located off Winston Road in Barry.

This development follows in the footsteps of similar schemes at Llys Llechwedd Jenner, Lon y Felin Wynt and Clos Holm View in Barry.

The flats have been built using environmentally-friendly methods, and feature solar panels, rainwater harvesting and a living wall made of vegetation. These sustainable alternatives all align with our shared Project Zero vision to reach for the bold target of becoming net-zero carbon organisation by 2030.

The development is part of a long-term plan to increase the number of council houses as we aim to address soaring demand for housing across the county.

The opening of the Llys yr Eglwys site also coincides with the news that the Council’s contract with the Holiday Inn Express to house residents in temporary accommodation has now come to an end.

The last residents staying there have since been moved and are receiving continued support from Vale homelessness staff.

This is fantastic news. Housing homeless residents at the Holiday Inn Express was never intended to be a permanent solution to address the increased demand for accommodation, and in the process, the termination of the contract has saved money, whilst also offering more dignified housing solutions to residents.

Keeping with the housing theme, I was delighted to hear that the Tai ar y Cyd Pattern Book Project – which we collaborated on with other local authorities and housing associations - has been shortlisted for an award in the Integration & Collaborative Working category as part of the Construction Excellence Wales Awards 2025.

The Pattern Book Project is a blueprint for building energy-efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective homes in Wales. It includes layouts for a number of different house types and variants - ranging from one bedroom flats and four bedroom houses, to fully wheelchair accessible bungalows and flats.

Our very own Andrew Freegard as chair of the Tai ar y Cyd steering group will be making a short presentation along with other members to the award judges next week.

The Pattern Book enables the us to deliver more affordable and greener housing at pace as we address the needs of residents in the Vale and beyond. Pob lwc Andrew – well done!

Moving on from housing, Hanne Jenkins recently visited St Cyres School to talk about career options and her role as a HR Projects Officer.

Hanne talked to the group of Year 8 learners about her experiences working for the Council - as the Vale’s largest employer – and all of the different options available to them as they begin to make important decisions about their futures.

Speaking about her visit, Hanne said: “What was really important for me is to make sure that they feel that they've got somebody that's relatable.

“It is a big pressure and big decision, but I said don't worry about it too much just yet, because the subjects I chose at their age have got nothing to do with what I do now.

“I think it's important that they see the faces behind the decisions that get made - we're doing really good things at the moment as a Council. We need to shout about it more, I believe, because I think people are so quick to talk about the negatives.”

Following her visit, Hanne has since said that she is eager to visit other schools across the Vale after her positive experience at St Cyres School.

Thank you Hanne for flying the flag for the Council, and for taking the time to share with the learners what options may be available to them in the future. Gwych!

Finally, I’d like to share an update about a fantastic new project that has been taking place at Ty Dewi Sant Residential Home in Penarth, in partnership with Flying Start.

The project came into being after Clare O’Toole, the manager at Ty Dewi Sant, contacted colleagues at Flying Start to see if was possible to introduce Play and Stay Sessions for babies and young children to play alongside residents of Ty Dewi Sant.

Eager to collaborate, Flying Start manager Kath Clarke worked with Clare to introduce an initial six week programme of sessions every Tuesday.

The first session took place In January 2025 and after the initial 6 weeks it was agreed that the sessions could continue and is now a weekly feature during term time.

Intergenerational projects like this are invaluable and help build bridges between our youngest and oldest residents. We know these types of opportunities are particularly beneficial to older residents, especially those living with dementia.

This is a great example of the collaboration work between our services and long may this continue. Da iawn Clare, Kath and the Flying Start Team for all of your work to introduce these sessions.

As always, thank you all very much for your efforts this week, they are very much appreciated by myself and the rest of the Strategic Leadership Team.

The weather is due to be excellent this weekend, so for those not in work, have a restful and relaxing couple of days off in the sunshine!

Diolch yn fawr iawn,

Rob