Rob's Weekly Round Up

19 December 2025

Helo Bawb,

As we reach the end of the year, this week’s message is a chance to reflect, and to celebrate just how much has happened over the past twelve months. We have embraced opportunities, faced new challenges, and continued to deliver for our communities. 

The launch of our new corporate plan – Vale 2030 – earlier this year has guided much of what has happened in 2025, setting out our bold vision for everything we’ve accomplished so far, and what we want to achieve together in the future.

Vale 2030 is built around five well-being objectives to create great places to live, work and visit, respect and celebrate the environment, give everyone a good start in life, support and protect those who need us and to be the best Council we can be.

It has helped us focus on what matters most to residents, respond to the big challenges our communities face, and work more closely with partners and each other to make a real difference across the Vale.

Coincidentally, I co-wrote an article with Tom Bowring earlier in the week for New Local focusing on our prevention work  to mark the 10th anniversary of the landmark Well-being of Future Generations Act, and used the opportunity to highlight how we’ve put our own well-being objectives into action in the Vale this year.

We saw a number of improvements to our leisure offer – including the unveiling of the new Strength Gym in the former C1V call centre in Barry Leisure Centre as well as brand-new fitness equipment for residents who have been referred to the exercise referral scheme - which helps service users gain improved fitness, grow in confidence and create meaningful opportunities for social connection, especially for our older residents.

Our Golden Pass scheme – which offers Vale residents over the age of 60 access to eight free activity sessions in their community – received glowing praise by Sport Wales as a leading example of good practice. 

These opportunities to stay active and connected in later life play a crucial preventative role in protecting and supporting residents by helping them maintain their independence for longer, which in turn helps ease pressure on our own vital health and social care services.

Keeping on the topic of health, in August we also became the first Local Authority in Wales to restrict the advertising of High in Fat, Sugar, and Salt (HFSS) foods on our infrastructure.

These products are no longer promoted at bus stops, on highway boards, or on the Council’s website. By removing these ads, we are helping people make informed choices to prevent obesity and diet-related disease.

Just as we worked to support and protect our residents, we also took a number of steps to help protect our environment too. In April, we launched our soft plastics recycling trial in Penarth, with the aim of reducing the amount of waste that would have ended up in black bags by up to 10%.

The response to the trial exceeded all expectations with around three metric tons of material being collected every week.

The overwhelming response by residents to the soft plastics trial showed that there was a clear appetite to do more, and so we also launched our textiles recycling trial in Barry a few months later – solidifying our position as one of the leading Local Authority areas for recycling in Wales.

Over the Summer, we turned our attention to town centres with the announcement of the new placemaking plans for three of the four major Vale towns – Penarth, Llantwit Major and Cowbridge with the plan for Barry to follow early in 2026. 

The collaborative plans are the result of an extensive programme of engagement and consultation with residents, local businesses, and community representatives, which has helped shape proposals aimed at transforming their communities into vibrant, welcoming and resilient places to live, work, and visit.

In November we announced that we had exchanged contracts on the purchase of the old Wilko building in Barry – with the aim of finding a way to redevelop the prime retail space into a vibrant space for small businesses and other activities that will drive footfall in the town centre. 

It was great to see such an engaged response from residents and the local business community to this announcement, and we’ve already received some fantastic ideas on how the building should be used in the future.

This is the most significant investment in the town centre for many years and it’s important that we get it right. For this reason, we’re going to involve as many people as possible over the coming months to decide the next steps for the former Wilko building, and there will be plenty of opportunities to get involved.

There are countless more examples of how we’ve worked to be the best council we can be for our residents – from our house-building programme working at pace to tackle a growing housing crisis and school improvement works to ensure our school buildings are fit for purpose, to becoming a Real Living Wage Employer so that we can provide everyone who works for the Council with a decent standard of living.

None of the things I’ve mentioned here would have been possible without your tireless efforts and dedication. Every day, you bring professionalism, compassion and a real sense of pride to the work you do, often behind the scenes, but always making a meaningful difference to the lives of people across the Vale.

As we look ahead to the year to come, I want to thank you for your continued commitment, teamwork and resilience. Whilst always appreciating that many of our colleagues will be working or will be ‘on-call’ over the holiday period, I hope you’re also able to take some well-earned time over the festive period to rest and recharge, and return in the new year ready to build on everything we’ve achieved together. 

Diolch yn fawr to you all and Nadolig Llawen,

Rob