End of Week Message from Rob

10 April 2026

Hi Everyone,

The recent warm weather has brought more people to the Vale as visitors look to enjoy our fantastic coastal resorts and numerous parks.

I and other members of the Council’s Strategic Leadership Team (SLT) will also soon head to Barry Island to see the work undertaken by colleagues ahead of the busy summer season just around the corner.

Easter often marks the start of that period, and I’d like to begin by saying a huge thank you to all staff who worked over the bank holiday weekend.

Of course, it is not just colleagues involved in maintaining our outdoor spaces that were on duty.

So were members of the Waste and Enforcement Teams, those working in our care homes and many others that help to deliver a variety of frontline services.

Those efforts do not go unnoticed and are very much appreciated. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

One disappointing element of our trip to the Island will involve assessing the damage caused by vandalism to the new beach changing rooms.

Doors, locks and panels were broken just days after these refurbished facilities were reopened.

This is particularly disheartening for the Tourism Team involved in this improvement work, but such senseless destruction affects the whole Council, the wider community and every Vale resident.

These unnecessary repairs are a complete waste of public money meaning there is less to spend on other important projects.

If anyone has any information, please contact South Wales Police quoting crime reference number: 2600098780.

Giving residents top quality outdoor spaces is an important component of Vale 2030, our Corporate Plan, as Respecting and Celebrating the Environment is one of the five Wellbeing Objectives contained within it.

Our Project Zero commitment to become a carbon neutral Local Authority in the next four years is a crucial part of delivering on that pledge, with recycling, in turn, vital to achieving that aim.

The Vale’s superb recycling performance is playing a big part in helping us meet our target and I’m delighted to say we continue to go from strength to strength in this area.

Next week, our soft plastics recycling system will be rolled out across the Vale after a successful trial in Penarth, Dinas Powys, Sully and surrounding areas.

We are one of the first Counties in Wales to provide this service, having been offered the pilot in the first place because of our excellent recycling record.

The Vale is among the UK’s top Local Authorities for recycling, which is down to the hard work of our Waste staff and the buy-in we’ve had from residents. Well done to all concerned.

This system allows us to recycle items such as bags and wrapping that would otherwise have been placed in black bags and not recycled.
Further information for those of you that will soon be using it is available on the Council website.

It is just one way in which our waste operation is developing, with small appliances now also being recycled and a service for textiles soon to be offered to the whole county following another successful trial.

Other initiatives to improve the environment include tree planting and our new Street Scene service.

In 2025/26, 17,556 trees were planted in the Vale, many of which were classed as standard size or larger.

That included 116 standard size trees in Penarth, 138 in Barry, 89 in Rhoose, 77 in Boverton and 30 in the Rural Vale.

There have also been 2,300 smaller whips planted, including nearly 500 at Porthkerry Country Park.

This work is part of our Tree Strategy, which aims to plant at least 1,500 a year to increase canopy cover on Council land.

This again links with Project Zero and our decarbonisation goals and involves creating urban tiny forests, new hedgerows and replacing species lost to ash dieback disease.

It also increases biodiversity and will improve the overall standard of our trees.

Street Scene is a campaign of cleaning work that will significantly improve the appearance of our towns, villages and transport routes.

Activity has already begun with some lanes being cleared of rubbish, increased pot-hole filling and toilets refurbished.

A new element is also now underway, with road signs being cleaned using specialist machines.

Further ahead, there will also be five new electric vans used by designated teams for each of our towns.

These will contain a range of equipment and offer a rapid response to instances of graffiti.

As we look to the future, it’s important to mention the upcoming Senedd elections taking place on May 7 and 8.

This year will see the introduction of a party-list voting system, a form or proportional representation.

Voters will be able to either select a party (not an individual party candidate), or an individual standing as an independent candidate. In the case of political parties, each party can put forward up to eight names on their list.

Seats are then allocated based on the percentage of votes each party (or individual candidate) receives. The ballot paper will therefore include party lists and will also include independent candidates that electors can vote for.

The number of Senedd Members will increase from 60 to 96, with each serving a four-year term and the number of constituencies will reduce from 40 to 16.

The Vale has joined with the Bridgend Parliamentary Constituency to form Pen-Y-Bont Bro Morgannwg, from which six candidates will be elected to the Senedd.

As Returning Officer, I and colleagues in the Election Team have been busy preparing for polling day and the count at Barry Leisure Centre.

This is a big operation involving 108 Counting Assistants processing the ballots, 18 Team Leaders and three Senior Supervisors.

Earlier this week, I was pleased to visit the Elections Team at Bridgend to continue important preparations.

This included a check on cross-boundary arrangements, such as how the ballot boxes will be making their way to us in readiness for the count.

A great deal of planning has gone into this operation to ensure everything runs smoothly on the night.

As well as passing on thanks to colleagues in Bridgend Council, I’d like to mention Rachel Starr who heads up our Election Team and her colleagues for their hard work to prepare for the big day on May 7.

Before I finish, I wanted to thank everyone who has logged on to the new I-Dev platform and encourage those of you that haven’t to take a look.

The revamped service has loads of fresh engaging content, with more to follow in the coming weeks.

Around 800 of 2,000 members of staff have already visited, which is really positive given it’s Easter and many are on leave.

There have also been minimal queries received, testament to the excellent work of Gemma Williams and the Organisational Development Team in making it so user friendly.

I’d urge anyone that hasn’t visited already to check it out.

Thank you all for your efforts this week – they are, as ever, very much appreciated.

For those not in work, have a restful and relaxing couple of days off.

Diolch yn fawr,

Rob