End of Week Message from Rob

29 May 2026

Hi everyone, 

This week I wanted to talk to you about the Annual Statement – but first a shout out to our waste teams. 

I’m sure many of you were outside enjoying the beautiful weather and scorching temperatures over the long weekend. 

Of course, not all staff are off on bank holidays, with many colleagues in work to maintain our frontline services. 

Thank you to everyone for those efforts – they are very much appreciated and certainly don’t go unnoticed. 

Among those on duty were our waste teams, some of which were involved in clearing up Barry Island during the recent heat wave. 

The sun brought exceptionally high numbers to our resorts, which unfortunately leads to greatly increased waste and far more work for the cleaning teams. 

It is remarkable that they manage to get the Island looking so pristine each morning ready for the next day’s visitors. 

And that feat is not lost on residents, with many taking to social media to share their gratitude for the people involved. 

Local Facebook groups were littered (pun intended) with such comments and I’d like to echo those sentiments. 

ITV and the BBC were also at Whitmore Bay yesterday to film the transformation for items that featured on last night’s evening news. 

There they talked to Recycling and Infrastructure Manager James Webber who explained exactly how he and his teams plan for the extra demands the sunny weather creates. 

Well done to everyone involved. The makeover the Island undergoes from evening to morning is truly astonishing. Da Iawn. 

Increasing our cleansing activity is one of the priorities set out in our Annual Statement, which was considered by Cabinet yesterday. 

School, road, green space and town centre improvements are also top of the agenda.  

There will also be increased council house building, and more resources to support the vulnerable, tackle poverty and drive economic growth.  

The Annual Statement brings together individual plans from each of the Council’s five directorates – Social Services, Learning and Skills, Environment and Housing, Place and Resources.  

It has also been guided by resident feedback, Vale 2030 and the wellbeing objectives contained within that corporate plan. 

Those aims are 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.  

The report to Cabinet contains 18 commitments about what will be achieved in the next year.  

We want to: 

• 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 to deliver 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.  

These are clear aims for us to deliver on and to which residents can hold us accountable. 

The overarching ambition is to follow through on our pledge to create Strong Communities with a Bright Future. 

Thank you very much for your efforts this week – they are always sincerely appreciated. 

Diolch yn fawr iawn, 

Rob