28 May 2021 

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you’re well and looking forward to a long weekend or a longer break over the half term.

I want to start this message by mentioning  Martin’s funeral on Wednesday. It was touching to see so many people outside of the Civic Offices paying their respects to Martin and his family as his funeral cortege made its way along Holton Road. For those who were unable to attend, colleagues captured a short video clip of the moment Martin’s coffin stopped in front of the Civic offices. This can be viewed on Martin’s tribute page on Staffnet+. 

I also want to give a mention this week to colleagues from the Democratic Services Team and our ICT department who have worked together in enabling our move towards virtual Council meetings.  Most of you will be aware that since the Annual Meeting of the Council, held on 10th May 2021, the majority of Council meetings that have been held virtually are now also being live streamed. Access to the meetings is available on the Council’s website, via Youtube, for anyone to view. The successful move from holding meetings in person, to holding virtual meetings and to now holding those as ‘live’ events has not been without challenges but has been enabled by the hard work, dedication and determination of staff within Democratic Services and the ICT department who have worked in partnership to make all this possible. My appreciation and thanks go to both teams for enabling the Council to make the transition as smooth as possible and by supporting Elected Members, Co-opted Members, staff, and the public to access Council meetings.  Well done to you all – diolch yn fawr iawn.  

Some of you may have seen through the press or on social media that Penarth Pier Pavilion has once again been used as a filming location for a C4 production this week. 4 stories is a six-part series featuring tales from different communities. A sign renaming the building ‘Atlantic Pier’ was erected on Wednesday for filming to take place across Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Promoting the pavilion is an important part of our plan going forwards and this offers the opportunity to showcase what is an iconic building to a wider audience. It’s also a way of generating income that can be reinvested into this valued local facility. Thank you to all of the officers who have been involved in supporting this production and promoting the Vale of Glamorgan as an excellent destination for filming. 

If you find yourself in Penarth over the half term break – you can drop into the café at the pavilion.  The income generated will help support the running of the Pavilion itself as well as enabling us to invest more into our school meals service.  It is an excellent initiative and I am delighted that Big Fresh (our catering trading company) is going from strength to strength. 

The formal consultation on our draft climate change challenge plan, part of Project Zero, has now closed, but as this is such an important issue for us, we’re keeping that conversation going as we begin our next phase of work. Tom Bowring and I, along with a team of our colleagues, were invited by the Head and Deputy Head of Barry Island Primary school, Matt Gilbert and Polly Davies , to attend their INSET day which took place on Thursday, to talk about their ideas of using Project Zero as an enrichment week activity built around the new curriculum for Wales. During that week pupils will be involved in a range of activities from food to energy use, transport, biodiversity, waste and recycling – exploring the changes that could be made individually, in school and the local area of Barry Island. The outcome of the work will be really useful and will be work that we can share across schools.  I am really grateful for the enthusiasm and commitment shown by Matt and Polly as well as all the staff and children at Barry island Primary. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Helen Moses and her colleagues also met with members of Penarth Youth Action and Llantwit Youth Council this week to discuss some of their ideas around Project Zero. The group were really enthusiastic about the topic and have asked if they can continue the discussion at their next meeting and provide more feedback. I’m really grateful to the Youth Service for facilitating this and to Helen and her team for leading on such an important piece of work for us as an authority.  We’ll be continuing the conversation on Project Zero with a few other people including our town & community councils and a community group in Wenvoe, as an example. Da iawn to all who’ve been involved so far.

Our colleagues in the Health Board are now inviting anyone aged over 18 who has not yet had their first dose of the COVID vaccine to attend a walk-in session this bank holiday weekend at the Bayside Mass Vaccination Centre.

Finally, I’d like to mention an initiative that we’ll be supporting over the next week. Bike Week will be taking place between 30 May – 5 June. I hope to find time to get out on my bike over the next week and I hope others find time to do the same. Our partners Nextbike are also offering Council staff a free hour ride on one of their electric bikes, stationed throughout Penarth. For more information about Bike Week and how you can get involved please see the dedicated page on Staffnet+. 

It’s important, whilst a number of us continue to work remotely, that we make our health and wellbeing a priority. Don’t forget that we have a Your Wellbeing / Eich Iechyd initiative which is still offering free access to a number of physical activities, nutrition sessions and other advice and guidance. Please visit the Wellbeing Hub on Staffnet+ to get involved. Some of the activities have been recorded so staff can take part at their own convenience and others have been moved to an evening to allow more people to join. Staffnet+ is accessible to all staff, regardless of what device they use. You do not need to be on a Council device or network to access it. Simply go to www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/staffnetplus from any browser to see our latest news, e-payslips and a number of other resources. 

I hope you all have a good long weekend or half term break. Take care.

Diolch yn fawr,

Rob.