Robs Weekly Round-Up

21 April 2023

Dear colleagues,

I'd like to start this week by wishing Eid Mubarak to all those colleagues celebrating Eid al-Fitr and the end of Ramadan today. 

This week has been a significant one in our work to improve our services and move to a greener and healthier Vale of Glamorgan. It has seen the rollout of separated recycling collections in Penarth, Dinas Powys, Llandough, Sully and the surrounding eastern Vale.

By collecting recyclable waste in separate containers, we are able to improve the quality of the recycling we collect. This means more of it will remain within the UK to be recycled, which is better for the environment.

These changes have already been rolled out elsewhere in the Vale, where we’ve seen an increase in both the amount and quality of recycling collected. One week in, and to the great credit of our Waste and Recycling teams and those colleagues supporting them, the results in the eastern Vale look likely to be the best yet. Each day around 3000 households are moving to the new collections, and while they do require residents to sort their waste differently, our crews are reporting more than 90% of waste is being presented correctly.

Colleagues from Environment and Housing ran a series of community roadshows earlier in the month and alongside a comprehensive communications campaign and these have been pivotal in giving residents the help and support they need to get it right first time. To help those that are having difficulties, our waste wardens have been out in the new collection areas to advise residents how best to present their recycling.

At the same time as rolling out these changes we have also introduced new collections across the Vale for batteries and small electrical items, to make it even easier for residents to recycle even more of their waste. These changes will be key in helping us meet our target of recycling 70% of all the Vale’s waste by 2025. A huge step towards achieving our Project Zero ambitions.

There are far too many people involved in this huge project to namecheck here so instead I would like to say diolch yn fawr iawn to everyone in Environment and Housing that has made this happen. Key teams at the Alps have been planning for months to ensure the rollout is seamless. While our tireless frontline operatives have been at the forefront of the rollout each day this week, I should also mention those in Customer Relations and Communications who have been working behind these scenes to advise and support residents. This is another successful piece of work that has shown Team Vale at its finest.

Our work to tackle climate emergency has also taken a step forward at the other end of the Vale this week. The Council has expanded its bike hire provision by introducing a scheme to Llantwit Major, similar to those available at other commuter hotspots.

A solar-powered docking facility for eight cycles, operated by Brompton Bikes, has been installed outside the town’s railway station. It builds on hire bike provision already available in the Vale, where Wales’s first electronic bike share scheme launched in Penarth three years ago. Further docking stations have since been introduced to Sully and Dinas Powys, with plans to extend the network further.

The bikes help connect our active travel infrastructure and make it much easier for people to complete journeys without using a car. The bikes are great to ride and very reasonable to hire. If you are travelling to Llantwit any time soon, I would highly recommend giving them a go. A big thanks to the Transport team who launched the scheme this week.

I’ve said previously that attending the new long service awards is always a highlight for me and I was again delighted to be able to catch up with those colleagues I have worked alongside over recent years and meet some for the first time at this week’s event.

The presentation in the Leader’s Office brought together those who recently reached either the 25 or 40-year milestone. The Leader and I were proud to be able to thank each one in person for their commitment and dedication to public service. As always there was much reflection on years gone by and some great stories shared. Those that we are able to print will be appearing on StaffNet+ soon!  Thank you to those who attended and also to all others who reached these milestones but could not attend on the day. 

Yesterday, I also attended another ‘Welcome to the Vale’ session and was able to meet over 30 of our new starters in person.  It was again great to see so many in attendance and it is obvious that these sessions are also going from strength to strength.  Thanks to Delyth and Natalie from the Organisational Development team who plan these regular sessions and thanks also to those who attended, and I hope you found it useful.  Diolch yn fawr a croeso i’r Fro!

I’d also like to thank those that arranged and attended the Menopause Café that met earlier today. The Café aims to break down the taboo around menopause by increasing awareness of the impact of the menopause. Coordinated by our Occupational Health team the café is open to all staff and is one of the many ways we are ensuring all our staff have the support they need.

Similarly, thanks to our Wellbeing Champions who arranged our first monthly meditation session on Thursday. In particular Amber Smith, who guided colleagues through a variety of meditation techniques. This is a great way improve your well-being and discover the benefits of meditation. There will be further sessions and you can register for these now.

Finally, I’d like to look ahead to Monday morning when staff and pupils at Ysgol Sant Baruc in Barry will have their first day together in their new school on Monday. The new building looks fantastic and is another top class learning facility delivered by our 21^st Century Schools programme. I’ll have more on this next week and I am sure a long list of thanks. For now, I’d just like to say llongyfarchiadau and pob lwc to all those who’ll walk through the gates on Monday morning.

Thanks as always to everyone for their efforts this week. Diolch yn fawr pawb.

Rob.