Robs Weekly Round Up 

20 October 2023

Dear colleagues,

It’s been another week of great Council work – with staff going above and beyond to help our residents and communities.

As usual, I’d like to share some of these stories and encourage anyone to get in touch if there is a member of staff or team they feel deserves recognition.

Since Monday, we have been marking National Recycling Week, joining Wrap Cymru’s Be Mighty, Recycle campaign, which encourages people to harness the full power of food waste recycling.

In Wales we know the benefits of recycling. That is why the country is the third best in the world when it comes to recycling its waste.

But the goal is to go even further and gain top spot, and one way to do that is by recycling in work environments as well as at home.

Changing how food waste is treated can make a big impact.

Though most people know that food waste should go in a specific caddy, it still fills a quarter of our average household rubbish bins and this figure is often higher in the workplace.

With this in mind, I’d like to draw colleagues’ attention to the food waste bins provided in work and encourage everyone to use them.

Inedible food waste should always go in the caddy for recycling, including teabags, peelings, bones, eggshells and even mouldy food.

Food waste can be turned into renewable energy and last year in Wales enough was created to power 10,000 homes.

Nine banana peels can create enough electricity to fully charge a laptop, six recycled teabags creates enough energy for another cuppa and one caddy full of food waste can power a fridge for 18 hours.

The Vale has so far been at the forefront of the green revolution in Wales and the target is for that to continue as we push towards our Project Zero commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Colleagues in Waste Management have been central to that success, and I’d like to pass on my gratitude for the significant changes they have overseen this year.

Those include the introduction of separated recycling in the Eastern Vale and a garden waste subscription service.

Only this week, officers visited Dunlin and Avocet Court in Barry, which are the first blocks of flats in the Vale to use the source separated system.

Over the coming months, this will be rolled out to flats and apartments across the Vale, as we look to continue to move beyond the Welsh Government target to recycle 70 per cent of all waste by 2025.

The hard work of our Waste Teams has helped the Council become one of the best Local Authorities in Wales at recycling as we are already above that figure.  Our ambition is to get even better.

Most recent statistics for the Vale reveal we have recycled:

• 7,788 tonnes of food
• 7,515 tonnes of green waste
• 3,024 tonnes of mixed glass
• 2,737 tonnes of card
• 1,336 tonnes of paper
• 566 tonnes of aluminium / steel cans 

Sticking with the waste team’s stellar performance, I wanted to say a big thank you to Shaun Cousins who is part of that department and helps to maintain Barry Island.

A member of the public got in touch this week to praise Shaun for his efforts and the pleasant way he engages with visitors.

This person described Shaun as “a lovely, polite young man” and a “credit and asset to the Council who goes above and beyond”.

May I take this opportunity to echo those sentiments and again thank Shaun for his commitment and professionalism.

Staff on the frontline who interact directly with service uses have a vital role to play in representing the Council and its values.  The way we interact and the way we engage with residents and the wider public is really important, whether this be on the phone or in person.

Shaun is clearly doing a fine job in that area, one that is hugely appreciated by our customers as well as myself and other SLT colleagues. Da Iawn Shaun.

Switching to Housing and, following on from Fairfield Primary School’s donation last week, Victoria Primary have also collected a large number of items for the Penarth Food Pod.

Mark Ellis from the Housing Team picked up over 100 bags earlier this week filled with tinned goods, pasta, rice, sauces, crisps, tea bags, coffee and more.

Those products will be available from the Pod on St Luke’s Avenue on a pay as you can basis and go a long way to helping some of our residents most in need, especially with winter approaching.

Well done to all at Victoria Primary for showing such generosity and kindness.

Victoria Primary have played an important role in developing the Food Pod from the outset. Its logo was designed by a pupil, while the school makes regular sizeable food donations throughout the year, at Christmas, Easter and Harvest Festival.

The Council has been marking two significant events in October, specifically Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Black History Month.

For the first of these, the Hood Road Tunnel was lit up in pink to raise awareness of breast cancer and encourage people to donate money to combat it.

The Cancer Research UK campaign also aims to help people become more active as exercise can reduce the risk of contracting this disease by as much as 20 per cent.

To recognise Black History Month, Members of Cabinet met with Windrush elders on Thursday.

This year marks the 75^th anniversary of HMT Empire Windrush, one of the first large passenger ships that brought people from the West Indies to Britain.

To commemorate the event, two information boards known as towers have been placed in Civic Offices reception for 12 weeks, while another two are touring around the Vale.

Unveiled alongside the Royal British Legion, the towers contain stories from people connected with the Windrush generation that have served in the military.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Nia Hollins’ team were looking to hear from local residents on the impact of tourism on the Vale.

Now a survey, organised in partnership with Welsh Government, has launched and I’d encourage all staff with an interest in the topic to get involved.

The survey aims to gather opinions of those living in the Vale, with similar projects running in Gwynedd and Pembrokeshire, supported by Visit Wales.

It’s important to capture both the advantages and disadvantages of tourism so it can be managed sustainably.

All interested parties are invited to take part, with the findings used to inform future policy to best meet the needs of our communities.

While the purpose is to ensure every voice is heard, all responses can be given anonymously so there is no risk of personal identification, while participants can withdraw from the process at any point.

Finally, as a Local Authority, we must always be prepared for a major incident on our doorstep, whether this be flooding, severe weather, an environmental issue or community disorder to name but a few. 

Our Emergency Planning (often referred to as Civil Protection) Team is one of the most experienced in Wales and I am always impressed by how Debbie Spargo and her colleagues are able to respond and coordinate the Council’s response during an emergency.

That said, much good work goes on behind the scenes.  This week I spent two days at an Exercise Gold training event with colleagues from Local Authorities and the Emergency Services from across South Wales.

What made me immensely proud was the fact that much of the organisation for and during the course was undertaken by Melanie Haman of the South Wales Local Resilience Forum, based with us at the Vale of Glamorgan Council in Debbie’s team.

Melanie, ably assisted by Debbie and other colleagues from the team, did a great job in organising the event, demonstrating the important role we play regionally when it comes to Civil Protection. Da iawn and thank you. 

I’ll finish as always by thanking you for your efforts this week – they are very much appreciated by me and the Senior Leadership Team, but most importantly make a difference to residents.

Have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.

Diolch yn fawr iawn, 

Rob