Cardiff Council Update: 16th October

Welcome to the last update of the week from Cardiff Council, covering: Cardiff COVID-19 cases and tests; free school meals to continue through the holidays; free nextbike use and 1,000 trees for schools mark One Planet Cardiff launch; school streets safety enforcement; more homes coming from ‘Cardiff Living' partnership; Cardiff now has 14 green flag parks; and new Bute Park catering opportunity.

Cardiff Cases and Tests - Last 7 Days Data

#KeepCardiffSafe #KeepWalesSafe

Follow the guidelines:

www.cardiff.gov.uk/lockdown

Based on latest figures from Public Health Wales, data correct as of:

15 October 2020

Cases: 869

Cases per 100,000 population: 236.8 (Wales: 128.7 cases per 100,000 population)

Testing episodes: 5,559

Testing per 100,000 population: 1,515.1

Positive proportion: 15.6% (Wales: 10.4% positive proportion)

Cardiff University - COVID-19 Case Numbers:

https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/coronavirus/covid-19-case-numbers

Plans are underway to deliver free school meal provision until Easter 2021

Cardiff Council is making plans to ensure that families with children eligible for free school meals, can continue to receive provision during school holidays.

Following Welsh Government's announcement that £11m is guaranteed towards free school meal provision for all school holidays up to and including Easter 2021, the Council has been making arrangements so that more than13,000 children and young people do not miss out.

Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills, Cllr Sarah Merry said: "As the effects of the pandemic continue to impact everyone, it is essential that those children and young people who benefit from free school meals, can continue to access this vital provision.

"Since schools first closed for statutory education back in March, a dedicated team have worked hard to ensure the delivery of free school meals, including developing new a BACS payment system, a new supermarket voucher scheme and at the beginning of lockdown the successful delivery of 45,000 packed lunches.

"It is therefore reassuring that funds have been set aside so that our team can continue to provide this much needed scheme during schools holidays."

Free nextbike use and 1,000 trees for schools to launch Cardiff's One Planet strategy

Free Nextbike use for visitors and residents to Cardiff and 1,000 saplings given to primary schools for planting are just two of the initiatives announced today to acknowledge the release of the ‘One Planet Cardiff' strategy.

The strategy, which sets out the council's response to the Climate Change Emergency and calls on citizens and businesses to join the local authority in making Wales' capital city Carbon Neutral by 2030, was approved by cabinet on Thursday, October 15.

Cllr Michael Michael, Cabinet Member for Clean Streets, Recycling and Environment said: "We want to encourage residents and businesses to join us to help reduce the city's carbon emissions. We are facing a climate emergency and all of us have a part to play.

"Using our cars less, making better use of our gardens, thinking about what we eat, recycling as much of our waste as possible, these are just some of the little changes that all of us can make to help effect a bigger change.

"I think everyone now recognises the crisis our planet is facing. Cardiff itself is a three planet city. If everyone in the world used resources the way we do here then the world would need three planets to survive. This is why we have to make changes now and why we are calling on everyone in Cardiff to join us."

Enforcement cameras activated at ‘School Streets' to improve safety and help promote social distancing

Camera enforcement at a number of schools across the city will be activated from today to improve safety, help pupils and families maintain social distancing at drop-off and pick-up times and encourage active travel.

The schemes will be supported by permanent signage and will have camera enforcement during drop off and pick up times to deter parents from parking on Keep Clear markings outside school gates.

Camera enforcement will also be activated at ‘School Streets' road closures where access and parking is restricted to resident permit holders, blue badge holders and emergency vehicles.

The schools selected for enforcement or ‘School Streets' road closures, regularly experience problems with traffic and parking during school drop off and pick up times and these measures will also help support children and families to socially distance when arriving and leaving school.

Cllr Caro Wild, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport said: "The response we have received from schools, pupils, parents and local residents around enforcement plans and School Streets Road Closures has been outstanding. As a result we have secured funding to continue these schemes across the city.

"These measures will ensure the safety of children and families by keeping roads outside schools clear of traffic and parked vehicles. Drop-off and pick-up times will be safer and it will allow school communities to maintain social distancing measures safely."

Wates Residential cements Cardiff Living housebuilding partnership with Cardiff Council with a further two phases

National contractor and developer, Wates Residential has been formally appointed to deliver the next phases of its 10 year ‘Cardiff Living' partnership with Cardiff Council to deliver 1,500 homes across the city by 2027 to help tackle growing housing demand.

At least 40 per cent of the new homes being developed across the city as part of the next phases will be earmarked for rent from the Council or for sale via the authority's assisted home ownership scheme.

The first new developments are due to start on site this Autumn and include the largest single Cardiff Living development to date at the former Eastern High School site in Rumney, comprising 214 new homes including 44 Community Living flats for older people at Addison House. This state of the art building will be the first of the new Community Living schemes that the Council is building as part of the Older Person's Strategy for the city.

14 Green Flags for Cardiff's parks and green spaces

Forest Farm Nature Reserve and Hailey Park have been awarded prestigious Green Flags for the first time, meaning 14 parks and green spaces managed by Cardiff Council now hold this this coveted international accolade.

Bute Park, Cardiff Bay Barrage, Cardiff Bay Wetlands, Cathays Cemetery, Flat Holm Island, Grange Gardens, Heath Park, Parc Cefn Onn, Roath Park, Rumney Hill Gardens, Thornhill Cemetery and Victoria Park have all retained their existing awards.

The awards are judged by green space experts against a range of strict criteria including: biodiversity, community involvement, maintenance, presentation, cleanliness and environmental management.

Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, Cllr Peter Bradbury, said: "Cardiff now has more Green Flag standard spaces than anywhere else in Wales and to have added two new spaces this year, at a time when at stages during this pandemic, our workforce has been reduced by as much as 50% as staff isolated, shielded, or were redeployed to other areas to assist in the council's Covid-19 response, is a testament to the commitment and hard work of the team."

New catering outlet for Bute Park

Bute Park in Cardiff could be getting a new catering outlet to serve the northern area of the popular green space in the city centre.

Cardiff Council have issued a tender seeking to find an experienced catering operator to run a mobile operation, covering one of three locations at any given time. The three sites, near Blackweir Bridge, Tal-y-bont Halls of Residence and Blackweir Changing Rooms are popular all year around and have high footfall at different times of the day and week.