Cardiff Council Update: 12 October

Here is the latest update from Cardiff Council, covering: residents invited to have their say on the creation of Cardiff's urban forest; Cardiff's COVID-19 case and test numbers; vaccination totals for Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan; proposals to increase provision for children and young people with Additional Learning Needs, public consultation now open; and a bright future for two of Cardiff's finest heritage buildings.

Residents invited to have their say on the creation of Cardiff's urban forest

Cardiff residents are invited to complete the Coed Caerdydd survey to share their views on the creation of an urban forest across the city.

The Council's One Planet Strategy includes an aim to increase tree canopy from 18.9% to 25% by 2030. In order to do this, Cardiff council have established a long-term tree planting programme for the city called Coed Caerdydd.

In autumn 2019, a citizen's survey was distributed to find out how trees impact on residents lives; whether they are aware of the increased tree planting that has taken place; and what tree planting they would like to see in the future.

Councillor Peter Bradbury, Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure said, "The experiences of the last 18 months have caused many people to re-evaluate their priorities and think more about environmental issues.

"The Coed Caerdydd project will see Cardiff's ambitions to create an urban forest for a visibly greener city and pushing us closer to our aim of increasing tree canopy cover in the city to 25%.

"The information you provided in our 2019 survey helped us to secure just short of £1m in funding from Welsh Government and the Woodland Trust to launch our Coed Caerdydd programme and we will begin tree planting across the city over the next two planting seasons, up to June 2023.

"We would like to find out if your views on tree planting have changed since 2019; particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic, the publication of the city's One Planet Strategy and the declaration of the climate emergency."

The Coed Caerdydd survey closes on Friday, October 29. It takes around 10 minutes to complete and can be completed online at:

www.outdoorcardiff.com/biodiversity/coed-caerdydd/

Cardiff Cases and Tests - 7 Days Data (01 October - 07 October)

Based on latest figures from Public Health Wales

Data correct as of:

11 October 2021, 09:00

Cases: 2,337

Cases per 100,000 population: 637.0 (Wales: 514.8 cases per 100,000 population)

Testing episodes: 12,468

Testing per 100,000 population: 3,398.2

Positive proportion: 18.7% (Wales: 16.7% positive proportion)

Cardiff & Vale University Health Board Vaccination Status Update - 08 October

Data provided by CAVUHB

Based on the figures available at the time of publication.

Please note that there may be minor amendments to data as it is validated over time.

The total number of vaccination doses given by the Cardiff & Vale University Health Board so far, in both local authority areas: 736,752 (1^stDose: 372,592 2^ndDose: 364,160)

80 and over: 20,435 / 94.6% (1^stDose) 20,225 / 93.6% (2^ndDose)
75-79: 15,016 / 96.4% (1^stDose) 14,846 / 95.3% (2^ndDose)
70-74: 21,409 / 95.7% (1^stDose) 21,279 / 95.1% (2^ndDose)
65-69: 21,959 / 94.2% (1^stDose) 21,702 / 93.1% (2^ndDose)
60-64: 26,038 / 92.4% (1^stDose) 25,699 / 91.2% (2^ndDose)
55-59: 29,393 / 90.3% (1^stDose) 28,872 / 88.7% (2^ndDose)
50-54: 29,072 / 88.1% (1^stDose) 28,386 / 86% (2^ndDose)
40-49: 55,476 / 81.8% (1^stDose) 53,433 / 78.8% (2^ndDose)
30-39: 60,872 / 75.7% (1^stDose) 56,807 / 70.7% (2^ndDose)
18-29: 80,408 / 76.9% (1^stDose) 71,512 / 68.4% (2^ndDose)
16-17: 4,003 / 73.1% (1^stDose) 291 / 5.3% (2^ndDose)

Care home residents: 2,176 / 98.1% (1^stDose) 2,145 / 96.7% (2^ndDose)
Clinically extremely vulnerable: 11,247 / 94.2% (1^stDose) 11,035 / 92.5% (2^ndDose)
Underlying Health Conditions: 46,194 / 90.2% (1^stDose) 44,534 / 86.9% (2^ndDose)

Proposals to increase provision for children and young people with Additional Learning Needs - Public consultation now open

A public consultation which invites members of the public to have their say on proposals to increase provision in Cardiff, for children and young people with Additional Learning Needs (ALN) is now open.

Views can be submitted on two plans to address the increase in demand for ALN provision at primary age and the expansion of support for learners with emotional health & wellbeing needs and Complex Learning Needs (CLN).

They include:

Increasing capacity at The Court Special School from 42 to 72 places and transferring the school to new build accommodation across two sites with 36 pupils on each site from September 2025. The sites would be located on land at Fairwater Primary School and utilising the current St Mellons Church in Wales Primary School site in Llanrumney, following the transfer of the school to new build accommodation on the St Edeyrns development.
Establishing a Specialist Resource Base (SRB) for up to 20 primary aged children with Complex Learning Needs (CLN) at Moorland Primary School.

Following the public consultation, if progressed the proposals could also see the replacement and expansion of The Court School, which has been identified as poor or unsuitable condition, with new build accommodation under Band B of Cardiff's 21st Century Schools Programme.

Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills, Cllr Sarah Merry said; "In Cardiff, the level of support, skills and facilities available in schools has increased in recent years, meaning they have become more inclusive and can effectively meet the needs of those pupils with additional learning needs. 17 Specialist Resource Bases have been established and plans are underway to expand and develop Riverbank and Woodlands Schools.

"However, pupil population growth and the increased complexity of needs of some learners, has meant that the requirement for specialist provision is greater. Improved survival rates for children born with significant disabilities resulting in severe and complex disabilities has also increased, meaning that the number of pupils requiring a place in a special school or Specialist Resource Base has continued to grow."

Bright future for two of Cardiff's finest heritage buildings

Two of Cardiff Bay's finest heritage buildings - which have lain vacant for 20 years - are now set to revitalised and regenerated.

In late 2020 Cardiff Council bought Merchant Place/Cory's Buildings on the corner of Bute Street and James Street. The Council's intention was to safeguard the buildings as part of its plans to regenerate the Atlantic Wharf/Bay area, and to find a private-sector partner who could buy the properties from the Council and bring them back to life at no cost to the taxpayer.

Now Cardiff Council's Cabinet will consider a report on Thursday, October 13, which recommends the Council sells the buildings to Dukes Education, owners of Cardiff 6th Form College, currently based on Newport Road.

The recommendation follows a marketing exercise which saw four bids for the buildings come forward that would have enabled the Council to recover the money it spent acquiring the properties.

Cllr Russell Goodway, Cabinet Member for Investment and Development, said: "The proposal will allow the Council to fully recover its initial investment. It will lead to the heritage buildings being fully restored and will deliver a vibrant scheme that fits well in the local environment and supports the Council's strategy for the area. Dukes Education will deliver an owner-occupier scheme, reducing the level of development risk compared to schemes that rely on securing tenants. The international nature of the college could also provide a boost in terms of attracting international visitors to Cardiff Bay, but our primary concern has been to secure a solid scheme that gets the buildings regenerated."