Cardiff Council Update: 26 July 2022

Here is our latest update, covering: Cardiff Green Flag tally the highest in Wales; honoured for our armed forces commitment; consultation on work for a new Willows High; plus, children and young people share their views on how the media sees them.

New Green Flag for Cardiff park takes total to 16

16 prestigious Green Flags have been awarded to parks and green spaces manged by Cardiff Council, Keep Wales Tidy has announced.

Hendre Lake Park in Rumney has become the latest park to achieve the coveted international accolade, which are judged by independent green space experts against a range of strict criteria including biodiversity, community involvement, cleanliness and environmental management.

With 19% of the city being publicly accessible green space, Cardiff is home to some beautiful Green Flag sites, and a total of 35 awards were made in total.

The full list of green spaces managed by Cardiff Council to achieve Green Flag status are: Bute Park; Cardiff Bay Barrage; Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve; Cathays Cemetery; Flat Holm Island; Forest Farm; Grange Gardens; Hailey Park; Heath Park; Hendre Lake Park; Parc Cefn Onn; Roath Park; Rumney Hill Gardens; Thornhill Cemetery; Victoria Park; Waterloo Gardens.

Bute Park and Cathays Cemetery also retained their Green Heritage status.

Cabinet Member for Culture, Parks and Events, Cllr Jennifer Burke-Davies, said: "The fact that Cardiff has more Green Flag spaces than anywhere else in Wales is a credit to the hard work, passion and commitment of our teams, and all the Friends groups and volunteers who help care for our fantastic green spaces."

Council honoured for commitment to Armed Forces personnel

Members of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards - known as the Welsh Cavalry - march through Cardiff in July

Cardiff Council has been honoured with a prestigious Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) gold award for its support for the Armed Forces.

The highest award in the ERS, it is presented to those employers that employ and support those who serve in the Armed Forces or the Reserves, veterans and their families and was launched in 2014 by then-Prime Minister David Cameron to ensure serving personnel and veterans are treated fairly.

Minister for Defence People Leo Docherty said: "Regardless of size, location or sector, employing members of the Armed Forces community is good for business and these awards recognise the outstanding support from employers across the UK and I would like to thank and congratulate each and every one."

Cllr Chris Weaver, Cardiff Council's Cabinet member for Finance, Modernisation and Performance, said: "We're thrilled to be recognised with the ERS Gold Award. "We will always welcome job applications from members of the Armed Forces, including reservists and cadets who will never be unfairly disadvantaged at any stage of our recruitment and selection process."

Public Consultation now open on works associated with the new Willows High School

Members of the public are invited to share their views on the works associated with the establishment of new build accommodation for Willows High School.

The consultation marks the next stage in the development to relocate and rebuild the secondary school on land off Lewis Road, Splott. If plans are progressed, the new school would boast a range of comprehensive facilities which would be available for public use outside of school hours and would be delivered under Cardiff Council and Welsh Governments Band B Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme.

The Pre-Application Consultation runs until Tuesday 16 August 2022 and allows people to have their say on the enabling works associated with the scheme before a planning application is submitted to Cardiff Council's Planning Committee.

Proposals include:

A stopping up order on Lewis Road and relevant highways works, to allow development to take place
Construction of active travel routes to the eastern perimeter of site
Installation of new utilities and relocation of existing services
Excavation and groundworks including the removal of contaminated material following disturbance of ground
Demolition of existing buildings located on Portmanmor Road and at Splott Market site
Installation of secure fencing around site boundary

Deputy Leader of Cardiff Council, and Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills, Cllr Sarah Merry, said: "This public consultation is the next step to relocate and rebuild Willows High School and the enabling works associated with the project are an integral part of the development, which when complete will provide exceptional facilities, expertise and teaching opportunities for students, staff and the community."

Children and young people shape local media's understanding of children's rights and the impact of their work

Young people from across Cardiff were given the opportunity to meet the Welsh media at an event designed to open a debate on how children are portrayed in the mainstream news and to discuss how negative stories can impact on their wellbeing.

Organised by Child Friendly Cardiff, in collaboration with Cardiff Council and Cardiff University, the 'Children and the Media' event saw young people, adults and media professionals come together to undertake a deep dive into media portrayals, stereotypes and story choices.

The event saw key speakers - led by young teenagers - take to the stage to talk about the impact the media has on children and young people, how they feel their voices often go unheard and to raise awareness of children's rights to news outlets in Wales.

The group of 90 attendees heard talks from several speakers including, Sally Holland, the former Children's Commissioner for Wales and Professor at the Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre at Cardiff University, Zoe Thomas, Editor of English Language Programmes at ITV Wales; Andrew Collins, Digital Communications Consultant for ProMo Cymru; and 14-year-old Arthur Templeman-Lilley from the Children and Young People's Advisory Board (CYPAB).

The SOLE (Self Organised Learning Environment) event then brought everyone together to collaborate in discussing and researching three key questions:

How are children and young people represented in the media? And how can we make it better?
What information do children and young people need? And how can we make it more accessible?
How can Cardiff celebrate and promote children and young people, and their rights?