Cardiff Council Update: 16 December 2022

Here's your Friday update, covering: Cardiff residents urged to take part in budget consultation;Cardiff Council approves offer in principle from Academy Music Group to safeguard St David's Hall; New vehicle to salt segregated cycleways hits the streets of Cardiff; and Innovative Insulation Pilot Supports One Planet Cardiff Vision.

Cardiff residents urged to take part in budget consultation

Cardiff residents are being asked for their views on possible changes to council services following the news that the local authority will still need to find £23.5m to balance the books in 2023/24, despite receiving a better-than-expected 9% increase in funding from Welsh Government.

A number of factors including rises in energy costs, spiralling inflation, demand pressures, and expected pay increases for teachers, carers and other public sector workers, mean the council's budget for delivering day-to-day services like education, social care, refuse collection, parks and libraries is set to cost £75m more next year than it will this year.

A public consultation on a series of possible service changes which could help make savings and raise income will open on Friday, December 23, and run for around five weeks until January 29. In it, residents will be asked for their views on possible changes to services to help bridge the gap.

Cardiff Council approves offer in principle from Academy Music Group to safeguard St David's Hall

An offer from the Academy Music Group Limited (AMG) to take over the running of St David's Hall as the National Concert Hall of Wales, via a long-term lease has been approved in principle by Cardiff Council Cabinet.

The plan to safeguard the future of St David's Hall could see much-needed repairs and refurbishment works worth millions carried out on the building, and a revitalised events programme designed to safeguard the classical music repertoire, while also bringing some of the most celebrated rock and pop artists to perform in Cardiff.

A report to Cardiff Council's Cabinet reveals that the Hall is in need of necessary repair works and significant sums of money would also be required to fully upgrade the venue.

However, with Cardiff Council already facing a significant hole in its 2023/24 budget, the authority would struggle to find the capital for ongoing maintenance and repairs. Consequently, for several years now, it has been investigating ways in which the venue's future could be secured at zero or little cost to the taxpayer.

Final approval of any lease would be subject to a further Cabinet report, following public consultation as part of the Council's budget setting process, and the publication of a Voluntary Ex-Ante Notice (VEAT notice), a public notice of intent which will include details of the draft contract negotiated with AMG.

The offer from AMG would see it take on full responsibility for the building, removing the council's liability for maintenance and subsidies, while also:

Investing in a series of essential restoration and ongoing maintenance
Investing in modernising the communal areas (bars/foyers etc)
Investing in the main auditorium - including new seat coverings and flooring
Investing in the stage area

Committing to employing all existing Council staff at the Hall on existing terms and conditions through a TUPE agreement.

Investment would also be made in the lower stalls - installing removable seating to enable standing for Academy events. This proposal has been tested and approved by the Hall's original acoustic engineers Sandy Brown to confirm it will have no noticeable impact on the venue's world-class acoustics.

New vehicle to salt segregated cycleways hits the streets of Cardiff

Cardiff Council has a new vehicle operating in its winter maintenance fleet helping to keep the city's strategic cycle network safe to use during the cold snap.

The Multihog vehicle sprays a brine solution across the cycleways and is being used during the current cold weather to ensure that segregated cycleways in the city are safe for cyclists to use.

Innovative Insulation Pilot Supports One Planet Cardiff Vision

The installation of an innovative insulation system that aims to improve the thermal efficiency of buildings is reaching completion in the east of the city.

The ‘Plug-N-Harvest' project aims to design, develop and demonstrate a new modular, plug-n-play external cladding system that is able to both provide insulation and renewable energy production to both residential and non-residential buildings.

Having received an award as part of a European-wide consortium under the EU's Horizon 2020 Programme, the Council is piloting the plug-n-play cladding system on two council homes in Llanrumney.

The scheme supports the Council's One Planet Cardiff strategy which sets out ambitious plans, including improving buildings' energy efficiency, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 in response to the climate emergency.