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Cardiff Council Update: 23 January 2024
Here is your latest update, covering:
- Public asked for views on new parking plan for Cardiff
- Energy saving retrofit programme to save money and reduce carbon emissions
- Trelai Primary School celebrates positive evaluation from Estyn, acknowledging a calm and nurturing learning environment
- The Motocross track helping young people in Cardiff unlock their potential
Public asked for views on new parking plan for Cardiff
A six-week public consultation on a new on-street parking scheme for Cardiff has been given the go-ahead and will launch early this year, following Cardiff Council's Cabinet meeting on Thursday, January 18th.
The proposals - to introduce ‘parking zones' within Parking Management Areas - could give residents a better chance to park on their street, or on adjoining roads close to their home - while reducing opportunities for commuter parking.
As well as increasing the number of parking spaces available to residents, blue badge holders, cycle & car clubs, and local businesses could also benefit from the plan.
Under the new proposed scheme all on-street parking bounded within the areas south of the A48, west of River Rhymney, north of Cardiff Bay and east of the River Ely could be split into four distinct parking management areas, with different restrictions in place for each.
The current proposals describe these as the City Centre, Cardiff Bay, Inner, and Outer Parking Management Areas. Each area will be made up of a number of parking zones.
If agreed following consultation, the plan would bring Cardiff into line with most major cities in the UK. A 6-week consultation is expected to begin early this year.
Energy saving retrofit programme to save money and reduce carbon emissions
Plans for an initial twenty-three Cardiff Council buildings to benefit from an energy saving retrofit programme that would save money and reduce carbon emissions have been agreed, as the local authority continues its One Planet Cardiff work to become carbon neutral.
Green, locally sourced electricity already provides the power for council buildings wherever possible, but the 22 school buildings provisionally identified for the first round of the programme alongside Channel View Leisure Centre, still produce 1595.7 tonnes of CO2e annually, at a cost of more than £1.1million for 7.7million kWh of energy.
The Re:Fit programme which is managed and run via Local Partnerships (LP), a joint venture between the Local Government Association, HM Treasury and the Welsh Government, will guarantee minimum 15% energy, carbon and cost savings.
The intention is that the work will be financed by the Salix managed ‘Wales Funding Programme,' which allows public sector bodies to apply for flexible interest-free loans for energy-saving projects.
Trelai Primary School celebrates positive evaluation from Estyn, acknowledging a calm and nurturing learning environment
Trelai Primary School in Caerau, has received a positive assessment from Estyn, His Majesty's Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales.
During a recent visit, inspectors highlighted the school's commitment to creating a calm, happy environment that fosters successful learning and development. Several key strengths were identified including:
Calm and Happy Environment: Trelai Primary School is described as a calm and happy place for pupils to learn and develop safely and successfully. The report acknowledges the school's focus on nurturing individuals to bring out their best.
Community Understanding: The school's staff understands the challenges faced by the community it serves and offers pupils a broad range of interesting experiences to develop essential skills, knowledge, understanding, and resilience.
Leadership and Improvement: The headteacher and senior leaders form a strong team that drives improvement. The school's approach to self-evaluation has led to significant progress, with a track record of improvement in recent years.
The school has been invited by Estyn to prepare a case study on its work in relation to its improvement journey to be published on Estyn's website.
While celebrating Trelai Primary School's achievements, the report highlights specific areas for improvement which will be addressed through the school's action plan.
Mathematical Understanding: The school is encouraged to secure the progressive development of pupils' mathematical understanding to enable confident application of numeracy skills in various contexts.
School Improvement Priorities: The focus of school improvement priorities needs to be sharpened, as covering too many areas makes it challenging for staff to concentrate on what matters most.
Attendance Improvement: The school is urged to continue its rigorous efforts to increase attendance, recognizing it as an ongoing challenge.
The Motocross track helping young people in Cardiff unlock their potential
Life isn't always easy growing up and for some of Cardiff's young people, the traditional school environment just doesn't work - but motorbikes, engines, and the vocational education and training on offer at Foreshore MXC, a motocross facility on Rover Way can be life-changing.
"It's definitely kept me out of trouble," Jae said. "I've been mixed up in all sorts of things growing up in the area I live in, so where I am today, I'm proud of myself really."
Jae (24), who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), was referred to the track's vocational education programme by his school in 2013. "Written work in school wasn't really my thing," he explained on a sunny winter's day at the Cardiff Council facility on Rover Way, "and the teachers knew that."
"You could see straight away that he enjoyed being at the track," said Mark Thomas, who leads Cardiff Council's Vocational Education team, "so we worked with his school to develop a programme that balanced his academic responsibilities with time at the track riding and learning practical mechanic skills, and just tried to give him a support system, boost his confidence, and it all paid off."
Jae's attendance and participation at school improved and as his confidence grew, the Vocational Education Team gave him practical work experience servicing motorbikes as well as opportunities to develop his leadership skills. Those skills eventually lead to him supporting and mentoring his peers and now, just over ten years later he is employed at the track, helping the next generation.
"There's a lot I was shown here," said Jae, "wheel-building, how to fit a chain, change sprockets, fit air filters and now I'm working here, everything I learned as a kid is all coming into play and I'm using it every day and trying to teach these kids what I was taught, so I get them on the right path and give them opportunities in life."
