Disused railway bridge to link communities and Taff trail

Posted by Now Cardiff on Oct 9, 2012

Cardiff Council is bringing an old disused railway bridge back to life with a scheme that will link Llandaff North to Radyr and significantly increase accessibility to the Taff Trail.

Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, Highways, Traffic and Transportation, Cllr Ralph Cook said, “This is an excellent scheme that will link the footways in Hailey Park with those running west of the river to link with the Taff Trail.  Access to and from Radyr and Llandaff North will also be greatly enhanced for residents in this area.”

The work is scheduled to commence on 15th October and will take around 16 weeks depending on the weather and will be financed largely by Section 106 funds generated from the development at Radyr sidings.

Cllr Cook added, “The work will consist of the refurbishment of the bridge deck; the removal of the existing cantilevered walkways, parapets and stone ballast; steelwork repair; surface preparation; repainting and a new bridge deck surface and drainage system.  This is a substantial project that will breathe new life into an old bridge and make an already popular part of Cardiff even more attractive for residents and the many visitors who use the Taff Trail.”

Groups benefit from grant scheme

Posted by Now Cardiff on Oct 4, 2012

Community buildings across the city are to benefit from grants awarded by Cardiff Council.

Voluntary groups were invited to apply for a grant, under the Council’s Community Building Grants Programme.

A total of 15 grants were awarded under this year’s programme and will help local groups across the city to improve community buildings and provide better facilities.

Around £50,000 will go towards paying for a wide range of improvements including toilet refurbishments, window replacement, new heating systems, health and safety improvements and access improvements for disabled users.

One of the groups to benefit is St Fagans Village Hall, which received a grant for a new disabled toilet. Frances Lewis of the Village Hall said: “We are very pleased with the Community Building Grant, which will help us to further enhance our building and offer services to an ever wider number of people in the local community.”

Cardiff Council’s Community Building Grants Programme has been running for over ten years for the purpose of supporting local voluntary groups in providing and improving community buildings.

Councillor Lynda Thorne, Cabinet Member for Communities, Housing and Social Justice, said: “The Council recognises the important role that voluntary sector organisations play in running community buildings across the city. We are delighted to be able to help so many groups carry out improvements for the benefit of the people and communities that use them.”

Council and police tackle Cathays burglaries

Posted by Now Cardiff on Sep 20, 2012

Cardiff Council and South Wales Police are joining forces to target the security of private rented accommodation in the Cathays Community Ward.

The Cathays Community Ward is subject to the Council’s Additional Licensing Scheme for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), which covers over 1000 properties in the area. The purpose of the scheme is to improve the standard of rented property within the Cathays area. Additional Licensing also aims to tackle wider community issues such as property security. Therefore, a set of specific security standards for HMOs in Cathays were agreed between Cardiff Council, South Wales Police and South Wales Fire and Rescue. Despite this, the area has one of the highest crime rates for burglaries in all of Cardiff.

Nevertheless, working in partnership, Cardiff Council and South Wales Police have now identified a number of streets in the area targeted by burglars in the past few years. In addition, a list has been compiled of properties where licensing works are outstanding as well as HMOs which appear licensable but where no licence has been applied for.

The aim is to work with landlords to make multi-occupied rented accommodation in the area more secure based on intelligence from police reports for means of entry.

Councillor Lynda Thorne, Cardiff Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, Housing and Social Justice, said: "Anyone who has been the victim of burglary, or an attempted burglary, knows how distressing this experience can be. As a partnership we want to reduce the number of residents that fall victim to this type of crime by being proactive and putting a range of preventative measures in place.”

Over 50 inspections have been arranged jointly between Cardiff Council and South Wales Police in Cathays.  These will allow the Council to comply outstanding licensing and security works in already licensed HMOs and identify HMOs which still require a licence. The Police will focus their attention on educating landlords, agents and tenants on how to keep a property secure and raise the profile of neighbourhood policing.

Chief Inspector Steve Murray, Community Safety, said: “Cathays tends to have one of the highest rates of burglary of the city because of the high number of multi-occupancy properties. Combined with the arrival of students to the area, this provides rich pickings for criminals who know that most students will have valuables such as laptops and iPods that can be easily carried and sold on.”

“Our community safety department will be accompanying council officers on visits to houses in the area checking that security is up to standard and also to educate occupants.”

“Burglary can be an extremely traumatic experience and South Wales Police is committed to preventing break-ins and arresting those responsible. We ask residents to take the simple steps of locking doors and windows to significantly reduce their chances of being a victim of burglary.”

For more information about HMO Licensing visit:

http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2867,3424,5082,4949&parent_directory_id=2865

Bute Park to keep extended opening hours

Posted by Now Cardiff on Sep 20, 2012

Bute Park will remain open for longer following a successful pilot scheme which has proved to be popular with pedestrians, cyclists, joggers and dog-walkers.

During the pilot, users of the park were surveyed and asked whether they would like the extended opening hours to be permanent, a staggering 96% of people said yes.

More than half of the people surveyed said they used the route to commute to work, with 74% also saying that the longer opening times would help them to carry on cycling through the winter.

Cabinet Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture, Cllr Huw Thomas said: “We have listened to the users of Bute Park and have taken on board the request from cyclists to continue extending the opening hours of the park.

“Bute Park is a fantastic green space in the heart of our city and provides a beautiful, tranquil route for many people to walk and cycle through.”

The Millennium Bridge, which links Sophia Gardens to Bute Park and the gate at Fisher’s Bridge near the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) will now remain open until 7pm throughout the winter. All other access gates will follow the normal closing times, which is 30 minutes before dusk.

Along with the extended opening hours Cardiff Council are teaming up with The Friends of Bute Park and cycling groups to promote safety messages asking people to ‘be seen, be aware, stick to the route and respect other users.

Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, Highways, Traffic and Transportation, Cllr Ralph Cook said:”The pilot scheme has already proven that there is a demand for later access to Bute Park. Figures from the pilot have shown that many people took advantage of the extended opening hours of the park and it’s very encouraging indeed to hear people’s feedback that the extended opening hours will help them to carry on cycling throughout the year

“In Cardiff we are heavily investing into cycling and sustainable travel. We are currently implementing a five year strategic plan to improve cycling infrastructure in the city and this year alone £1.8million has been invested on new and improved routes in the city, assisted by financial support from Welsh Government as part of the Sustainable Travel City project.

“It’s our priority to make sure every aspect of improving cycling in the city is looked into and the extended opening hours at Bute Park will make a huge difference for cyclists in the city.”

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Free fitness day across the city

Posted by Now Cardiff on Apr 30, 2012

Cardiff Council is offering people the chance to try out fitness taster sessions at leisure centres across the city, absolutely free of charge!

The free fitness days are taking place throughout the months of April and May with five leisure centres offering a selection of group fitness classes for people to participate in.

Western, Llanishen, Channel View, Star and Eastern Leisure centres will host a variety of fun group fitness sessions such as Zumba, Spin, Circuits, Aerobics, Pilates and Boxercise to name a few, to showcase the diverse and varied exercise options they regularly have on offer.

During the free fitness day visitors will be also be able to take advantage of a fantastic discount on the committed membership to the Active Card, the Council’s leisure membership scheme which allows people to commit to paying the same price for their Active Leisure membership for as long as they remain members of the scheme.

If they sign up on the day they will be given the special offer of one month free, a huge saving of £32.

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