News & Newsletters

The Vale is one of three pilot areas that are working with Visit Wales, alongside Gwynedd and Pembrokeshire in seeking the views of local residents about tourism in their local areas.

Vale of Glamorgan Council would like to learn more about the impact that tourism has on our communities, what are the benefits and drawbacks that stem from it, and how to shape and ensure its sustainable development. Findings will be used to inform future tourism policy, so as to best respond to the local needs of all communities involved.

While our aim is to have local voices heard, we won’t be asking for any personal information that could be used to identify anyone. All responses will remain strictly confidential. Participation is completely voluntary, and residents may withdraw from the survey at any point.

If you can help, the link to the survey on our website can be found here. Responders will also be able to find it directly from a banner at the top of our home page on the website www.visitthevale.com

The Community Council currently has no vacancies for a Community Councillor.   But if you are interested in becoming a Community Councillor in the future should a vacancy arise, please let the Clerk, Ron Carrie know (email: ewennycc@gmail.com).

For further information on the role please contact Councillor Julian Radcliffe on 07977 251122

The above Planning Application was discussed at the Planning Committee, which was held at 4:00 pm remotely on 30th March 2022. The Application was approved on 31st March 2022. For the Conditions attached to this approval, please follow the link below.  Once you open the link, click on 'Decision', you will see the full list of Conditions there. If you witness a breach to these conditions, please report this directly to the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

https://vogonline.planning-register.co.uk/Planning/Display/2021/00217/FUL&cuuid=65635056-91F9-4E1B-AE92-1898FC2549DF

The ‘Natur am Byth!’ partnership unites nine environmental charities and Natural Resources Wales to

deliver the country’s largest natural heritage and outreach programme to save species from extinction

and reconnect people to nature.

Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Welsh Government, never before has a

partnership of so many voluntary organisations and the Welsh statutory environment body worked

together in this way to tackle the nature emergency. The 10 ‘core’ partners are Amphibian & Reptile

Conservation; Bat Conservation Trust; Buglife; Bumblebee Conservation Trust; Butterfly

Conservation; Plantlife; Marine Conservation Society; Natural Resources Wales; RSPB Cymru;

Vincent Wildlife Trust. Many other organisations, communities and landowners are working with the

project to enable plans for conservation and engagement activity across Wales.

The programme has to happen now in the wake of Covid-19, for its importance in delivering the

Green Recovery agenda to support local wellbeing via connection to nature. Skills development will

create a new wave of nature ambassadors and celebrate ‘Cynefin’ – the distinct natural heritage that

underpins communities across Wales. Our partnership will inject much needed capacity into the

natural heritage sector, building organisational resilience to demonstrate how to save threatened

species. This need for investment has been recognised by Welsh Government with a commitment to

NaB from the First Minister and cash funding supporting our development phase.

Natur am Byth shares many of the same partners as our sister species recovery projects in England

and Scotland – ‘Back from the Brink’ and ‘Species on the Edge’. From both projects we’ve

incorporated learning from the Rethink Natureii collaboration, the statutory agencies Natural England

and NatureScot, plus NLHF evaluation into the development of Natur am Byth.

Heritage

Partners have identified species facing the greatest threat of extinction and of particular importance to

Wales informed by the Environment (Wales) Act section 7 list in consultation with natural heritage

experts across Wales and the UK. We’ve mapped these species against themes and identified

landscapes and coastal areas where we can target our heritage and engagement programme. The

18-month development phase will be used to consult with communities, landowners and delivery

partners to co-produce detailed plans for our engagement and conservation action in the anticipated

delivery phase.

NaB is unique in that we’re integrating terrestrial and marine management issues, supporting

vulnerable marine species as well as those on land and freshwater. Our areas of focus are the Llŷn

peninsula and Anglesey; Pembrokeshire; Gower and Swansea City; Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend;

Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff and Newport Gwent Levels; Snowdonia; Powys; Wrexham. In most of

these areas we will employ an integrated multi-taxon approach to deliver multiple benefits for rare

species. Some locations represent isolated populations of species on the brink of extinction.

Vision & Outcomes

For our 20-year vision we see a future for Wales where people and wildlife flourish together in

recovering habitats. People from all walks of life will feel that they belong in, benefit from and care for

nature. Organisations across the fabric of Welsh society will work together to care for nature and

value the benefits their community get from it. We’ll have a resilient nature conservation, environment

and land management sector that collaborates widely to make a bigger difference for species as part

of healthy ecosystems.

As a result of our programme we will have:

Put the risks to threatened species on the agenda and shown why it matters

Demonstrated how to save our nation’s most endangered species and helped them to recover

through resilient ecosystems

Inspired people in Wales from all walks of life to take action and mobilised diverse communities to care for the wildlife on their doorstep

Helped a new wave of conservation ambassadors and practitioners to emerge

Collaborated to find solutions to the most pressing issues for species conservation in Wales

Engagement

Our three priority engagement strands of ‘Resilient Sector’; ‘Re-thinking the way we see species’ and

‘Community Empowerment’ will ensure we influence our domains of change. We must employ new

solutions to expand beyond our usual audiences and ensure that a wider range of people are involved

in heritage. To create lasting change, NaB will consult and engage to understand communities better,

promote wellbeing via connection to nature and find the relevance of rare species to the people of

Wales. Via our communications programme, engagement and volunteer activities we will bring

species to life with strong immersive activities that develop long term relationships with new

audiences and build upon the value that Welsh culture and language places on the natural world.

We’ll work with creative industries, delivery partners and our own small community grants scheme to

ensure our programme is accessible to all, with an emphasis on inclusion and targeting communities

in areas of multiple deprivation to ensure a Green Recovery from Covid-19.

There have been occasions in recent years when flash flooding has posed a threat to properties in the area.  The most recent incident occurred in February 2020 when a number of houses in Corntown were at risk.

Since then the Community Council, in collaboration with the Vale of Glamorgan Council, have a supply of sandbags available for residents to use if their properties are at risk of imminent flooding.

The Community Council are very grateful to the Vale Cricket Club for providing a storage shelter outside their grounds which allows access to the sandbags 24/7.

Age Connects Cardiff & the Vale has capacity for new referrals to the shopping service.  If you know someone who is finding it difficult to shop at the moment, we are here to help.  We have volunteers ready to take a list, carry out the shopping and deliver it to the doorstep. 

There is a £5 charge for this service* which can be paid by cash or cheque to your volunteer, or they can contact you to take a card payment.

To find out more or to make a referral to the project, please contact the Project Manager, Paula Hodge on 

07507 416875, or email paula.hodge@ageconnectscardiff.org.uk.

*Please note if you wish to shop outside of your local area, additional mileage costs may apply.

Those residents who applied to become members of the Community Speedwatch team have all been successful in their applications. The team are now undertaking speed scoping excercises.

If any residents are interested in the speed watch scheme (the use of pocket radars to monitor speeds of passing traffic) please contact PCSO Stone whose contact details can be found on the Useful Contacts page. 

There has been an increase in dog fouling in the area, especially along Abbey Road. The offence is punishable by payment of a fixed penalty fine or by summons under the Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996. 

If you take a dog for a walk and it fouls in a public space it is your responsibility to pick it up. If you fail to pick up after your dog you could be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice of £75 or be prosecuted which could result in a fine of up to £1,000.

If you own a dog or are responsible for one then be sure to always:

• Take bags on your walk; Dog waste bags are available to purchase from council receptions and Vale of Glamorgan Libraries and cost £2.00 for 100 bags.

• Pick up after your dog

• Dispose of waste in any council litter bin

We understand that sometimes you can run out of bags on a walk, so don't be shy why not ask a fellow dog walker for a spare bag, or if you see someone without one offer them one to help.

We have now been advised that the Vale of Glamorgan Council can now undertake visits to peoples properties to undertake noise monitoring (subject to covid-19 guidance, including the wearing of masks, 2m social distance, with the room well ventilated). If residents are shielding or immune compromised Officers will not enter the property to help protect them.

Please call the 0300 1236696 number and a reactive officer with try to attend within the hour.

Please see below the dates that Ewenny Priory will be open during 2022:

Saturday 27th August to Monday 29th August

The Community Council were advised by the operating company, Tarmac, that it's operations at the Ewenny Quarry site would be resumed.

At present the site is being prepared for production.  The quarry management team have agreed to inform the local residents of imminent blasting via Emil or WhatsApp.  Residents who live in close proximity to the site and want to be informed of imminent blasting, are invited to register a request to be contacted by emailing their address/mobile number to Owen.llewellyn@tarmac.com

For those residents who do not have an email account or smart phone, the Ewenny & Corntown Village Shop have agreed to display a notice of imminent blasting.

Disability Sport Wales and the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Healthy Living Team have noticed there isn’t a huge amount of content out there for disabled people when it comes to exercising at home.

In response to this Disability Sport Wales have created a You Tube Channel where updates will be posted regularly with ideas on adaptive exercises and games that can take place at home.

The link to the channel is: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC00NJ85E3UurrikAzqHpv5A

People who are interested can visit the Healthy Living Teams Social Media Pages where inclusive activities are posted.

Twitter: @ValeSportsTeam

Facebook: Vale Sports and Play Development – Healthy Living Team

Instagram : @valeplayteam

Any residents affected by flooding can contact the Vale of Glamorgan council directly so that they can investigate and ensure that the appropriate risk management authorities are aware.  

You can email directly at fcerm@valofglamorgan.gov.uk or contact them via the Council’s normal communication channels, including the contact centre on 01446 700111.

We are concerned about the increase of fly-tipping in the area.  If you need to report a fly-tipping incident you can report it directly to the Vale of Glamorgan Website following the link below:

https://forms.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/en/Flytipping

Please note the village shop in Ewenny has a supply of the green food waste bags should residents require any. 

If residents refuse or recycling is not collected it should be reported directly to the Vale Council on 01446 700111 or go online and complete a form, link as follows:

https://forms.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/en/missedcollections

It is residents responsibility to ensure that overhanging vegetation on their property adjacent to pavements, do not cause an obstruction or hazard to pedestrians. 

We have been advised that the Welsh Government has announced that 20mph legislation will figure in this year’s legislative programme.

The public consultation on changing the default speed limit on residential streets from 30mph to 20mph has now closed. The responses to this consultation are currently being reviewed. Details of the outcome will be published in due course. 

You can find the outcome to the public consultation here: 

https://gov.wales/proposal-reduce-speed-limit-20mph-residential-streets

You can find some more information here: 

https://gov.wales/20mph and here: https://gov.wales/safer-streets-save-lives

We would like to draw your attention to a letter that Legal Services, Vale of Glamorgan Council have received this week from the Boundary Commission for Wales, which is attached for your perusal. As you will note from the attached letter from the Boundary Commission, the Council have also received A0 maps, which have been disseminated to Barry Library and Penarth library for public viewing. 

A copy has also been retained at the Electoral Registration office, which you are able to view. If you should wish to view these maps, please contact rmstarr-wood@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk Legal Services and they will be more than happy to accommodate this. The councils website has been updated (see link below), to include information pertaining to where the maps can be viewed and also the link to the initial proposals and documentation.

https://www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/en/our_council/Council-Structure/Electoral-Services/Reviews.aspx

Please see the link below:

https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3020

As a result of the petition raised by the community in 2017 the Community Council successfully petitioned for additional support in the attendance of the GoSafe mobile speed camera.

The Council have, to date, been unsuccessful in persuading the County Council Highways Department that there is a significant threat to the community from speeding traffic. However in response to this a number of local volunteers have established a Community Speedwatch group which supplement the GoSafe initiative by regularly undertaking traffic speed monitoring and reporting.

Most recently the group has recruited additional volunteers and more are welcome. If you would like to be part of the group please contact PCSO Angela Stone. 

A huge 'thank you' to all the residents who regularly undertake litter picking! Your efforts to keep our community looking nice is very much appreciated.

As soon as the Community Council has funding available it plans on putting in place a regular program of maintenance for this historic feature in the community.  The Vale of Glamorgan Council County Ecologist has been engaged to give advice on the program.

The Community Council has successfully acquired the asset of the War Memorial in order to ensure that it is cared for and maintained for future generations.

A recent application for a grant of £10,000 has been successful. Part of the he new play equipment has been installed.