Author: mcnjack

What’s the Deal?

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You’re going to be hearing a lot about the “City Deal” in the coming months, but what is it?

The Cardiff Capital Region City Deal is a £1.28 billion programme which will achieve a 5 per cent uplift in the region’s GVA by delivering a range of programmes which will increase connectivity, improve physical and digital infrastructure, as well as regional business governance.

Got that?

Maybe a video will do a better job…

(Watch Welsh version)

Need more information? Head over to the website (Welsh version) or follow them on Twitter.

What does the BBC say?

What about Wales Online?

You can read Cardiff Council’s announcement. The report will be discussed at a special Cabinet meeting on Wednesday 25 January 2017.

The report outlines that the City of Cardiff Council is committed to delivering a significant number of facilities and attractions including:

  • A new 15,000 seat indoor arena;
  • Improved city centre open spaces;
  • The redevelopment of Cardiff Central Station;
  • Stronger connections between the city centre and Cardiff Bay; and
  • A range of improvements to bus, car, cycle and pedestrian networks.

What will the deal mean for residents of Cardiff North? Better transport? More job opportunities? It’s going to be interesting.

Cardiff North Councillor of the Year 2016 – The Winner

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The results are in and we can reveal the Cardiff North Councillor of the Year 2016 is…

Jayne Cowan!

Jayne Cowan

A resident who nominated Jayne said: “She is very knowledgeable about Cardiff North and is an asset to the area.”

The runners up were Fenella Bowden and Eleanor Sanders. Eleanor “always goes above and beyond and works tirelessly” and Fenella “has gone the extra mile in responding to residents concerns in the Heath/Birchgrove area.”

Congratulations to the councillors and thanks to everyone for your nominations.

 

Cardiff North Councillor of the Year 2016

Inspired by #WPOTY, we’re launching #CNCOTY – Cardiff North Councillor of the Year 2016 – to crown the best Councillor in Cardiff North for 2016.

All you have to do is get in touch and tell us which Councillor has gone above and beyond the call of duty this year. It could one amazing act of selfless dedication to their job or a solid, consistent commitment to serving their community. Tell us who’s stood out and stood up!

 

Fenella Bowden – Day in My Life as a Councillor

Fenella Bowden profile picture

So what does a typical day in my life as a councillor look like? Busy!

By 9am on any morning I will have read all the emails that have come into my email accounts overnight; read the new relevant posts on social media; checked out Twitter for new posts & current news, commenting as I go; listened to any phone messages that have been left since the previous evening & scheduled in call-backs; checked the diary & sorted the priorities for the day.

Of one thing I can be absolutely sure: that however well I have planned my day, it will invariably change as the day progresses. The huge range of issues that affect residents within Heath & Birchgrove which will cross my path during the course of a day is astonishing, and needs me to jump from issue to issue in the space of minutes; and I shall be responding to them all day as I go. I’m prepared for anything: a school admission refusal; uncollected bins; a parking problem; a planning application; a new transport project; a request for help from a local organisation; or it may be a vulnerable individual who needs significant support while services are identified to help them. There will never be a ‘groundhog’ day; every day will be different & I thrive on that. And I’m reachable for over 14 hours a day!

Fenella Bowden litter picking

For me, being out & about in the Ward every day is essential to understanding what’s happening & allows time for meeting residents & catching up on their news or problems. A cup of coffee at a local café can be a lengthy affair – depending upon how many residents are doing the same thing & want to chat!

Being pro-active & keeping residents informed of what is happening in Heath & Birchgrove is essential to me as a councillor. Writing leaflets, street letters, posting on social media, & updating my website all take time but as an Independent, I stand on a platform of putting people before politics – and that means listening to residents’ views.

A day will rarely pass without needing to fulfil the other roles that come as part of the councillor ‘package’. Being Chair of Governors at my local school is an honour but also a big responsibility, requiring hours of work or attendance at the school every week. Preparing for Full Council; attending meetings such as PACT or Planning Committee; arranging local resident meetings; meeting & speaking with journalists ; & mentoring potential councillor candidates, are just some of my daily activities and all require preparation.

Do I ever switch off as a councillor? No, not really. In these days of being able to contact your councillor at any time of day (or night!) there is always something to work on. This is the role that I chose, and I am thankful that I don’t have the additional burden of full or part-time employment. It’s a big role, and certainly not a job for the faint-hearted!

Cllr Fenella Bowden
Heath & Birchgrove

Website

Twitter

We invited all Cardiff North Councillors to submit an article for this series during Local Democracy Week.

South Wales Central Assembly Member Gareth Bennett Launches New Website

South Wales Central Assembly Member Gareth Bennett Launches New Website

South Wales Central Regional Assembly Member Gareth Bennett (UKIP) has launched his new personal website.

The Cardiff-born politician talks about his upbringing and life before entering politics. He also shares his political history, how he ended up joining UKIP and the drama surrounding his selection as an Assembly candidate.

Gareth Bennett AM

Gareth is the UKIP Assembly spokesman for Local Government, Housing and Sport. He is a member of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee and the Petitions Committee in the Assembly.

You can watch videos of Gareth’s speeches in the Assembly and read about the constituency issues he working on.

Find out more about our Assembly members on the National Assembly for Wales website.

Visit our Assembly Member page for more information and links.

 

2018 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies – Public Hearings

2018 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies – Public Hearings

The 2018 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies is looking at changing the number and size of current constituencies.

View a map of the proposed changes.

During the initial consultation period of the review, the Boundary Commission for Wales are holding public hearings around Wales. There are two in Cardiff this week.

Mercure Holland House
Wednesday 26 October – 10am to 8pm
Thursday 27 October – 9am to 5pm

The public hearings are intended to provide an opportunity for people to make representations about any of the Commission’s initial proposals, including the naming of constituencies and to present any counter-proposals.

Rhiwbina Councillor Jayne Cowan is making a speech at tomorrow’s hearing. She is opposing some of the proposals and will publish her speech tomorrow.

Visit the Boundary Commission for Wales website for details of the initial proposals.

Planning Our Coverage of the 2017 Local Elections

Planning Our Coverage of the 2017 Local Elections

I started thinking about next year’s local elections after wrapping up coverage of the recent Assembly election. I wasn’t sure when candidates would be announced so I’ve just been keeping an eye on the party groups’ Twitter accounts for any news.

The first candidate I spotted was Jen Davies, who posted a photo of Llandaff North and had, “Labour Council Candidate for Llandaff North” in her profile. I contacted her and she confirmed she was standing with current councillor Dilwar Ali. This kicked off the process of tracking down the other candidates. There were 97 candidates in 2012 so this may take a while.

My Cardiff North wordmarkIf you’re a local party member or candidate, please use our contact form to get in touch and send us your details.

In previous elections I’ve attended hustings, published profiles and shared campaign leaflets. This will be hard to repeat with the increased number of candidates so I need to think how I can make the process more efficient and ensure the coverage is fair.

With a small number of candidates I was able to build up a relationship with them and they were happy to send me information. I can foresee some candidates not responding if they don’t know the site or don’t see any benefit in engaging with it. I’m hoping to get in touch with local party staff who can encourage them to get involved.

The other issue I can see is members of smaller parties or independent candidates that don’t know about this site or don’t have an online presence.

This is where I need help from readers to share the site and help it get noticed on social media. If you support what we do and would like to be involved, please get in touch.

The most important thing for me is to find out who the candidates are and make this information available to as many people as possible. The next challenge is to find out more about them and why they think they should get your vote.

I’m going to create an online questionnaire for each candidate to complete, which will be published on dedicated candidate pages.

atcnc_white

Do you have any suggestions for questions to ask the candidates?

You can Tweet us with the hashtag #atcnc (Ask The Cardiff North Candidates) or send a question by email.

Local Elections 2017: More Candidates Announced

Local Elections 2017: More Candidates Announced

We’ve created a dedicated page for the ever-growing list of candidates standing for election next year.

Independent Heath councillor Fenella Bowden has confirmed she’s standing for re-election, along with Conservative Rhiwbina councillors Jayne Cowan and Adrian Robson.

Joy Coughlan and David Hamblin are standing in Gabalfa for Labour.

Former AM Jonathan Morgan posted on Twitter that the Whitchurch and Tongwynlais ward will be contested by Mike Phillips, Linda Morgan, Tim Davies and Mike Jones-Pritchard for the Conservatives.

You can subscribe to our blog for more updates and follow us on Twitter.

Local Elections 2017: And They’re Off!

Local Elections 2017: And They’re Off!

With an eye on next year’s local council elections, we’ve had our ear to the ground to find out who the candidates will be.

Jen Davies and Dilwar Ali are the Labour candidates in Llandaff North and they’ve already been knocking doors this weekend!

Over in Whitchurch and Tongwynlais, Maegan Davies-John and Hannah Buckingham are two of the four Labour candidates. Hannah and Maegan have also been out canvassing today. We’re waiting for official confirmation for the other two candidates so stay tuned.

Follow us on Twitter for news as it happens.

 

Local Democracy Week – Being a Councillor

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We’re in the middle of Local Democracy Week and councils all over the country are engaging with communities to help them understand what the role of the council is.

Cardiff Youth Council have produced a video called “Whose City Is This” that describes the different levels of representation we have.

 

The leader of The City of Cardiff Council and Llanishen Councillor, Phil Bale, explains how the council are, “taking the public cabinet on the road” to mark Local Democracy Week. The council have a dedicated page with links to information and tools.

 

The next local council elections are in May 2017 and the process of selecting candidates is already underway.

We’ve already started collating a list of candidates in Cardiff North and we urge local parties and independent candidates to get in touch.

If you’re unsure what a councillor does, there are some videos from the Welsh Government featuring councillors in South Wales talking about their role. The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) have a guide for candidates that explains what the role involves and how to become a candidate.

In this video Councillors from local authorities in South Wales – including Rhiwbina Councillor Jayne Cowan – discuss how they got involved in local government, the challenges they have faced and why it is important to have a diverse representation on our Councils.

 

We’ve asked the current Cardiff North Councillors to write for us explaining what their typical week involves and we’ll publish these over the coming weeks.