Thursday 19th October 11am-1pm @ Corporate Suite, Civic Offices, Barry.
The Transport Focus Group was set up & met for the first time in January 2007. Today the Lead is Anne Marie Little. 18 enthusiastic people attended the attended the first ‘Transport Focused’ Coffee Morning & ?? attended the second. We met from 10.30am-12.30 at the Civic Offices & these were open to all forum members. The room was set up ‘cafe style’ & we networked whilst enjoying FREE hot drinks & biscuits.
Coffee Morning Tuesday 21st February 2023
It was our first time we had met face to face since the pandemic so Anne Marie reminded those present of our Transport aims, how we do it & how we monitor/measure our influence.
We celebrated examples of our work since 2019 & then took part in workshops/discussions looking at the Welsh Government’s National Transport Delivery Plan 2022-2027 & looking at local transport issues. Two colleagues from the Vale of Glamorgan Passenger Transport Team were in attendance & Cllr. Belinda Loveluck-Edwards our Older Person’s Champion (OPC) introduced herself & her role.
Jack Hawkins was representing National Coastal Institute at Nell’s Point & we enjoyed an informative update of their work.
Following on from the 21st February the workshop results were sent to Welsh Government. Our OPC sent a letter to our VofGC Cabinet member for Passenger Transport Cllr. Bronwen Brooks. We also had a reply from Andrew Eccleshare VofGC Passenger Transport Officer who shared our workshop results with the rest of the Team: Julia, Kyle & Lisa.
Tuesday 13th June 2023:
Welsh Gov
Our aims of the Vale 50+ Strategy Forum Transport are:
- To work with & establish further links with transport providers.
- To provide an opportunity to express views & concerns about local public & community transport.
- To work closely with agencies including Welsh Government, The Commissioner for Older People’s Office, Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cllrs. AM & MP, voluntary groups & other relevant organisations.
- To network & work closely with the other Vale 50+ Strategy Forum Leads.
so we can influence decision making on strategy planning, policy making & service delivery, using a range of engagement tools including: ‘Have your Say’ workshops, information sharing, consultations & discussions. We monitor & measure our influence via regular updates.
Here is a flavour of what we have done since 2019:
Speaker @ our Tuesday 8th October 2019 Meeting was:
East Vale Community Transport:
It was a talk about EVCT & this was followed by ‘a round robin’ Q&A session & leaflets were distributed.
EVCT are a charity based in Penarth, operating two wheelchair-friendly minibuses in the east of the Vale of Glamorgan. All their drivers are volunteers.
Our guest (who attended all our meetings) was Cllr. Peter King Cabinet Member for Transport & Neighbourhood Services, who encouraged us (e.g. if we would like to have more frequent buses) to respond to the VoGC budget consultation www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/budget
Speakers @ our Tuesday 11th February 2020 Meeting:
Kyle Phillips Group Transport Manager Neighbourhood Services, VoGC. Kyle spoke about: ‘Penarth Cardiff Barrage Sustainable Transport Corridor Study’.
Kyle gave a ‘background talk’ about the study & we had a sheet of information
to keep which had been printed from VoGC website that was helpful for those members not online.
After completion of the WelTAG Stage Two appraisal, the following options have been approved by the Council’s Cabinet to be processed to WelTAG Stage Three appraisal:
- Option 1A: Penarth Active Travel Network Improvements
- Option 1B: Penarth Headland Link
- Option 3: Cogan Multi-Modal Sustainable Transport Interchange
We had a disscussion with Kyle about the three options going to WelTAG Stage 3 appraisal & he was grateful for our feedback.
Our additional speaker was the Business Development Manager of Edwards Coach Holidays
Edwards Coach holidays, is a well established family business & one of Wales’ leading premier coach tour operators. They offer a wide variety of products ranging from coach hire, coach holidays, breaks by train or even cruises.
Consultations/Engagement Events:
Diverse Cymru 3rd Sector Healthy Travel Charter-Engagement Event, at Butetown Community Centre, Cardiff. The theme was: ‘Are you interested in improving your community & tackling the climate emergency?’
Also, we had the opportunity to take part in a Consultation on ‘City Centre North & West Transport Improvements’, at City of Cardiff Council, Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff Bay, Accessibility Focus Group.
- West City Centre: Phase 1 Construction Central Square & Westgate Street Bus Gate,
- North: Phase 2 Construction Castle Street,
- Westgate Street & Boulevard De Nates T.B.C.
Members could either attend the consultations or email/post their feedback.
In addition we were invited (one member only) to the Barry Docks Upgrade Consultation meeting to provide us with information regarding the station upgrade & the opportunity for us to provide our thoughts & represent the Vale 50+ Forum.
The consultation was an opportunity to highlight the plans for an upgrade to the Barry Docks Railway Station which is a regeneration project to upgrade the land in the vicinity of Barry Docks Railway Station as a multi modal transport hub. The project has the potential to benefit people of all ages but, especially the elderly & those with disabilities, who live within the Vale of Glamorgan by improving connections between the station & the communities & businesses in the surrounding area. This will also contribute to the wider social, economic & environmental benefits of the Vale of Glamorgan Council.
Due to Covid 19 restrictions, it was conducted via a virtual meeting/telephone.
We have all seen the upgrades to our bus shelters & the installation of the rolling screens that we asked Andrew for during our lively discussions.
Finally, a big thank you to all the Forum members, especially the other Leads, for interlinking with us. Also, Andrew Eccleshare who is the Vale of Glamorgan Council Passenger Transport Officer for his continued support & his transport updates which enables us to monitor & measure our influence.
This year we have welcomed Cllr. Belinda Loveluck-Edwards who is our Older Person’s Champion & Cllr. Ian Buckley Armed Forces Veterans Champion. It is smashing that they attend our meetings so they can hear things from the ‘grass roots’ & update the Leader.
