Latest news with #Bridgend
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
'Mystery' reptiles delay school opening in Wales
The opening of a new school building in Wales has been delayed by two years thanks to some mystery slithery creatures living at the site. Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Ogwrwas, a Welsh-medium school (that means all the lessons are taught in Welsh) in Brackla, Bridgend, was meant to move to a new location this September, but that has now been pushed back until September 2027. The council said "the presence of reptiles at the new site has caused a delay to the completion of the ecology work". That means checking how animals, plants and nature might be affected by building the new school. The council hasn't said which reptiles are on the site, but they're likely to be either slow-worms, grass snakes, adders or common lizards which are often found in areas of the UK and are protected by law. Conservative South Wales West Senedd member Altaf Hussain said the delay was "devastating news for parents in Bridgend who wish for their children to learn through the medium of Welsh".Education Secretary Lynne Neagle from the Welsh government called the delay "regrettable" and said £500,000 had been provided for expansion of the existing school, with two temporary classroom buildings from this new school building has cost £18.6 million with room for 525 children aged four to 11. For now children at the school will have to stay put and the reptiles will soon be rehomed. A spokesman for Bridgend County Borough Council told the BBC: "The relocation of the reptiles is expected to take place over the coming summer period and further site investigation works will then be able to take place following the removal of the remaining scrub and brambles."
BBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Ex-Tory MP in court over false passport charge
A former conservative MP has appeared in court charged with having possession of a false Wallis, 41, who is now known as Katie Wallis and uses female pronouns, represented Bridgend from 2019 to offence is alleged to have happened in 2022 while Wallis was still an told Cardiff Crown Court she intended to represent herself during the legal process. The judge, the recorder of Cardiff, her honour Tracey Lloyd-Clarke told Wallis it was her "absolute right" to represent herself but advised her to seek "at least some initial advice" from a asked if her name was Katie Wallis, she said: "I am known by that name yes, but my legal name is Jamie Wallis."The judge asked the prosecution if there had been a "gender recognition certificate" or if the prosecution should consider using both names in court previously appeared before magistrates in Cardiff charged with possession of a false passport "without reasonable excuse" in Cowbridge or elsewhere, on 5 April pleas have been prosecution has been ordered to provide Wallis with hard copies of the papers in the judge adjourned the case for Wallis to seek advice on was told to be at court by 09:00 BST on 15 August.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Automotive
- The Guardian
‘Green shoots' or coalmining past? Welsh town reacts to Labour and Reform's visions for future
'It's sad. I think it killed the town,' says Debbie, sitting in a cafe in Bridgend and recalling the closure of Ford's south Wales engine plant almost five years ago. 'There were lots of men and women working there at the end.' During its 40 years of operations, workers at Bridgend Ford produced 22m engines for Ford, Volvo and Jaguar cars, before it closed quietly in September 2020 during ongoing Covid restrictions. Debbie's husband was one of 1,700 people who worked for the biggest employer in the town, located between Cardiff and Swansea, when the factory's closure was announced in 2019. After about 30 years of service, he took early retirement in his late 50s when he received his redundancy payment. At the time, many other Ford workers pinned their hopes on taking their skills to a car plant planned for a neighbouring industrial estate by the chemicals company Ineos, where it intended to build its Grenadier 4x4 vehicle. However, the company owned by billionaire Brexit-backer Sir Jim Ratcliffe subsequently cancelled the development, opting to build the 'British' vehicle in France. 'Ford workers still meet up,' says Debbie, highlighting the ongoing feeling of community. However, the closure led to the workforce scattering to various other employers – including carmaker Aston Martin's plant at nearby St Athan – while others retrained. Coming up for five years later, the Ford site is still empty, but an industry of the future has big plans. The US-based datacentre company Vantage bought the land for a reported £27.5m in 2024, the biggest industrial transaction in south Wales last year. In recent weeks it has submitted a planning application to the council to build a huge datacentre complex on the site, representing a multibillion-pound investment. 'We recognise the importance of industry in Bridgend,' says Vantage in its application, stating that the cluster of 10 datacentres will 'lay the foundation for future prosperity and regional economic regeneration'. Future prosperity may, however, be some way off. Subject to gaining planning approval, Vantage intends to start construction early next year, and will build the complex over three phases up to 2040. Once operational, it is pledging 600 full-time jobs on site, with a further 350 in the supply chain. It says the average salary of Vantage employees is £75,000, more than double the average salary in Bridgend, or Wales. The company, backed by a consortium of investors including DigitalBridge Group, Silver Lake, Australian Super and others already operates one datacentre 30 miles east along the M4 motorway at Newport and has received planning permission for another in the Vale of Glamorgan. Vantage writes in its planning statement to the council that these three locations would 'form the cornerstone of a Welsh cloud region'. A company spokesperson said its expansion in south Wales was linked to 'many factors … from the availability of land, power and skilled labour to the support of the local councils and national government, and customer demand'. The company also estimates the development will help the town by generating £8.3m a year in business rates for the local authority, although in Wales these are pooled between councils and distributed centrally. More money for the area would clearly be welcomed by locals, many of whom bemoan the state of public services. On a sweltering weekday morning, groups of retired women are dodging soaring temperatures inside Bridgend's Aroma cafe. Many are former colleagues meeting for regular coffee catch-ups, where the lack of local public transport or the disappointing state of Bridgend's town centre with many vacant stores are common themes. 'It's all right if you vape, or want a Turkish barber,' says Susan, sitting at one of the tables. 'You don't come into town if you want an outfit.' Many in Bridgend feel they have heard promises from large companies before. While the town itself was never home to heavy industry, the surrounding region relied on it, and the Tata steelworks at Port Talbot is just 14 miles up the road. When Ford opened in 1980, the area was already home to dozens of car parts companies and it was hoped the automotive sector would take the place of a declining coal industry, which employed 250,000 in Wales at its peak. Significant numbers of Welsh miners took part in the 1984-85 miners' strike, led by Arthur Scargill and the National Union of Mineworkers. While the action ultimately failed to prevent pit closures, it left a lasting legacy in Wales's coalmining heartlands. In the aftermath of the strike, Wales had some success in attracting foreign investment, often to Bridgend, helped by its proximity to the M4. However, many locals can reel off a list of the large multinationals that have come and gone, including LG and Bosch. While Ford's closure did not cause a rise in unemployment in Bridgend, where it remains about 3.5%, according to official figures, the economic inactivity rate – measuring people neither in work nor looking for a job – has climbed 6% since the pandemic. While this picture is repeated across the UK since Covid, the rate in Bridgend stands at 30.6%, significantly higher than the British average of 21%. The main political parties are looking for ways to tackle persistent economic problems, but have differing views on how best to achieve it. Reform UK is hoping to capitalise on voters' dissatisfaction, in a town that voted 54.6% for leave in the Brexit referendum, at a time when it is setting out its stall in Wales before next May's elections for the Welsh parliament. 'The town centre is lacking vibrancy,' says Caroline Jones, who hopes to be selected as Reform's candidate for the Senedd for Bridgend. . Recalling a busier time, when the high street was home to more shops and bank branches, she says: 'Our aim is to enhance town centres, to bring local employment and to level up the playing field.' Jones, who previously served as the Senedd member for south west Wales for Ukip and as an independent, was Reform's candidate for Bridgend in last year's general election, coming second to Labour with a 19% share of the vote. 'I want to see industry and manufacturing brought back into our area, which obviously needs a lot of planning,' she adds. It is unclear how Reform intends to attract this investment, and many of the policies Jones and the party are proposing – including lowering corporation tax or raising the income tax threshold to £20,000 – are not devolved powers and therefore beyond the jurisdiction of the Senedd. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion It is perhaps unsurprising that Reform's leader, Nigel Farage, launched his party's campaign for the 2026 Senedd elections in nearby Port Talbot, where 2,500 jobs at the steelworks have been lost after the closure of the blast furnaces. It was where he made his pitch to Welsh voters, vowing to reopen closed coalmines and restart blast furnaces to usher in a new era of domestic steel making, fuelled by Welsh coal. The party has not yet named its leader in Wales and does not have any Senedd members. However, since Farage's June visit to Port Talbot, Reform has topped two polls of voting intentions, with nationalists Plaid Cymru in second, pushing Labour into third place. Such an outcome would be a serious defeat for Welsh Labour, which has run the government in Cardiff ever since devolution nearly 27 years ago. The first minister, Eluned Morgan, is hoping to overturn a slump in voter support for Labour, but has said she is taking the threat of Reform 'very seriously'. However, even if Reform wins the largest number of seats in the Senedd, a new more proportional voting system makes it unlikely it will be able to form a majority government. Reform has just gained its first councillor, the youngest ever in the borough of Bridgend, in the shape of Owain Clatworthy, who clinched a surprise council byelection win in May, just days before his 21st birthday. He has already gained some local recognition. Being photographed by the Guardian outside the council offices, a passerby claps him on the shoulder and congratulates him on 'doing a fine job'. Clatworthy grew up in care from the age of six and now helps others in a similar situation as a support worker, but insists a job in heavy industry would appeal to some of his peers. 'I don't doubt that if you ask a young person who is struggling to get by, like I was a couple of years ago, I'd have snatched your arm off to maybe get down the mines,' Clatworthy says. 'Coal runs through our veins in Wales,' says Bridgend resident Carwyn Jones, a former first minister of Wales and now a Labour peer, 'but the mines have been flooded, capped, built over'. He does not believe Wales's future prosperity lies in a return to past industries. 'A word I'd use to describe it, which is a particularly technical term, is bonkers,' he says. 'Is that what we are saying to people, 'That's what the Welsh want, to be stuck down a hole in the ground again'?' In recent decades Bridgend has moved away from reliance on one large employer, Jones says, which makes the town 'economically safer'. 'We've got all these hidden gems,' he says, listing hi-tech local companies including Spectrum Technologies, which makes laser-marking equipment for aircraft wires and cables. A burst of industry is visible and audible in the town centre, where there is a cluster or cranes and workers in hi-vis. Bridgend College's new campus is under construction, scheduled to open next September. The £75m project will bring 1,000 of the college's 7,500 students and staff into central Bridgend, which the principal, Vivienne Buckley, believes will help regeneration efforts, while it is hoped the campus theatre will bolster the growing night-time economy. 'It's the biggest investment that's gone into Bridgend in generations,' says Buckley of the scheme which is two-thirds funded by the Welsh government, with the remaining third covered by the college. 'People in Bridgend are excited about it. It's not a panacea, but a huge opportunity.' The vocational further education college retrained some of Ford's workers and has been responsible for training Tata Steel's apprentices for 15 years. However, the region's shift away from manufacturing means Bridgend's future workers require different skills. 'What we need to do is produce students who are able to adapt to the needs of the workforce they enter,' she says . 'Even 10 years ago it was more about a bespoke skill set, now industry seems to be looking for a broad base of knowledge that can be moulded into what they need.' Bridgend's Labour MP, Chris Elmore, whose constituency now includes the town, after boundary changes, insists there are 'green shoots' in the local economy, listing the college development, new hospitality venues and housing developments. Elmore has been lobbying for an AI growth zone in south Wales, and is hopeful such projects could be achieved through better cooperation between Labour-run administrations in Westminster and Cardiff. 'I think actually that relationship [between the UK government and Welsh Labour] is beginning to show positive signs, and it's our job to make that case.' However, it is unclear whether Bridgend residents will be patient if they don't see improvements to the local area and public services. Back at the Aroma cafe, there is a weariness with the Labour-run Welsh government, but little appreciation for Reform either. 'I am not staunch Labour come hell and high water like many here,' says Ann. 'I voted independent in the last election.' 'I don't like Nigel Farage at all,' adds Jennifer Owen. 'I think he is a dangerous man.'
BBC News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Mystery reptiles delay new Welsh school opening in Bridgend
The opening of a new school has been delayed by two years because reptiles have been found on the Gymraeg Bro Ogwr, a Welsh medium school in Brackla, Bridgend, was due to move to a new location nearby this September but the council has put back the opening date to September council said "the presence of reptiles at the new site has caused a delay to the completion of the ecology work" but is not yet revealing which particular cold-blooded creatures have been animals, who will be found a new home over the summer, are likely to be slow-worms, grass snakes, adders, or South Wales West Senedd member Altaf Hussain said the delay was "devastating news for parents in Bridgend who wish for their children to learn through the medium of Welsh".Education Secretary Lynne Neagle called the later opening "regrettable" and said £500,000 had been provided for temporary expansion on the current site. Of the UK's six native reptile species, four have been found to be living in Bridgend county borough. These are:the slow-worm (anguis fragilis)grass snakes (natrix natrix)adder or European viper (vipera berus)the common or viviparous lizard (zootoca vivipara) The move to the larger site is expected to cost around £18.6m, with 525 places expected for children aged four to 11 as well as a 90-place said in the Senedd the extra places are "much needed in the local area" and that the delay is "devastating news".Neagle responded that the Welsh government is "working with the local authority to mitigate the impact of that on young people".She said this includes providing funding of nearly £500,000 to allow the short-term expansion of Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Ogwr, with two temporary classroom buildings from this September. 'Relocation of the reptiles' A spokesman for Bridgend County Borough Council told the BBC: "We remain focused on progressing school modernisation plans for a replacement Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Ogwr but the presence of reptiles at the new site has caused a delay to the completion of the ecology work."With this in mind and following consultation with the school's governing body, our cabinet recently approved a new opening date of September 2027. "The relocation of the reptiles is expected to take place over the coming summer period and further site investigation works will then be able to take place following the removal of the remaining scrub and brambles."Planning and architectural design work is continuing to take place and we look forward to providing further updates in the coming months."
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'There's lots of memories, I can't believe it's going': Town 'devastated' at amusement park's demise
Residents in the town of Porthcawl say they are devastated by the news that their historic seaside funfair will close its doors for the final time this year. The announcement was made by the owners of Coney Beach Amusement Park earlier this week in a statement that said this season would be its last, with the attraction closing for good in October. It came after the Welsh Government purchased parcels of land along the seafront area in 2023, which included the amusement park site and the adjoining section of land known locally as the monster park. For the latest Bridgend news sign up to our newsletter here. READ MORE: Family raffle off dream seaside Welsh home for a £5 - with a catch READ MORE: 'Absolutely disgraceful' brawl broke out in front of stunned onlookers in Cardiff Bay These are set to be part of a mixed-use development that could feature a new housing estate, retail, business facilities, and a new primary school, as well as a number of recreational and leisure opportunities. However, the announcement of the closure was also met with an outpouring of sadness from many of those who visited the town this week, as well as from a number of local business owners who said their futures were now in a state of uncertainty. Tony Mottram runs a "bucket and spades" seafront stall just metres away from the iconic fairground, though he said that with the annual lease on his unit ending in October, the current season could also be his last if it isn't renewed. He said: "I love it here. For me it's not just work but a way of life, interacting with people all day, having a laugh and a joke, and there's a lot of memories. "When we heard the news this week I think it finally hit home. I'm selling my stuff off at half price, but there's no way I'll sell it all. "Customers are devastated and it won't just affect the stalls here but people in the town and the shops as well." Kym Bateman has run donkey and pony rides along the beach in Porthcawl for over 40 years and said she was very sad about the situation that now felt like the end of an era. She said: "It's devastating. Absolutely devastating. Porthcawl is quiet as it is and we all rely on the tourists coming in, but there's not going to be any tourists if there's nothing here for them. "Only finding out yesterday was a big shock as we thought there was going to be another two years. This business has been running for a hundred years in my husband's family and it goes back generations so for me to have to give it up now would be awful." Beach-goers Bill and Susan Emment said they were also saddened by the news, with Susan adding: "I spent all my childhood down here and I used to love to go in the fair to have a look around, spending time with my grandparents. There's lots of memories and I just can't believe it's going." Further down the seafront, Parminder Singh, who owns a chip shop, said he could also be forced to close in the coming months when the yearly contract on his stall ran out. He said: "This is my livelihood and I really enjoy it. We've been hearing over the last three years that it was going to go but finally we have the news of the closure and it's shocking news. "I can't even sleep at night. I've been doing this job for the last 16 years and I've never worked anywhere else or had any other jobs so I don't know what to do." Dave Jones of the Coney Sea-food stall added: "I've been here for a while now and there's been so many rumours that the fair was going that in the end we didn't believe anything. "It's official now that the fairground is closing down for good in October so that leaves a big gap and we don't really know what comes next to be honest. Until then all I can do is carry on selling my cockles and see what happens." Following the announcement, a spokesperson for Bridgend County Borough Council said: "Coney Beach Amusement Park has been associated with Porthcawl for more than a century and forms an important part of the town's cultural heritage. "When the Evans family decided to stop operating the amusement park and sold the site to Welsh Government in March, 2023, it safeguarded the land for use as an essential part of the council's waterfront regeneration plans for Porthcawl. "These regeneration plans include a range of all-new opportunities for ensuring that people can continue to have fun at the seaside, so look out for further news on this soon." A statement released by the Evans family on the closure said: "It is with heavy hearts we would like to share with you personally that this season at Coney Beach will be our last. We will be closing our gates for the final time this October. "It's the end of an era, for over one hundred years we and other showmen and their families have lived and worked in Porthcawl helping to make it a busy seaside destination bringing fun, laughter and fond memories to so many. "We will miss it greatly and while we are sad to see our time here come to an end we are forever grateful to have had the opportunity to have been part of so many generations of families' lives, young and old. Thank you for sharing our love of 'all the fun of the fair' and the legacy that Coney Beach leaves."
