I’ve often spoken in my blog about the importance of city centre regeneration to our reputation as a council and perceptions of Swansea among residents, businesses, visitors and potential investors. The city centre is changing, there’s real private and public sector momentum behind it and our staff are critical to this success story for jobs and the local economy. Yesterday, I was incredibly pleased to attend the official opening of the new-look Palace Theatre, another example of that momentum in action. It’s a real city centre landmark, central to our continuing work to revitalise the High Street area. It’s got a great little café, so why not pay a visit yourself? In the meantime I want to thank all those in the Economic Regeneration team, our finance team and many others across the council who have got this project over the line. My thanks also to the comms team for keeping the Palace Theatre’s story in the public eye over the last few years and ensuring yesterday’s opening got positive Wales-wide coverage – live in the morning on BBC Radio Wales and live in the evening on BBC Wales and ITV Wales.
We’ve now completed internal budget sessions with directors, heads of service and Cabinet. After next month’s Welsh Government budget settlement we’ll review our plans before presenting them to Cabinet and wider council in the New Year. I’ll update you on progress.
Congratulations this week to our Evolve youth service for achieving the Welsh Government’s Bronze Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales. I had the pleasure of visiting the team a few weeks ago so was able to see first-hand the excellent work that is being done and it’s great to get external verification for the valuable work they do supporting young people in our communities. Also, a big thank you to our housing team in Penlan who’ve been praised by a resident for helping her with a number of issues, including widening a footpath to improve wheelchair access near her home.
And finally, don’t forget it is Armistice Day on Monday. We’ll be announcing the National Two Minute Silence in our civic buildings by tannoy at 11am. If you can contribute to the Poppy Appeal, please do – they’re available in our civic buildings.
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