We’re about to launch an exciting and important campaign for the people of Swansea.

You’ll have seen or heard something about the planned Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon during the past year or so. It’s been a long and sometimes confusing issue to follow, but this is a massive project for Swansea which has the potential to create thousands of jobs and boost environment as well benefits for leisure and tourism. It also fits in with many of our priorities.

The Leader and I discussed how we add momentum to the calls for the UK Government to give it the go ahead. We’ve now developed a social media campaign which seeks to demonstrate the level of support for the lagoon from all sections of our community.

The Love the Lagoon campaign will be launched on Monday, encouraging people to post short video messages that’ll be sent to the Government and screened in Castle Square.

Love the Lagoon accounts have been set up on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram where you can send your video message. If you support the lagoon project please join the chorus of voices sending a loud and clear message to Westminster.

Love the lagoon – how we got here

My involvement in the project started in 2011 when we were contacted by the company to consider supporting the project. From the outset there was broad support across the city and two years later our planning team undertook a massive amount of work processing the planning application.

The environmental impact has been a major talking point and the Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay (TLSB) team commissioned extensive analyses to resolve those issues. The planning application was 5,000 pages long, including a 4,000-page Environmental Statement. The Swansea Bay City Region board endorsed the project wholeheartedly and joined the Council in pressing the UK Government for approval.

The UK Government appointed a former energy minister, Sir Charles Hendry, to chair an independent review into the project. Sir Charles came to Swansea and met senior officers, politicians and business leaders at the Guildhall.

It’s estimated the £1.3 billion development would create and support 2,232 jobs and contribute £316 million to the Welsh economy during construction, followed by £76 million during each of its 120 years of operation.

We’ve prioritised clean energy as one of our main objectives. Energy security and self-sufficiency will become increasingly important for future generations.  An estimated 236,000 tonnes of carbon will be saved during each year of operation.

When the Hendry Review was published in January, he sent a ringing endorsement for the project. Since then there’s been a strong lobby from the city and the region. The Leader, along with the leaders of the three neighbouring councils, has written to the Prime Minister seeking a rapid and positive response.  The project has cross-party support at Council.

Earlier this week the current Energy Minister, Richard Harrington, said the Government had to take “the necessary time” to consider the scheme. I think the 86% of people in Swansea who fully support the project understand this but now want clarity on what, if any, questions remain unanswered.  There’s a critical timeline for this project in terms of which months the infrastructure work can start and it looks likely that we’ll lose another year unless approval is forthcoming soon.

If you support the lagoon please make your voice heard and support the campaign by posting your own message and encouraging your family and friends to do the same.

It’s difficult in an organisation like ours to plot everything we do and why we do it. We have so many staff doing so many different jobs, but none of this happens by chance.

We have an overall game plan called the Corporate Plan and in a nutshell it guides everything we do at all levels in the council and why we do it. It makes the connections from the decisions Cabinet and Council make through to how these decisions are delivered on the front line. Council last night agreed our latest Corporate Plan which sets out our priorities:

• Safeguarding people from harm
• Improving Education & Skills
• Transforming our Economy & Infrastructure
• Tackling Poverty
• Transformation & Future Council development

It’s important we’re all familiar with the plan and our priorities so in the next few weeks we’ll be providing further information to staff. But for now you can view the plan via this link

Another tough budget?

This week Corporate Management Team discussed the programme for setting next year’s budget.   We won’t have indications from the Welsh Government of the amount we can expect for 2018/19 until early October, but we’re expecting a budget shortfall of around £20m. This will be a challenging target and directors will be working with their teams to produce a series of proposals that can be discussed with councillors during October. We’ll be seeking to protect jobs and maintain services as far as possible, but this will be difficult.  Obviously the Corporate Plan and the agreed priorities will guide the budget planning process over the next three years as we ensure resources are directed towards delivering these. I’ll keep you updated as the work progresses.

Congratulations and thanks

This week we’re saying goodbye to two long-serving members of staff. Ann Webber, Senior Customer Services and Communications Officer in Housing and Public Protection, is retiring at the end of August after nearly 40 years with the council.  Ann started in Housing back in 1979, initially on a temporary contract reviewing the housing waiting list, before moving on to the Applications and Lettings section.  I’ve known Anne for a very long time and really enjoyed working with her in Housing. Also, Julie Davies in Finance has retired this week after 39 years. Julie has always worked in finance-related roles, including social services and student awards. Both Ann and Julie have given tremendous service and I wish them a long and happy retirement.

Our Social Services Transport team have completed their annual sponsored bike ride from Swansea to Brecon. Each year for the past 23 years they’ve chosen a good cause to donate to and have raised more than £35,000 during that time. This year they raised £1,930 in aid of The Bowel Cancer Unit, Ward V at Morriston Hospital. This is a brilliant achievement and I’m grateful to the team for their amazing commitment and willingness to help others.

Similarly, this group of intrepid explorers from Waste Management trekked 20 miles from Rhossili to Caswell along the coast path to raise over £500 for Golau Cancer Charity based in Singleton Hospital. Thanks to all those who sponsored them.

Our Birchgrove SNS team that provides a day service for adults with learning disabilities joined up with Tesco for a great project. Staff approached Tesco in Llansamlet to donate gardening tools/plants to brighten the facility’s garden for service users. Tesco not only provided gardening vouchers they went a step further by providing sofas, paint and a group of volunteers to refurbish the lounge area. The service users were thrilled. I’m so grateful to the staff, Tesco and local volunteers who all contributed to the project. Well done to everyone involved.

Congratulations to Neil Bartlett, a keen amateur photographer whose pictures of our wildflower sites were posted on the BBC Wales website.

 Fly the flag

The Rainbow Flag is flying outside the Civic Centre in the build-up to Pride Cymru, which is taking place in Cardiff this weekend. The flag celebrates diversity and promotes inclusivity and positive relations between citizens. Catherine Window from our equalities team will be representing the Council on Sunday at Pride Cymru.

Phil’s new blog will start on 3rd June, 2016.