The latest changes to pandemic restrictions have been confirmed by Welsh Government and the majority took effect in Bridgend County Borough from Saturday 17 July.

While face coverings will remain a legal requirement in all indoor public places and on public transport, educational settings and hospitality will be exempt.

Up to six people will be able to meet indoors within private homes and holiday accommodation, and there will no longer be a limit on how many can gather outdoors.

Outdoor premises and events now have greater flexibility around physical distancing, and organised indoor events will be able to take place for up to 1,000 people if seated and 200 people if standing.

The previous restriction requiring people attending events to be seated in order to consume food and drink has been lifted.

In other changes, up to 30 children from organisations such as the Brownies and Scouts are able to attend residential centres over the summer holidays, and businesses will be required to share information with their staff about the risk and mitigation details contained within their individual Covid-19 risk assessment plans.

Fully-vaccinated adults and under-18s no longer need to self-isolate when returning from amber-list countries, but it should also be pointed out that official advice remains to avoid non-essential foreign travel and to holiday at home this summer.

While the changes are welcomed, we must also remember that coronavirus cases are rising, particularly in Bridgend County Borough and particularly among people who are aged 25 and under.

The Director of Public Health at Cwm Taf University Health Board, has warned that in recent days hospital cases due to cases of Covid 19 having risen again. The headroom we had in the second wave no longer exists. The NHS are now trying to bring back as many cases as possible in relation to people who need treatment for other health issues, that have built-up since the pandemic had come about. We still need to take precautions and act as a single, unified community in order to protect others from the risk of exposure.

Local vaccination rates remain very high with almost 83,000 residents having now benefitted from both doses of the vaccine, but it remains vitally important for everyone to take part and do their bit to protect others.

Depending on how the situation changes between now and then, the next pandemic review by Welsh Government could see us safely moving further out of alert level one and into alert level zero.

We will know more about this when the results of the review are announced next month and of course we will keep Members updated accordingly.

Members will be aware that in many of our local communities, the issue of ongoing maintenance for streets that have not been adopted by the council remains a source of concern.

That could all be about to change thanks to a new Welsh Government initiative which we are about to pilot here in Bridgend County Borough.

Using the results of a previous survey, Ynyslas in Porthcawl has been selected to benefit from work that will bring the street up to the standard required for it to be formally adopted by the Council.

The scheme will involve reconstructing footways and carriageways, carrying out surveys, repairing highway drainage where necessary, and undertaking other associated works.

The £230,000 pilot scheme is designed to provide Welsh Government with a better understanding of the cost implications for tackling the historical backlog of such streets throughout Wales.

It is hoped that work will commence during the summer or autumn this year with an aim to complete the process by March 2022.

If successful, it could lead to further unadopted streets being brought up to standard and adopted for future maintenance, which in turn will benefit many local residents.

Members may have seen media coverage around the announcement from WRW Construction that they are going into administration.

This is, of course, very disappointing news, but I want to point out that it is not the first time such a Construction Company has gone into liquidation and it does not present us with insurmountable problems.

The most high-profile local development to be affected by this is the Sunnyside Wellness Village, which is being led by Linc Cymru and funded by Welsh Government and Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.

Elsewhere in the County Borough, WRW were involved in the children’s hub development at Brynmenyn, and the Welsh-medium childcare facility planned for Blackmill.

While this will inevitably impact upon the timescales for these projects, we remain confident that another high-quality contractor will soon be confirmed, and that the developments will still be delivered for the benefit of local residents.

We will of course work to ensure that the disruption is kept to an absolute minimum and we will work very closely with partners to address the situation and will share with Members further updates, as and when these develop.