Councillor A Hussain to the Cabinet Member Education and Regeneration

 

Could the Cabinet Member in charge of tourism let the Council know about his plans to support skills in the tourism sector in addition to let us know about the gaps in provision and data, and to identify what could be done by the Council to make our seaside destinations popular?

 

Councillor M Voisey to the Leader

 

As a result of the Labour First Minister not approving the M4 relief road around Newport, how will the City Deal project recover from this disastrous decision for the economy of South Wales, and should this council have a second vote as to whether we wish to remain party to the City Deal, now the facts have changed so dramatically?

 

Councillor T Thomas to the Cabinet Member Communities

 

Will the Cabinet Member outline any plans on how this council will reduce carbon emissions with a view to ensuring the Council’s activities are net-zero carbon by 2030?

 

Councillor A Hussain to the Cabinet Member Education and Regeneration:

 

Could the Cabinet Member in charge of tourism let the Council know about his plans to support skills in the tourism sector in addition to let us know about the gaps in provision and data, and to identify what could be done by the Council to make our seaside destinations popular?

 

Response

 

The Destination Management Plan (DMP), 2018-2022, approved by cabinet in March 2018, sets the framework for managing the tourism vision to 2022.  The Destination Management Plan is supported by the Destination Action Plan (DAP) that details specific activities. The actions contained within the DAP focus on key strategic opportunities for development, maximise external funding opportunities and where possible deliver in partnership. The DMP proposes the following vision:

 

To develop a thriving visitor economy in Bridgend County Borough which celebrates the strengths of the place, supports jobs, generates business opportunities and improves the range of amenities available for visitors and local people.

 

The DAP supports the delivery of this vision by focusing action against the following priorities:

 

(a) Support the development of the tourism product

(b) Support the development of tourism infrastructure

(c) Raise the profile and attract more visitors to Bridgend County Borough

 

The DMP specifically identifies developing tourism human resources as a priority. More specifically, the DAP has the following priorities;

 

2.5.1 Encourage the take-up of customer service and product knowledge training:

Businesses will be encouraged to take up training and development opportunities as and when they become available, especially through the delivery of already piloted approaches.

 

2.5.2 Raise awareness of tourism management training opportunities:

We will work with stakeholders to help identify local training needs, in conjunction with economic development initiatives, alongside an awareness campaign to encourage operators to undertake management development and staff training.

 

2.5.3 Encourage new business start-ups in tourism:

Support and advice will be provided to help people start up new tourism businesses through the mechanisms available to BCBC and where required signposting will occur to Business Wales.

 

In 2018 the Council undertook a consultation regarding future lines of communication and representation for the visitor economy in the destination, following the decision by Bridgend Tourism Association to cease its activities. It was recommended that the Bridgend Business Forum is ideally placed as a communications, networking, advocacy and consultation mechanism for the tourism sector. The Bridgend Business Forum membership is made up of established and new start businesses within a wide variety of business sectors. Sole traders, micro, small and medium sized businesses as well as large international companies are all present within the membership. It provides local business people with an opportunity to meet new customers and suppliers, learn new skills, share best practice, and keep up to date with factors that could affect their business. Importantly the forum also provides an opportunity for business people to voice their views. The BBF delivers business skills workshops in subjects like marketing, social media, raising finance and human resource management. People are encouraged to network with fellow attendees as well as learn from a whole host of expert facilitators. The annual Bridgend Business Forum Awards is the jewel in the crown of the Bridgend business calendar and with has a dedicated Tourism Business category. In March the BBF held an event which specifically targeted tourism businesses and was held at the Grove Golf Club in Porthcawl.

 

The Bridgend kick-start grant is a flexible grant scheme delivered through a partnership with UK Steel Enterprise and Bridgend County Borough Council. It provides financial assistance to new or existing micro-businesses that are located, or are planning to locate, in Bridgend County Borough. A micro-business is defined as one which has fewer than ten employees and a turnover or balance sheet total of less than €2 million. The tourism sector is heavily dominated by micro-businesses and SME’s and several tourism businesses have benefitted from the grant in recent years.

 

Tourism is delivered by the department of economy and natural resources. Opportunities for skills support for all sectors including tourism are disseminated by staff within the department via established communication channels such as the business e-news.

 

In the last year a free Pop Up Business School that provides participants with the knowledge and tools needed to start their own business has been supported by BCBC twice. This is open to people considering any kind of business, including tourism.

 

Every opportunity is taken to better understand how to develop a thriving visitor economy in Bridgend County Borough which celebrates the strengths of the place, supports jobs, generates business opportunities and improves the range of amenities available for visitors and local people. We participated in a research programme led by Visit Wales which includes collecting information on occupancy levels, tourism trends, visitor satisfaction and more. In addition we undertake our own independent research. This information informs the approach and evidences the extent to which we are achieving our vision.

 

According to the Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Model (STEAM) data, tourism already injects much needed revenue into the local economy (£347.30m) and supports 4,041 jobs. Since 2013 there has been a progressive increase in the economic impact of tourism in Bridgend County Borough, with the economic value of tourism increasing from £289.86 million in 2013 to £347.30 million in 2018. During the same period visitor numbers and visitor days have shown similar increases with visitor numbers up from 3.55 million in 2013 to 3.72 million in 2018 and visitor days increasing from 5.25 million in 2013 to 5.61 million in 2018. This growth exceeded the targets set in the Destination Management Plan 2018-2022 and positioned the County Borough as one of the success stories of the Cardiff Capital Region in tourism terms.

 

Supplementary question by Councillor A Hussain

 

Destination Management Plan (DMP) 2018-2022 is great vision and in your Destination Action Plan (DAP) how are you raising the profile and attract more visitors to Bridgend County Borough although over last two year we have not seen any increase?

 

Response

 

The Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration referred the Member to the last paragraph of his response above. He added that footfall was measured also, in order to gauge how many people were entering towns  comprising the BCB, particularly Porthcawl as one of our main seaside resorts. The amount of stay overs in hotels and guest houses etc, could also be monitored to measure the amount of holiday makers who visit places such as Porthcawl. Things such as this could be achieved and were aided by the STEAM in terms of measurement of certain relevant date (as detailed in the substantive response), as well as reflecting trends and accurately comparing data from the past to the present. The Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration further added, that there were regeneration projects and events ongoing, not just within main tourist attractions such as Porthcawl but throughout the County Borough as a whole.

 

Supplementary question by Councillor N Burnett 

 

Aside of Porthcawl, what is being done to attract tourism in other areas of the County Borough?

 

Response

 

Though there was data to gauge this to a certain extent, as with data collated in respect of the number of visitors to Porthcawl, this was to an extent dependent upon the level of interest shown by them in completing surveys that were made available to members of the public, which if they completed, would give a more accurate picture on the level of people who visited Porthcawl and other places, and whether these visitors were just  visiting a particular place for the day, or for a longer period, ie through a holiday. There were in the County Borough, 5 or 6 nationally branded hotels, none of which were actually in Porthcawl. There were numerous places of interest to visit also throughout the BCB outside the location of Porthcawl, for example, Maesteg Town Hall, Merthymawr dunes, Bryngarw House and Country Park, Coity Castle, Carnegie House, Bridgend Designer Outlet, the National Cycle Network amongst others on-line that could be looked up on web sites such as ‘Bridgend Bites.’ He added further, that there were often a number of events organised by external providers particularly in Bridgend town, through a number of different stalls being provided, normally over the weekend period, selling foods and delicatessen products.

 

Supplementary question by Councillor R Stirman

 

What steps are taken to direct tourists to places of interest within the County Borough?

 

Response

 

On-line through various web sites, whether these be the Council’s (eg Bridgend Bites), through the EU Rural Development funded Training of Tourism ‘Ambassadors,’ (of which the Member who posed the question is one) or other organisations involved in arranging any particular event. Also by advertising events through displaying public notices in places regularly visited by the Council. Notices and publications were available made in tourist information centres. Permanent road signs also direct tourists to the likes of Bryngarw House, Grand Pavilion and other places of interest throughout the County Borough, he concluded.

 

Councillor M Voisey to the Leader

 

As a result of the Labour First Minister not approving the M4 relief road around Newport, how will the City Deal project recover from this disastrous decision for the economy of South Wales, and should this council have a second vote as to whether we wish to remain party to the City Deal, now the facts have changed so dramatically? 

 

Response

 

The M4 relief road issue has had been the subject of some considerable debate, though it will be assisted by the Metro Plus scheme to be jointly funded by the City Deal project/Welsh Government that also includes a proposal for Park and Ride. Funding was being sought for Digital connectivity and with regard to this, consultation was ongoing with regard to looking at ways of securing national funding outside of the City Deal funding, for improvement to Broadband connectivity

 

Supplementary question by Councillor MC Voisey  

 

Would the Leader please advise how the Cardiff Region and in particular this Authority, will benefit and take advantage of the benefits of 5G mobile network and the forecast maximum use of electric cars, for the revenue benefit of this authority.

 

Response

 

The Leader advised that improvements in respect of the M4 relief road and the congestion of traffic around the Newport tunnel, was a project that had never been part of the City Deal project proposals, so he did not see the need for any such second vote being conducted as to whether or not Bridgend should stay part of the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, as the Member had suggested in his original question. He assured also, that the Cardiff Capital Region Transport Authority which he chaired had offered to work very closely with Welsh Government, to identify ways by which traffic congestion could be reduced or alleviated in and around the above highway network. It would cost in the region of £1.6billion to build the M4 relief road at Newport and Welsh Government had decided that this was unaffordable. Funding was intended to be contributed however, towards a package of public transport improvement scheme instead, which was more affordable and would improve the present situation not just in the Newport area but would possibly see improvements across South East Wales including in Bridgend. Efforts would also be made through the introduction of an appropriate campaign, to persuade the public to use more public sector transport, (as opposed to their own vehicles(s)), such as bus, rail and cycle. This would help reduce vehicular congestion and also pollution from emissions.

 

Supplementary question by Councillor T Thomas

 

I recently wrote to the Leader regarding the Great Western Power House, which is an economic deal between the South East of Wales and Swindon and Bristol.  The Leader noted that he is supportive of this policy and it is complementary to the City Deal.

 

One of the concerns of the City Deal is that a large amount of money is being re-distributed to Cardiff. How can we be reassured that this policy will not further re-distribute more local money across the M4 corridor into South West England.

 

Response

 

The Cardiff Regional City Deal Agreement involves 10 local authorities and is intended to cover projects for the next 15 years. In terms of the Great Western Power House, no financial commitment has been given to this as part of the City Deal, it was just a report and an idea at this stage, though some common interests were shared between the two regions. This was due to the fact that there were mutual interests, including increasing options for rail transport between the locations detailed in the first paragraph of the above supplementary question and further afield, i.e. rail travel from South West Wales to London Paddington. There were also significant common interests in respect of increasing the existing connectivity between South East Wales and South West England economies and higher education and research sectors. Harnessing the full renewable energy potential of the Bristol Channel will also require joint working between local authorities both sides of the channel. The Great Western Power House aims and objectives were to better connect regions in Wales and England, in order to drive a more inclusive growth of economy of some considerable scale, through the joining-up of key collaborative means. This would potentially involve introducing an Industrial Strategy that would lead to increased infrastructure, and innovated methods of growth between different areas of location. These were very similar to some of the aims and objectives of the City Deal project. He stressed however, that both these initiatives were still in their very early stages currently.    

 

Supplementary question by Councillor JP Blundell

 

Would the Leader agree, that the Council needs to work with neighbouring authorities, especially those involved in the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, so that suitable professionally qualified residents can aim for and succeed in getting high paid jobs within the region they live in.

 

Response

 

The Leader acknowledged and agreed with this point. He stated that there was significant connectivity between the Bridgend economy and the Swansea City region and therefore the Swansea Deal in the west. The local authority was part of a Taskforce set up by and led by Welsh Government and UK Government, in order to look at employment options at that site should the Ford engine plant close, which appeared likely to be the case. Together partners were aiming to attract inward investment to secure replacement jobs in new and existing businesses, to offset the 1,700 jobs that would be lost if Ford shut the engine plant. This could be projects either on the existing Ford site or an appropriate location elsewhere in the County Borough.

 

Councillor T Thomas to the Cabinet Member – Communities

 

Will the Cabinet Member outline any plans on how this council will reduce carbon emissions with a view to ensuring the Council’s activities are net-zero carbon by 2030?

 

Response

 

Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) is at the forefront of innovative low carbon energy solutions and projects. BCBC has been engaged with the Smart System Heat Programme since 2013 when it submitted a Pre-Qualifying Questionnaire to the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) and was selected from over 70 local authorities from across the UK to be one of the shortlisted 3 prioritised authorities in the programme. Cabinet approved a Local Area Energy Strategy and Smart Energy Plan on 19th February 2019.  These offer a route to achieving the decarbonisation of heat within Bridgend County Borough.  The Local Area Energy Strategy proposes a pathway to achieving decarbonisation targets and the Smart Energy Plan provides the detail of how technologies, business models and consumer propositions will be deployed and tested in order that scale up can happen and the decarbonisation targets be achieved.

 

The Smart Energy Plan formally maps out the near term delivery of the first phase of the Local Area Energy Strategy. The Smart Energy Plan is aligned to the Welsh Government Carbon Budget time periods and identifies the projects and activities to be delivered during this period. The Smart Energy Plan aims to deliver the following benefits:

 

•            Decarbonise heat within Bridgend County Borough

•            Stimulate economic growth

•            Provide new job opportunities

•            Attract new and existing businesses to trial initiatives and grow       within the County Borough.

 

BCBC acknowledges the Welsh Governments Climate Emergency Declaration of the 29th April 2019 and the commitment Welsh Government has made to achieving a carbon neutral public sector by 2030.

Bridgend will be at the forefront of discussion with Welsh Government regarding the identification of resources and funding that will need to be provided, to enable BCBC to meet the objective of carbon neutrality for its own activities (both services and property holdings).

BCBC will continue to work towards a net-zero carbon scenario and to maximise the reduction of carbon emissions produced by the Councils own activities and assets. In order to achieve this aim, the Council will continue to; Optimise asset energy performance within the BCBC Building Portfolio.  Support all schools to reduce energy, costs and emissions. Improve engagement, communications and training related to energy and carbon saving throughout all departments within the Council. Engage with staff to actively improve energy and costs saving awareness. Ensure effective metering and monitoring is undertaken to effectively reduce avoidable energy waste. Carry out energy audits to identify, quantify and prioritise energy saving opportunities within our buildings and Increase participation of renewable energy technologies to decrease dependency on fossil fuels.

 

Supplementary question by Councillor T Thomas

 

Welsh Government have accepted a recommendation that all new homes have to be as close to zero carbon by 2021.

 

Given that many homes that have recently gone through the planning process or are being considered will be built around 2021, how will we ensure that these homes are zero carbon.

 

Response

 

Though Welsh Government have introduced such a Policy, the process regarding the consideration of planning applications by a Local Planning Authority, is covered by planning law introduced through central legislation, namely the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and local authorities were bound by this legislation. If Welsh Government decided to enforce the above, BCBC and other welsh local authorities, would have to change their appropriate Technical Advice Note (TAN), in order that the Development Control Committee could call site developers to account, ie by imposing a condition upon them to introduce the likes of zero carbon in properties constructed as part of new housing developments. Unless this was pursued and there was a change to the above legislation, local authorities unfortunately, did not have the power to enforce Developers to build zero carbon dwellings.

 

Supplementary question by Councillor PA Davies   

 

How is BCBC progressing with the reduction of carbon emissions through street lighting (lanterns).

 

Response

 

This was an ongoing work in progress programme. Work had been completed in the grounds of the Coychurch Crematorium, whereby low energy replacement lighting had been provided in the car parking area there. This was cheaper to run than normal energy lighting. The Council were looking at all times to reduce the carbon footprint in anything it became involved in where there was scope to do that. In terms of street lighting columns ‘per se’, and the ongoing replacement, the Council were investigating the provision of columns that gave out reduced carbon emissions, as well as looking at innovative other methods, including the ability for WiFi  connectivity, whereby members of the public will able to access WiFi through these new type columns.