Improving education, recovering from the pandemic, and tackling the cost of living crisis are some of the main things that the council will be looking to do in Bridgend over the next five years, according to Labour council leader Huw David. The recently re-elected council leader has spoken about how the local authority will deal with the challenges it faces in 2022, in the wake of a cost of living crisis that will undoubtedly leave everyone in the borough feeling the pinch in the coming months.
Cllr David, who will return as leader of the Labour-controlled council, spoke about a number of issues this week, saying that while he felt there could be difficult times ahead for the borough he and his cabinet were ready for the challenge. He said: "There's a solemn faith and a trust that's been placed in us as a council, and it's a faith and trust we will want to repay by doing our best for people in what we think could be difficult times ahead.
"We will focus on what matters in this time, such as the cost of living crisis, and continuing to improve education by investing in our schools. We will also focus on the climate emergency and revitalising our town centres as well as continuing to care for our most vulnerable people. We think those are the values and priorities for the people of Bridgend County Borough and we will want to work as we've worked previouisly, to do this on a cross-party basis.
Read More: The lovely motivation behind two Bridgend councillors who are grandfather and grand-daughter
"Education as always, will be one of the highest priorities for this local authority, as we think the best investment we can make is in our young people and their future. We've invested in a 21st centure school modernisation programme here, and that's a big part of our vision for places like Cornelly, Kenfig Hill, and Brackla.
"There's going to be a major investment in special education and a massive investment in Welsh medium education, with a new Welsh medium school in Porthcawl and Cornelly, as well as the biggest Welsh medium primary school we've ever had in Brackla. These are all on track at the moment and I'm confident we can deliver on them."
Cllr David, who represents Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr, also added how recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic would be a key issue in the short term as both businesses and people return to normality. He added: "I think one of the biggest challenges we face at the moment will be fully recovering from the pandemic because that hasn't gone away, and we haven't just flicked a switch and everything is back to normal.
"There's the businesses and services that haven't fully recovered to the level they were pre-pandemic which we need to address, but there's also the local people we have to consider as well. Covid took a big tole on people's mental health over the last few years, and some of that is only becoming apparent now. We're seeing more people with mental health difficulties that were compounded because of isolation, so continuing to support them will also be a big priority for us.
"There will be a subtle change in leisure, for example Bridgend recreation centre changed its name to Bridgend Life centre, where the focus now is as much on on wellbeing and mental health as it is physical health. We know that physical activity and exercise is a way of improving both physical and mental health because you can make friendships and get out of the house which makes a big difference. We've seen the difference it makes to people with dementia, Parkinson's, and even caring responsibilities, and we've got specific programs for people which we will continue to build on. "
The council leader also discussed the issues with the cost of living crisis as well as national austerity and the impact it could have on authorities across Wales, saying: "It doesn't look like austerity has gone away, and there are currently signals from the UK government that there will potentially a period of cutting back on public expenditure just at a time when I would argue we need to see more investment.
"There are more people in need of our services now than ever before, and we have got a growing population in Bridgend, which is also an ageing population, meaning more people need some level of support. Overall, the real challenge you could say is in doing more with less, and trying to do it better. On top of that something that wasn't a huge issue a year ago but has become one in a matter of months is the cost of living crisis, as this will affect everyone including our staff and everyone in our society as a whole.
"We realise the pressures people face are the same pressures we face as an organisation as well. For example if it costs twice as much to fill up a car, it also costs us twice as much to fill up the school bus, and heat our schools. All of these are big increases in cost, and while we were very lucky to get a 10% increase in the budget last year, a lot of that money is being quickly eroded by prices that are increasing overnight.
"Welsh Government have made an additional grant available to people who need it the most and I've got no doubt they will announce more support, which we will look at how we can build on ourselves. We've already started doing things that will all add up and offset the rise in cost such as rolling out free school meals for primary school children in September, and in our budget last year we also froze the cost of secondary school meals. We're also continuing to offer three hours of free parking in Bridgend and Porthcawl which will help our traders in the towns." You can read more of our stories from Bridgend here.
Read next:
-
Met Office issues thunderstorm weather warning after days of high temperatures
-
Japanese company wants to invest £26m into a hydrogen demonstrator in Bridgend
-
Work to transform neglected corner of Porthcawl seafront set to begin next month
-
Conservative MP Jamie Wallis who fled car crash won't face further action
