Here is your latest update, covering:

• Council's first state-of-the art Community Living scheme launched
• Cardiff Council implementing Woodland Trust nature recovery recommendations
• Accessible Voting Champion first for Council Chief Executive

The first of Cardiff Council's new build state-of-the-art Community Living developments for older people has been officially launched today, Tuesday, December 19.

Cardiff Council Leader, Huw Thomas, and Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Cllr Lynda Thorne, were joined by Welsh Government Minister for Climate Change, Julie James MS, and Wates' Regional Managing Director Edward Rees with Development Director Stuart Jones at Addison House to unveil a plaque marking the official opening of the new scheme - the first of ten new build schemes being delivered by the Council as part of its innovative development programme. The new schemes respond directly to the needs identified in the councils Older Persons' housing strategy.

Addison House comprises 44 highly energy-efficient, one and two-bed apartments for council rent, built to the highest standard in a four storey building on the new Aspen Grove development, off Newport Road in Rumney. The development is part of the Council's Cardiff Living partnership programme with national developer, Wates Group.

Named after the 1919 ‘Addison' Act, which tasked local authorities with developing new homes to counter housing shortages post World War I, the highly-innovative, new block will provide spacious, accessible and adaptable flats for older people, promoting independent living, as well as a range of communal facilities including lounges, a roof terrace overlooking the Bristol Channel, a medical room and a large communal garden.

The award-winning Aspen Grove development scheme has benefited from more than £4m through Welsh Government's Housing Care Fund. Cardiff Living has worked with Cardiff-based sustainable energy services company, Sero, to incorporate low carbon technologies into all 214 properties on the site, including the 65 council homes.

Contributing to the Council's One Planet Cardiff strategy to be a carbon neutral city by 2030 and Wates' ongoing approach to low carbon/energy development, all homes on the development incorporate ground source heat pumps, thermal storage, PV panels, battery storage electric vehicle charging points and Intelligent Energy System controls, making them kinder to the planet, non-reliant on fossil fuels and more affordable for residents to run.

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Cardiff Council implementing Woodland Trust nature recovery recommendations

Cardiff Council has welcomed a recently published Woodland Trust policy paper setting out the importance of trees and woods for nature recovery in Wales and making five key recommendations for local authorities.

The Woodland Trust's recommendations for Local Authorities, are:

Declare a nature emergency in preparation for a Nature Positive Act and embed into the council's Tree and Woodland Strategy the actions needed to restore nature.

Employ a specialist ecologist and a tree officer to ensure that biodiversity is at the heart of all decision making.

Deliver more collaborative multi-landowner initiatives, especially in national parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): applying tree cover to help drive landscape-scale nature recovery and deliver the priorities identified in Area Statements.

In urban areas, protect woods and trees and associated semi-natural habitats, and support active conservation management through rigorous application of Planning Policy Wales and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) guidance to reduce pressure on nature.

Co-design and implement tree strategies with communities - building community understanding and resilience across all departments and delivering increased access to nature while supporting its recovery.

What we have done:

• Declared a nature emergency.
• Employed tree officers and an ecologist.
• Worked with communities to identify potential sites and tree types, for planting.
• Planted 50,000 new trees as part of our ‘Coed Caerdydd' urban forest project with the help of community volunteers who also provide additional care for the trees as they grow.
• Established a new Tree Nursery at Forest Farm.
• Agreed to protect well in excess of 5,500 hectares of countryside and river valleys in the city from development as part the Preferred Strategy for our replacement Local Development Plan.
• Trained volunteers to identify ancient and veteran trees in Cardiff.

What we're aiming to do:

• Plant a further 30,000 trees this planting season.
• Increase tree canopy coverage in Cardiff from 18.9% to 25% by 2030, planting approximately 839 hectares of land with mainly native species of tree.
• Grow our own supply of local provenance native trees from seed, for planting in Cardiff.
• Ensure that all development achieves a net gain in biodiversity.
• Publish a Local Nature Action Recovery Plan that sets out the actions needed to support nature in Cardiff.

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Accessible Voting Champion first for Council Chief Executive

Cardiff Council's Paul Orders has become the UK's first local authority chief executive to become an Accessible Voting Champion.

Mr Orders is the Returning Officer for all elections held in Cardiff and by becoming an Accessible Voting Champion with UK disability charity United Response, has pledged to help make voting and elections more accessible for people with disabilities and autism in the city.

My Vote My Voice is a national campaign to help end inaccessible voting for underrepresented communities developed by United Response, Dimensions, Mencap, Ambitious About Autism and the people who draw on their support and care.

After taking up the role of Returning Officer in 2019 and as part of the Council's commitment to equal opportunities, Mr Orders has overseen the drive to improve engagement with and the accessibility of the democratic process in Cardiff.

If you are involved in a community group or organisation and would like to find out more about the Council's work on accessible voting, please contact Public Awareness Officer, Selma Abdalla by emailing  Selma.abdalla@cardiff.gov.uk

To find out more about the My Vote My Voice campaign, visit  https://www.myvotemyvoice.org.uk/ 

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