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The Update: 13 June 2025
Here is your Friday update, covering:
- Channel View transformation reaches new heights
- Essential Highway Works in Fairwater to Replace a Culvert
- Cardiff's skate community celebrates the opening of new ‘East Side' skate park
- Continued Welsh Government Funding secures bright future for music education in Cardiff and the Vale
Channel View transformation reaches new heights
Cardiff Council and partner developer Wates Residential have today celebrated the topping out of a new block of Independent Living apartments, part of the regeneration of the Channel View estate in Grangetown.
The highest point in the construction of Block B, which will deliver 24 highly energy-efficient council homes for older people, has now been reached and the apartments are expected to be ready for residents next year.
At six storeys high, Block B is one of two blocks being built, with the support of Welsh Government's Social Housing Grant, in Phase 1 of the wider Channel View redevelopment. The blocks will provide 126 accessible and adaptable council apartments for older people as a direct replacement for the existing tower block on the estate. Block A, which will consist of 102 Community Living apartments, extensive community facilities, a rooftop terrace and café, is scheduled for completion in 2027.
Cardiff Council Leader, Cllr Huw Thomas and Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Cllr Lynda Thorne were joined by Regional Managing Director for Wales, Wates Residential, Edward Rees at the topping out event today.
Essential Highway Works in Fairwater to Replace a Culvert
A 70-year-old culvert under St Fagans Road in Fairwater will be replaced this summer to ensure the water from the stream, which flows alongside Fairwater Road, can pass freely underneath the carriageway.
The water from the stream then passes through private land by the Fairwater public house, south along Cartwright Lane before being discharged into the River Ely.
To ensure the culvert can be replaced between July and September this year, on Wednesday (June 11th), lane closures will be put in place on St Fagans Road between Cartwright Lane and Fairwater Road for five weeks so utilities can be diverted.
Once the utilities have been diverted, St Fagans Road at the junction with Cartwright Lane will close between July 25th and September 2nd so the culvert can be replaced.
Cardiff's skate community celebrates the opening of new ‘East Side' skate park
Cardiff's skate community is celebrating the opening of a new 1,000m2 skate park.
The ‘East Side' skate park, next door to Eastern Leisure Centre in Llanrumney, was designed by award winning consultants VDZ+A and Newline Skateparks in consultation with the local skateboard community and features a series of ramps, hips, curbs, ledges and rails as well as a quarter pipe.
Designed to be suitable for skaters of all ages and abilities, the new facility is built from concrete, providing a higher quality, lower maintenance and lower noise facility than the old timber-framed skatepark it replaces.
The Council's skateboard strategy sets out a framework for incorporating skateable spaces into parks and the wider public realm as well as the development, subject to funding, of three more new skate parks, serving central, north and west Cardiff.
Continued Welsh Government Funding secures bright future for music education in Cardiff and the Vale
Cardiff and Vale Music Education warmly welcomes the Welsh Government's announcement of continued funding for the National Music Service over the next three years. This vital support ensures the sustained delivery of the National Plan for Music Education (NPME) across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.
As the lead organisation for NPME delivery in the region, Cardiff and Vale Music Education has used the associated grant to re-establish and expand its reach following the challenges of the pandemic. The funding has enabled the service to strengthen relationships with schools, develop new partnerships, and significantly increase the number of children and young people engaging with music education.
Since the launch of the First Experiences programme in January 2022, over 18,500 children across 150 primary schools and settings have benefited from a wide range of musical opportunities. Targeted projects have introduced pupils to instruments and genres with historically lower uptake, including digital composition using GarageBand, strings, harps, woodwind, and trombone.
