Live From Angel Street - January Communities Committee

The next webcast Bridgend Council (BCBC) meeting I'm going to focus on is the Community, Environment & Leisure Scrutiny Committee, held on Wednesday (27^th January) – you can watch it he....

Oh wait, it doesn't work. Not for me anyway.

"Could not load Javascript player file". I tried different browsers, disabled ad-blockers, updated Java – nothing.

It seems to work on my phone, but the screen's too small for it to be any use.

On my desktop, my anti-virus picked up a trojan (which is presumably a "false positive"). I disabled it – at great risk to myself (a scan didn't pick up anything afterwards) – and voila! The streams "work", but there's absolutely nothing, just a big pause button symbol, while the streams tend to stop after a few seconds. If you're getting anything different or have any idea what's going wrong please let me know.

The timeline works, so the only live element (from my perspective) is a run-by-run account of who's speaking....with no video or audio alongside it.

Update 10:23am : It looks as though it's a combination of the anti-virus and using Firefox. When the anti-virus is disabled at the same time as running it in a different browser, like Chrome or Edge, it works normally.

I hate computers.

"Teething problems" happen so this is all tongue-in-cheek and I'm not blaming anyone; it's just as likely to be a problem at my end - the big difference in the last few weeks being that I recently "upgraded" to Windows 10. I just hope they realise what's happening so they can fix it.

The only meeting BCBC I've been able to watch so far was the last planning committee, which worked absolutely fine (and still does AFAIK).

I guess that's that then. I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way....

Vibrantly Viable Bridgend

The topic that dominated "discussion" was a progress update on the Welsh Government's Vibrant and Viable Places (VVP) Programme in Bridgend (pdf).

The only VVP project in Bridgend is the ongoing redevelopment of the Rhiw multi-storey car park to include a new car park, affordable/social housing apartments and a retail unit (Rhiw Redevelopment Plans Unveiled) – but there are other schemes on the table and the wider package of measures runs towards £30million (pdf).

Officers says "substantial progress" has been made on the Rhiw Gateway scheme, and the fact they're using the rubble from the old car park to form the base of the new building makes the scheme environmentally friendly. The Shopmobility service has moved full-time to Cheapside while alternative parking for council employees has been provided on Brackla Street.

There are issues that have been identified as requiring ongoing attention such as additional flood modelling to satisfy Natural Resources Wales - who raised concerns during the planning process – and new fire evacuation procedures for the indoor market and Rhiw Shopping Centre.

The biggest concern raised in the report is possible cost overruns which the Welsh Government grant might not be able to cover in time. As a result, some "non-priority" parts of the project had to be taken out and will be put back in once the money comes through.

Cllr. Pause Symbol (Lab, Betamax) dominated the committee meeting with an
impromptu demonstration of mindfulness and the benefits of mental clarity.

The next VVP project involves the creation of homes in the town centre, and to date 10 properties have been identified for conversion to homes. 5 have been deemed unsuitable, but if the remaining 5 are redeveloped it would yield up to 24 new homes.

Another project which has long been mentioned is the renovation of the former McDonalds restaurant on Nolton Street. It's lain derelict for several years and has become an eyesore. I don't know whether it's listed or not - it doesn't seem to be – but if it were my decision I would've just demolished it and created a public space.

You've got to assume the site would be redeveloped for housing, and as it was left as a reserve project in the VVP bid there's no money available. BCBC have made a speculative bid to the Welsh Government, which could see funds released for 2016-17 if the budget allows.

Now, I could've give you an account of all the interesting things our local councillors had to say on this important project, as well as all the questions they asked officers, but....

Update 17:36pm : Having now watched the meeting it's a shame I couldn't have written the blog on it, as councillors asked probing questions on local building contracts, affordable housing and why/how the Rhiw Gateway project was altered.