Lesley Griffiths AM becomes the new Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, which affects the Welsh construction sector as well.

Speaking following her appointment, the Cabinet Secretary explained in a statement –

“I am delighted to be appointed Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs. I am looking forward to leading work affecting every corner of Wales, from improving the quality of the air we breath, to enhancing access and recreation opportunities. I am committed to continuing our positive work to protect the environment, peoples’ health, safety and well-being".  

"Of course, following the EU referendum result, an urgent priority for us is protecting the interests of Wales. I recently met with key farming and environment stakeholders to discuss the implications of the UK's decision to leave the European Union. We also met at the Royal Welsh Show for a follow up meeting. It is essential that we continue this dialogue to plan a way forward over the coming weeks, so we are in the best possible position to secure a successful and sustainable future for Wales". 

"I also met with both the UK's Farming Minister and Northern Ireland's Minister of Agriculture at the Show to discuss the implications of the EU referendum result and its impact on the environment and agricultural sectors". "I recently had the opportunity to visit a fisheries vessel in Cardiff Bay. I discussed the EU referendum implications for staff that enforce EU fishing laws and I got to experience first hand the work they do".   

"Following my Written Statement on Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management I visited Tal-y-bont to announce almost £4million grant funding for flood alleviation schemes across Wales,
including almost £1 million funding to protect the village of Tal-y-bont and the A55".

You can help improve the rate at which Welsh construction minimises waste by taking part in an online survey taking a few minutes from your day. 

Welsh construction needs as much help as possible if it is to work towards improving waste minimisation and one great way to do it is by gathering data and opinion. 

Taking part in the survey below will be a big step in the right direction. 

This questionnaire is part of a study aimed at exploring waste minimisation measures in construction projects in Wales. This questionnaire seeks to gather information from respondents based on their expertise knowledge and experience to identify precise needs in the Welsh construction industry in terms of waste minimisation.

The project title is ‘Working Towards Improved Waste Minimisation Measures in Construction Projects in Wales’ and the results of the survey will be used within a Cardiff University student’s thesis regarding waste management.

All the information provided will be held in strict confidence and used for research purposes only. The thesis will be submitted in September and published in November. A copy of the thesis and results of the survey can be made available for interested parties. All answers given as part of the survey will be made anonymous. 

The link is here - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/8JTVHCC.

Construction has started on the Exemplar project at Ysgol Penrhos, in Llanelli. A 2 form entry primary school with an additional Flying Start unit to the front of the school. 

Designed to accommodate the merging of two existing primary schools, at Copperworks and Lakefield, and will be delivered, by the client, designers and site team to BREEAM Excellent.

The architects, HLM are appointed to deliver the architecture, landscape and interiors with TRJ Construction Ltd as the project contractors. Initially, Carmarthen County Council provided a sketch scheme which through collaboration HLM developed into a ‘Hub and Spoke’ design. The Hub is the main hall, kitchen and main reception whilst the spoke is the classrooms, which are predominantly repeatable. 

Based upon a seriously challenging site, suffering from contaminated land, security and severe weather conditions, the team ensure a successful construction process to ultimately deliver a quality school for the 21^st Century and beyond. 

The team as a whole have put the school forward as an Exemplar Project under Constructing Excellence in Wales and will be looking towards the design stage event in the early Autumn this year to explain how these and other issues were overcome and the school will be Exemplar.