Start Planning For The Gardening Year Ahead
Cardiff’s only fi ve star hotel, The St David’s Hotel, has been awarded a Gold Accolade by Visit Wales for a second successive year. The Welsh Government’s Tourism Department grant the Gold Award to businesses participating in the Visit Wales Hotel and Guest Accommodation schemes that offer the highest standards of quality, exceptional comfort and hospitality.
Most recently, the Hotel further cemented their award-winning status by once again being recognised as one of the best hotels in Europe at this year’s World Travel Awards. The iconic hotel competed against some of Wales’ most prestigious hotels and resorts to be named ‘Wales’ Leading Business Hotel 2016’ and ‘Wales’ Leading Hotel 2016’. Graeme Barclay, General
Manager at The St David’s Hotel said, ‘We’re delighted that Visit Wales have awarded us with the Gold Award for a consecutive year. It’s a fantastic way to end 2016 and is testament to the hard work and commitment that is put in by every team member here at The St David’s Hotel. ‘We’re continually looking for ways to encourage tourism in Wales and are excited to be a part of the regeneration of Cardiff.”
Have your say on Cardiff’s Transport Strategy
Following Cabinet approval of Cardiff’s Transport Strategy – the City Council would like the public’s views on how clearly the strategy document explains Cardiff’s main transport challenges and the key projects which the Council intends to move forwards. Feedback on the strategy will help to inform the City Council on the future communications and engagement with the public and other interested groups.
The short survey the can be accessed bilingually through the following links:
https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s. asp?k=148000232274
https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s. asp?k=148119156864
Cllr Ramesh Patel, Cabinet Member for Transport, Planning and sustainability, said: “The strategy sets out the City Council’s priorities to encourage walking and cycling, improving public transport options and supporting the Welsh Government’s future development of a Metro system.
“The new document is designed to explain the future of transport in Cardiff as it strives to become Europe’s Most Liveable Capital City. “It outlines the key projects and actions which the City Council will undertake as it works to improve Cardiff’s transport network and encourage residents, commuters and visitors to move away from travelling by private car towards sustainable ways of getting around – by walking, cycling or public transport.”
The transport priorities set out in this document include:
• The Welsh Government METRO Project • Development of an on street tram system linked to the wider regional Metro network
• Better bus routes and services both in Cardiff and on cross border routes
• Strategic cycle network • Better management of the highway network • Improvements to the rail network • The new bus Interchange at Central Square • A new transport corridor through North West Cardiff
• Improving pedestrian routes • Improving public transport infrastructure • Improvements in park & ride • Cardiff West Bus and Rail Interchange • Improvements in technology
To deliver these priorities, the City Council will work with a range of partner organisations including developers, public transport operators, Cardiff’s business community, neighbouring local authorities, Welsh Government, the health sector and other key public bodies. Cardiff continues to grow both in terms of the number of people that live here and the number of people commuting from outside the city to work. Since 2004 there has been a 10% increase in the daily commuter into Cardiff from neighbouring areas from 74,600 to 81,800. As the population continues to grow and more people travel to Cardiff for work, the City Council is committed to promoting and encouraging alternatives to the private car.
Responses to the survey should be submitted by Friday 17th of February 2017.
26 - Friday 6th January 2017 – Cardiff & South Wales Advertiser
It may be cold outside but there is plenty of gardening you can do with your feet up inside at this time of year. Now is the best time to see the overall structure and shape of your garden which means you can assess what you already have and plan on how to improve it. You don’t have to spend a fortune and your garden can be any size whether in the country or in a town. Have a good look through the seed catalogues for summer fl owers you can grow from scratch and fl ick through gardening books and manuals for ideas and easy to implement garden tips. If you’re thinking of growing your own fruit and veg then it’s a great time to plant seeds indoors for some early crops such as lettuces, summer brassicas such as cabbages and caulifl owers, spinach and salad onions. A job for January is to get seed beds ready and now is also the time to prune currant and gooseberry bushes. A simple garden solution for January is to bring colour to container evergreens. It’s a good idea to invest in a basic collection of container evergreens – box, conifer, holly and bay – that you can customise through the seasons by adding bedding plants around the base of each bush. You can create a mix of containers that look great grouped together or scattered through the garden with a variety of colourful plants decorating them such as white cyclamen for winter, lavender blue pansies in spring and white and pink daisies in summer. Another plant great for instant winter-spring colour and perfect for containers, window boxes and borders is the Primula. The majority bloom in the spring, but they have been known to fl ower through mild winters. There is a wide range of colours available from bright yellow to pastel reds and blues and they can grow in most soil types and be planted in sun and semi shade. They can be used very effectively in bedding schemes with tulips and other winter-spring bedding plants or planted alone in blocks of colour. When planting Primula in containers, use multi-purpose compost and ensure that they never dry out – and remember to dead head the plants regularly as this will encourage a longer fl owering period.
January’s garden checklist … • Clean and oil garden tools
• Scrub pots so they are disease free and don’t infect new plants
• Sharpen secateurs • Take the lawnmower in to be serviced
• If it snows, shake it off evergreens, hedges and conifers to stop the weight causing any damage
• Treat timber fences, archways and sheds with wood preservative
• Bring mature shrubs to life by pruning older branches as close to the stem as possible
• Keep container plants protected from frost and check to see if they need watering
• Remember to put out food and water for birds
National Garden Gift Vouchers can be bought and redeemed at over 2,000 outlets in the UK, with more than 90,000 garden plants and products on offer. Visit
www.thevouchergarden.co.uk to view details of all the outlets that sell and accept them or call 0870 2408237 for more information. You can also buy them online.
www.cardiffandsouthwalesadvertiser.com
ST DAVID’S HOTEL END YEAR ON A HIGH
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