Up to 70,000 new homes could be built in Australia’s most populated state New South Wales (NSW) as new areas are rezoned, with the NSW premier saying he’s “throwing everything at getting more houses built” as the cost of living continues to bite.
“Working with councils, rezoning is one important lever that we are pulling to get the ball rolling on more housing supply across our state,” Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Monday.
“We are throwing everything at getting more houses built so more people get keys in doors and can realise their dream of owning a home.”
Through the $73.5 million Rezoning Pathways Program, ten areas will be rezoned, including Riverstone, Camellia-Rosehill, Macquarie Park, Explorer St in Eveleigh, two sites in Parramatta, and one site in Broadmeadow in Newcastle.
Planning and Homes Minister Anthony Roberts says accelerating rezoning programs will make more areas development-ready for new homes.
New housing is being built at North Lakes in Brisbane, Australia, on June 10, 2016 . (Glenn Hunt/Getty Images)
“We’re creating a pipeline for tens of thousands more homes, giving more people in NSW the opportunity to put a roof over their heads.”
The program is part of the state government’s $2.8 billion housing package announced in the budget, which included stamp duty reform for first-home buyers.
It also comes on the back of the latest Rental Affordability Index, which showed renting has become less affordable in Sydney over the last year and has steadily risen since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this month, the government announced it would assume responsibility for three planning proposals across the Macarthur Region, saying their approval could lead to the construction of 19,000 new homes as well as providing koala corridors.
“This is all about accelerating the rezoning of key housing areas to make more land development-ready for new homes,” Mr Roberts said.
While planning proposals are usually assessed by local councils, this program gives the government the ability to make assessments and lead rezoning work on planning proposals it deems significant.
A pilot is underway for developers proposing projects offering more than 1000 homes in metropolitan areas and more than 300 homes in regional areas.
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Before the match, Phoebie Poole was a beacon of certainty. She would find the back of the net.
It was not an outrageous or even bold claim from the 18-year-old Cardiff City starlet. She had scored nine goals in the league heading into Sunday’s South Wales derby. It had been her brace which inflicted a first and only league defeat this season on defending champions Swansea City.
Phoebie Poole scores goals. And Cardiff City have been winning games. The facts held an air of inevitability about them on Sunday afternoon.
It is not, it should be said, a cheat code. That would reduce what Swansea did at the Swansea.com Stadium to a chimerical whim, a genie’s blithe hand swish on the second go. Swansea’s 1-1 draw with league leaders and title favourites Cardiff was one fashioned out of grit, composure and almost a decade’s experience of being in these high-pressurised positions and emerging on the right side of affairs.
It is the margin that, for now, sees Cardiff City’s credentials for a title-clinching (potentially treble-clutching) season put on momentary hold and Swansea, despite being knocked out of both the FAW Cup and Adran Trophy in their respective rounds of 16 and suffering a stuttering start to the season, holding onto a sliver of a chance of retaining a fourth successive league title.
On a microlevel, the result cranks up the heat in an already titillating title race. Cardiff’s five-point cushion at the top of the table means Swansea will not only have to perform to near perfection for the remainder of the season (beginning with a tough task against Pontypridd) but bank on a still unbeaten Cardiff fumbling somewhere, somehow.
The aesthetic prospect of watching a traditional league behemoth potentially fall from its perch is undeniably tantalising, but Swansea have stubbornly come to prove such an indulgence won’t come as easily as many might have begun to let themselves think. They are currently the chasers in a league they have long existed solely as the chased, but they are six-time league champions and European regulars for a reason.
“From our perspective, we know there is always a target on our backs,” said Swansea head coach Ceri Phillips after the match. “Teams are always trying to make life hard for us, everyone wants to take a scalp off us. And whether we’re at the top of the league or chasing after points, all we can do is win games of football so very little changes in that respect. All we can do is keep competing for games. This group is hard-nosed and all they want to do is take to the pitch and put in a performance. They’re hardworking, experienced and we’re in a good moment right now after the lessons we’ve learnt this season.”
“We’re going to feel pressure every now and again but I think pressure is good,” added Swansea’s Jess Williams. “It’s not good stepping out on a pitch every Sunday thinking you’re going to win. Now we have teams right behind us and one right in front so we’re going to keep stepping out onto the pitch and doing what we can to get three points.”
Katy Hosford of Swansea City Ladies, right, celebrates with Stacey John-Davis, centre, after she scores the opening goal against Cardiff City Women(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
On a macrolevel, they are the slim edges for which this league, for so long a two-horse race between Cardiff Met and Swansea, has been crying out. That a clash with Pontypridd can be viewed through the prism of tough and potentially title-deciding is testament in itself. A distant fifth-place team last season is now bidding to gate-crash the top three and dictate fates.
Sunday’s derby felt like a microcosm of the league’s growth. A derby always promises to bring its fair share of drama and tension, but at the Swansea.com Stadium, there was a deeper dimension to it all due to the tightness of the table, a derby stoked with that little bit more jeopardy.
The league’s two best sides probed and harried each other, the first half an exasperating exercise in how to cancel each other out but the second a more breathless series of attacks and counters which sent the 1,376 in attendance, quelled largely in the bitter cold, into varying degrees of paroxysms.
A fierce and welcomed physicality underpinned the full match. The atmosphere of this South Wales derby differed markedly from its male iteration, where fans are bussed to and from the opposition stadium in necessary attempts to mitigate flare-ups and opportunities for violence. Such mitigation plans are, delightfully, expendable for the women’s game but make no mistake, even without the violent vicissitudes, a gurgling invective underlay the match and Swansea’s Katy Hosford could only be so surprised when Cardiff’s Seren Watkins took out her ankles before the 15-minute mark. Cardiff’s Zoe Atkins had gone down within the first 60 seconds. Throughout the match, the favour was returned more than once from both sides.
In fact, Hosford’s second-half goal came, almost serendipitously so, because she had been taken out in the Cardiff half by Watkins and left to writhe on the grass in pain as the Bluebirds pushed forward and the game continued. Had the Swansea forward not been the latest victim of a hardknock tackle, perhaps she might not have been in the perfect position to latch onto a ball over the top from Stacey John-Davis and fire low and hard past Ceryn Chamberlain in goal.
Katy Hosford fires Swansea ahead with a low effort on goal in the second half(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
Such are the margins, and in a match between the league’s top two sides the margins felt the inevitable place for the match to be settled.
Thus, in true style, Poole pulled one back as Swansea failed to capitalise on their lead. A curling effort from well outside the area which left Swans keeper Claire Skinner pawing at the sky as she tumbled backwards into her net showcased Cardiff’s ability to bounce back from a deficit, the first time they had found themselves in such a position all season.
“You’re going to get tested in this league if you look at the results across the board,” said Cardiff’s Ffion Price. “Any team can win on any day, so it shows our character as a team to come back and get the point. You can’t get too complacent in this league. We’re just taking every game as it comes. We’re not looking at the end of the season, and I don’t think Swansea are either. Today showed that. It’s anybody’s in that league and we just want to keep fighting.”
The sentiment is on brand for a derby: scrappy, frayed, thoroughly engrossing affairs with that necessary sprinkling of quality amid a final 10 minutes of utter turmoil.
But it is one that also importantly offers a suggestion of the league beginning to take shape and crystallise. Cardiff are a gamely reflection of what the league is bidding to become, but Swansea provide a timely reminder of what the league has always been. Who will emerge on top at the season’s end, however, remains to be seen.
A ROUND-UP of recent cases heard at Newport Magistrates’ Court.
CALUM LEWIS, 25, of Bath Green, Llanfrechfa, Cwmbran, was ordered to pay £1,014 in a fine, costs and a surcharge for failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver of a vehicle who was alleged to have been guilty of an offence.
His driving record was endorsed with six points.
CHARLIE MORGAN, 25, of Beaufort Place, Newport, was ordered to pay £230 in a fine, costs and a surcharge for speeding at 31mph in a 20mph zone on Pillmawr Road on June 17.
His driving record was endorsed with three points.
SEAN LAWRENCE, 48, of James Street, Tredegar, was ordered to pay £1,014 in a fine, costs and a surcharge for failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver of a vehicle who was alleged to have been guilty of an offence.
His driving record was endorsed with six points.
ANDREW MANSER, 37, of Hillview Crescent, Newport, was ordered to pay £284 in a fine, costs and a surcharge for speeding at 58mph in a 50mph zone on the A4810 Queensway on June 19.
His driving record was endorsed with three points.
DAVID PACAN, 28, of Alice Street, Newport, was ordered to pay £146 in a fine, costs and a surcharge for speeding at 35mph in a 30mph zone at the Pont Ebbw roundabout on the A48 Southern Distributor Road on June 26.
His driving record was endorsed with three points.
LEON DAVID TERRANCE HARPER, 31, of Longfellow Gardens, Graig-Y-Rhacca, Caerphilly, was ordered to pay £816 in a fine, costs and a surcharge for driving without insurance on the A469 in Ystrad Mynach on May 7.
His driving record was endorsed with eight points.
OMAR HAMA SHARIF ARIF, 40, of Comfrey Close, Newport, was ordered to pay £92 in a fine and a surcharge for speeding at 37mph in a 30mph zone on the B4237 Cardiff Road, Belle Vue, on July 24.
His driving record was endorsed with three points.
Peacefully on Saturday, November 19 at Glangwili Hospital, Beverley of College Street, Ammanford. Devoted partner of Norman, loving mother of Catrin, Elin and the late Alan Paul and a much-loved mother-in-law and grandmother.
Funeral on Tuesday, December 6, service at All Saints’ Church, Ammanford at 11am followed by interment at Ammanford Town Cemetery. No flowers please. Donations in lieu, if so desired, to Ovarian Cancer Action kindly received by Hywel Griffiths and Son, Funeral Directors, Bwtrimawr, 39 Betws Road, Betws, Ammanford SA18 2HE.
Yasmin
Sadly, on Thursday, November 17, Yasmin passed away aged 29 years. Very much-loved daughter of Allan and Gaynor and dearly loved sister of Shannon.
A celebration of Yasmin’s life will be held at Llanelli Crematorium on Monday, December 12 at 2pm at her request could everyone wear a splash of orange please. No flowers by request. Donations in lieu, if so desired, to Cancer Research will be kindly received by Evan Rees and Hywel Griffiths, Funeral Directors, 98 Heol Cae Gurwen, Gwaun Cae Gurwen, Ammanford SA18 1PD.
Joyce Marion Davies (Ammanford)
Peacefully on Saturday, November 19 at her home at Pontamman Road, Ammanford, Joyce. Beloved wife of the late Donald, loving mother of Ken and the late Roy, dear mother-in-law of Sandra and Denise, cherished grandmother of Damien, Debbie, Chris, Paul, Jeanette, Dylan and Becca and a devoted great grandmother.
Funeral on Tuesday, December 6, service for family and friends at Llanelli Crematorium at 11am. Family flowers only. Donations, in lieu, if so desired to the Wales Air Ambulance kindly received by Hywel Griffiths and Son, Funeral Directors, Bwtrimawr, 39 Betws Road, Betws, Ammanford, SA18 2HE.
Thomas Edward Derek “Tom” Barrett (Cefneithin)
Peacefully on Sunday, November 20 at his home, Tom of Heol Treventy, Cefneithin. Beloved husband of Pam, loving father of Carol, Sue, Marie, Mike and Nicole, a respected father-in-law, a devoted grandfather, a cherished great-grandfather and a dear brother of the late Vi.
Funeral on Monday, December 5. Service for family and friends at Llanelli Crematorium at 3pm. Flowers may be given, or donations in lieu, if so desired, to the Salvation Army kindly received by Keith Morgan and Hywel Griffiths, Funeral Directors, Bwtrimawr, 39 Betws Road, Betws, Ammanford SA18 2HE.
Terry (Goosgog) Davies (Gwaun Cae Gurwen)
Peacefully on Wednesday, November 16 at Prince Philip Hospital, Llanelli, Terry of Llys Nant Fer, Gwaun Cae Gurwen, formerly of Tairgwaith. A loving brother, a much-loved uncle and a dear friend to all.
Funeral on Friday, December 9, the cortege will be leaving Brook Terrace, Tairgwaith at 1pm for a service at Llanelli Crematorium at 2pm. Family flowers only. Donations in lieu, if so desired, to the British Heart Foundation will be kindly received by Evan Rees and Hywel Griffiths, Funeral Directors, 98 Heol Cae Gurwen, Gwaun Cae Gurwen, Ammanford SA18 1PD
The picturesque Wales landscape is dotted with over 600 castles.
Visit Wales
Despite being part of the United Kingdom, Wales remains a largely undiscovered destination among Americans. This picturesque country boasts lush landscapes, natural beauty, vibrant cities, seaside towns, magnificent castles and one incredibly unique language.
Recently in the spotlight for their World Cup soccer match against the United States, Wales is full of epic stories, historic treasures and unusual adventures, from camping cliffside to exploring a cavernous former slate mine. Home to more than 600 castles (more per square mile than any other country in the world), Wales consists of four regions: North Wales, South Wales, Mid Wales and West Wales, which offer distinct terrain, histories and options for adventure.
Much of Wales’s landscape is protected.
Visit Wales
Much of Wales’ landscape is protected, ensuring its beauty will be preserved for generations to come. Around a quarter of the country lies either within one of its three National Parks (Snowdonia – home to the world’s first inland surfing lagoon, the Brecon Beacons and the Pembrokeshire Coast) or one of its five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Llŷn Peninsula, the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley, the Gower Peninsula, Anglesey and the Wye Valley).
Wales is on the island of Great Britain, to the west of England, and covers an area of 8,194 square miles. Cardiff, the capital city, is just two hours by train from London, and many tourists combine the two capitals into their sightseeing itinerary. In fact, the scenic train ride is often a highlight of a visitor’s time spent in the United Kingdom. No visit to London is complete with a train ride to Cardiff.
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There are seven official cities in Wales. Cardiff has been the official capital since 1955 and is home to around 369,000 people. Swansea and Newport also have populations in the hundreds of thousands, while Bangor has just 18,000 residents. The last two, St Asaph and St Davids, are the two smallest cities in the UK, with populations of around 3,500 and 1,800 respectively. Wrexham (population 65,000) is Wales’ newest city, having won status in 2022.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchased Wrexham AFC.
Visit Wales
The Football Association of Wales is the third oldest football association in the world and is one of four responsible for the laws of the game. What’s more, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney recently purchased Wrexham AFC, the oldest club in Wales. Founded in 1867, the club is one of the oldest in the world.
Wales is a mecca for horseback riding, with thousands of miles of bridlepaths, but visitors can also delight in mountain biking, whitewater rafting, paddling and hiking. Riding in Snowdonia – always taken at a sedate pace because of rough ground – is not just an audience with nature, it’s a front-row seat beneath the highest mountains in Wales. Countryside trekking is in Penmachno near Betws-y-Coed and there are coast views too. Anglesey is brilliant for riding and features the Abermenai Sands, a mile-long gallop beside the Menai Straits where riders are afforded a spectacular backdrop of Caernarfon Castle – recognized as one of the greatest buildings of the Middle Ages – and Snowdonia mountains.
Hikers can discover plenty of trails in Wales.
Visit Wales
Perhaps walking is more to your liking. Tucked between Cardiff and Swansea on the south coast of Wales, Neath Port Talbot is a great county to explore on foot. Discover leafy countryside, tranquil canals, rushing waterfalls and fascinating industrial heritage. The Brecon Beacons may have the highest mountains in southern Britain, but they have paths that are suited for all types of walkers. The Storey Arms route takes you right to the top of the highest peak in the Beacon Beacons via a moderate, four mile circular walk that anyone of average fitness can enjoy. The National Showcaves Centre for Wales in the Brecon Beacons National Park is one of Wales’ top attractions. In Bone Cave you will find a number of exhibits that illustrate people’s use of the caves in the past, and their struggle to survive alongside the other inhabitants of the cave – hyenas, wolves and cave bears.
Sample a vodka and tonic during your travels.
Spirit of Wales Distillery
After your walking tour a beverage stop is in order. A guided tour of the Spirit of Wales Distillery in Newport includes welcome drinks on arrival, followed by a brief background of the distillery and the venue, which captures the essence of their Celtic heritage.
With so much to see and do in this picturesque country, visitors need to plan accordingly and allow enough time to experience the full flavor of Wales. Visit Wales can assist with an extensive itinerary.
There have been renewed calls to improve the pay of nurses in west Wales.
Nurses in almost every one of Wales’ NHS organisations, including the Hywel Dda University Health Board, have voted to strike over pay.
The Welsh government has offered them pay awards between 4 per cent and 5.5 per cent, well below the rate of inflation and the same as that by the UK Government in England.
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, Plaid Cymru’s health and care spokesperson warned that nurses “are at their wits end” and that the unintended consequences of inaction will be for more nurses to leave the profession altogether.
Literature from the Royal College of Nursing indicates there were at least 2,900 registered nurse vacancies last year and that the Welsh Government “is driving nursing staff out of the NHS.”
Hywel Dda currently has around 540 registered nurse vacancies, among the highest in Wales.
As a result of staffing struggles, the health board also has one of the highest levels of nurses employed via agencies, which has increased 46 per cent over the past year and costs close to £29 million.
Cefin Campbell, Member of the Senedd for Mid and West Wales said: “For many of our hardworking nurses, the clapping on our doorsteps during the pandemic has become a distant echo as despair and disillusionment increases with falling morale and staff absences.
“No-one wants industrial action, however the fact the ballot took place in the first place indicates the strength of feeling and frustration currently in place within the workforce.
“We’re facing a crisis in our NHS workforce across west Wales – and we are urging the Welsh government to step-up and use every devolved lever at its disposal to come up with a better pay offer for our invaluable nursing staff.”
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, Plaid Cymru spokesperson for health and care added: “If the news that too many nurses are leaving their vocation isn’t already an indication that things are seriously wrong in the healthcare service, then the recent vote for strike action must be a wake-up call.”
Victoria 209 and 1 for 78 lead New South Wales 260 (Henriques 97, Sutherland 4-57) by 27 runs
Will Sutherland triggered a Victoria fightback to leave their Sheffield Shield clash with New South Wales nicely poised after Moises Henriques threatened to take the game away from the home team.
NSW were dismissed for 260, a first innings lead of 51, but they would have hoped for a bigger advantage after being 2 for 155 just before lunch.
Henriques scored 97, striking ten fours and a six in his fluent 179-ball innings, but the Blues bid to build a big first-innings lead was scuppered by two collapses.
They lost two clumps of three wickets cheaply and were just four ahead when they went eight down, before the tail added 47 handy runs.
Paceman Sutherland was prominent in the hosts’ resurgence. He dismissed Jason Sangha (44) just before lunch leaving NSW 3 for 156 at the break, ending a 107-run third-wicket stand with Henriques.
Early in the second session Sutherland’s athletic dive and fine throw from mid on resulted in Matthew Gilkes being run out, and he then had Sean Abbott caught behind as NSW lost 3 for 7.
Henriques and wicketkeeper Baxter Holt grabbed back the initiative with a seventh-wicket stand of 48.
Victoria hit back late in the session taking 3-3, just after the visitors moved ahead on first innings. Holt was caught behind off Sam Elliott, Henriques was trapped lbw by spinner Todd Murphy, who also had Chris Green caught and finished with 3 for 44 off 16 overs.
The tail wagged with Chris Tremain scoring a brisk 24 not out, with both he and Adam Zampa hitting a six.
Victoria had Sam Harper and Jon Holland subbed out after testing positive for Covid-19. Captain Peter Handscomb performed admirably behind the stumps in place of Harper, taking four catches.
Henriques was the only NSW wicket-taker, trapping Travis Dean lbw after a brisk 46 which included five fours off two wayward overs from Mickey Edwards.
A FRESH round of strikes will bring further disruption to the rail network in Wales despite the nation’s largest train operator not being directly involved in the ongoing union dispute over pay and conditions.
Transport for Wales has announed “the majority of rail services across the Wales and Borders network will be suspended” for eight days in December and January, when members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union form picket lines.
RMT members at Network Rail and 14 train operators will stage walkouts, due to be held on December 13 and 14, December 16 and 17, January 3 and 4, and January 6 and 7.
Transport for Wales is not one of the firms involved in the union dispute, but the strikes will force cancellations of nearly all services in Wales because rail infrastructure is not devolved and is still almost wholly run and maintained by Network Rail, a UK Government arms-length agency.
“The industrial action resulting from the dispute between the unions and Network Rail means we’ll be unable to operate rail services on Network Rail infrastructure,” Transport for Wales said in a statement.
The new round of strikes comes after the RMT cancelled recent industrial action in the hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations.
Announcing the new action, the RMT said: “The union suspended previous strike action in good faith to allow for intensive negotiations to resolve the dispute.
“Yet, Network Rail have failed to make an improved offer on jobs, pay and conditions for our members during the last two weeks of talks.”
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “This latest round of strikes will show how important our members are to the running of this country and will send a clear message that we want a good deal on job security, pay and conditions for our people.
“We have been reasonable, but it is impossible to find a negotiated settlement when the dead hand of government is presiding over these talks.”
The UK government’s transport secretary, meanwhile, has said his role is to “facilitate and support” a deal in the long-running rail dispute rather than get involved in negotiations.
In a letter to Mr Lynch, Mark Harper said: “We both agree the industrial dispute on the railways has gone on too long.
“It’s bad for your members, losing out on pay and overtime, bad for businesses who depend on trains to bring them goods and customers and bad for people across our country who depend on the railways.
“Worse, disruption pushes more and more people away from using the railways, some of whom will never come back.
“We both want a long-term sustainable railway that provides both great service and rewarding jobs.
“Every day’s industrial action makes that harder to deliver.”
Additional reporting by Alan Jones, PA industrial correspondent
A new train firm planning to set up as a rival to Great Western Railway on the mainline from south Wales to London has been given permission to launch services. The Government department responsible for Britain’s railways has authorised the introduction of new train services between London, Cardiff and south west Wales.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has approved an increase in rail services on the Great Western Main Line, the main railway line that runs from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads and connects to other main lines at Swansea, Swindon, Penzance and Reading.
A company called Grand Union Trains has applied to launch the services with the aim of bringing competition to the Great Western route out of Paddington when they’re introduced from the end of 2024.
Passengers travelling between London, Bristol Parkway, Severn Tunnel Junction, Newport, Cardiff, Gowerton, Llanelli and Carmarthen will benefit from an extra five daily return services and “greater choice of operator,” the ORR said. The Office also said its decision to open up the Great Western Main Line and allow rail services from a new operator brings “potential benefits in terms of lower fares, improved service quality and innovation for all passengers using the route”.
Grand Union Trains applied to the ORR for permission to introduce new rail services in June, 2022, it confirmed later, but was immediately met with frustration from Network Rail which expressed concerns about the “capacity” of the network. Following Network Rail’s concerns, the ORR says it “analysed” the situation – and has since advised Network Rail to “enter into a contract” with Grand Union.
Grand Union says it is committed to “significant investment” in its new trains. But as it is an “open access train operator,” it will not get paid subsidies from public funds, unlike other operators on the route.
A spokesperson for the ORR said: “ORR supports new open access where it delivers competition for the benefit of passengers. In making this decision, the regulator has weighed this up against the impact on Government funds and effect on other users of the railway, both passengers and freight customers.
Director of strategy, policy and reform at ORR, Stephanie Tobyn added: “This decision supports more choice for passengers, new direct journey opportunities, more price competition, and new comfortable trains.
“The added competition should also make a significant contribution to innovation in terms of the routes served, ticketing practices and service quality improvements, by both Grand Union and through the response of existing operators.”
What do you think about this announcement? Are you pleased to read that five more return services are set to operate from London to South West Wales each day? Let us know your thoughts in the comments
by Staff
