About time too

First day back at work in the New Year, Ashley and I met with top Council, Police and Retail Partnership officials to review the documentation needed to get the Business Crime Reduction Partnership re-launched on the most robust foundation possible. We came to a conclusion that I was happy with, even though it meant scrapping the draft constitution I've been working at, on and off, over the past five years. Finally we're in a position where the Partners are willing to take ownership for setting up the organisation in their own right and not relying on Cardiff Business Safe to carry it forward on their behalf. About time too.

It means we in CBS can concentrate on developing the service we provide, freer from external pressures and interference, as the boundaries between the Company providing the service and the Partnership will be evident, as they should have been from the outset. Good intentions foundered early on, however, when the City Centre Management was taken over by the Council following the demise of Cardiff Initiative and the Chamber of Commerce from which it originated. It's amazing that RadioNet and Cardiff Business Safe didn't fail at the same time, but thanks to Ashley it didn't. I won't be involved in the re-drafting work, only in responding to the document when it appears, much to my relief.

In the afternoon, there was a break in the bad weather, long enough for Rachel, Jasmine and I to visit the beach at Barry Island. It was not unbearably cold, and we stayed long enough to dig a sand castle with an avenue to its own swimming pool, and to walk the beach and scramble on the rocks.

At the top right of this photo is the site of the old eastern beach shelter, which has been derelict for many years. In its present state it's hard to know if it's a demolition or a construction site. Curiosity, however, led me to discover a complete makeover of the shelter is now under way, to restore its original functions and add a few more. The Welsh Assembly government has invested in a £3m regeneration programme, see this page on the Vale of Glamorgan Council website.

Barry Island beach has been a popular resort for holiday makers and day trippers for a century, and for most of my lifetime it's always appeared a little unkempt and down at heel. The western end facilities have been much improved over the past decade. Restoration and enhancement of the eastern shelter will give the whole of the shoreline a much needed uplift. And about time too.