Penarth Civic Society Consultation

📅 Date: 20 May 2024

📍 Location of Engagement: Penarth (Civic Society meeting)

🗣️ Who we spoke to: Members of Penarth Civic Society

Facilitators: Civic Society representatives and Vale of Glamorgan Council Placemaking Officers

🙋 Type of engagement:
Discussion-based session focused on identifying short, medium, and long-term priorities for Penarth, including heritage, accessibility, transport, and community spaces.

🚀 Emerging Themes

• Town Centre Improvements: Tidying up, adding trees and seating, creating safe areas with traffic changes.
• Accessibility: Parking for disabled users, audit for disabled access, restrictions on dropped kerbs.
• Parking & Transport: Increased parking capacity, park-and-ride, better bus services, sustainable transport links.
• Community Spaces & Events: Youth hub, Kymin restoration, community-managed spaces, summer festivals.
• Heritage & Culture: Heritage projects, promotion of town history, tourist information centre.
• Active Travel & Connectivity: Better links between lower Penarth, town centre, and seafront.

💬 Comments

“Closure of lower end of Glebe Street for town market/events.”

“Audit for disabled access throughout Penarth with Disability Wales / Living Streets.”

“Kymin restoration – house needs repair and improvement for hire space.”

“Pedestrianisation and safe scheme for town centre.”

“Better intra-town sustainable transport and active travel options – e.g., bus park & ride.”

📢 Summary
The Civic Society highlighted a strong focus on improving Penarth’s town centre, accessibility, and transport infrastructure. Short-term priorities include tidying up the town, adding greenery, and improving disabled access. Medium-term goals involve restoring the Kymin and creating community spaces for events, while long-term ambitions include pedestrianisation, sustainable transport, and better connectivity. There is also an emphasis on heritage projects and promoting Penarth as a destination through education and tourism initiatives.