I’m Lis Burnett and I’m one of the councillors for Stanwell Ward in Penarth.

A life long Penarthian, I was born in Myrtle Close in the ward and have lived in Redlands Road for over thirty years.

It’s been a huge privilege to represent my community alongside Councillor Mark Wilson and I will always be grateful for the trust that has been placed in us.  At the last election I promised to achieve more funding for the ward and am delighted that a new £120,000 play area will soon replace the dilapidated facility in St David’s Crescent. I’m also pleased that our repeated submission of hundreds of pothole photos from the ward resulted in the resurfacing of Cornerswell Road, Stanwell Road, Victoria Road, Cedar Way, and the Baron Road area.

Probably the one thing I am most proud of is the establishment of the Food Pod at St Lukes Avenue. During the pandemic we discovered that some communities had been really badly affected and we knew we had to do something to help. The ‘Pay as You Can’ Pod now supports approximately fifty families each week from across Penarth in our new purpose-built pod, as well as others who pop in for a chat. I’ve been grateful for the opportunity to work at the Food Pod as a volunteer

I am delighted that we were able to save Penarth’s Pier Pavilion so that it is now a vibrant community venue and that we have renovated the Esplanade, Pier and, more recently, the outside of the Pavilion. Add to that the new play area for Cosmeston and many others, the town has benefitted from a massive level of investment in recent years.

I’m proud of the way we were able to keep council services running throughout the pandemic and how we continued to deliver our 21^st Century Schools promise so that in just the last year we completed three secondary schools and two primary schools as well as several specialist units. These schools will change the lives of thousands of young people in the Vale. The 21^st Century Schools programme has also created over 1150 local jobs, 88 apprenticeships and provided work for many local businesses.

Having come from a background in social enterprise I’m absolutely thrilled that The Big Fresh Catering Company has been so phenomenally successful. Developed in response to a £350k budget deficit in our school meals service this Council owned business has made a £500k profit in its first year which has been reinvested to our schools and the children in them. It also played a part in saving the Pier pavilion when it took over the café to provide financial stability.

So much has been achieved in partnership with residents and community organisations since a Labour-led coalition took control of the Council just three years ago. Going forward we are committed to delivering so much more with a major challenge being our commitment to reducing the Council’s own carbon emissions to net-zero by 2030 and protecting the nature around us by achieving no net loss of biodiversity in the Vale.

We know that with this government in Westminster many families are really struggling. That’s why protecting local people from Tory cuts is so important and why building affordable and sustainable homes for local families is essential.

We’ve done a lot, but there’s a lot more to do. We are ambitious for our communities, for Penarth and for the Vale and we’re innovative in finding solutions that will not see services privatised.  That’s why I’m re-standing as Councillor for Stanwell Ward on 5^th May.