WITH the dust now settled following the Assembly election, I would like to take the opportunity to thank everybody who voted on May 5.

It’s a huge honour and privilege to have been returned to serve as the Assembly Member for the region of South Wales Central. I have really enjoyed representing the area I was born and brought up in since I was first elected in 2007 and I look forward to helping many more people over the next five years.

If you or your family ever have an issue you think I would be able to assist with then please do not hesitate to contact me by emailing AndrewRT.Davies@Assembly.Wales – I will always endeavour to do the best I can for the people and communities I represent.

With the Labour Government, supported by Plaid Cymru and a Liberal Democrat back in situ, it is imperative they get on with the job in hand and stand up and deliver for the people and communities in Penarth and the wider Vale of Glamorgan.

First and foremost, tackling the future of the Vale Council. Love or loathe it, they are ultimately responsible for the delivery of a number of vital services - from collecting your rubbish to maintaining the roads in Penarth - and the current uncertainty over its long-term future is not good for service delivery or the morale of staff.

Any drastic changes, including a potential merger with big-city neighbours, should be run passed you - the hardworking taxpayer - and the Welsh Conservatives will continue to press the Welsh Government to allow your voice to be heard.

With a cosy backroom deal between Labour and Plaid putting Carwyn Jones back into power it will be intriguing to see if a solution to the daily chaos witnessed in Dinas Powys is now delivered. We’ll continue to fight for a much-needed bypass that would ease the burden on thousands of commuters from Dinas and Sully.

And as I expressed in this paper last week, I was very disappointed to see the 350-housing development approved in Cog, Sully, by the Vale Council.

While appreciating there is a need for more housing across the Vale, this should not be achieved at the expense of the character of our local communities and without delivering a single ounce of development in our local transport, education or health provisions. That’s simply not right.

Communities across the Vale of Glamorgan have been besieged in recent times by such developments and the Welsh Government’s planning system needs a complete overhaul, from top to the bottom. Sadly, at present, it is local residents who continue to pay the price and that simply should not continue.