Hands up. Yes, it's been some time since we last updated our blog, and as blogs were invented just for the purpose of providing regular updates, we thought it might be time to rectify the situation.

Our blog may have lain idle since March, but rest assured, we have not. Local News South Wales has now spent more than twelve months making contacts, fundraising and planning the launch of a news service in Port Talbot.

Here are some of the headlines:
- We now have a website. We are putting the final touches to our plans, but the aim is to launch the news service early in the new year - 2011.

- We have made some great contacts. We held a public meeting in September, and were thrilled when so many people turned up to let us know how much a news service is needed and wanted in the area. We hope to work closely with members of the community when we start our website, and so this is a vital link in the chain.

- One of our Board Members, Rachel Poucher (aka Rachel Howells), has been selected to carry out a KESS-funded PhD researching the news provision in Port Talbot, and coming up with a sustainable business model. She started in October, and will be spending three years working with Cardiff University, the Media Standards Trust and Local News Port Talbot to try to bring something exciting to Port Talbot.

- We are planning a very exciting collaboration with the National Theatre of Wales' production of The Passion, coming to Port Talbot in Easter 2011 - more details on our website after the launch.

We are still looking for volunteers and contacts, and anyone can become a member of our co-operative, so if you'd like to get in touch, please email us at localnewsporttalbot@googlemail.com. If you have any comments or suggestions about the news service, please post them here.

We look forward to hearing from you - and we will blog again soon. Promise.