Pass check
At least 18 reliable source routes checked across council, planning, meetings, transport, health, universities, safety, business, venues and weather/disruption.
Cadence proof - 2026-06-18
Good Morning Cardiff
One-pass resident-utility proof before creating a dedicated Cardiff newsletter repo. Static prep only: no domain purchase, public post, paid ad, sponsor outreach, payment collection or subscriber email is approved.
Market: Cardiff and the Vale edge
Status: pre_scaffold_cadence_gate
Language risk: Medium-low: English-first operations are realistic, but Welsh names, bilingual public-body wording and national-vs-local context need manual checking against official sources.
Recommendation: Proceed only if a Cardiff source pass proves daily practical utility from civic, transport, health, education, business and venue routes without becoming generic Wales politics, rugby, nightlife or tourism listings.
Minimum pass
Do not scaffold Cardiff unless these checks pass
Pass check
At least 8 resident-utility story candidates found in one morning pass.
Pass check
At least 4 candidates must come from council, planning, transport, health, school, university, service or public-record lanes.
Pass check
No more than 2 candidates may be pure event, sport or nightlife listings.
Pass check
At least 5 sponsor lanes must have direct local fit and public proof routes.
Pass check
Every Welsh-language name, bilingual title or public-body description must be checked against an official source before publication.
Pass check
Every launch claim must be supportable without subscriber count, open-rate, bilingual fluency or sponsor-performance metrics.
Source pass
Morning routes to test before repo creation
core
Civic records and planning
Pass signal: Three or more practical items in the next seven-day window, or one high-impact planning/council record with clear Cardiff neighbourhood relevance.
Morning checks
- Cardiff Council news and service pages
- Cardiff planning applications and recent decisions
- Cardiff ModernGov meetings, agendas and decisions
- Consultations, licensing, public notices and ward-level service updates
Resident utility examples
- Planning applications affecting homes, high streets, schools, pubs, transport, public realm or student areas.
- Committee decisions with service, budget, traffic, licensing, enforcement or public-realm impact.
- Consultations with a deadline and a clear resident action.
core
Transport and disruption
Pass signal: Two or more dated transport, road, rail, bus, airport, active-travel or major-event disruption items affecting Cardiff readers.
Morning checks
- Transport for Wales service status
- Cardiff Bus service updates
- Traffic Wales and key corridor road alerts
- Cardiff Airport flight disruption where locally useful
Resident utility examples
- Morning rail or bus disruption with affected routes and alternatives.
- Road closures around city-centre, Bay, hospital, university or stadium areas.
- Airport or major-venue disruption only when it changes reader plans.
core
Health, education and institutions
Pass signal: At least two practical health, campus, school, family or institutional items in the first pass.
Morning checks
- Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
- Cardiff University
- Cardiff Metropolitan University
- Schools, admissions, campus and public-service notices
Resident utility examples
- Hospital, clinic, patient, parking, access or appointment changes.
- University or campus activity with neighbourhood, transport or employer impact.
- School, childcare, family-service or student-community deadlines.
high
Safety, weather and public alerts
Pass signal: One or more verified, practical public-safety or weather-impact items without speculation or crime-bait framing.
Morning checks
- South Wales Police Cardiff and Vale
- South Wales Fire and Rescue
- Met Office warnings
- Flood, coastal, road and public-safety routes
Resident utility examples
- Weather warnings with likely commute, school-run or event impact.
- Public-safety notices with named places and official wording.
- Flood, road, fire or policing notices that change morning plans.
high
Business and sponsor signal
Pass signal: At least five sponsor-fit lanes with public landing pages and no unsupported reach, bilingual or performance claims needed.
Morning checks
- FOR Cardiff
- Cardiff Capital Region
- City-centre and Bay business routes
- Original business, employer and venue pages behind media leads
Resident utility examples
- Openings, closures, changed trading hours or city-centre service changes.
- Resident-useful offers from local businesses that can be described without pressure tactics.
- Employer, skills, office, retail or hospitality signals with clear Cardiff relevance.
medium
Events, culture and sport
Pass signal: Useful only when items create dated resident impact, traffic, parking, booking deadlines, family value or sponsor fit.
Morning checks
- Principality Stadium
- Wales Millennium Centre
- Cardiff Castle
- Visit Cardiff and venue calendars
Resident utility examples
- Major-event crowd, road, rail, parking and hospitality impacts.
- Booking deadlines, family sessions or civic-facing cultural items.
- Venue changes that affect residents, not generic what's-on filler.
Sponsor gate
Commercial lanes need proof before outreach
Property, relocation and homes
Help Cardiff movers, renters, renovators and homeowners find practical local services before the day starts.
- Local office or Cardiff/Vale service-area proof
- One current landing page
- Housing, finance and legal claim review
Universities, training and family services
Reach Cardiff families, students and career-switchers around useful education decisions.
- Official course, open-day, admissions or service page
- Age range and safeguarding-safe wording
- No unsupported outcome claims
Hospitality, culture, sport and visitor economy
Put dated Cardiff plans in front of readers without claiming stadium, tourism or nightlife reach.
- Current booking, menu, ticket, event or offer page
- Terms for discount, alcohol, gambling-adjacent or prize language
- Clear resident-useful CTA
Health, wellness and appointment-led services
Reach Cardiff readers planning appointments, family logistics and local services.
- Local clinic, service, practitioner or appointment proof
- Regulated health-claim review
- Plain CTA without medical outcome guarantees
Professional services and employers
Reach city-centre, Bay, university and commuter readers with practical services and employer updates.
- Local office, job, event or service proof
- Regulated-claim review where needed
- One plain CTA
Fail conditions
Stop before scaffold if these show up
Fail condition
The useful material is mostly Welsh national politics, rugby discourse, nightlife, tourism or generic events.
Fail condition
Cardiff Council, planning, transport, health and university routes do not expose enough Cardiff-specific material for daily production.
Fail condition
The boundary cannot stay Cardiff-led without drifting into a generic South Wales brief.
Fail condition
Sponsor lanes depend on unsupported audience claims, bilingual competence claims or unverified citywide reach.
Blocked claims and next actions
Keep the prep approval-gated
Do not claim
Subscriber count
Do not claim
Open rate
Do not claim
Click-through rate
Do not claim
Citywide reach
Do not claim
Welsh-language fluency
Do not claim
Bilingual public-body expertise
Do not claim
Stadium or rugby audience reach
Do not claim
Tourism conversion
Do not claim
Guaranteed sponsor performance
Do not claim
Fastest-growing Cardiff newsletter
Next action
Run one manual Cardiff source pass using this gate and record the result before scaffolding.
Next action
If passed, create newsletters/good-morning-cardiff from the generated market pattern, not bespoke island code.
Next action
Seed the new repo with the first-build source registry, this cadence proof, Welsh-language handling note, Buttondown-first env defaults, referral ladder, sponsor inventory, Products page and social launch pack.
Next action
Verify the new repo with npm run issue:build, npm run website:build and npm run website:check before any built claim.
Next action
Track the scaffold decision under MY-2577 until a dedicated Cardiff Linear issue exists.