Silver Band plays at church's carol concert

* Fresh from a successful appearance at a similar occasion in Chirk Castle earlier in the day, Llangollen Silver Band played at a carol concert in Llangollen Methodist Church yesterday (Sunday) evening. 

Plans submitted for Chirk station disabled bridge

The BBC is reporting today that work could start on a £1.4m disabled access footbridge and ramp at Chirk railway station could begin in January.

See the full story at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-25368285

MP promotes "Justice for Robert" Bill

Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones is promoting a new Bill in Parliament which would mean a review of sentencing for serious driving offences.

The proposed legislation stems directly from Ms Jones’s long-standing interest in the case of nine-year-old Robert Gaunt of Overton who died after being knocked down by a car on the road near his home in 2009.

The car driver was jailed for 22 months and banned from driving for four years after he admitted perverting the course of justice.

Claiming they had been “let down” by the justice system, Robert’s family began a campaign for a change to the law, which has been backed by Ms Jones (pictured right).

In the summer of 2011, she raised the issue in Parliament and called for the law to be toughened but the Government Minister responsible told her there were are no plans to bring in what he described as ‘tinkering legislation’.

Now, the MP has revealed that she is bringing a Bill before Parliament on January 8 next year which will effectively be “Justice for Robert”.  

She said: “The formal title of the Bill is Driving Offences (Review of Sentencing Guidelines).

“The formal description is ‘That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the Secretary of State to undertake a review of the maximum penalties for driving offences leading to death and serious injury; and for connected purposes’.

“My Bill calls for a review to be made of what the guidelines are on sentencing, i.e. what the maximum penalties are for various driving offences.

“For too long those who commit serious driving offences have been received overly lenient sentences. A review must be made of the maximum penalties in order to get justice for those families torn apart by these terrible offences.”

She added: “I am very pleased to say that the Labour Party front bench have given their support to this Bill and I very much hope that the Government will do so as well.” 

Group honoured for its community efforts

* The award being presented to John Gambles by Councillor

Huw Jones (right) Shep Evans (Cymdeithas member)  

and AONB Officer Howard Sutcliffe, and t(o the right)

Joy Roberts (Cymdeithas member).

A community group in Llantysilio has been recognised by the Clwydian Range & Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) team for successfully establishing a community centre for the village. 

The AONB Award for 2013 has been given to Cymdeithas y Cwm, a voluntary group which was founded in the early 1980s when the two village pubs, The Sun and The Conquering Hero were both, at that time, closed down.  

Cymdeithas y Cwm was soon established with an annual programme of events that included a horticultural show and fete, bonfire and fireworks and a Christmas party for the whole village.

In 1997 the charity was successful in gaining the support of the National Lottery Charities Board to buy and convert The Conquering Hero or The Conq (as it is known locally) into a community centre for the village, and it has since hosted numerous events including weekly youth club, evening classes, community council and committee meetings, Llantysilio Diners Club, and children’s parties.  The charity continues to be committed to maintaining the facilities at Llantysilio Green for the benefit of the local community and visitors to the area. They also offer an employment opportunity and affordable accommodation to local people and support local businesses wherever possible.  Clwydian Range & Dee Valley AONB Officer,  Howard Sutcliffe said:  “The communities of the Clwydian Range& Dee Valley AONB are a fundamental part of our outstanding landscape and the work and efforts that have taken place in Llantysilio to provide a community centre for the benefit  all of the communities  is inspirational. The Award is very well deserved."

Councillor Huw Jones, Vice Chair of the Interim Joint Advisory Committee, said he was very proud that the communities of the Dee Valley had won the award this year; the group had shown real leadership in partnership work within the AONB.

On receiving the award on behalf of the group, John Gambles said: “We all enjoy living in such a beautiful and welcoming place and Cymdeithas has over the years enjoyed trying to add to this. We are surprised but delighted to receive this Award from the AONB on behalf of all of people who have contributed to Cymdeithas over the last 30 years; it is also a chance to thank Denbighshire County Council for the support they have given us."

Silver Band holds Christmas gala concert tonight

Llangollen Silver Band's annual Christmas Gala Concert, which is now in its fifth year, will be held at the Town Hall this evening (Friday), starting at 7pm.

* A young band member practices for the concert.

Described as a real traditional celebration of Christmas, the evening will see the Senior Band playing seasonal tunes and there will be sing-a-long carols with word sheets are provided.

The gala will showcase not only the Christmas programme that the senior and youth bands have been working very hard on, but also the varied musical talents of the band’s players both young and old.

Pick up a ticket for just £5 from Honeypots, the Town Council office in Parade Street, or from any band member.

The cost of the ticket includes a mince pie, a glass of mulled wine and a generous helping of Christmas spirit.                                                       

Council seeks views on housing issues

Denbighshire County Council is inviting people to help shape the future of housing and housing related services in the county.  The council is currently consulting on its draft Local Housing Strategy and needs feedback. Housing faces some significant challenges over the coming years.  The council says it needs to: ·        Encourage economic and housing growth ·        Mitigating the impact of Welfare Reform and the increased demand for services ·        Promote and increase availability in the private rented housing sector ·        Addressing the high levels of deprivation in areas such as Rhyl West and Upper Denbigh and Henllan.  It is important that the council receives input from key partners and the community, to ensure the housing strategy is robust, realistic and meets these challenges.  Please visit www.denbighshire.gov.uk/consultation where you will find a copy of the strategy or paper copies can be provided on request by phoning 01824 712282.

Latest from the chamber of trade and tourism

Llangollen Chamber of Trade and Tourism has submitted the following report from its latest meeting:

At the December meeting the members were pleased to hear that a number of businesses had decided to join the Chamber since the last meeting.

Membership has now nearly doubled since the summer and businesses recognise the benefits of membership - networking with other businesses; business support and advice; free training opportunities; preferential advertising; co-ordinated town activities; advance notice of events; page on www.llangollen.org website; representing your views to help make Llangollen a successful town.

County Cllr Stuart Davies was invited to attend the meeting to bring members up to date on a number of County Council issues. He explained that reductions in the amount of money the County receives from the Welsh Government together with other factors would result in savings of between 6% and 8% having to be made over the next few years.

The County Council would be considering efficiency savings in many areas to offset reductions in services but the size of the reductions would inevitably mean a significant impact on some non-statutory services.

However, in acknowledging that Llangollen has insufficient parking spaces in the town, especially in the summer months and when major events are being held, the County is investigating options to double the existing number of spaces over the next two years.

This will include plans to reduce some of the recycling facilities and removing the existing garages in Market Street car park; making more use of the car park at Ysgol Dinas Bran; extending car park provision at the Pavilion; utilising the car parks at the proposed new Health Centre; and investigating the site at Wenffrwd as a Park & Ride facility. It is likely that a consultation exercise will be carried out prior to any of these projects.

Following complaints about 'A' boards blocking pavements across the County, not just in Llangollen, there is to be a protocol established so that everyone will know what will and what will not be permitted. As a result of some unhelpful and speedy reaction in removing advertising signs for the Food Festival without warning a meeting was held with the County's Street Scene Coordinator for the Dee Valley. This proved very useful and agreement has now been reached about locations where such signs can be located in future.

The signs will also be used in future for the International Eisteddfod, Fringe Festival, Food Festival and Christmas Festival.

Cllr Davies also informed the meeting that the County Council has prepared a Town Plan for Llangollen/Llantysilio and is available for inspection on the County Council's website. Any future major projects for the town will be included in the Town Plan.

A formal letter objecting to the proposal to close the HSBC bank in Llangollen has been sent to the Group Chief Executive of HSBC as many members will be very much inconvenienced and subject to security concerns as a result of the closure. The Chair has held a meeting with Barclays Bank who say they are happy to assist any business in transferring accounts to their branch. Business accounts would be fee free for 6 months and Community accounts would be operated on a free basis as long as they were in credit.

The website is in the final stages of being re-written and the Events Diary is available to anyone wanting to advertise their events in Llangollen.

Some issues which hopefully will attract more visitors to the town - two members recently attended the Denbighshire Tourism Forum and said that good progress is being made to produce a Denbighshire Destination Plan which is anticipated to receive formal approval by the County Council in March.

Also an article is to be placed in Country Walking magazine next year after representatives spent two days here walking in the area. Contact is to be made with the Radio 4 programme on Rambling and the Times Travel Supplement in order to persuade them to do a programme/article based on Llangollen.

It is anticipated that the long awaited arrival of trains in Corwen will take place in March next year with a passenger service operational by Easter.

* The next meeting of the Chamber will be on Monday 6th January 2014 at 7.00pm in the Hand Hotel. At that meeting the priorities for the Chamber for 2014 will be discussed.