Berwyn Street roadworks from today

Latest roadworks bulletin from the county council shows there will be electrical works on the A5 Berwyn Street, Llangollen, controlled by temporary traffic lights, from today (Monday) until Wednesday, September 10-12.
 

Concerns voiced over empty Llan properties

* The Old Bank building off the A5.

The chair of Keep Llangollen Special has voiced his concerns about the new of empty shops and commercial premises in the town centre.

Mike Edwards said: “Llangollen is relatively fortunate that there is currently a relatively low vacancy rate amongst shops, but Jades Home has recently closed down and there are many other vacant or underused buildings which the local authorities are failing to tackle.

“For example, the Old Bank Buildings in Berwyn Street, the chapel opposite, the old Job Centre and the old seed factory on the A5 and so on.”

He added:  “If Denbighshire County Council allow Sainsbury's to build out of town and the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board relocate the Community Hospital to a health centre also on the edge of town and take with it the chemist, dentist etc, which is what they propose, it will ruin our vibrant town centre.”

Along the same lines, Mr Edwards has just received a response from Denbighshire County Council to comments he sent in about the authority’s draft priorities for 2012-17.

Tony Ward, the council’s improvements priority manager, writes to Mr Edwards: “Although the priorities for this council have not yet been agreed, I would be surprised if ‘Developing the Local Economy’ did not feature prominently in the Corporate Plan once it is agreed, and that many of the issues your raise were not included within that priority.  

“The intention is for the corporate priorities to last for the 5 years of this council term, and the detail of all the draft priorities has rightly not yet been developed fully. Once the Corporate Plan is agreed, the council will develop a programme of work to help deliver the priorities, and the issues you raise are clearly relevant to that discussion and are extremely valid. I certainly recognise many of your comments from conversations I have had with other members of the public and also with some Members of the council.  

“Your comments will be passed on to our Elected Members when the Council meet to debate the content of the Corporate Plan on 9th October 2012, and you are more than welcome to come to that meeting if you wish. I will also pass on your individual comments to the relevant Heads of Service so that they can consider your comments in the planning and delivery of those services.”

 

* The old chapel opposite.

* The former Jades at Home store in Castle Street.

 

* Former Job Centre in Castle Street.


 

 

Another atmospheric marina study

Reader Alan Found has sent in this atmospheric picture he took of Llan Marina on Thursday evening of last week.

If you have similar pictures of the marina or any other local scenes we'd love to see them and publish them on llanblogger.

Just e-mail them in to us at llanblogger@gmail.com

Saving bikers' lives is on the cards

 

* The launch of the CRASH card scheme.

 

A new scheme aimed at saving the lives of bikers just launched across Wales will be of interest in Llangollen which attracts a large number of motorcyclists throughout the year.

 

The billingial CRASH Card holds personal details such as allergies and medical history which could prove vital knowledge for attending ambulance crews and hospital staff.

Launched in partnership with the Welsh Ambulance Service, the North Wales Motorcycle Alliance and North Wales Police, the CRASH card could save valuable time and help with treatment especially if the rider is either unconscious or unable to communicate.

Welsh Ambulance Service Medical Director, Dr Paul Hughes, said “The CRASH cards will provide our staff with vital clinical information to improve the care we can provide for motorcyclists across North Wales. It’s important to remember that removing a motorcyclist’s helmet after an accident is a specialist task which should only be performed by ambulance crews or other trained personnel.”

Emergency responders are alerted to the card’s existence by a green dot which is placed on the right hand corner of the visor or helmet.

The card also has a mnemonic “CRASH” which gives helpful advice for the rider if they themselves come across a road traffic collision.

“Such a simple thing as carrying the CRASH card could well enable us as a service to make more informed decisions regarding the treatment needed to a motorcycle collision or incident,” added Dr Hughes.

The CRASH card scheme is established in several areas in England, and is now being introduced in Wales for the first time.

President of the North Wales Motorcycle Alliance, Bill Brereton said: “We’re pleased to be able to introduce the CRASH card in Wales. It has been successfully introduced in parts of England and with the amount of motorcyclists in and visiting Wales it makes sense for this basic addition to be made available for a motorcyclists’ kit.

“Of course we’d be quite happy if the CRASH card never had to be used, but collisions do happen and if the information can help save someone’s life then it will be well worth the effort.”

“We would like to thank Conwy Motorcycle Club, North Wales Advanced Motorcyclists, Lara Bimble, the Welsh Ambulance Service and Ambulance Motorcycle Club for their support.”

Paul Cheshire, Bikesafe Coordinator for North Wales Police added: “Bikesafe are pleased to support this development. It is yet another good example of partnership working and we hope that many riders will take advantage of this opportunity.”

Council keeps a close eye on beauty sector

Staff from Denbighshire County Council are highlighting the work being carried out to regulate and monitor businesses involved in the beauty sector.

Environmental Health Officers in the Planning and Public Protection Department carry out regular inspections of sunbed parlours, beauty parlours and tattoo salons to make sure that they are safe and also that there are no risks to the health of customers.

The council also registers operators that want to get involved in tattooing, cosmetic piercing, semi-permanent tattoo, electrolysis and acupuncture.

Essentially, the council licences them after they can prove their premises is suitable and they are competent people to offer the treatment.

The council says it would always advise the public to:

· Check and ask to see whether the business is registered with the council to carry out the treatment. The business should be able to show you a certificate issued by Denbighshire County Council. You can also check with the Food and Health & Safety Team to see whether they are registered.

· Never use a non-registered operator. This increases the risk of potentially serious health problems following the treatment for example skin infections, Hepatitis B & C and HIV if the sterilisation procedures are not good enough. Avoid going to someone who has bought a tattooing kit over the internet and has never had any training to make sure it is done safely.

· Let the council know if people are carrying out unregistered treatments at home, so that we can investigate the issue and possibly avoid people being harmed or becoming ill.

· Make sure you get good advice from businesses before and after your treatment, including how to minimise the risk of a skin infection.

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member with responsibility for Public Protection, said: "Businesses are advised to contact the Council for advice and to register. There are new byelaws in place to regulate the industry and the Council are inspecting businesses, following-up complaints and taking action if there are serious risks identified.

"The use of sun beds is always in the news and officers carry out regular inspections and secret shopper visits to ensure that the business is supervised by a trained person, that health advice is provided to members of the public and that no-one under 18 years of age receives any treatment.

"More secret shopper visits are planned over the next year and enforcement will be taken against salons that do not meet the standards.”

Letter from chair of Keep Llangollen Special

Mike Edwards, chair of the group Keep Llangollen Special, has sent in this letter concerning the ongoing saga of the future of health service in the town:

"Speaking recently Mary Burrows the CEO of Betsi Cadwaladr talking about the Woodlands(Riverside Lodge) site said: 'No decision has yet been made. We still have to make a decision whether we want to build a facility in Llangollen. It may be the preferred site if such a facility was built, but we need to establish need and engage with the community before that. There is a formal process that we have to follow.'

"This clearly shows that despite the fact that Community Hospital will close early in 2013 Llangollen is not certain to have a replacement Health Centre be it in 2015 or whenever! Mary Burrows is now talking about "ESTABLISHING NEED" despite assurances she previously gave in correspondence to Ken Skates AM.

"This heightens KLS' concerns about the Health Boards proposals which will lead to increased vehicle journeys for patients and their families. This is clearly in breach of Welsh Government's sustainability policies.

"We would be grateful if you could bring this to the attention of residents, please?"
 
Mike Edwards
 

Water waste of a precious resource

* The drinking water gushes into the canal.

A novel way of topping up the Llangollen Canal seems to have been discovered.

Yesterday (Thursday) afternoon one of the service points supplying utilities to boats tying up on the stretch after the wharf in the direction of Fron was freely gushing gallons of drinking water – straight into the canal beside it.

One wonders how long it had been leaking in this way and why something had not been done to stop it.

There was a yellow and black tape tied around it, so somebody in charge of the canal must have known something about it.

There’s clearly no shortage of water here.

But who is paying for it, llanblogger wonders.

If the new Canals and Rivers Trust which is in now charge of the canal cares to explain we'd be delighted to publish their reply.