Wrexham plans warm welcome home for Olympic stars

 

Wrexham will welcome its London 2012 Olympians in style on September 28 with a free public celebration event on Llwyn Isa, the green in front of the Guildhall.

 

The WOW – Wrexham’s Olympic Winners event will see circus acts and sporting activities, music and song for all the family to enjoy.

 

The event will take place between 4.00 and 6.00 pm.

Two of Wrexham's Olympians, Tom James and Chris Bartley are able to attend the celebration being held in their honour and are looking forward to being back in Wrexham.

Wrexham's young sporting ambassadors and elite athletes have all been invited and will form a special guard of honour to escort the athletes to the Guildhall where they will receive a civic welcome by the Mayor before making an appearance on the balcony and taking a walk on the green.

A big screen will be set up on the green which will show footage of Wrexham's young athletes and of course highlights from the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics that have raised everyone's spirits these past few weeks.

Music and entertainment will be provided by Wrexham's Community Choir and Nofitstate circus who are making their first appearance in Wrexham for over 10 years.

Sporting clubs and associations from around the county borough will be providing demonstrations and tasters to encourage youngsters to take up a sporting activity.

Cllr Neil Rogers, Leader of Wrexham Council, said: "We want this event to be an occasion that everyone can enjoy and show their appreciation for the significant achievements of our three Olympians.

"The theme of the London 2012 Olympics was to inspire a generation and these athletes have certainly done that for young people in Wrexham.

"There are many clubs and associations in Wrexham that offer olympic sports' training such as swimming and fencing, tennis and gymnastics and we hope the London 2012 Olympics and the successes of Tom, Chris and Vicky will inspire them to want to achieve success in sports. Everyone will be welcome to enjoy the activities on the green and give a very warm Wrexham welcome to our returning Olympians."

All planned activities will be weather dependent. In the event of rain, some activities may be moved to an alternative location.

Travelling Troupe's town hall triumph

* The Travelling Troupe present a number from the musical Chicago. Picture by Barrie Potter.

Llangollen Operatic Society’s Travelling Troupe stopped travelling long enough to wow a home audience last night (Friday).

The group of strolling performers, which sings gigs around the region to raise money for the society, was presenting the first of two showcase evenings entitled Lost in Music.

The second comes tonight at the same venue, starting at 8pm – with tickets still available.

On the programme for both nights is a powerful selection of songs from some of the biggest shows around and a few other well-known belters that aren’t.

The entire 15-strong outfit got straight down to business by blasting out their interpretation of Masquerade from Phantom of the Opera before Simon Orton-Jones fronted the Anthem from Chess.

The full troupe – attired in their usual black with colourful trimmings – was back on stage to rattle out the intricate Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, then it was off to Chicago  where impressive soloist Tessa Orton-Jones told us what happens When You’re Good to Mama.

We stayed in Chicago while the ladies of the troupe Razzle Dazzled us and then gave us All That Jazz.

A switch in time, pace and geography conveyed us to Dickensian London where the throaty and magnificent Bill Hughes assumed the grisly mantle of Fagin to inform us he was Reviewing the Situation – leaving the stage afterwards to inform us that the kids in his thieves’ kitchen were “all for sale”. Nice atmospheric touch!

Quest for Camelot was the musical that was tabled next, with Helen Belton and Simon Orton-Jones giving us a poignant rendition of The Prayer.

The graphics department shone as bright as the singers in the next number – Gary Barlow’s Diamond Jubilee piece, Sing. 

A huge moving depiction of highlights from Elizabeth II’s reign flickered from a screen sunk into the backcloth as the full troupe augmented by kids from the operatic society’s junior section, The Young ‘Uns, led us delightfully through the number.

It was then back over to the States for a medley by the full troupe from Guys & Dolls.

Everything was true to the original, right down to the authentic Nu Yoik accents.

From Manhattan in the 1930s it was a quick dart across time and the Atlantic to Paris in the 1840s for the next piece – I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables presented by the creamy-voiced Helen Belton.

We stayed with Lez Miz for the final three numbers – On My Own from super soprano Louisa Jones, Bring Him Home from the big-voiced Bill Hughes and One day More delivered with suitable verve by the entire troupe.

A marvellously entertaining evening thus came to a close - to the delight of a jam-packed town hall audience.

The whole thing was a credit to the on-stage performers and musical director Elen Mair Roberts and to the versatile four-member band that so faultlessly accompanied them.    

Don’t forget tickets are still available for tonight’s show at £8 and £5 concessions.

* The full troupe on stage for another powerful number. Picture by Barrie Potter. 

 

 

 

New plans to help the terminally ill in Wales

New plans to improve end of life care for terminally-ill patients and their families have been published.

Combining compassion with high quality care is at the centre of the plan.

Building on the achievements of the Palliative Care Implementation Board to strengthen existing services, the Welsh Government’s Together for Health – Delivering End of Life Care plan sets out how NHS Wales will improve inequalities in end of life care up to 2016.

Key aims of the plan include providing 24/7 support to all people entering the terminal phase of their illness and ensuring pain and symptoms are controlled. Access to appropriate support and symptom control must be the same wherever a person dies – at home, in hospital, in a care home or a hospice.
The plan also stresses that those who wish to be cared for, and to die at home, should be supported in this choice.
Health Minister Lesley Griffiths, Assembly Member for Wrexham, said: "Everybody is affected by the death of a family member or friend who has gone through a final phase of illness. I want, as far as possible, to reduce the amount of distress in the terminal phase of illness for the patient and their family.
“Not only do people need rapid assessment and the best possible treatment, but they also need ongoing support and information about choices when treatment may no longer be effective.
“I want patients to have access to information to help them make decisions about their care and treatment so they have an element of control at the end of their life.
“The NHS must be committed to taking the lead, working with its partners in Wales to deliver this at every single stage of the patient’s journey. All NHS organisations in Wales will be required to publish an annual report on end of life services to enable the public to track progress.”
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, Professor of Palliative Medicine, Cardiff University and Velindre NHS Trust, said: "I went into palliative care because I wanted to improve conditions for patients at the end of their life. When I was a junior doctor, palliative care was neglected, leaving patients and their families isolated and scared.
"Things have improved hugely since then, most recently thanks to the work of the Wales Palliative Care Implementation Board established in 2008. However, more can still be done to ensure good quality end of life and palliative care is readily available, universally.
"The plan published today shows a deep commitment on the part of the Welsh Government to improve end of life care across Wales for patients and their families."
Together for Health – Delivering End of Life Care sets out the requirements of the NHS in Wales and explains how success will be measured.

Mike Edwards' response to superstore approval story

llanblogger has received the following response from Mike Edwards, chair of Keep Llangollen Special, to our story earlier today about the Sainsbury foodstore/Cilmedw planning applications:

The original application by J Ross claimed there
would be 220 jobs created on the new D&C site, the 109 is what they employ
currently according to what we were told on a site visit.

The report provided to DCC by Roger Tym & Partners is fatally flawed
because:

1. It failed to take into consideration the new supermarket built in Cefn Mawr
by Tesco which is only 5 miles away from Llangollen and readily available to
people who commute to work in Wrexham, Chester or further afield;

2. It also refers to in a report dated June 2012 to Stan's super store having
been granted planning consent when in actual fact it had been trading since
February of this year:

The application for the new supermarket is NOT in accordance with Planning
Policy Wales(PPW) in terms of its affect on the vitality and
vibrancy of the Town Centre and fails the guidance on sustainability because it
will increase vehicle journeys and cause further congestion on the A5 which is
a main arterial tourist route through town.

DCC have been in favour of these applications from the word go and probably
because if they refuse them they are afraid that J Ross/Sainsbury's will use
their financial muscle and appeal the application and employ top planning
barristers to argue their case which a Local Authority are not able to match.
Is that a valid reason to approve the application and ruin Llangollen and turn
it into another Clone Town similar to the hundreds of others around the UK. You
only have to look at what has happened to Wrexham, Oswestry, Ruthin etc with
empty shops everywhere in their main streets.

Mike Edwards

 

Store and factory plans recommended for approval

* Dobson & Crowther factory on the A5 - site of the proposed Sainsbury's foodstore. 

llanblogger exclusive

County council officers are recommending members of Denbighshire’s planning committee to give the go-ahead to a controversial scheme for a new Sainsbury’s supermarket in Llangollen.

At its meeting next Wednesday, the committee is also being advised by its experts to grant a linked application to transfer the Dobson & Crowther envelope factory, on whose land the foodstore would be built, to a new site on farmland just up the road. 

Both plans have caused a deep rift in the community, with rival groups supporting or opposing them. 

Separate reports to the committee from the council’s head of planning and public protection Graham Boase detail the responses to consultation on the applications, which have both been submitted by Scott J Ross Developments. 

 

* The Cilmedw Farm site proposed for the new factory. 

Jobs claim

 

 

 

The supermarket scheme, which is claimed will create up to 109 full-time equivalent jobs, would mean a foodstore of 1,858 square metres being built on Dobson & Crowther’s four-acre site off Berwyn Street, the main A5 through the town. 

Objections to it have gone in to the council from organisations such as Llangollen Civic Society and the pressure group Keep Llangollen Special, which produced a DVD film outlining its views and organised online and on-paper petitions containing hundreds of names. 

Opposition has also been voiced by a total of 21 individuals. 

Main objections revolve around the adverse impact a new foodstore would have on local independent shops, its visual impact on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the creation of noise and extra traffic. 

The number of jobs to be created at the proposed store is also questioned by the objectors. 

Supporters of the scheme included 21 individuals and Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates. 

They sent in letters of support and a petition containing 347 signatures. 

Those in favour of it claim the store would fulfil Llangollen’s need for a “decent affordable place to shop without having to travel to Wrexham or Oswestry. 

They also point to the boost it would give to local employment. 

A number of interested organisations offered no objection, including the Town Council and Llangollen Chamber of Trade and Tourism. 

Retail consultants acting for the council say that while there is a “qualitative” need for a new foodstore, they are unable to conclude there was a “quantitive” need and that it is “difficult to assess” whether the impact on local trade would warrant a refusal of permission. 

However, the consultants suggest conditions are imposed to prevent the store including a pharmacy, post office, dry cleaners and café. 

In his report, which recommends the application is granted, planning chief Mr Boase says there are limited technical grounds for opposing the development as conditions can be imposed to address issues such as traffic generation and ecology. 

He adds the council’s consultants have advised there are “no strong retail planning policy grounds” for refusal. 

Mr Boase says there are “recognisable gains” for the development of a foodstore to benefit the public and that the scheme has “clear employment benefits”.

One condition of granting the application would that the applicants would make a contribution of £10,000 towards the improvement of nearby Riverside Park. 

Also recommended for granting is the separate scheme to relocate the envelope factory to 3.3 acres of land at Climedw Farm just 500 metres along Berwyn Street. 

Again, this has attracted significant numbers of responses both for and against the plan, with backers claiming it would safeguard 100 jobs at the company, which is the largest employer in Llangollen, and opponents pointing out its encroachment on to greenbelt land. 

In his report to the committee Mr Boase says: “Whilst acknowledging the potential impact on visual, historic landscape and heritage interests, which may only be capable of partial mitigation through the imposition of planning conditions, it is respectfully suggested that the employment arguments should carry significant weight in this instance.” 

Both reports can be seen at:https://moderngov.denbighshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=183&MId=4557&Ver=4&LLL=0

 

 

 

 

 

 

Local lensman leads photography course

Llan-based lensman Barrie Potter, who recently supplied a cracking picture of the canal marina to llanblogger, is to be tutor on an “Introduction to Digital Photography” course in Ruabon Library starting on Monday September 24 at 9.30 and running forn for 11 weeks. 

 

The course, organised by Yale College in the Community, is intended help you get to know the controls on your digital camera and then to transfer your photos to simple photo editing software on your computer.

 

So if you want to know what that strange looking button on your camera does, why not go along?

For more information and to enrol, phone the Yale College course hotline 01978 311794.

 

Meanwhile, here's another stunning local image by Barrie.

 

Further consultation on county housing plans

The Denbighshire Local Development Plan Examination process is still underway and the inspectors have requested that a further consultation be held on potential additional housing allocations, which will run for eight weeks from September 11 until November 6, 2012.

The inspectors in their note of findings (EXAM0111Q) have indicated that currently the Denbighshire LDP is likely to under-provide for housing needs across the county by around 1,000 houses. 

The council has agreed that further work can be carried out to identify additional housing sites that will make up this shortfall. 

These additional housing allocations together with a draft phasing policy relating to these sites are the sole subject of this consultation. Site plans, sustainability appraisal information and draft phasing policy are available at all the council’s One Stop Shops, libraries and on the Ccuncil’s website www.denbighshire.gov.uk/ldpexam

This consultation is open to all members of the public but restricted to the additional sites in question. Letters providing information have been sent to all those who have register an interest in the LDP, all town and community councils and your elected members.

Further hearing sessions are likely to be held in January 2013, the details of which will be available on the LDP Examination website (www.denbighshire.gov.uk/ldpexam), and from the Programme Officer, in due course.

The deadline for comments is Tuesday, November 6th. Written responses should be sent to Local Development Plan Consultation, Denbighshire County Council, Caledfryn, Smithfield Road, Denbigh, LL16 3RJ, by fax: 01824 706709 or e-mail: ldp@denbighshire.gov.uk