Fears grow for missing five-year-old girl

 

Llangollen may be over 50 miles away from Machynlleth but we are on a main road, so llanblogger believes it may be useful to carry the story of the five-year-old girl missing from the Powys town since yesterday (Monday) evening. 

Police say they are treating the disappearance of April Jones as a suspected abduction and are becoming increasingly concerned for her safety.

 * Missing ... April Jones.

April was seen playing with friends near her home and then getting into a grey or light coloured van at 7.30pm.

Hundreds of local people have been helping in a search of streets, farmland and woodland through the night.

Det Ch Supt Simon Powell of Dyfed-Powys Police said officers were "becoming increasingly concerned for her safety".

Local people gathered at Machynlleth Leisure Centre on Monday evening to help look for the girl, as news of her disappearance spread on social network sites.

A crowd of people had also gathered in the town's main street to take part in the search, and posters of April have been put up.

Police have set up road blocks to check vehicles, while the street where April disappeared has been cordoned off.

 

Officers are appealing for anyone with information to contact them by calling 0300 2000 333.

Bins to roll out across the county

Thousands of households in Denbighshire are set to receive enhanced recycling services in the biggest roll-out of the x2 scheme the Council has ever undertaken.

By the end of November, around 11,000 of the 16,000 households that currently use sacks for recycling and refuse collection will be in receipt of the very popular x2 service provided to 27,000 households already.

This big switch to bins has been made possible by replacing older refuse trucks and pick-ups with smaller refuse trucks that can be fitted with the necessary lifting equipment for wheeled bins.

This means that wheeled bins can now be used in previously inaccessible narrow streets and many country.

The effectiveness of the x2 service is such that it has helped Denbighshire residents take recycling to the highest levels achieved in Wales – despite only two-thirds of households receiving the full service.

With over 90% of households receiving x2, the council expects recycling to increase to around 64% - a level the Welsh Government doesn’t expect councils to reach until 2020.

After this huge expansion of the x2 service, around 5,000 households will still rely on sack services because of access problems that cannot be overcome.

However, where sacks still have to be used collections are being changed so that residents can enjoy all the facilities of the x2 service.

Residents will receive separate, weekly food waste collections using secure orange bins. This separate collection of food waste will go a long way towards eliminating the biggest problem with sack collections - the fact that birds and other animals see refuse sacks as a source of food.

Also, householders will be offered garden waste collections for the first time. This is possible because the reductions in the amount of refuse achieved through high levels of recycling, coupled with the new food waste collection, mean that is no longer necessary to collect pink sack refuse on a weekly basis.

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, said: “Throughout October and November, residents will be provided with their new bins, where appropriate, and their new recycling and refuse collection schedules directly.

“When Denbighshire initially switched to wheelie bins, housholders only had two bins, now, with the advances made in recycling technology, we are providing over 11,000 households with three different bins and a food waste collection service.

"It has been a huge logistical excercise and months of planning to get to this stage.The sheer size and scale of this roll out means there may be a few teething problems but we would like to thank residents in advance for their patience over the next two months.”*

A briefing on the x2 roll out can be arranged on request by the council.

5p carrier charge could spread to rest of UK

One year on from the introduction of Wales’ 5p bag charge, Environment Minister John Griffiths has said he can see no reason why the charge wouldn’t work just as well in other parts of the UK.

Since the charge was introduced in October 2011, carrier bag use in Wales has reduced by as much as 96% in some retail sectors, and a recent survey of attitudes indicated that the charge is now supported by around 70% of people in Wales.

The charge has also resulted in more money for charities and not for profit organisations as the Welsh Government has called on retailers to pass proceeds from the 5p charge onto environmental or good causes

Latest figures from RSPB and Keep Wales Tidy show that collectively they have already received more than £800K in donations as a direct result of the charge. This money has come from the proceeds of bag sales at major retailers including Tesco, McDonalds, Argos, Asda and Wilkinson, and RSPB and Keep Wales Tidy are just two of many good causes to benefit.

Co-op are donating proceeds from the charge to environmental causes across Wales, and in April they pledged £75,000 to the Vincent Wildlife Trust to support a three-year project to protect Pine Martens, a rare species living on the south west Wales and in Snowdonia.
Speaking about the success of the charge, the Environment Minister said: "One year on from the introduction of our 5p bag charge it is obvious that it has made a real difference to shopping habits of people here in Wales.
“Checkouts across Wales are now full of people using their own bags to carry shopping rather than paying 5p for a new one, and it is really heartening to see people in Wales developing sustainable shopping habits and being much less wasteful with the world’s natural resources. I think the Welsh experience proves that if you want to effectively reduce carrier bag use, a charge really is the best way to go.
“I have been really impressed by the ease with which Welsh retailers and shoppers have adjusted to the charge. Their efforts have been key to its success and I can see no reason why the charge wouldn’t work just as well in other parts of the UK.”

Police seek handbag snatch man

Police are appealing for information after a woman was robbed soon after she left a bank in Ruabon.

The incident happened on Thursday September 27 around 1pm after the woman left the HSBC Bank in Ruabon High Street.

She walked the short distance to her car which was parked the Wynnstay Hotel car park.

While sitting in her vehicle, a man described as white, in his 20’s, of average build with dark hair and wearing a black ‘blouson’ style leather jacket, opened the passenger door and grabbed the handbag before running off.

DS Paul Kelly said: “We are appealing for witnesses who may have been in the Ruabon area on September 27 and may have seen the suspect.

"If anyone recognises this man from the pro-fit please contact Wrexham C.I.D. on 101 or crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."

'Save our health services' campaign gets under way

* The KLHS leaflet to be distributed across Llangollen. 

The campaign to protect health services in Llangollen is under way.

And its hard-hitting main message is “We’ve got less than a month to stop Llangollen being closed”.

As exclusively revealed by llanblogger, at a public meeting in the Hand Hotel last Thursday an action group was formed to safeguard health services in the town.

* The new group's website. 

Named Keep Llangollen Health Services (KLHS), its aim is to halt controversial proposals by the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board which include closing the town's Cottage Hospital and replacing it with a new primary care health centre on another site in the town. 

Members of the new group are deeply worried the new facility will take years to complete and will not include the in-patient beds or minor injuries unit currently offered by the hospital on Abbey Road.

The community hospital, which the health board says is outdated and in need of replacement, also provides a range of vital health services, such blood testing, and campaigners are concerned about whether these will continue to be provided locally during an expected gap of two or three years between it closing and a new centre opening.

KLHS has just announced it has organised a follow-up public meeting, in the Hand Hotel on Monday, October 15, starting at 7pm, when it will set out its action plans for the public, invite speakers and orchestrate a letter-writing campaign seeking the support of local residents, opinion-formers, politicians and the media. 

The group has also set up its own dedicated website – see it at www.llangollenhospitalcampaign.wordpress.com – and email address, keepllanhealthservice@gmail.com 

It has printed hundreds of copies of a leaflet – with English and Welsh language versions – which it is to distribute across the town and surrounding areas.   

KLHS will  liaise with other groups opposing health service changes, such as the one in Flint which recently organised a march through the streets of the town by 1,500 people fighting the closure of their own community hospital. 

The group is also collecting personal accounts from local people about how important the Cottage Hospital has been in their lives over the years.  

A KLHS spokesperson said: “We’ve got less than a month to stop Llangollen Hospital being closed. 

“The health board wants to permanently close all the hospital beds in Llangollen, sell the hospital and only then apply for planning permission for a new health centre without any beds. 

“Nursing and GP-based hospital care in Llangollen for frail and terminally-ill people would cease to exist.”

llanblogger samples new Chirk Castle attraction

* The sumptuous Bow Drawing Room.

Llanblogger went just a few miles up the road to Chirk Castle on Sunday to get a taste of a forgotten period in Welsh history.

The grand opening of the ancient fortress’s East Wing to the public for the first time the previous day marked the culmination of a two-year, £200,000 project to mark the impact Lord Howard de Walden had on Chirk Castle and Wales between the wars, and included a medieval pageant complete with displays of falconry, archery, men at arms fighting with swords, pike drill and a roving court jester.

Recognised as the Last Great Patron of the Welsh Arts for his formidable support of Welsh cultural institutions like the National Eisteddfod, and a number of leading Welsh artists and writers, Lord Howard de Walden’s life and work has not been fully celebrated until now.

To reflect his pivotal role in Welsh history, Chirk Castle’s the East Wing has been painstakingly redisplayed to give visitors a taste of the eighth Lord Howard de Walden’s life in the medieval castle, which he rented from 1911-46.

Carolyn Latham, house and visitor services manager at Chirk Castle, said: “The sumptuous Bow Room has been redisplayed to match the picture Sir John Lavery painted of the Howard de Walden family relaxing in the room in 1929.

“We have also been able to get hold of many of the treasures the family had on show here during their time in the castle, including a rare suit of armour, Welsh military dagger and a painting by renowned Welsh painter Augustus John. Much of this private collection has never been seen by the public before.”

Walking into the drawing room is like stepping right back into the 1930s.

An enormous log fires roars in the ornate grate around which there are comfortable chairs where visitors can sit as they thumb through the castle’s visitors’ book bearing a host of famous names of the day, such as Rudyard Kipling and George Bernard Shaw.

* Family portraits on the piano.

In the corner of the room a period wireless pumps out 1930s dance music, while photographs of the family adorn the top of the grand piano.

In an adjoining room an old-fashioned projector whirrs away to show flickering black and white Howard de Walden home movies shot at Chirk Castle during their time living there.  

"During Tommy Howard de Walden’s time here, he not only put Chirk Castle at the centre of Welsh culture, but his lavish parties and theatrical connections put Chirk at the heart of British arts and culture for decades," added Carolyn.

Tommy, The Eighth Lord Howard de Walden

§  Competed in the 1908 Olympics

§  Established the Welsh National Theatre

§  Housed Dylan Thomas

§  Learned to speak Welsh fluently

§  Supported and promoted Eisteddfodau

§  Edited Burke’s Peerage

§  Wrote libretti for operas

§  Took the name Elis o’r Waun on being received by the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod. 

AM calls for Wales-only TV licence

Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates has called on the Culture Secretary Maria Millar to develop a separate Channel 3 Licence for Wales.

The new Culture Secretary is currently considering options for the renewal of ITV’s public service licence after 2014 and the Labour AM, who recently chaired an Assembly Enquiry into the Media, has called for a distinct Wales-only licence.

The AM said the future health of ITV was vital to a healthy media in Wales and warned of the impact further staff cutbacks could have on coverage of news and politics.

He said: “The future of ITV in Wales is vital if we are serious about developing a strong media landscape. The current Channel three licence expires in 2014 and the renewal options currently being examined by the Secretary of State are hugely important to the future of public service broadcasting in Wales.

“I believe ITV should have its renewal but as we suggested in our report, maintaining the current licence terms and conditions must be the absolutely bare minimum. As a Bridgend-born Secretary of State, Maria Millar will know the importance of a strong and distinct ITV presence in Wales.

“I would certainly urge the Minister and ITV to be seriously examining the possibility of a separate, Wales-only licence that is commercially sustainable and meets the needs of the community. The importance of this would be that it would make it much easier in future years to encourage other players into the market to develop an alternative Channel three offering for Wales.

“We’ve already seen ITV’s public service broadcasting commitments scaled back quite drastically over the last few years. It’s had a big impact in Wales where ITV now only broadcasts four and a half hours of news and 90 minutes of non-news every week.”

This week ITV announced a wave of redundancies to staff across its regional news with cutbacks affecting technical and support staff including directors, craft editors and camera operators ITV introduces a new centralised graphics unit based in Birmingham.

The move is believed to be the first phase of a two-part redundancy plan, coming after just a handful of staff opted for voluntary redundancy in a scheme announced on September 7.

Mr Skates warned: “If renewal does go ahead I would seriously urge ITV to think long and hard about how the planned regional cutbacks will impact on output here in Wales.

“We have historically had a very weak media in Wales and it is vital both to the plurality of output and to the future of our devolved democracy that we ensure the health and vibrancy of our most important commercial station.

“Cutbacks at ITV Wales in terms of staff and jobs would seriously impact on their ability to be a rigorous and authoritative public service broadcaster for the nation.”