County demands "clarity" over health shake-up

Now updated with campaign group statement ...

 

 

 

* Closure-threatened Llangollen Hospital.

 

Denbighshire has called for clarity in how Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) plans to reorganise healthcare provision across the region.

The controversial plan includes a proposal to close Llangollen Cottage Hospital, which has sparked an angry backlash in the town.

A campaign group formed specifically to oppose the move - Keep Llangollen Health Services (KLHS) - is demanding the hospital is not closed before a range of services currently provided there continue to be available locally until a planned new health is built, possibly on the site of the derelict River Lodge.

Concern has also been voiced that the new facility will not include a minor injuries unit as the hospital now does.

In a lengthy and detailed response to the board, Denbighshire, while supporting the enhanced provision of care closer to home and improved services for people with EMI, has raised concers about a number of proposals..
These include the need for the board to ensure that no services will close until new services are in place and that there must be no "cost-shunting" to adult social care, moving costs currently borne by the health board on to the council.

Also in the response, which has been compiled after in-depth consultation with town, community and county councillors, Denbighshire has expressed a high level of concern about the impact of the proposals on carers and the lack of any funding commitment to additional services to support carers as well as the need for transport services to be costed and provided in the aftermath of the reorganisation.

Cabinet Lead Member for social care and children’s services, Councillor Bobby Feeley, said: “After lengthy and detailed consultation with many stakeholders, it is clear that the devil is in the detail with these proposals and we have made sure we have carefully studied the proposals and then listed our concerns.

“The changes proposed are not fully costed at this stage so the implication on council services is not clear but we are clear that issues such as transport need to be considered fully and there is the risk that, as services are provided more in the community, the additional costs will inevitably fall on the council’s social care teams.

“We would also like to see consideration for a joint hospital hub across Denbigh and Ruthin.”

Denbighshire will now be pressing for a strategic group to be put in place for Denbighshire to enable ongoing discussion about the detailed implementation of the proposals
and will also be looking for specific support for the delivery of a minor injuries service in Llangollen.

A spokesperson for KLHS said: "Denbighshire County Council’s statement completes the unanimity of bodies ranging from AMs, councillors, organisations such as the Royal College of Nurses, the British Medical Association, town councils everywhere, and most importantly the public, in condemning Betsi Cadwaladr’s vision of Change as deeply flawed and unrealistic, especially in delivering quality patient care.

"The Keep Llangollen Special Community Group now calls for all stakeholders to speak with one voice to be champions of local care, which is universally recognised as the highest quality available, and press both health board chairman Mary Burrows and the Health Minister Lesley Griffiths to cease these disastrous cuts, to reverse the planned closure of our cottage hospitals, and invest in our most precious commodity – our nation’s health.

"Balancing columns on a spreadsheet is not leadership. It is a false economy. Only investment can lead to higher quality healthcare with efficiency savings, and reverse the neglect of years of failures to invest."

County's free Christmas parking present

Denbighshire County Council is getting into the festive spirit by offering free parking after 3 p.m. in all of its car parks from November 21 until December 31, to encourage people to shop in the county’s town centres. This compliments a number of reduced charging schemes implemented in several Denbighshire car parks during recent months and supports the five free parking days allocated for use at the discretion of town councils. Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, said: “The council feels it is vitally important to show support to our town centres and encourage people to find what local businesses have to offer. “We are hoping that people will take advantage of the parking offer in the run up to Christmas and the New Year celebrations. Regenerating communities is one of the council’s key priorities and we feel that offering this arrangement over Christmas will encourage residents to think local as an alternative and see what they have to offer.”

Fascinating food writer recalled in TV show

* Presenter Lucy Worsley with one of Dorothy Hartley's recipes involving a pig's head.

One of Britain’s most fascinating food writers – who once lived in nearby Fron - went under the spotlight in a new BBC 4 television show.

Food in England: The Lost World of Dorothy Hartley, which was screened at 9pm last night (Tuesday), was written and presented by historian Lucy Worsley.

It told the fascinating story of Dorothy Hartley who was born in 1893.

Her father was the headmaster of a boys' school in Skipton, and her mother, who taught music, was from Fron where the family owned quarries and property.

In 1933 Miss Hartley moved to Fron House where she lived for the rest of her life.^[2]

She spent the 1930s as a roving reporter on rural Britain, capturing a disappearing world of country ways.

She had a weekly column in the Daily Sketch newspaper for which she hunted out recipes, customs and folklore.

Travelling by car, bicycle or on foot, she was so dedicated to her task that she would sometimes sleep in a hedge, relying on her skill of lighting a fire to boil tea within 20 minutes whatever the weather.

She saw off would-be suitors with talk of Viking burial customs, and had a life-long habit of signing letters "D Hartley (Miss)", to draw attention to her single status.

Miss Hartley wrote up decades of her research in her great work on the nation's stomach, Food in England.

Published in 1954, it became an instant classic that's never been out of print.

Much more than a recipe book, it also covers fire, magic, fungi, Elizabethan households, salting and "tracklements" (sauces).

"Overheard in Wigan market" is a not uncommon source for a recipe.

Her concern was forever the food of ordinary people, not the rich.

As she writes in her introduction to Food in England: "Our old big house has been divided and let, and I have lived for 20 years in a workman's cottage, with a gas-stove in one room and a log fire and pot crane in the other, and cooked – as convenient – on each. It's been a happy time."

Following the death of her niece and the subsequent owner of the family house in 2004 and 2010, Dorothy Hartley's archive came to light.

Roger Mansbridge was responsible for dealing with her papers, documents and various archives, and releasing the archives has resulted in a biography-in-the-making of Miss Hartley, the TV programme and the book, 'Lost England 1933 -36.’ 

Mr Mansbridge said: “This programme had been in the making for around 12 months and there is a book to accompany it. 

“Although Miss Hartley died in 1985, her most famous book Food in England has never been out of print - she published many books in her lifetime.” 

 

• Lost World, a collection of Hartley's journalism, is published by Prospect Books.

Gardeners enjoy a wild weekend

* At work in Llangollen Community Garden. 

Members of Llangollen Community Garden recently enjoyed a wild weekend.

They were taking part in the national Keep Wales Tidy, Wild Weekend, which involved creating
habitat piles, natural fencing and a wild flower area all with the aim of encouraging wildlife.

They also ran a bat box building activity for children, and are grateful for the assistance of the countryside services staff for making the activity possible.

Tea, biscuits and cake were all provided for those taking part, keeping energy levels up and
allowing time for a chat.

Everyone involved with the garden has commented on how satisfying they have found the working sessions, seeing great progress being made every week.

Group sokesman Warren Davies said: "Community gardening is a great way to start producing your own vegetables.

"You don't need to be an expert, have your own tools, or your own land. All the work is shared, meaning less commitment while still getting great results."

He added: "Next month we intend to plough on with getting the site ready for planting in the spring. Marking out areas for planting, continuing our natural fencing and building compost bins are just some of the planned activities."

The group now has its own Facebook page. This can be found by searching in Facebook
for, 'Llangollen Community Garden'.

Information is also available from the website: www.llangollengarden.co.uk, emailing info@llangollengarden.co.uk, or calling.texting 07525 016503.

 

* Gardeners enjoy some refreshment.

Poppy Specials run at Llan Railway

 

 

 

 

* Railway visitors watch the departure of the first Poppy Special at 11am on Saturday.  

 

LLANGOLLEN Railway played its part in remembering the war dead at the weekend. 

On Saturday and Sunday, it ran a series of Poppy Special trains, each hauled by a vintage steam locomotive and proudly wearing its own large poppy on the front of the engine.  

The service departed Llangollen Station at 11am, 1pm and 3pm on both days for a period of quiet reflection. 

Visitors over the weekend also had the chance to find out about the LMS Patriot Group’s new steam engine, The Unknown Warrior, currently built in the heritage railway’s own engineering works. 

Adopted by The Royal British Legion, the aim is to have it ready to steam into London on November 11, 2018 to mark the 100^th anniversary of the end of the First World War.  

The Poppy Specials were pulled by loco number 3802, a Great Western heavy freight engine dating from 1938, which was restored at Llangollen a few years ago for a group based in Plymouth and is now back there to delight steam enthusiasts. 

Members of Llangollen’s army cadet contingent sold poppies aboard the train and on the platform and attrated good support from passengers.

Among visitors on Sunday were a family from Perth in Western Australia who landed early at Heathrow and drove straight up to Llangollen to see a steam train.

 

* Army cadets with the Poppy train. 

* A short video film of the departure of the first Poppy Special of the day on Saturday can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVvpKK4RoZg 

Skates demands full-scale child abuse investigation

* Ken Skates AM.

Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates has called for a whole scale criminal investigation into institutional child abuse in the UK.

Over the past week evidence has emerged that was not considered as part of the original inquiry into child abuse in North Wales during the 1970s and 80s.

 

It follows criticism from Steve Messham, one of hundreds who were sexually abused during that period.

The Children's Commissioner for Wales has written to The First Minister this week to request a new, fresh inquiry with wider terms of refereMr Skatesnce than the original Waterhouse inquiry which examined cases of child abuse in care homes in former county council areas of Clwyd and Gwynedd between 1974 and 1990.

However, the AM said that with so many inquiries being commissioned it was time for one overarching criminal investigation into the abuse allegations.

Raising the issue with the First Minister in the Senedd on Tuesday, who was also a journalist at the time of the original Waterhouse inquiry, said: “The abuse that went on in care homes in the 1970s and 1980s was truly sickening and horrific.

“The problem of institutional abuse goes well beyond the confines of North Wales. That is why I believe that merely looking at the issue as isolated cases of abuse in North Wales care homes or within institutions such as the BBC won't get to the root of the problem.

“I believe Operation Yewtree, the criminal investigation into alleged abuse by Jimmy Savile and others, should be broadened into an overarching investigation to include allegations of abuse of children residing in care homes.

“Clear themes and lines of enquiries are already emerging, so Operation Yewtree needs to become a much wider investigation with the power and resources to examine child abuse and organised paedophile rings right across the UK.

“Whilst a lot of important lessons came out of the original Waterhouse report, the restraints of the inquiry mean some of the victims feel they have not had their say and that some child abusers have not been brought to justice.

“Steve Messham's claims, as well as those of others who might come forward in the next few weeks and months, need to be investigated fully and offenders brought to court.”

Bid to change conditions of supermarket plan

 

* The letter outlining the latest application.

 

 

Agents for the developers are seeking permission from the county council to alter conditions imposed on the plan to build a new Sainsbury’s supermarket close to the centre of Llangollen.

 

Among other things, the fresh application, submitted last week, aims to remove the restriction covering a café inside the new store.

 

But the move has angered campaigners against the original scheme who are urging people in the area to object to it.

 

An online petition has also been launched asking the council to reject the latest proposals.

 

Despite local objections, the plan to build the new 20,000 square foot store, which applicants claim will create 109 jobs, was approved by Denbighshire’s planning committee in September.

 

It will occupy the site of the Dobson & Crowther printworks on the A5, with the factory transferring to a new location at nearby Climedw.   

 

At the planning committee meeting, Llangollen councillor Cllr Rhys Hughes proposed a list of conditions, among which was one not to include a café facility.

These conditions were accepted by members before they voted to grant the application.

Now, WYG Planning & Design, acting on behalf of applications J Ross, has submitted a new application seeking to vary a number of the conditions, including the one referring to the café.

Mike Edwards, chair of the group Keep Llangollen Special (KLS), which campaigned against the supermarket plan, said: “KLS are appalled by this application being put in so quickly when the certificate granting approval of the original applications was only just issued.
 

“In our view it is totally detrimental to all the existing independently owned cafes, coffee shops and hotels in Llangollen.

“We are discussing it at our next management committee meeting on Monday, but will be strongly opposing approval of these relaxations.

“We wish everyone in Llangollen to be aware of these revisions and urge them to object to the applications.”

A separate anti-supermarket campaign group, Llangollen Preservation, is also objecting to the latest application and has launched a petition, which can be viewed at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-llangollen-high-street/    

A spokesman for the group said: “As of a letter received on Saturday, Denbighshire Local Planning Authority have put out to public consultation - for 21 days – a proposal to release Sainsbury’s from a number of conditions, including overturning the cafe restriction.

“It is a fact the new superstores only succeed if they steal market share from their rivals – usually the most vulnerable, like small, independent traders.”

The precise terms of the new application are:

 

·         Proposed Variation Of Conditions Attached To Planning Permission 03/2012/0030/Pf For Use Class A1 Foodstore .- Condition 8D . In Relation To The Restriction On The Provision Of A Cafe Facility Within The Store, To Delete This Requirement.- Condition 13B . In Relation To Noise Emissions, To Vary The Restrictions On Permitted Levels.- Condition 16 . In Relation To Measures To Be Taken In The Event Of Noise Emissions Exceeding Permitted Levels, To Vary The Arrangements For Investigation And Implementation Of  Mitigation.- Condition 19 . In Relation To The Need To Submit  A Certificate Of Compliance With Breeam Standards Before Trading Commences, To Require The Submission Within 12 Months Of The Store Opening.- Condition 21 . In Relation To The Provision  Of  An Additional Pedestrian Access Into The Site, To Revise The Wording Of The Condition To Refer To A Revised Or Additional Pedestrian Access.

 

It can be viewed online at: http://planning.denbighshire.gov.uk/lg/GFPlanningDocuments.page