Pick a safe party say health chiefs

Emergency Department staff are calling on revellers to choose a safe night out on the eve of the year’s busiest party season.
 

NHS staff working in the regions three emergency departments at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Glan Clwyd Hospital and Wrexham Maleor are supporting the Choose Well campaign as the festive season begins to get into full swing.

Year on year, Wales’ emergency departments and ambulance service have seen a rise in the number of people using both services. Emergency Department attendances in Wales are up by 12 per cent since 2005

December attendance at the three emergency departments in North Wales has increased from 12,642 in 2009 to 13,280 in 2011.

Welsh Government figures also report that only 27 per cent of people who go to Emergency Departments are admitted as an Emergency.

The Choose Well campaign centres on a colour coded thermometer to assist people in linking their symptoms or injury to the right service, which is right for their need.

And this year NHS partners across North Wales have reached out to the younger generation to help make sure the right services are available for the right patients across the winter months.

Stats have revealed that people aged between 15-29 regular use an emergency department when their ailment could be dealt with more quickly and efficiently by a pharmacist , GP or minor Injuries units for cuts, bites and strains.

Dr Aruni Sen, Consultant in Emergency Medicine said: “We all know that traditionally, December can be a busy month following the onset of colder weather, increase in flu and norovirus cases and above all, the aftermath of the Christmas party season.

“We don’t want to spoil the festive season for people but we would urge them to make the right choices while out for the night, be sensible when consuming alcohol and keep safe whilst in crowded places.

“Emergency Departments are ready first and foremost for those facing a life threatening situation. Having to deal with a person sleeping off the effects of too much alcohol could draw out resources away from someone who really needs our support urgently.”

If you do need help over the festive season, please remember the services below:

• Self care –Many illnesses can be treated at home by using over-the-counter medicine, taking plenty of fluids and getting plenty of rest. Self care is the best choice to treat very minor illnesses and injuries.

• NHS Direct Wales offers confidential health advice and information 24 hours a day by either calling 0845 46 47, or via the internet www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk Contact NHS Direct if you are ill and have any questions about health. The service can also help you to find health services in your local area.

• Pharmacist Visit a pharmacy when you are suffering from a common health problem which does not require being seen by a nurse or doctor. Your local pharmacist can give you advice on common illnesses and the medicines you need to treat them. They may help if you have run out of your normal repeat prescription. They can also provide Emergency Contraception

• GP and Out of Hours Services - During office hours please contact your GP for advice and treatment of most illnesses. GP advice is available outside office hours from your local out of hours service, To contact out of hours services, telephone your usual GP number or NHS Direct Wales on 0845 46 47.

• Dental Services For advice contact your registered Dentist. If you are not registered with a dentist and need urgent treatment, you can call the North Wales Dental Helpline on 0845 60 10 128 to find out about emergency dental clinics.

• Minor Injuries Units– Located at some hospitals, these should be used for the treatment of minor injuries such as cuts, bites, stings and muscle and joint injuries. There is no need for an appointment. Minor Injuries Units are located throughout North Wales. They can treat minor injuries and give you health advice. For details of your nearest Minor Injuries Unit, please contact NHS Direct on 0845 46 47.

• Emergency Department (A&E) or 999 – Emergency Department (A&E) can treat people who are very ill or badly injured. They can be found in Bangor, Bodelwyddan and Wrexham. You should always call 999 in a life threatening emergency - if someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.

Hillsborough survivor welcomes new inquests

* Survivor - Kelvin "Kelly" Davies.

 

A HILLSBOROUGH survivor fsys news that fresh inquests are to be held into the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans who died in the 1989 disaster is an “early Christmas present” for relatives.

Yesterday, the High Court quashed the original inquest verdicts returned on those who died in the crush which developed on the terraces at the Shefffield stadium.

The Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge also ordered fresh inquests following an application by the Attorney General.

And, in a separate development, Home Secretary Theresa May has announced a new police inquiry into the tragedy.

These moves have been welcomed by 56-year-old Kelvin “Kelly” Davies, who narrowly survived death himself and had to be carried unconscious from the terrace on an advertising hoarding which fellow fans had ripped from the side of the pitch.

After being given emergency first aid he came to surrounded by dead bodies in the stadium’s gym, which was being used as a makeshift mortuary.

Mr Davies, who  works as a machine operator at the Dobson & Crowther factory in Llangollen, still has flashbacks of a young boy dying right next to him as they both lay fighting for breath on the terraces.

He said of yesterday’s developments: “This is very good news for the relatives of those who died and for the survivors – it has come as an early Christmas present for us.

“It has taken a long time for this to happen but at last it has and these are two important steps on the long road to final justice.

“As a survivor of that day I have gone through hell over the past 23 years, so god knows what the relatives of those people who died have had to endure.

“It’s as though the 96 who died were just swept under the carpet and didn’t mean a thing.”

He added: “I was at the original inquest and sat there for two days without being called and now I intend to take some time off work to attend the new hearings.

“It would be marvellous to see the inquests this time go in favour of the families.

“Two or three years ago you’d never have dreamt that things would develop like they have today but we’ve had some good people helping us out.

“They’ve been prepared to step up to the mark and demand something is done to set the record straight at last.

“Hopefully, when this new legal process is over someone will be held accountable for what went wrong that awful day.” 

'Sainsbury's gets Llan as Christmas present,' says correspondent

Letter to llanblogger ...

 

The news that Sainsbury’s have been granted almost everything they wished for is very disappointing and this is a black day for Llangollen.

 

What is the point of local businesses and volunteer groups striving to create a thriving community, if Sainsbury’s are allowed to ride roughshod over us and take the spoils?

 

I feel we have been betrayed and I am not sure I can forgive.

 

Denbighshire Councillors have played Santa Claus and given Llangollen to Sainsbury’s as a Christmas present.

Gill Thomas

Osborne says no VAT on Hillsborough single

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has today announced that the Government will waive VAT on sales of the Hillsborough single, He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.

The donation will be equivalent to the VAT receipts collected on sales before the end of March 2013.

Proceeds from the release of the single will be deposited into a fund to provide legal support for the families of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.

The Chancellor said: “These families have been campaigning for justice for almost 24 years; it’s been a long journey so I’m pleased to be able to say the Government will effectively waive the VAT on sales of the Hillsborough single, ensuring that as much money as possible goes towards helping these families.”

Store's cafe restriction removed by councillors

A ban on including a café in the new Sainsbury’s food store earmarked for Llangollen has been lifted by Denbighshire’s planning committee.

At their meeting this morning (Wednesday) members followed the advice of county planning chief Graham Boase and voted 21-3 to remove the condition - imposed in September when they approved the scheme - preventing an in-store café when the store is built on the site of the Dobson & Crowther printworks.

Again on the advice of Mr Boase, the committee also voted to remove or vary three other conditions relating to permitted levels of noise from the store site and pedestrian access to it.

When the store was given the go-ahead by the planning committee in the autumn, it was subject to a long list of conditions on what could be included in the building and how it should be allowed to operate.

But agents for the developers recently submitted a fresh application to either remove or vary five of these conditions, which relate to the café, permitted levels of noise and pedestrian access to the site.

White Young Green Planning & Design said the changes are needed to allow the store to operate successfully.

Over 20 objections were received by the council ahead of the new application being considered by the planning committee this morning. 

Among those who have declared their opposition are the Town Council and the Civic Society.

The bid to remove the café restriction, which was imposed at the request of local councillors to protect other cafes in the nearby Riverside Park and the town centre, has been the most controversial.

Opponents claim an in-store cafe would damage those already operating in the town.

However, in their submission, Roger Tym & Partners, who have acted as retail consultants on behalf of the county council, say there is “probably no strong basis to condition out a café”.

In recommending that the committee allow the restriction to be removed, Graham Boase said in a report: “Whilst officers consider there are a number of relevant arguments in objection to the variation proposed, the absence of support for a refusal from the retail consultant offers little professional backing for a negative recommendation here, and it is ultimately considered unreasonable to insist on precluding a café use which is now a common facility ancillary to the operation of a modern food store.”

Catherine Veasey, of Llangollen Friends of the Earth, who attended the committee meeting as an observer, told llanblogger immediately after it ended: “The council voted 21 in favour and three against. So the café will now go ahead.

“The only variation opposed was regarding the protocol if noise emissions are breached.”

She added: “Big business wins the day again.

“What frustrates me in relation to the café is that there is legislation there to protect town centres and it just feels like everyone is too scared to use it.”

Minister asked to call in supermarket plan

Mike Edwards, chairman of Keep Llangollen Special (KLS), has written to Wales’ Environment Minister John Griffiths asking him to call in the application to build a Sainsbury’s supermarket on land currently occupied by the Dobson & Crowther printworks on the A5.

Mr Edwards (pictured left) says he is unhappy with the way this has been handled by Denbighshire County Council, whose planning committee will today (Wednesday) consider a fresh application by the developers to delete or remove five conditions attached to the original application which it approved in September.

Most controversially, this includes the removal of the restriction on an in-store café being included.

Mr Edwards’ letter says:

“Dear Minister,
 
I am writing to you on behalf of a Local Community Group, Keep Llangollen Special of which I am Chair.
 
We previously requested you to look at "Calling in" these applications because of the significant impact the developments will have on Llangollen Town Centre. You declined to act initially, but we wish to draw to your attention what has transpired subsequently which considerably changes the circumstances and we would ask you to look at it again, please?
 
I am enclosing an email received from the Case Officer at Denbighshire CC, the LPA which includes various enclosures for your officials to examine carefully.

Firstly I would like to point out that the Committee were advised by the Case Officer that "the emerging LDP carried no weigh at all" which totally mislead the Committee in making its decision.

The Minutes also record that the Councillors asked for restrictions on the presence of butcher, delicatessen and cafe, in store because of the detrimental impact on business in the Town Centre. However you will see from the resultant Certificate issued that the condition in relation to butcher and delicatessen was drafted by the Chief Planning Officer in such a way is not to prevent the end-user of the supermarket from having butchery and delicatessens counters within their store to the huge detriment of those businesses already operating in the town centre.
 
The matter has further deteriorated in that there is now an application before the LPA Ref 03/2012/1407 to have the restriction amongst other matters in relation a Cafe removed from the permission and the Planning Officer has a report before Committee on this Wednesday the 19th September, 2012 recommending this is approved!
 
This means that in addition to Denbighshire CC as LPA ignoring Planning Policy Wales in relation to Protection of Town Centres and Sustainability issues they are now prepared to give the developer an effectively unfettered planning consent which will ruin Llangollen's currently vibrant and viable town centre with its numerous independent businesses.

The LPA have failed to request a major impact study of the effect of this development on Llangollen which as you will know is within an AONB and the Pontcysyllte and Llangollen Canals World Heritage Site and River Dee SSSI. It did receive an updated retail impact assessment, but this was flawed in that it failed to take account of the opening of Stan's Superstore in February 2012 and also a large Tesco in Cefn Mawr only four miles from
Llangollen.
 
Sainsbury's intend according to their own projections to extract £18.4m per annum out of the Llangollen which will cause major detriment to the local economy and although some new jobs will be created these will be principally part-time jobs, and other jobs will clearly be lost from businesses in the town centres which is not the gain suggested.

Research by the CPRE indicates that money spent in a local economy recirculates and is worth three times the amount if it is exported out of the local economy to a Corporate Headquarters.

We have concerns that a new supermarket out of the town centre fronting the A5 trunk road which is a major tourist route to North Wales will cause increased traffic congestion which is already significant in the holiday season causing grid lock through Llangollen.

Residents can currently walk to Llangollen town centre and shop at the Co-op, Spar or Stan's for their groceries, but this development will force residents to use their cars to drive to the out-of-town location proposed for Sainsbury's. It will significantly increase vehicle journeys on an already congested trunk route through our town.
 
We would therefore urge you to urgently call in these applications and have your own Planning experts examine the issues comprehensively which we feel has not been accomplished by the LPA who have failed to grasp the significance of this development on Llangollen which is a major inland tourist destination.

We currently have a "Vibrant and Viable" town centre with minimal vacant retail premises unlike many towns and cities up and down Wales and the UK. This development if approved will destroy that situation and is not aligned with Planning Policy Wales and the work currently being undertaken by Welsh Government under the "Vibrant and Viable Places" initiative upon which your colleague Huw Lewis AM is consulting widely.” 

'There'll be no stopping them,' says letter writer

llanblogger has received the following letter which relates to our post earlier today about the supermarket planning application:

How can Denbighshire County Council recommend allowing Sainsbury’s to have a cafe when the planning committee meets tomorrow (Wednesday) and at the same time urge people to buy local and support small businesses?

 

I attended the original presentation to the Llangollen Chamber of Trade & Tourism given by Dobson & Crowther and J-Ross Developments in November 2011.

 

It was emphasised several times that this was to be a pre-packed food store only, and unfortunately we believed them.

 

They have already been granted permission for a manned butchery and delicatessen counter and if they are allowed the other concessions including a cafe, on Wednesday, there will be no stopping them until they destroy the delicate balance of our High Street.

Gill Thomas

The Elms

Llangollen