KLS chair slams "march" of out-of-town developments

The chair of a group dedicated to preserving Llangollen’s small shops has hit out at what he calls the “continuing march of out-of-town developments”.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has just called on MPs to prioritise listening to local businesses and to help halt the decline of high streets.

It has recommended that taking action against the rising cost of doing business in the UK is the number one thing that MPs should do to help high streets.

The BRC is asking them to support calls for the government to freeze business rates, which are set to rise by 2.6% in 2013.

Mike Edwards, (pictured left) chair of Keep Llangollen Special which has strongly opposed the new Sainsbury’s store planned for the town, said: “This article is clearly aimed at Westminster MPs, but applies equally to Welsh Assembly politicians.

“However, the issue of high business rates raised by the BRC whilst being a real factor for independent businesses trading in the high street, masks the real problem of the continuing march of out-of-town retail developments.

“Despite having planning policies in place to protect town centres and sustainability to discourage increased vehicle journeys these are blatantly ignored when a corporate business comes along and waves its financial muscle at LPAs and WG.” 

He added: “The First Minister in his New Year message strongly states his aim to encourage new economic developments, but this is clearly to the detriment of local independent businesses and economies.  

“Government states that they wish to involve local communities in decision making, but in practice they and local authorities treat residents of communities with total disrespect and treat anyone who makes their views known as some sort of activist and politicians tell local communities what is good for them.  

“What is the point in allowing out-of-town super stores if that decimates a vibrant town centre and leads to businesses closing down and a loss of employment in those businesses? 

“In a separate article the BRC makes reference to an improved situation in vacant shop premises in town centres, but when you look at the figures the improvement is marginal and on average 14% of retail space is still vacant in town centres up and down the UK.”

Workers will benefit from tax changes says AM

New figures show that 224,124 workers in North Wales will benefit from the Conservative-led UK Government’s changes to income tax in April 2013 and 11,720 people in the region will be taken out of tax altogether.

 

That is the claim of North Wales Assembly Member and Shadow Minister for North Wales, Communities and Housing, Mark Isherwood, who said: “These figures demonstrate how Conservatives in Government are taking tough decisions to ensure work pays.

 

"They are ensuring a fairer tax system by providing support to individuals on low and middle incomes, and by increasing the rewards to work.

“Out of the 1.42 million tax payers in Wales, almost 1.1million workers in Wales will benefit from the Conservative-led UK Government’s changes to income tax in April 2013, with 57,007 people in Wales taken out of tax altogether.

“We now look to the Welsh Government to bring forward substantive plans to invest its £227million windfall from the Conservative-led UK Government in major infrastructure projects, which will help create conditions for economic growth in Wales.

“Under Labour the UK borrowed itself into trouble, now we have to earn our way out.”

AM brands rail fare rises as "unfair"

Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates has branded the latest rise in rail fare prices as ‘unfair’ to passengers in North Wales.

For the 10th year in a row ticket prices in Wales have risen above inflation, with average rail fares having gone up by 3.9% across England, Wales and Scotland.

The rises are designed in part to fund major infrastructure improvements over the next few years, but Mr Skates said it was “unfair” commuters in the region were being asked to pay higher fares without a major commitment to electrify the North Wales mainline.

He said: “This is the tenth year in a row that rail fares have been hiked up above inflation. In North Wales commuters are faced with a rail fare increase as real wages are stagnating and the cost of living is rising.

“In part the justification for this latest rise is to pay for the major infrastructure upgrades that are going to be happening over the next few years. My issue with this is that rail passengers in the region have not been given any sort of commitment about when an upgrade of the mainline in North Wales might take place.

“Electrification is now being timetabled on the Great Western Line between London and Swansea, the South Wales valleys lines will be electrified too and a major High Speed Rail (HS2) route is being planned through central Englandtowards Scotland.

“However, we in North Wales have not been given any indication that the extra money we will pay in rail fare increases over the coming years will go toward funding an electrification programme of the North Wales mainline. It is only fair that major increases in rail fares being paid for by passengers and local businesses are linked to infrastructure upgrades."

 

He added: “We need to see the business case for North Wales electrification progressed urgently and then a coherent plan, backed by both the UK and Welsh Governments, to get the North Wales mainline electrified as soon as possible.

“Research by the Campaign for Better Transport has highlighted that rail fare increases have run 20% higher than real wage rises over the last ten years and I believe that any future increases in rail prices in North Wales over the next few years should be linked to a major plan to provide quicker routes for passengers in the region.”

The Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) and independent campaign group Railfuture have both calculated that some rail fares have increased by 50% or more in the past 10 years.

The UK Government have said further fare rises are planned for January 2013 and January 2014 of RPI plus 1%.

Local journalist's spooky new e-book

* The cover of Spooky Man by Garth ap Thomas.

A local journalist has had his latest book published online.

Garth ap Thomas, who lives in Denbighshire and used to cover Llangollen when he worked on the Vale Advertiser from 1998-2006, is the author of Spooky Man, an e-book comedy-mystery story, which is available on Amazon.

When a manhunt involving armed police officers takes place in a remote Scottish village the Daily Gazette sends Maddie Jones to cover the story.

* Garth ap Thomas.

But Maddie's investigations reveal there is more going on than the search for a fugitive wanted for murder. She discovers evidence of a Government military project researching Extra Sensory Perception which has gone badly wrong.

To try to find out more Maddie enlists the help of stage psychic Simon Hall. The duo soon realise a killer is on their trail – but just who is it?

Spooky Man is a follow up to Am I Psychic? – Garth’s first e-book featuring the adventures of Maddie Jones and Simon Hall.

Further details are available by logging on to his website at www.garthapthomas.com.

Here, Garth has given llanblogger permission to bring you an extract from Spooky Man ….

“Madeline Jones. Stay there, don't move a muscle,” screamed the warning from the security guard. 

Maddie had been walking briskly through the car park in an attempt to get away from the office building as quickly as possible, but now she knew she'd been caught. She turned round with a feeling of deep dread, to see Kevin running up towards her. 

Kevin Thomas was the newest recruit to the security team at the Gazette offices, the newspaper where Maddie worked as a reporter. They were the same age, 19, and Maddie feared he fancied her.  

This was awkward as she definitely didn't reciprocate. Just because he was a security guard Kevin acted as if he was a special agent for the FBI, so immature. And a big head as well. 

Maddie had finished a tough day at work and now just wanted to get home, take a soak in the bath, have something to eat and watch a bit of TV.

After being spotted by Kevin on her way out she'd initially ignored his calls to come back. But as the barking continued, getting louder and more insistent, she realised pretending not to have heard was not an option. 

Maddie hoped Kevin wasn't going to ask her for a date. She'd heard he'd just split with his girlfriend and had been trying to persuade virtually any female at the Gazette to go to a curry night with him organised by his local football club. Kevin was a big footy fan. 

“Hi Kev." 

“At last, got you,” he panted. “You can't half cover some ground. Didn't you hear me shouting before? 

“No," Maddie replied, forcing her eyes not to blink. 

“You must need your ears syringing girl. 

“I love it when you talk hygienic Kev, but honestly I haven't got time for this,” said Maddie, spinning to turn round and get back on her way before he could ask if she wanted to go out. 

"Your boss phoned down as you were leaving the reception area, I've got a message for you." 

"My boss, which one?" 

"Susan." 

"OK." 

Susan Roberts was the Associate Editor. Kev said the message was that Maddie had to be in at the office an hour earlier than usual tomorrow. 

"Why," asked Maddie. She's been through a grueller today and already her free time to recover was being eaten into. 

"Susan said there was a job that might be coming up needing special attention. Couldn't give any more details at the moment." 

"This wouldn't be a wind up would it Kev? One of your hilarious little pranks?" Kevin was known to like practical jokes. 

"Cross my heart girl. Phone her now if you like. 

Maddie surveyed Kevin's face for clues. "I'll believe you," she said carefully. "My sixth sense tells me you're on the level, this time at least."

"Think you're a magician mind reader like that Harvey Houdini? Whatever, you've been told so I'm in the clear. Before you go there was something else I was meaning to ask you." 

Maddie's sense of dread suddenly shot up again. It was pretty obvious what Kevin was going to say. She decided to nip it in the bud. "Sorry Kev I don't like curry." 

He looked at her in amazement. "Are you psychic?" 

"No, voodoo." 

"Really," Kev asked, his eyes widening with ever increasing astonishment.

"Yeah I'm the high priestess of the Ridley Wood coven." 

"Ridley Wood?" 

"It's up west, near Notting Hill. Don't want to sound like a snob but I find you get a better class of witch round there. Now if you'll excuse me I've got to go home and stick pins in some dolls. See ya." 

With that she twitched her nose a couple of times and walked away.

Injured pedestrian dies in hospital, say police

A statement issued earlier by North Wales Police says: "The male pedestrian involved in a road traffic collision in Gwersyllt at 00.37am on Tuesday, January 1, died at hospital this evening.

"Investigations are still on going."

Pedestrian, 17, seriously injured in collision

The Daily Post is reporting today that a 17-year-old is seriously ill in hospital after a road accident in Gwersyllt early on New Year's Day.

The story says that the unnamed pedestrian was involved in a collision with a white Volkswagen Polo car at 12.37am.

He was rushed to Wrexham Maelor Hospital and is in a serious condition.

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2013/01/01/teenager-seriously-ill-after-being-hit-by-car-in-wrexham-55578-32526366/

Minister's congratulations over recycling progress

 

Wales’s Environment Minister, John Griffiths, has congratulated people on their recycling progress over the past 12 month and has urged them to keep up the momentum in the New Year.

 

For the first time, Wales is recycling or composting more than half of its municipal waste - with the latest statistics showing that Welsh councils collectively recycled 53% of their waste in the first quarter of 2012/13.

This means that Wales continues to lead the rest of the UK on recycling and is on course to meet its first statutory target of 52%.

Despite such impressive results, the Minister stressed the importance of recycling even more to help reach Wales’s ambitious statutory recycling targets.

He reminded the Welsh public to reuse and recycle whatever they can in order to avoid unnecessary waste being sent to landfill.

The Minister said: “2012 has been a milestone year for waste and recycling in Wales.

"Our success is due to the hard work of local authorities and the commitment of the communities they serve – both of which should be very proud of the progress they have made.

“However, as we begin 2013 I urge everyone to do a little bit more and recycle everything we can to ensure Wales’s precious resources are maximised rather then sent to landfill.

"As people come up with their New Year’s resolutions, it would be great if they could pledge to recycle throughout the house not just in the kitchen, rinse their recyclables before putting them out for collection, or always use their food waste caddy for their kitchen leftovers.

“It is essential that such behaviours become part of our daily routines if we are to meet our challenging targets of 70% recycling by 2025 and zero waste by 2050.

“The past year has shown that the people of Wales recognise the importance of living more sustainably. I thank them for everything they have achieved during the last 12 months and look forward to seeing what we can achieve during 2013."