The Geraint still under snow

Readers are still sending in pictures of snow scenes.

The latest have come from Diane Slater and show the views around where she lives on the Geraint.

She said: "The snow has been devastating here but it is still a beautiful place."

Cemetery checks to be carried out at Fron Bache

Headstone and monument safety checks will be carried out by the county council at Fron Bache Cemetery in Llangollen later this month.

The exercise is part of investigations at council lowned cemeteries across Denbighshire during the month.

Advisory notices will be placed at memorials that require attention and the council says every effort will be made to contact the families to arrange any necessary repairs.

In exceptional circumstances any memorials deemed to be in a dangerous condition may be laid down prior to contact being made with the grave contact or family.

Take care of your property say police

North Wales Police are urging residents living in rural areas to take steps to protect their property.

 

Thieves often target garages, outbuildings and sheds, especially if they are left insecure, or have locks that can be easily forced.

 

In an effort to prevent and detect crimes, North Wales Police are asking people to consider;

 

• Signing up to OWL, the Online Watch Link which passes relevant information onto members quickly and safely.  Information may include recent crimes in your area and handy security tips. www.owl.co.uk/northwales

 

·        Joining Neighbourhood Watch. This one of the biggest and most successful crime prevention schemes. It builds community spirit and good relations helping people to tackle crime and disorder and to keep an eye on each other's property.  Contact your local PCSO on 101.

·        CCTV. Let us know if you have private CCTV.  You may be able to assist us with crime inquiries in your area.

·        Provide information about the handling of stolen goods. Any information will be treated as confidential and your details will not be disclosed.

 

Please contact your Local Neighbourhood Policing Team for information on securing your property.  

Bedroom tax will be "devastating", says Sargeant

 

Wales' new Housing Minister Carl Sargeant (pictured above) says the cut in housing benefit for tenants with spare bedrooms will have a "devastating impact" on many poorer households across Wales and that public services face a testing time as they struggle to cope with the fallout.

 

The so called ‘bedroom tax’, imposed by the UK Government from 1 April, means that tenants of council or housing association accommodation who are on housing benefit will be assessed for the number of bedrooms they actually need and those ruled to have too much space will receive a reduced payment.

Carl Sargeant said: “Research shows that around 40,000 households in Wales will lose an average of £11 per week from this change and, sadly, it is many of the most vulnerable people in society who will be affected.

 

“The Welsh Government is committed to doing all it can to ensure that the change does the least possible damage to our communities. However, we are under no illusion.

 

“We know that people will suffer hardship and this will put even more pressure on public services that are already straining to cope due to the current financial climate.

 

“We have allocated funding for 2013/14 to ensure that people on low income continue to receive council tax benefit.

 

"We are also providing £750,000 for the coming financial year to help on issues such as advice, landlord liaison and face to face contact with tenants having problems meeting their housing costs.

 

“We were also able to allocate some additional funding towards the end of the financial year to a number of projects focused on preventing homelessness, including extra resources for the homelessness prevention funds of all local authorities.    

 

“Also, several local authorities have joined together to undertake projects that reduce the rate of tenancy failure and put in place solutions that tenants say they prefer.    

 

“The Welsh Government is hugely concerned that many already hard pressed households are facing hardship and so is looking to find ways of supporting tenants and organisations to mitigate the effects of this highly damaging policy."

Cut price car parking in Ruthin extended

Residents and visitors to Ruthin will continue to benefit from reduced car parking charges for another year.  

A pilot initiative, due to end this Sunday, has been so successful over the last 12 months that Member Area Groups have agreed to extend this until March 31, 2014.

Last year, every Member Area Group was given a one-off fund of £50,000  to invest on projects that will benefit the local community.  

Councillors who are members of the Ruthin Member Area Group decided to use a part of their allocation to subsidise parking in Ruthin town centre.  

Due to the success of this initiative attracting more users to the town and it not costing as much as originally thought, the group have decided to extend this.

Following discussions with Denbighshire County Council, the fees will continue to be:

Dog Lane, Cae Ddol, Park Road, Troed y Rhiw, and Rhos St.

Retain 10p for half an hour as figures show this is popular

50p for up to 4 hours

£3.50 for all day

Market Street  Retain 10p / half an hour  as figures show this is popular 

50p for up to 4 hours  (No return) 
 
£3.50 for all day

St Peters Square  Retain 30p for three quarters of an hour
 
£1 for 3 hours (no return)

The group said: "We feel it's vitally important to continue the lower parking tariffs to attract more residents and visitors to use the town centre for their shopping.  Ruthin has a wealth of small shops that provide quality products and we must make every effort in this climate to support local businesses and be far more competitive in the market.

"Local businesses have continued to lobby for cheaper car parking charges and we feel we must do our bit to help regenerate the town. By extending these pilot charges for the next year, we hope that businesses will feel the benefit."

llanblogger says: How about an initiative like this is Llangollen?

Beef up health watchdogs, says Isherwood

NORTH Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on new Health Minister, Mark Drakeford, to ensure that the role of Community Health Councils is strengthened.

 

Speaking in an Assembly debate on the Role of Community Health Councils, Mr Isherwood noted that the Minister’s statement pledging to see through the controversial reorganisation of health services and hospitals across Wales had removed any pretence that the responsibility lies with Health Boards rather than Welsh Government policy, and urged the Minister to address the fact that the patient’s voice has been compromised by the Welsh Government.   

 

He said: “This reorganisation has attracted huge opposition, and the patient’s voice should be heard, yet this Welsh Government follows the pattern set by its predecessors in proposing changes that could be used to further Community Health Council compliance with Welsh Government policy.

 

“Community Health Councils had been protecting patients’ rights in the NHS for over 28 years when the UK Labour Government abolished the Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales, and all English Community Health Councils, on 1 December 2003. To its credit, the Welsh Government kept them in Wales. However, to its discredit, it has sought to tame and control them ever since.

 

“Speaking here in April 2010, I stated that the Welsh Government had compromised the patient’s voice through a micromanaged reorganisation of Community Health Councils. The then Minister for Health’s dismissal of concerns raised by Community Health Councils left them feeling ‘frustrated, disappointed and downright angry’. At the time, Community Health Councils in North Wales advised that the Minister’s changes would seriously inhibit the ability of Community Health Councils to represent patients and scrutinise local NHS services.

 

“To add insult to injury, the last Welsh Government, under this First Minister, scrapped the Independent Review forming the second stage of the complaints procedure, which ensured that complaints made by patients and relatives could be scrutinised properly.”

 

He added: “Presumably, failure to achieve Community Health Council compliance has led to the Welsh Government proposals now that could be used to bring them further into line. We seek assurances, but we also seek concrete measures to ensure that that cannot be the case.”

Special event could boost Cittaslow project

A special open-air event could be staged in the town centre this May to raise awareness of Llangollen’s bid for Cittaslow status.

This was one of the ideas discussed at the latest meeting of the working group spearheading the bid to gain the accreditation, which could bring major benefits to the area.

Cittaslow grew out of the ‘Slow Food’ movement in Italy to encourage people to use local businesses and delight in local produce.

Now it is a worldwide organisation and is a demonstration that a community is serious about sustainability – economic, social and environmental.

Last year (2012) the town council decided that Cittaslow embodied many of the things that the council was trying to achieve with its Town Plan and decided to set up the working group to aim to become a Cittaslow town.

The group, which meets monthly at the Town Hall, consists of four councillors and representatives from a wide range of community associations. including llanblogger.

At the latest meeting, on March 26, respresentatives of the various disciplines involved in the bid gave a summary of progress made over the past month.

One suggestion which drew unanimous support from members was for a special Cittaslow awareness day to be held, possibly on the Royal Gardens, on a date yet to be arranged in May.

This would feature a display of what Cittaslow and the Slow Food movement is all about and it is envisaged that other local groups, such as Friends of the Earth and the local gardening club will also be represented.

It was also suggested that Llangollen Silver Band could be invited to play and that a face-painter should be on hand to entertain youngsters.

Town clerk Gareth Thomas agreed to do some initial work on the idea, reporting back to the group next month.

Other ways of publicising the Cittaslow bid and its benefits were discussed, including using the noticeboard at the front of the Town Hall in Castle Street for displays and posters being placed in shop windows.

The possibility of involving the UCLAN centre – formerly the Youth Hostel – in Llangollen in the bid initiative was also suggested.

For anyone wishing to get in touch, the working group now has its own dedicated email address, which is slowfoodllangollen@gmail.com     

To find out more about Cittaslow in the UK and worldwide please see www.cittaslow.org.uk