Town council briefed on county issues affecting Llangollen

Councillor Stuart Davies, one of Llangollen’s representatives on Denbighshire County Council, gave a run-down on recent matters affecting the local area last night’s Town Council meeting.

Invited to speak by the new Mayor, Cllr Bob Lube, he began with an update on the plan to create a day nursery for local youngsters in a new building at Ysgol Bryn Collen.

This, he said, would be somewhere safe where mums could drop off their children in a morning and pick them up in the afternoon.

Cllr Davies explained that, with his support, a community interest company had been formed to run the new facility whose members were now working on the details of funding for it.

He said that Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates had also been asked for his support.

On the issue of the future use of the former county council refuse tip on the A539, Cllr Davies said a study was being made of this and a number of possible uses had already been suggested.

These included one proposal by Friends of the Earth to turn it into some form of tourist attraction using the nearby railway and others to use it for football or rugby pitches.

Cllr Davies was questioned by Cllr Mike Pugh on what the county was doing about the “dangerous” state of the old brewery opposite Dobson & Crowther on the A5.

Cllr Pugh said that in March a large quantity of snow had fallen from the roof of the building badly damaging a vehicle being driven along the A5.

He asked Cllr Davies if he could pursue the issue with the county council.

Cllr Davies agreed to do this and explained that about six months ago the county had held a meeting about the number of derelict buildings in the town, including the old brewery.

At that meeting, he said, it had been suggested that the owners of these buildings should be ordered to do something about the properties.

Cllr Lube said another building that was giving cause for concern was the former Jobcentre in Castle Street.

Cllr Davies said this had been another of the buildings discussed at the meeting and added: “The owner won’t engage with us but  is on our radar, it is on our system.”

Questioned by Cllr Jane Palombella about the addition to the county’s Local Development Plan as a possible site for housing of an area in front of Fron Bache in Llangollen, Cllr Davies said he was opposed to this and that he would try to get it turned down and referred to the appropriate Welsh Government Minister.

AM hits out over new truancy penalties

North Wales Assembly Member Aled Roberts, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Education, has described yesterday's announcement that fixed penalty notices will be issued to parents whose children are regularly absent from school, as counter-productive.

The Minister's decision has been based on the results of a consultation carried out between November 2012 and February 2013.

Mr Roberts said: "I believe this is a disproportionate response to a problem which requires a far more creative response than a fining system.

"Evidence shows that children from poorer backgrounds are more likely to play truant and achieve poorer educational outcomes. I am concerned that fining parents of truant pupils will cause them even more economic hardship and will do nothing to address the problems of their child missing vital school hours.

"It is also crucial that we consider the reasons why children are often absent from school.

"There were just 53 responses to this consultation, including only 12 of the 22 Welsh local authorities, along with 16 schools/headteachers and 12 parents/carers. Of those 53, only just over half - 55% - agreed with the penalty notice option.

"Fixed penalty fines can never replace targeted intervention and effective engagement with pupils and parents.

"Whilst parents must take responsibility for their children's behaviour and fulfil their obligation to ensure they attend school, a community-wide approach involving parents, police and local welfare officers would be much more effective than theses punitive measures being implemented by the Education Minister.

"This is yet another attempt at a quick fix by the Minister which is unlikely to be of any benefit to the families concerned."

Clwyd South political duo have designs on new logo

 

* Susan Elan Jones MP and Ken Skates AM.

 

A political duo are giving their constituents the chance to design a logo that distils the spirit of their constituency

 

Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates and Member of Parliament Susan Elan Jones have launched a competition open to all residents of their constituency to design a logo for use on all official correspondence.

 

The competition is open to all individuals and organisations in the Clwyd South constituency and the winning design will feature on all letters, emails, and information publications issued by the pair while they are in office.

 

Clwyd South AM Ken Skates said: “This is an opportunity for our constituents to help us create a logo for our constituency that gives a powerful sense of what the Clwyd South constituency is and what it represents.

 

“Entries can be in any medium – whether that’s a picture, a photograph or a digital image – and we’re excited to see the creativity that comes from our constituents.”

 

Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones said: "We’re very lucky to represent such a diverse constituency that includes the rural areas of Llandrillo and Corwen and extends along the Dee Valley, through Llangollen to the Shropshire border and into the more populous areas of Ruabon, Rhosllannerchrugog, Coedpoeth and Brymbo.

 

“We’re looking for a design that encompasses everything this area represents – our history and heritage as well as the future and potential for the area.”

 

Entries should be sent to the office of Ken Skates AM, Unit 19, The Malthouse Business Centre, Regent Street, Llangollen, LL20 8HS and electronic submissions can be emailed to Ken.Skates@Wales.gov.uk. All entries should be received by Wednesday, July 31.

 

To check whether you live in the Clwyd South constituency, enter your postcode into the search engine at http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/ or telephone Ken Skates’ constituency office on 01978 869058.

Mayor presents 20 Civic Awards

* Civic Awards recipients with the Mayor, Cllr John Haddy, far left.

Twenty individuals and organisations from Llangollen were presented with Civic Awards during a special ceremony at the Mayor's Charity Concert at the Town Hall on Saturday.

The Mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy, made presentations to:

Llangollen Railway, Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, Llangollen Christmas Festival and Llangollen Food Festival for services to the local economy.

Llangollen Rotary Dial a Ride, Llangollen Community Project and Llangollen Tidy Town Team for services to the community.

Llangollen and District Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society, Llangollen Fringe, Llangollen Silver Band, Llangollen Twenty Club Amateur Players and Llangollen Pantomime Group for services to culture.

Individual award winners were: Lynda Wood (Llangollen Youth Football), Sharon Jones (Young Farmers), Stella Bond (music), Albert Hammonds (music), Gill Thomas (the community, Sgt Paul Hughes (Llangollen policing), Margaret Pierce-Jenkins (Llangollen News), David Davies (Tidy Town Coordinator).

Llangollen Community Garden is a growing success

* Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones, left, helps community gardener Sam Rex-Edwards with the planting.

* Warren Davies cultivates one of the growing areas watched by fellow group members and an open day visitor. 

A green-fingered bunch who have turned an overgrown plot into a thriving garden proudly showed off their handiwork to the public yesterday (Saturday).

A constant stream of people turned up to see the job done by members of Llangollen Community Garden on a site of around half an acre close to Plas Newydd.

Once the kitchen garden of a nearby grand house, the area has been leased by the group from Denbighshire County Council since late last summer.

Since then, the 25-strong organisation, which was originally set up with the help of Friends of the Earth, has spent months transforming the site from a wilderness of overgrown trees and weeds into a carefully cultivated garden.

The land is on two tiers, with the higher section being used to grow flowers and the lower part being turned over to vegetables.

According to Catherine Vesey, who has helped co-ordinate the project, the first crop of onions, potatoes, broad beans and peas should be ready for picking in a few weeks’ time.

She said that, throughout Saturday, more than 20 people had visited the garden open day, including Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones.

“She turned up in her wellies and stayed for a couple of hours to help us with some planting,” added Catherine.

“She also pledged her support for The Bee Cause, which we are promoting. This aims to persuade the UK Government to back measures to protect bees which are currently under threat.” 

Garden sessions are held every weekend and on selected weekday evenings, with group members taking it turns to help with the work.

More details of the Community Garden can be found online at www.llangollengarden.co.uk, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LlangollenCommunityGarden or by text/calling 07525 016503.

Railway stages its teddy bears' picnic

Llangollen Railway is hosting a teddy bears' picnic tomorrow (Sunday).

The poster below gives details of what visitors can expect ...

Search begins for county's sporting champions

Denbighshire is on the lookout for the county's top sporting stars for this year's Community Sports Awards.

This follows on from an extremely successful 2012 event, when three out of the nine Denbighshire Community Sport Award finalists went on to win national awards in Cardiff.

Nominees must live in Denbighshire, or be affiliated to a Denbighshire club relevant to their nomination and have achieved their success in the last 12 months up to the application closing date - Friday July 19th 2013.

A council spokesperson said: "Over the last month many sporting seasons have come to an end and as a result, we can now reflect on the sporting year.

"Clubs have been holding their presentation evenings, where players are awarded for different accomplishments during the year.

"The sporting season is also beginning for other sports such as tennis and cricket and we look forward to seeing what their season brings forward. We would like clubs to forward the names of players they wish to nominate for an award." 

Categories include Sports performer, Junior Sports performer, Coach of the year, Team of the year, Volunteer of the year, Disability Sport Award, Young Inspiration Award, Lifetime achievement Award and, after feedback from last year's event, a new award has been added to the list which is the ‘Sport in School award’.

An individual or team will also be chosen from all the previous category winners for their outstanding achievements/contribution to sport and will represent Denbighshire for the next year as a Community Sport Ambassador 2013.

For information on the criteria of each category, to look at pictures and the winners list from last years event, or to make an online nomination for this years event, then please visit www.denbighshireleisure.co.uk/sportawards.html

One of the highlights of last year's event was a double scoop for Aaron Evans, who has Cerebral Palsy.  Aaron won the Disability Sport Award and has also been Denbighshire’s Community Sport Ambassador for 2012.

He then also went on to win Sport Wales young coach of the year award in recognition of his voluntary work visiting primary schools throughout Denbighshire.

In this role he shared his experiences as a past disability footballer and captain for Everton FC and Wales, and introduced youngsters to new Paralympic sports.  Aaron has also now become a mentor for the Denbighshire Young Ambassador scheme in 2013.

He said: "To have been recruited as a volunteer with Denbighshire Leisure staff has been an amazing experience, to be able to give something back to my local community and to broaden people’s horizon about disability sport has been fantastic, and it was an honour to be recognised for my achievements.”

Denbighshire Leisure service staff are also looking for suitable organisations that would like to link to their brand to the community sport awards as a category sponsor and a ‘sponsorship package’ can be sent for more information.

For more information on the awards and details on how to nominate or sponsor next year's event please contact Matt Hilliker on 07798742290 or matthew.hilliker@denbighshire.gov.uk or visit www.denbighshireleisure.co.uk.