AM calls for caravan park legislation

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood is calling for  proposed new holiday caravan park legislation to address concerns raised by the industry in North Wales.

 

Speaking in the Assembly Debate ‘Seeking the Assembly’s Agreement to Introduce a Member Proposed Bill on Holiday Caravan Park (Wales)’, Mr Isherwood called for the Bill to address the concerns of holiday park representatives in North Wales, deal with the problem of people living on holiday caravan parks all year around and protect caravan owners who are threatened with unfair eviction.

 

He said: “The industry states that, if inappropriately drafted, legislation would give rise to the increased cost and red-tape burden on an industry that is a mainstay of Welsh tourism, at a time of an extremely hard market. The industry wants to see abuses in holiday parks eradicated. However, it says that local authorities already have the powers to enforce.

 

"The industry says that the history of poor enforcement could be best addressed through giving local authorities a duty to enforce. However, the issues that are highlighted by the Bill’s proposal address the planning and site licensing of a park business, and, since the position for each park will be different in both these respects, they say that it is essential that enforcement is addressed on a case-by-case basis.”

 

Mr Isherwood asked for the Bill to tackle the problem of caravan owners living on sites all year around by calling on local authorities to make checks to ascertain that a site licence applicant is not seeking to circumvent the home park legislation by applying to license a home park site as a holiday site.

 

“The terms of Tree Tops caravan park state that the park is not a residential caravan park, and that neither Flintshire County Council, nor the park directors will allow customers to make their mobile holiday home their permanent home. This means that you will need to be able to prove that you are using your caravan holiday home within the terms of the park licence."

 

He also called for the new legislation to be designed to help caravan owners who are unfairly evicted, stating that caravan owners had complained that park owners used terms and conditions that allowed park owners to treat them arbitrarily. The Assembly agreed that the Bill's proposer, Welsh Conservative AM for Clwyd West, Darren Millar, could introduce a Bill on Holiday Caravan Parks in Wales.

 

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Musical theatre workshops to be staged in Llan

Professional dance tutor Julie Thomas is staging a two-day musical theatre workshop for children at Llangollen Town Hall during the school summer holidays on July 23 and 24.

Entitled Matilda, the workshops, which run from 10am-4pm each day, take as their theme the popular Roald Dahl book of that name. Cost is £38.

For more details, ring 07944 402474, or 07814 661165.

Shuttle bus idea aired at council meeting

A call for a shuttle bus to serve various parts of the town was made at Llangollen Town Council meeting on Tuesday night.

Town Clerk Gareth Thomas had told members he had received a number of requests from members of the public for the number 64 bus to be re-routed to take in the Maesmawr area.

Cllr Sheena Burrell said: “I think that’s a good idea because we have a bus which already takes in Pengwern, so why not other areas?

“I think it would be wonderful if we could have a shuttle bus service going round all parts of Llangollen, perhaps running once an hour.”

Cllr Phil Thane said it would be a good idea to contact the bus company to ask if they could station a small bus locally to run a service from the town centre to various estates.

Members agreed with a suggestion from the Town Clerk that a representative from the bus company be invited to attend a future council meeting to discuss various aspects of the local service.

X-Files release sheds new light on local UFO mystery

* Llandrillo where the alleged UFO incident took place in 1974.

 

The release yesterday (Friday) of official Ministry of Defence documents dealing with alleged UFO sightings has thrown fresh light on an a famous incident which took place not too far from Llangollen almost 40 years ago.

The documents, until now subject to government secrecy, have been published on the National Archives website. 

The incident, near Llandrillo between Corwen and Bala, took place on the evening of January 23, 1974, and is said by some to be an “extremely compelling UFO event”. 

According to UFO writer Billy Booth, it began many of the residents of the village heard an extremely loud noise.  

In an account published on the website About.com, he says: “Most of the citizens thought that an explosion had occurred - possibly a plane crash.  

“Those who ventured outside on this cold night were astonished to see blue and orange lights near the Cader Bronwen mountain. 

“There would be many eyewitness accounts of what was seen. The press immediately investigated the occurrence, and interviewed those close to the scene of the lights on the mountain. The first newspaper accounts made this statement: "There was a huge explosion a few minutes after 8:30 PM. From various accounts, this preceded, some say, by up to two or three minutes, a violent shaking of the ground, like a medium-sized earthquake-objects inside houses were knocked off shelves."

“Local police would arrive at the scene first, soon followed by the Royal Air Force. The area in and around the crash site was zoned off, with no one allowed to enter. A search and rescue effort would be ongoing for several days, with no information being related to interested bystanders or press personnel.

“An employee of a hotel in nearby Bala would come forward with a very interesting story. He stated that a group of men had checked into the hotel, and stayed during the search of the mountains.

“They did admit that they were involved in the mission, but could not talk about what they had seen or found at the site.

“Another account was given by a nurse who lived in Llanderfel, also close to the scene of the crash. Local police had asked for the assistance of the nurse at the crash site. She was told a plane had gone down in the area. 

“Being rushed to the scene, and not being able to get a sitter for her teenage daughters, she was forced to take them along. Driving on B4391, at 10:00 PM, the road was deserted. As she reached the foot of the mountain chain, she was shocked at what she saw... a glowing UFO.  

“She and her daughters would later relate their story to the press. They saw a UFO, which was almost intact. It was a large, circular object, and glowed an orange color.  

“They were within a couple of hundred yards of the object, and were certain of what they saw. They also saw emergency personnel, local police and military, close to the object. The nurse was instructed to immediately leave the area. She told the authorities that she was ordered to the site, but was quickly escorted from the area. 

“For several days, all roads leading to the crash area were closed to everyone but authorized personnel. The nurse was told by local shepherds that they were not allowed to tend their flocks during the operation at the mountain.

“Most of the citizens that lived near the area of the mountain crash were convinced by what they saw that a military cover-up was being conducted.

“It is still a mystery as what exactly happened on January 23, 1974 near the Berwyn Mountains of Wales.”

According to a story in the Daily Post on Friday (http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/north-wales-ufo-files-really-4694422) the Ministry of Defence UFO files just released include a request from a film and TV company to the ministry to answer claims it was a spacecraft that crashed with the military removing the wreckage and two aliens, who later died, being taken to the Porton Down research centre.

The MoD is said to have turned down the company’s request.

See the MoD files at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/850.htm

See article by Billy Booth at: http://ufos.about.com/od/bestufocrashcases/p/wales1974.htm

Praises of Llan Eisteddfod sung in the Commons

Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod was yesterday (Thursday) praised in the House of Commons Chamber during a parliamentary debate on the arts and creative industries.

Local MP Susan Elan Jones spoke of the importance of the arts for international and community cohesion.

"The Llangollen international musical eisteddfod in my constituency was set up at the end of the second world war, to bring nations and cultures together," said Ms Jones.

The Eisteddfod was also praised by Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman MP who commented in the same debate: "One of the things that is so distinctive and admirable about Wales is its people’s love of culture and the eisteddfod tradition. I pay tribute to that."

Speaking after the debate, Susan Elan Jones MP said: "The vision and the dream that led to the creation of Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod was an extraordinary one.

"And what is even more amazing is how the Eisteddfod continues and thrives today.

"As a former steward at the Eisteddfod, I am very honoured to have been invited to be a Day President on the Friday of this year's International Eisteddfod.
 
FOR HANSARD LINK, SEE:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130619/debtext/130619-0002.htm#130619-0002.htm_spnew111

"Worrying" rise in Welsh bus fares highlighted

According to a story on the BBC Wales news site this morning, bus fares have risen more sharply in Wales than other parts of the UK, amid warnings it could lead to people unable to pay to travel.

See the full story at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22999531

Town council agrees on CCTV upgrade

Llangollen Town Council has agreed to spend around £5,000 on upgrading its inefficient CCTV system.

The network of cameras helps keep a watchful eye on the streets around the town centre.

But the ageing system has become increasingly unreliable and is said to be badly in need of an upgrade.

At Tuesday night’s council meeting, Town Clerk Gareth Thomas told members two of the cameras had completely broken down while others were faulty – one due to interference from a third party wi-fi system – and another was “on the cusp” of  a breakdown.

Mr Thomas revealed that the entire system had failed completely the previous Friday due to a software problem, leaving the town temporarily without its eye-in-the-sky protection until an emergency repair was made.

He said the system’s existing provider had quoted a figure of £8,000 to get the system up and running with an additional figure to upgrade it to a more modern standard. Quotations from other companies had been higher.

He told members: “I suggest we move forward with the current provider to upgrade the system. I am confident that if we go down that road we will have a system that will monitor the town.”

Mr Thomas pointed out that the total cost of an upgrade would be £500 to £600 more than had originally been budgeted for and suggested this amount should be taken from reserves.

He also suggested next year’s budget should make provision for adding “a couple more cameras” to the system.

Cllr Phil Thane asked about the initial cost of installing the cameras some years ago and what benefits the system had brought.

Mr Thomas said he believed it had originally cost around £56,000 but that only the police could say exactly how effective it had been.

However, he added: “The police say it has been a very good deterrent.”

Last year’s mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy, said the cameras had initially helped cut down on an anti-social behaviour problem and that the council was still committed to the original expenditure it had made on the system.

Members agreed to take a small amount of cash from reserves to help pay for the repair and upgrade of the system.