Post Office privatisation plan slammed by local MP

Government plans to privatise the Royal Mail will be bad for our rural communities, according to Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones.  

 

She said it was very significant that MPs from all political parties were concerned, adding: "I hope this will provide a clarion cry to the Government that those who represent rural and semi-rural seats will not stand for anything less than a genuinely universal service as regards Royal Mail and the Post Office."

Describing the reaction to the proposal across the constituency of Clwyd South, which includes rural communities on the Shropshire border, the county of Wrexham as well as inside Denbighshire, she said: "My postbag of postcards, letters and emails from people across my constituency's 240 square miles  bear a clear message: keep the Royal Mail public, with a genuine universal obligation, and protect our post offices.

"And our constituents are absolutely right to say that." 

The MP criticised the government for not committing to universal pricing for parcels and for failing to pledge that Royal Mail would stay in British hands.

She also used her speech highlight the importance of both the Royal Mail and the Post Office for rural businesses and praised the Labour Welsh Government's Post Office Diversification Fund for supporting Post Offices - one example of such being the branch of Dolywern in the Ceiriog Valley which has set up a cafe, tourist information services and expanded its business.

Special events at pavilion for Etape sign-up day

A packed programme of special events has been arranged in Llangollen to coincide with signing-up day for one of the largest cycling events in the calendar.

Registration for Wiggle Etape Cymru will take place on Friday evening, September 6 and Saturday, September 7 at the Pavilion, Llangollen.

To coincide with this, a number of organisations have got together to offer activities and information on Saturday, September 7 for  those taking part in the race, as well as their families,  friends and the wider community.

The event will take place between 12pm and 7pm.

Activities include: 

• Information displays from Denbighshire's Countryside and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty teams, Leisure Services, Family Information and Tourism teams. 
• Bike security activities from North Wales Police
• Stalls from Llangollen Country Market
• Main sponsors of the Wiggle Etape Cymru event will have a presence, as will the Llangollen Chamber of Trade, Corwen Walking Festival, Pro-adventure and the Canal Boat Trust.

The Llangollen Lift, a bus service that takes in some of the area's attractions and locations, will be picking up at the Pavilion for those wanting to venture out into the local community.

The cycling event itself begins at Bangor on Dee Racecourse on Sunday, 8 September and travels through communities in Wrexham and Denbighshire before finishing back at the Racecourse.

For further details of the cycling event, please visit: www.humanrace.co.uk

Your opinion sought on county services

Denbighshire County Council is currently asking residents what they think about council services and issues in their local community.

A printed survey has been sent to a random sample of 6,000 households across Denbighshire, distributed proportionally across the county.

In the survey, the Council asks residents what their communities are like as places to live, and how satisfied they are with council services in general.

It also asks for views on a wide range of issues, including the condition of the county’s roads, community safety, dog fouling and littering.

The results of the survey will tell the Council how much residents know about the organisation and its services, experiences of contacting the Council and what residents think the Council should focus on during the next four years.

Councillor Hugh Irving, Cabinet Lead Member for Customers and Communities, said: “It’s really important that we have a clear picture of what residents think about council services, so that the Council can consider how best to respond.

“This is the third survey of its kind and results in the past have been extremely valuable, giving us a clear indication on people’s thoughts about issues in their communities.

“We would encourage residents to complete the survey if they have received them through the post and help us shape services in the future”.

Copies of the questionnaire can also be found in leisure centres, libraries and council offices across the county.

The surveys should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and those completing the questionnaire by 13^th of September will automatically be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win a month’s gym membership, courtesy of Denbighshire Leisure Services.

The closing date for the survey is 20 September 2013.

Abseilers take bridge charity challenge

*A plucky abseiler takes the plunge down the iconic Llangollen bridge.

* The road beside the bridge was cordoned off to allow safety

equipment to be put in place for the charity abseil.

 DAREDEVILS  took the plunge from the parapet of Llangollen’s famous bridge yesterday (Sunday).

For the first time ever a charity was allowed to stage a sponsored abseiling event down the side of the world-famous structure over the River Dee.

Barnardos arranged for staff from its shop in nearby Castle Street to take the challenge to raise cash for its own funds and plucky members of the public were also encouraged to get involved.

Part of the road beside the bridge was cordoned off for most of the day to allow specialist equipment to be set up enabling the abseil to go ahead in safety.

Corwen's big hydro-electric boost

Neighbouring Corwen could be one of the first towns in Wales with its own hydro-electric power scheme which could earn half a million pounds for the local community.

Ambitious plans developed alongside a £2.1 million Denbighshire County Council scheme to
alleviate flooding problems in the town will be unveiled at a public meeting on Thursday,
September 12th, when details of the £300,000 project will be available.

The electricity would be generated by water from a reservoir above the town and could earn Corwen £40,000 a year – with more than half that money going to the local community over a 20-year period.

It is the brainchild of rural regeneration agency Cadwyn Clwyd who have worked with
Denbighshire County Council and the Rhug Estate to develop the plans. They hope that one of the products of the meeting will be the formation of a board to run a not-for-profit company to run the scheme and organise its finance.

Silas Jones, Cadwyn Clwyd's Energy Officer, said: "We have carried out a feasibility study and it
shows that the Nant y Pigyn scheme could generate 170,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, enough to power over 30 homes.

"We have worked closed with Denbighshire Council who have a project to prevent persistent
flooding caused by a culvert that runs under buildings through the town. They have encouraged us to develop the hydro power plan and the two will run side by side, with the flood defence scheme benefiting the hydro scheme.

"We are looking to use the water that drains down the Nant Cwrddu and Nant y Pigyn streams from the reservoir to power a generator in the town and at the same time it would prevent the Nant Cwrddu stream, which passes through a culvert under the Owain Glyndwr Hotel, from flooding after heavy rain."

The costs of the study and the meeting have been paid for by Cadwyn Clwyd through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) through the Welsh Government's Rural Development Plan, part of a three-year plan to revitalise rural communities and their economies, and by the County Council and the Rhug Estate.

Water from the Nant y Pigyn stream 500 feet above the town and flowing at 45 litres a second will power a 55 kilowatt generator housed in a purpose-built building in the town and connected to the National Grid.

It is intended to finance the £300,000 scheme through investors, who would be eligible for an annual dividend, decided by the locally-based board and through loans. Once the loans had been paid off, the cash raised through the Government's electricity feed-in tariffs would provide
a guaranteed income for 20 years.

Denbighshire County Councillor Huw Jones, from Corwen, Cabinet Member for Tourism, Youth and Leisure, and a member of the Cadwyn Clwyd Board, said: "I'm very positive about the hydro scheme and there is a lot of interest in it in the town.

"The flood alleviation scheme is taking place and that makes the hydro project possible and if we can get local people and local organisations involved then it can be a real boost to Corwen for years to come and provide a regular income to benefit the area."

Silas Jones added: "We are looking for a board with the right skills to run this scheme, and for shareholders, and they will decide how the project will be run, the structure of the company, the cost of shares and how many will be made available.

"The community share offer is expected to be priced at £100 to £150 a share with one member one vote, no matter how many shares anyone holds and we have already had expressions of interest in it.

"We need a range of expertise and experience, financial, legal, energy-generating and engineering, and it really is a very exciting idea which could benefit Corwen for many years to come.

"Successful similar community schemes run elsewhere in Wales, notably in the Brecon Beacons through the Green Valleys organisation but this is the first in North East Wales and one of the first in a town."

A public meeting will be held at the Corwen Sports Pavilion on Thursday, September 12th, at 6.45pm to gauge interest in the hydro scheme with a view to forming a company to run it.

For more information on Cadwyn Clwyd's green energy projects ring 01824 705802 or e-mail
silas.jones@cadwynclwyd.co.uk This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

AM questions ambulance response times

Latest figures for emergency ambulance response times in North Wales show a huge variation between council areas and this is being questioned by Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Aled Roberts.

 

“The Welsh Government has commissioned 9 reports into the overall poor performance of the ambulance service in Wales which has by far the worst record in mainland UK,” commented Aled Roberts. 

 

“But the overall figures hide large variations which suggest that some parts of North Wales are much better organized than others.

 

“Wrexham comes out top not just in the North but throughout Wales with a figure of 73.7% for emergency calls attended within the target time of 8 minutes during July. However, the figure for Anglesey is 48.9% which is by far the lowest in North Wales followed by Flintshire on 56.8% and Gwynedd on 57%. These are all below the UK target of 65%, whereas Conwy on 70.5% is well above and Denbighshire is just above on 66.2%

 

"Overall there are clearly problems Wales-wide which were thoroughly investigated in Professor McClelland’s recommendations which were published in April of this year. But these latest figures indicate that the differences cannot be explained away by issues of rurality. There have been major improvements in Scotland in recent years and yet in Wales the Welsh Government and management at the LHBs appear unable to improve the service. I am writing to the Director of the Ambulance Service in North Wales demanding that more be done to ensure that good practice is shared across the region.

 

"Poor ambulance response times are nothing new and yet the Welsh Government does not appear to be doing anything about it. Recommendations from the McClelland Report published in April have still not been acted upon. The report clearly indicates that there is an urgent need to tackle these issues regardless of any long term decisions on the future structure of the ambulance service. When the Assembly reconvenes next month I will be questioning the Health Minister, Mark Drakeford as to what action is to be taken to improve the situation in North Wales in the meantime.”

 

The raw statistics can be found here:

 

https://statswales.wales.gov.uk/Catalogue/Health-and-Social-Care/NHS-Performance/Ambulance-Services/AmbulanceCallsAndEmergencyResponses-by-Area-CategoryOfCall

Temporary closure of Corwen swimming pool

Users of the swimming pool at Corwen's Leisure Centre are being informed that the pool will be closed on Thursday and Friday (5 and 6 September), due to planned essential maintenance work.

The swimming pool will re-open as normal on Saturday, 7 September.

Denbighshire Leisure Services would like to thank pool users for their co-operation.