Llan set to go with the FLO

* White water rafting is one of the sports featured in FLO.

THE UK’s first outdoor multi-sport festival gets under way in Llangollen later this month.

Chester-based registered charity River Legacy, which provides funding, facilities and support for paddle sports in England and Wales, will host the event called FLO – Festival Llangollen Outdoor Sports – in the town from November 15-17.

Centred on Llangollen International Pavilion, the event aims to bring together what River Legacy describes as “the highest concentration of talented, outdoor specialists from across North Wales, providing a range of activities in order to provide a fun and exciting weekend festival”.

The charity says it will feature activities from running to climbing, swimming to boating, zip-wiring to cooking and have “something for everyone”.

According to the FLO website – www.flo-llangollen.com – on the Friday afternoon, from 2-4.30pm, the pavilion and its programme of activities will only be open to local schoolchildren.

On the Saturday, the pavilion will become the hub of the event and will host a range of ‘come and try’ activities, including kayaking, climbing, biking on a pump track, segways, abseiling from the balconies, paintballing, bushcraft skills and mountain yoga.

The nearby River Dee will be the setting for an extreme slalom event, starting at noon.

The Sunday will see a programme of lectures on a range of outdoor themes from 4pm.

These will include Rob Moffat on his kayaking expedition to Borneo and Lawrence Crossman Emms on mountain biking photography.

A charity raft race will see competition starting at 10am, and an hour later will be the start of a fell race.

Visitors to FLO are expected to use local hotels and a campsite run by River Legacy will be open from 4-9pm on Friday for registration.

Entry to the event is £5 for which you can try a wide range of activities.

Organisers say their target is to bring 1,000 people into the town over the weekend and for FLO to become an annual event.

Chamber's idea for extra parking

Visitors to the town may be able to park in the grounds of Ysgol Dinas Bran if an idea by Llangollen Chamber of Trade and Tourism is accepted.

The chamber is currently conducting its own in-depth probe into car parking facilities in the town.

At its monthly meeting on Monday night chairman David Davies told members details were still coming in about exactly what parking is available.

He then revealed he had been having talks with the school about using its car park.

He said: “I’ve been in consultations with the school about using its premises during holidays and at weekend.

“The whole idea of us looking at parking is to be in the best fighting position when Sainsbury’s come in and offer free parking.”  

Local MP slams Cameron over bankers' bonuses

Clwyd South Labour MP Susan Elan Jones has branded Prime Minister David Cameron as "useless" for failing to act on bankers' bonuses.

At today's session of Prime Minister's Questions (Wednesday), she asked Mr Cameron why he hadn't acted to stop bankers' bonuses "growing 91% more than ordinary wages in the last year".

Speaking after her questioning of the PM, Ms Jones said: "David Cameron's assured us time and time again that we would not see a re-run of bankers being able to take home obscenely high bonuses while ordinary, hard-working families are feeling the pinch.

"Either the Prime Minister couldn't care less about the situation or he is absolutely useless at his job. As the gap between those on City bonuses and everyone else gets wider and wider, I don't think most people in Britain will believe his claim that we are all in this together."

Response from Mark Isherwood AM: 

 

When local Labour MP Susan Elan Jones used Llanblogger to attack the Prime Minister after she questioned him over bankers' bonuses on 6th November, she omitted to share his response:

 

“The point the hon. Lady should bear in mind is that bonuses were 85% higher when the shadow Chancellor was sitting in the Treasury. In fact, we inherited a situation where cleaners were paying higher tax rates than the hedge fund managers they were working for”.

 

When Gordon Brown opened Lehman Brothers’ London headquarters in 2004, he told Lehman bankers,  'I would like to pay tribute to the contribution you and your company make to the prosperity of Britain.’

 

The Financial Services Authority’s report, 'The failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland’, refers by name to Messrs Blair and Brown and the current Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls and details the “sustained political emphasis on the need for the Financial Services Authority to be ‘light touch’ in its approach”.

 

The National Audit Office reported that the Mr Brown’s Treasury was warned three years before Northern Rock nearly went bust that it needed to set up emergency plans to handle a banking crisis, but did nothing about it.

 

The former Labour UK Government also ignored a warning on the 12th July 2006 by the Bank of England about the ‘devastating consequences’ and potential damage a credit crunch and a collapse in asset prices could cause to the economy and financial system and which expressed its concern about the complex and risky financial instruments devised by banks and hedge funds.

 

We are still living with the consequences to-day.

November 5 sparks busy night for fire service

North Wales Fire & Rescue has slammed troublemakers who it says put its own staff and public at risk on Bonfire Night yesterday.

The service has revealed that it received 74 calls into the control room between 6pm on November 5 and 7.30am on November 6, and attended 28 incidents.

However, no-one was injured in the region.

Calls included a number of bonfires left unattended and a large gorse fire caused by a firework in Holyhead.

Senior Fire Safety Manager Gary Brandrick said: "The number of calls received meant a busy night for our control operators and firefighters.

"These incidents, repeat calls and calls for advice received highlight why we are encouraging residents to attend organised displays and avoid letting off fireworks themselves.

"Many included unattended bonfires and some deliberate fires, which put unnecessary pressure on our resources – these incidents put the perpetrators, our firefighters and the community as a whole at risk."

Despite the problems, the service says communities across North Wales came together last night at  firework and bonfire displays across the region.

Gary Brandrick added: "We thank the public for heeding our safety messages.

"I was extremely pleased to hear that no one was seriously injured during last night’s celebrations in North Wales, and that the majority of residents took advantage of the organised firework displays across North Wales.

"They are the safest type of displays, have the best facilities and offer the best value for money.

"Bonfire celebrations see an increase in anxiety for senior citizens and pet owners, so attending community events helps reduce this distress."

Santa briefs chamber on Christmas Festival

* The opening parade at last year's Christmas Festival.

Santa himself turned up at the monthly meeting of Llangollen Chamber of Trade and Tourism in the Hand Hotel on Monday night to give members details of the town’s Christmas festival this year.

Looking suspiciously like former chamber chairman John Palmer under a big white beard, he said that, as usual, the event was all about bringing together the Llangollen community and supporting local businesses.

The festival, planned for Saturday, November 30, will feature a parade, street stalls, raffles, a grotto, an appearance by Llangollen Silver Band, carol singing and the ceremonial switch-on of the Christmas lights.

Santa said the festival was expected to attract around 2,000 people to the town on what would otherwise be a quiet November Saturday.

He added: “It will help the community but a donation will also be made to Hope House Hospice.”

The big parade starts from Mill Street car park at 1pm and later Santa and his Welsh counterpart Siôn Corn will be on hand to meet young visitors in their grotto inside the Town Hall.

Entertainment will this year be centred on the steps of the library and tourist information centre as well as in the Royal Gardens just across the road.

Santa explained that the Royal Hotel had given special permission for the shop at the corner of its premises to be used for Punch and Judy shows and story-telling sessions for youngsters.

Chamber chairman David Davies said that, up to now, 18 shops and businesses in the town had agreed to join in a search-for-the-sheep competition in which people will be asked to locate the small woollen animals and give each one a name.

The lights will be switched on at 5pm followed by a firework display.  

AM urges men to have prostate cancer check

AN ASSEMBLY Member is urging men to get a potentially life-saving health check during a month-long male cancer awareness campaign. 

 

More than 2,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in Wales, and experts predict it will be the UK’s most common cancer by 2030. 

 

Mr Skates, Labour AM for Clwyd South, is keen for as many men as possible to get themselves checked during Movember, which last year raised £27m in the UK to fund research initiatives to combat prostate and testicular cancer.  

 

He said: “In the UK, one in eight men will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives. It is the most common cancer in men and kills more than 500 in Wales every year. Across the UK more than 100 men are diagnosed with the disease and a man dies from prostate cancer every hour – that's more than 10,000 every year. 

 

“These facts and figures are a stark reminder of how important it is for men – especially those aged over 50 – to make sure they are regularly checked.” 

 

Symptoms of prostate problems can include needing to urinate more often, difficulty starting to urinate,  a weak flow and a feeling that your bladder has not emptied properly. 

 

Mr Skates added: “If you are experiencing problems, or simply to put your mind at rest, contact your GP or call a specialist prostate cancer nurse in confidence on 0800 074 8383. Don’t take any chances – it’s better to be safe than sorry.”   

 

New health chief invited to address county council

Denbighshire County Council is to invite the new chair of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Dr Peter Higson, to address members.

This follows a notice of motion in the name of a group of county councillors which reads:
"In light of the recent critical national coverage of Ysgoly Glan Clwyd and our long-standing concerns about the running of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, we call upon the recently appointed chair of the board to attend the next meeting of full council.  

"We would like him to explain his plans for turning around the reputation of the board and health service in general across North Wales and here in Denbighshire.

"We want him to tell us how he will rebuild the confidence of staff, patients and the general public in our local health services."