Latest from the chamber of trade and tourism

Llangollen Chamber of Trade and Tourism has submitted the following report from its latest meeting:

At the December meeting the members were pleased to hear that a number of businesses had decided to join the Chamber since the last meeting.

Membership has now nearly doubled since the summer and businesses recognise the benefits of membership - networking with other businesses; business support and advice; free training opportunities; preferential advertising; co-ordinated town activities; advance notice of events; page on www.llangollen.org website; representing your views to help make Llangollen a successful town.

County Cllr Stuart Davies was invited to attend the meeting to bring members up to date on a number of County Council issues. He explained that reductions in the amount of money the County receives from the Welsh Government together with other factors would result in savings of between 6% and 8% having to be made over the next few years.

The County Council would be considering efficiency savings in many areas to offset reductions in services but the size of the reductions would inevitably mean a significant impact on some non-statutory services.

However, in acknowledging that Llangollen has insufficient parking spaces in the town, especially in the summer months and when major events are being held, the County is investigating options to double the existing number of spaces over the next two years.

This will include plans to reduce some of the recycling facilities and removing the existing garages in Market Street car park; making more use of the car park at Ysgol Dinas Bran; extending car park provision at the Pavilion; utilising the car parks at the proposed new Health Centre; and investigating the site at Wenffrwd as a Park & Ride facility. It is likely that a consultation exercise will be carried out prior to any of these projects.

Following complaints about 'A' boards blocking pavements across the County, not just in Llangollen, there is to be a protocol established so that everyone will know what will and what will not be permitted. As a result of some unhelpful and speedy reaction in removing advertising signs for the Food Festival without warning a meeting was held with the County's Street Scene Coordinator for the Dee Valley. This proved very useful and agreement has now been reached about locations where such signs can be located in future.

The signs will also be used in future for the International Eisteddfod, Fringe Festival, Food Festival and Christmas Festival.

Cllr Davies also informed the meeting that the County Council has prepared a Town Plan for Llangollen/Llantysilio and is available for inspection on the County Council's website. Any future major projects for the town will be included in the Town Plan.

A formal letter objecting to the proposal to close the HSBC bank in Llangollen has been sent to the Group Chief Executive of HSBC as many members will be very much inconvenienced and subject to security concerns as a result of the closure. The Chair has held a meeting with Barclays Bank who say they are happy to assist any business in transferring accounts to their branch. Business accounts would be fee free for 6 months and Community accounts would be operated on a free basis as long as they were in credit.

The website is in the final stages of being re-written and the Events Diary is available to anyone wanting to advertise their events in Llangollen.

Some issues which hopefully will attract more visitors to the town - two members recently attended the Denbighshire Tourism Forum and said that good progress is being made to produce a Denbighshire Destination Plan which is anticipated to receive formal approval by the County Council in March.

Also an article is to be placed in Country Walking magazine next year after representatives spent two days here walking in the area. Contact is to be made with the Radio 4 programme on Rambling and the Times Travel Supplement in order to persuade them to do a programme/article based on Llangollen.

It is anticipated that the long awaited arrival of trains in Corwen will take place in March next year with a passenger service operational by Easter.

* The next meeting of the Chamber will be on Monday 6th January 2014 at 7.00pm in the Hand Hotel. At that meeting the priorities for the Chamber for 2014 will be discussed.

Winners of Christmas card contest unveiled

* Ken Skates AM and Susan Elan Jones MP meet

competition winner, Sam Jones.

CLWYD South AM Ken Skates and MP Susan Elan Jones have congratulated the six-year-old schoolboy who won their annual Christmas card competition.

The Labour politicians met Sam Jones from Ysgol Bro Dyfrdwy in Cynwyd on Friday (December 6), whose festive design was chosen by the First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones as his favourite from more than 100 entries.

 

Mr Skates said: “Sam’s colourful Christmas tree was just what we were looking for and will be the main image on the cards we will send out to hundreds of constituents, businesses, schools and voluntary groups across the constituency.

 

“The competition was open to pupils of all junior schools in Clwyd South and such was the quality of the entries it wasn’t easy choice for the First Minister, so he has also chosen three runners-up whose designs will also feature on our card.

 

“We had more brilliant entries than ever this year so I’d like to say a big thank you to all the children who took part and the teachers who encouraged them.”

 

The runners-up were Harvey Arleinstall from Johnstown Junior School, Crystal Adlington-Jones from Cefn Mawr County Primary School and Finlay McLellan from Ysgol Bryn Collen, Llangollen.

 

Ms Jones said: “The Christmas card competition is a fun way for us to engage with local schoolchildren and it is fantastic that so many have taken part. This year we have yet again received a wonderful selection of amazingly creative entries.

 

“I really enjoyed meeting Sam and congratulating him personally. Well done also so Harvey, Crystal and Finlay, who would all have been very worthy winners. They have done themselves and their schools proud.”

Take extra care during firefighters' strike

The Chief Fire Officer of North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is urging the public across the region to ‘take extra care’ at home and on the roads following the Fire Brigades Union’s announcement that firefighters in England and Wales will take further industrial action on Friday 13th December between 6.00pm and 10.00pm and Saturday 14th December between 6pm and 10pm.

Chief Fire Officer, Simon Smith, stressed: “Attention to fire safety in the home and road safety is of paramount importance, but even more so during these times.

“The Fire Brigades Union has chosen to strike at times of the day when the risk to people’s safety is inherently more significant - on a Friday and Saturday evening, people are likely to be out socialising and drinking or cooking at home entertaining family and friends.

“Of particular concern to us at this time of year of course is the likelihood that people will be out celebrating in the run up to Christmas which again increases the risk to safety.”

“I am therefore urging people to be extra vigilant think more carefully about the situations they may be putting themselves into. Historically these are times when calls to the fire and rescue service are at their peak and regrettably it is likely that during the strike period we won’t be able to respond as we normally would – prevention is best, so take these simple steps to ensure your safety and those of your loved ones;

• Ensure you have a smoke alarm and test that it is in working order
• Do not mix drinking and cooking – it’s a recipe for disaster. If you are hungry get a takeaway or make a sandwich. Do not get the chip pan out or leave cooking unattended
• Avoid any unnecessary journeys and pay particular attention to road safety  – if you are unfortunate enough to be in a collision we may not be able to get there to help you as quickly as we normally would
• Switch off any unused electrical appliances before you go to bed and close all doors – make sure you have an escape plan in the event of fire
• Ensure you extinguish smoking materials and take care with candles
• Get your chimney cleaned and use a fire guard on open fires
• If a fire does start - get out, stay out and call 999. Don’t be tempted to tackle a fire yourself

Safety advice and guidance for the public and businesses is available on the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service website www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk and social network sites on Facebook www.facebook.com/Northwalesfireservice  and Twitter @NorthWalesFire  (#takeextracare), as well as through the local news.

Everyone likes to enjoy themselves in the run up to the festive period but members of the public are urged to keep safety in mind while celebrating by following follow the simple Christmas safety  tips which are also available on the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service website and social networking sites.

The number of firefighters from North Wales Fire and Rescue Service expected to make a protest by striking is high and will result in a reduction in the resources available. As a consequence, the fire and rescue service will not be able to provide the same high level of response as it normally would – it will continue to respond to emergency calls by prioritising the deployment of the available resources at its disposal and focussing on the protection of life

Chief Fire Officer Simon Smith reassured the public “North Wales Fire and Rescue Service has arrangements in place to continue to provide a service during strike action” but warned that, “because of the circumstances, services may be limited.”

“The Service’s business continuity arrangements will ensure a speedy and safe return to normal services on conclusion of any period of industrial action.”

Councillor Meirick Lloyd Davies, Chairman of North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority, said: “Whilst we understand the concerns of staff which have led to their decision to make a protest in this way, we have a duty and an obligation to ensure that the provision of services remains as unaffected as reasonably practicable. This is a dispute between the Fire Brigade’s Union and the Government in England and Wales over proposed changes to pension arrangements. However our number one priority is to ensure public safety.”

Members of the public who may need to call the fire and rescue service regarding a non-urgent matter during a period of industrial action are requested to consider waiting until strike action ends to make that call.

Isherwood raises concerns over loss of tourism support

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has raised concerns in the Assembly this week that North Wales could lose millions in tourism support if proposed changes to the way funding is assessed are implemented.  

 

Calling for a Welsh Government Statement on tourism in North Wales, Mr Isherwood said it is feared that North Wales cold lose out to South Wales if the changes come into force.

 

Speaking in the Assembly Chamber, he said:  “I have received reference to a report from a tourism business leader in north Wales. The report is entitled ‘Measuring Tourism Demand at Local Authority Level in Wales: Official Statistics and STEAM’, which refers to indicative changes in the 2013-14 standard spending assessment. It suggests that Flintshire would lose £358,000, and north Wales millions in support, with the money going to south Wales authorities, despite the most economically deprived part of Wales, West Wales and the Valleys, including four of north Wales’ six counties - and despite almost one fifth of the population of Wales living within the most deprived wards in Wales being located in north Wales.”

 

The Minister for Local Government and Government Business, Lesley Griffiths, replied: “There is a great deal of work going on around tourism right across Wales, not just in north Wales. Visit Wales has relaunched its travel trade approach, which focuses largely on international markets, and it continues to work very closely with Visit Britain internationally. There is a programme of PR and campaign activity, which I am sure will benefit north Wales.”

 

Mr Isherwood said later: “The Minister’s failure to address the concerns I raised can only reinforce fears that North Wales is to lose out to South Wales."

Ysgol Dinas Bran gets "Band 2" ranking in performance tables

Ysgol Dinas Bran in Llangollen has achieved a Band 2 ranking in the latest Welsh Government performance tables published today, according to the BBC.

See the full story on the BBC news website at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-25351074

* Commenting following the publication of this year’s school banding data, Aled Roberts, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Minister said:

 

“No matter how schools in Wales have performed over the year, we already know that there will be a fixed amount of schools in each band.  That is too crude and simplistic a system.  Too often we are hearing of how parents are confused about why their children’s school has been re-banded despite the fact its results have stayed the same.

 

“In too many cases, the banding system and the results of Estyn inspections are at odds with each other and this creates uncertainty and instability within the sector.

 

“An Estyn report confirmed this week that there is still not an appropriate system in place to track individuals’ progress.  The Welsh Liberal Democrats believe that monitoring the performance of each individual pupil would be a far more effective way to raise standards, as then we could identify children who were not achieving their potential.  The Welsh Government could also monitor the performance of a school on the basis of how many of its pupils were meeting their individual targets.

 

“The outcome of the promised review of the current banding system must be one in which schools and consortia are absolutely clear about standards.”

 

 

Health board speaks out on future of two Llan landmarks

llanblogger exclusive

See reader comments at foot of story ...

 

 

* The health centre in Regent Street.

llanblogger has been given an insight into what the future might hold for two landmark buildings in the town.

The former Cottage Hospital in Abbey Road now lies empty after being closed amidst a storm of public protest last March.

The death knell was also sounded for the health centre in Abbey Road when plans were unveiled earlier this year to build a new £5.5 million replacement for it on the site of the old River Lodge on the A539.    

In view of local speculation about the fates of these two buildings, we asked the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), which owns then both, what plans it has for their disposal.

A BCUHB spokesperson said ¨We have received Welsh Government approval to dispose of the former Llangollen Hospital premises, and at the moment we are advertising its availability to other public sector organisations. 

“If none of our public sector partners have need of the site it will be placed on the open market. 

“Once the business case to develop the new primary care resource centre in Llangollen is approved we will follow a similar process for the health centre in Regent Street when services have moved from the building.”

Meanwhile, the 137-year-old hospital lies empty, boarded up and surrounded by security fencing.

A planning application for the new health centre was recently submitted to Denbighshire County Council.

·        We’d like to hear our readers’ views on what they believe should happen to either of these buildings. Let us know what you think by contacting us at: llanblogger@gmail.com  

* First comment has come in from Martin Crumpton, chair of Keep Llangollen Special, who says:

When the surgery on Regent street finally closes its door, it leaves behind one of most accessible buildings in Llangollen. Given its adjacency to the community hall and its access for disabled people – and most of all, parking, if that can be negotiated with the Church - it is ideal for a community drop-in centre (also known as a hub) for Keep Llangollen Special and other groups in the community. There is a need for, but a shortage of, free meeting places.

 

Regarding the Cottage Hospital, we think that Betsi Cadwalad should bear in mind the general well-being of Llangollen. If they find no takers in the public sector, they plan to place it on the market. We would suggest there’s something missing between the two; to see if the community could find a perfectly good use for it, perhaps a town cinema or a fitness centre now that it seems Plas Madoc is to be axed and maybe even offices for start-up businesses.

Martin Crumpton

* Second comment comes from Mike Edwards:

 Firstly I think the former hospital property should be made available to one of the local Housing Associations to provide Social Housing for the benefit of residents of Llangollen. Possibly a sheltered housing unit should be considered to assist older residents of Llangollen and the Dee Valley.

Secondly tend to I agree with Martin that the GP Surgery is worthy of consideration as a Business and Community Hub (BACH) if the former HSBC Bank building is not available. Whichever property is available to the Community it would need to be subjected to a thorough investigation and structural survey to assess it's suitability and viability for conversion to a hub facility. The cost of conversion and future running expenses would be assessed as part of a comprehensive Business Plan for the BACH based on the model of Glyn Wylfa, Chirk which is run by a Community Development Trust:

http://www.glynwylfa.co.uk

There are various sources of funding for these type of projects which normally attract the support of Welsh Government and relevant Local Authorities and it would be useful to hear what residents, businesses and everyone who have the best interests of Llangollen at heart.

Mike Edwards

County wants your views on Welsh language situation

The county council has commissioned an audit on the Welsh language situation in Denbighshire  communities and wants to hear ideas from people on how the language can be enhanced and promoted over the coming years.
 
The County Council has commissioned Sbectrwm to undertake the review and to consult with key individuals, organisations and institutions.

Three meetings, arranged in conjunction with Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych,  will be held on the following dates:

21 January 2014 - Corwen Sports Pavilion (7.00 p.m)
22 January 2014 - Scala Arts Centre, Prestatyn (7.00 p.m)
23 January 2014 - Denbigh Town Hall (7.00 p.m)

Hywyn Williams, Corporate Director - Communities, Denbighshire County Council, said:  "The Council commissionned the audit for a number of reasons.  The Welsh language is a subject of debate nationally and the proposed Welsh Language Standards are expected to come into effect in around a year's time.  There has been a decline in the number of Welsh speakers in the county, which reflects the national position and we are keen to see an increase by the next census.  The Council was also very eager to build on the interest in the Welsh language and culture following the tremendous success of the National Eisteddfod held in our county this year".

Cefin Campbell from Sbectrwm, said: "The main purpose of the meetings will be to consider the current state of the Welsh language in Denbighshire and invite ideas on how to revitalise the language in future. The intention is to look at many different sectors, for example – education, children and young people, Welsh learners, sports and leisure, business, planning, community activities and the use of Welsh in the workplace.

John Glyn Jones, Chairman of Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych, said: "This is an open meeting for all those interested in the future of the language. Non-Welsh speakers are particularly welcome as there will be simultaneous translation facilities available on the evening to allow everyone to participate fully in the discussions.

"I hope that you will be able to attend one of the above meetings as your contribution to discussions on the language  and how we can further promote the Welsh language in our community would be greatly appreciated".

Please confirm your attendance by no later than 10 January 2014, by phoning Sbectrwm on 01558 668663 or Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych on 01745 812822. Or by e.mail to cefin@sbectrwm.com or ruth@menterdinbych.org