Deadline day today for Chain Bridge tenders

* Work is due to start work on the Chain Bridge renovation project.

Today (Friday) is deadline day for tenders to be submitted for facelift work on the world-famous Chain Bridge.

At the town council meeting on Tuesday night, town clerk Gareth Thomas told members that one or two potential contractors for the work had pulled out at an early stage of the tendering process.

He explained: “I think this was either because there was not enough money in the project, or they thought the risk was too high.”

Because of this the tendering process was extended until this week, he added.

He went on: “We still believe three tenders are due to come on Friday. When they are received a detailed assessment of the tenders will be prepared and a report will be brought to the next council meeting. After a decision is made we can then get on with the engineering side of the project.”

Mr Thomas said the heritage side of the project was going well, with the two officers appointed to handle the operation inviting local artists and the town’s museum to get involved.

There would also be joint working with schools and training sessions for volunteers to work on the project were being arranged.

The project now had its own Facebook page and Twitter account with the aim being to reach out to as many people as possible.

The mayor, Cllr Bob Lube, said that if all went according to plan, and work started on schedule, an opening day for the refurbished bridge might be held in July. 

Last summer it was announced that the long-awaited £465,000 restoration of the bridge, which has been closed for safety reasons for the past 30 years or so, could go ahead after the final slice of necessary cash came in the form of a £350,000 boost from the Heritage Lottery.

Politicians demand answers over Glyn Ceiriog Post Office

CLWYD South AM Ken Skates and MP Susan Elan Jones have called for answers over the future of a rural post office which villagers fear could be closed. 

Residents in Glyn Ceiriog have raised concerns that their local branch is at risk as part of the Post Office’s biggest-ever reshuffle.

Several constituents have contacted the Labour politicians, who have vowed to seek immediate clarification over the future of the ‘vital’ facility.

Mr Skates said: “The Post Office branch at Glyn Ceiriog has received a lot of financial support from the Welsh Labour Government in recent years and is an important and integral part of the close-knit community – I can see no reason whatsoever why it should be at risk of closure.

“The branch serves a large rural community of about 1,500 households in the Ceiriog Valley and there is nowhere else for many miles around which offers the full range of Post Office services. Closing the business would be a huge blow to the community and the people who rely on the post office, many of whom are elderly and go there to pay their bills.

“Glyn Ceiriog Post Office also runs a community IT Hub with minimal charges, which is in use daily, and a local cafe and tourist information centre which is open six days a week.

“I will seek immediate answers and clarification from the Post Office. Family-run businesses at the heart of their community are sadly becoming rarer and rarer in this day and age, but they play a valued role and we need to do all we can to preserve them.”

Susan Elan Jones MP added: “Glyn Ceiriog Post Office is vital local facility which must be kept open. I am working very closely with local residents on putting forward a strong case to try and make Post Office Limited see sense.”

Multi-million development plan for Ruabon area

The Daily Post is reporting today that multi-million pound plans for a supermarket, hotel and hundreds of homes in a scheme that could create 1,100 jobs on a site near Ruabon have been submitted to Wrexham council.

For more details see: http://www.dailypost.co.uk/business/business-news/multi-million-pound-supermarket-hotel-300-6552831

Town council backs canal towpath action call

* Part of the canal towpath.

The town council has backed calls for urgent attention to be given to the canal towpath.

At their meeting on Tuesday evening members were addressed by Mel Lawrence, chair of Llangollen Civic Society, who said the path was in a “deplorable state”.

Mr Lawrence said that last year the new Canal & River Trust, which has taken over responsibility for maintaining the towpath from British Waterways, repaired about 50 yards of it from the wharf towards the aqueduct.

He said he believed they had done this on a trial basis to see how the work went with a view to completing further sections.

However, he added: “It went very well but nothing else happened. The path is now dangerous with lumps sticking up through it.”

He suggested that further sections should be repaired as a matter of urgency and told councillors: “The canal is within the World Heritage Site, which seems to have been forgotten.

“The civic society has written to the Canal & River Trust asking when they are going to do about it. We would also like to see the town council expressing it concern and getting on board.”

At the suggestion of the mayor, Cllr Bob Lube, members voted to back the civic society in its approach to the Canal & River Trust. 

Local precept to rise by 3.65%

The town council is to increase its share of the county's council tax bill by just over 3% from April.

At their meeting on Tuesday night members agreed an increase of £3,100 in the council’s annual budget to a total of £87,000 for 2014/15.

This means increasing the precept - the amount added to the county council tax bill to cover the town council’s running costs –  by 3.65% for 2014/15.

This will add £1.82 to the bill for the average Band D property.

Town clerk Gareth Thomas said the budget would cover expenses such as maintaining the town’s CCTV system and Christmas lights.

Cllr Sheenah Burrell, who was one of the sub-group of members which worked on the budget, said: “We want to remain effective and active and to do that we have had to increase the precept. None of our decisions were taken easily or lightly.”

Isherwood questions council merger plans

Questioning the First Minister in the Assembly this week over plans to merge councils in Wales, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood highlighted the concerns of local authorities in North Wales.

 

The Williams Commission proposes merging local authorities to reduce numbers from 22 to between 10 and 12, but Mr Isherwood stressed to Carwyn Jones in the Assembly Chamber yesterday that councils in North Wales fear this would weaken accountability.

 

Speaking in the chamber he said: “You may be aware that the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee recently completed an inquiry into progress on local government collaboration.

 

"How do you respond to the evidence to that inquiry from Conwy council, on behalf of north Wales councils, that working across organisational and geographic boundaries could bring complexity and ambiguity that could generate confusion and weaken accountability, paralleled by Cardiff Business School, which said ‘there is no simple answer to the local government sized conundrum because you have hundreds of different cost curves, all behaving differently.

 

"Whereas, for one service, the right scale may be regional or even across Wales, another may well be best delivered at an incredibly local level’”.

 

The First Minister replied: “What the Williams Commission identifies is a need for change now and it identifies a need for change in order to benefit the public. It also identifies the problems that have arisen due to the lack of collaboration between many local authorities in Wales.”

 

Mr Isherwood added: “To embark on a reorganisation at a time when Local Government is enmeshed in driving through significant financial savings is fraught with hazard, with the Welsh Local Government Association saying that the cost of merging councils in Wales could cost £200 million, double the Williams Commission estimate.

 

"All precedent in both the public and private sector indicates that even if mergers eventually prove effective, it takes a minimum 5 – 10 years to cover the merger costs and deliver the integrated systems required. Rather than freeing funds for service delivery, this threatens to reduce them even further.”

National Eisteddfod gets an extra £90,000

First Minister, Carwyn Jones, has said that an additional £90,000 will be awarded to the National Eisteddfod this year to enable it to implement several of the recommendations made by the Eisteddfod Task and Finish Group.

The announcement forms part of the Welsh Government’s response to the Group’s report, which outlines ways the national festival can modernise and increase its impact.

 

The Eisteddfod Task and Finish Group, chaired by Roy Noble, was established following the Eisteddfod in 2012. The Group was asked to consider the future location of the Eisteddfod, its appeal to new visitors and ways to increase visitor numbers.

The First Minister said that he was pleased to accept all of the recommendations in principle and that the Welsh Government will support any operational steps that can be taken.

Further considerations will need to be made to some of the recommendations due to their financial implications.

The recommendations include, that the festival continue to travel to different parts of Wales each year, that the Eisteddfod creates a plan to attract more young volunteers, and that it establishes a Group of experts to create an ambitious Digital Strategy.

The First Minister said: "The National Eisteddfod is a cornerstone of Welsh language and culture. From the day that the Eisteddfod announces it will visit a certain area, excitement builds and there are many opportunities for people of all ages to take part in a variety of activities in their local community.

"We established this Task and Finish Group so that we would be fully informed of public opinion and of the best options available to widen the festival’s appeal and increase visitor numbers. The recommendations in the report are reasonable and offer a clear vision on how the Eisteddfod can develop and modernise.

"We will now continue to work closely with the Eisteddfod as they consider their response to the recommendations."