Denbighshire makes its views clear on council merger

Councillors in Denbighshire have met to discuss their response to the initial recommendations of the Williams Report.

The Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery has recommended that Denbighshire County Council merges with Conwy County Borough Council

Councillors in Denbighshire agreed the following:

* Denbighshire would not pursue a voluntary merger option

* The council notes that enforced mergers will not happen before the next Welsh Government Elections in 2016, which realistically means that mergers are off the agenda for at least the next four to five years.

* It is urging the Welsh Government to respond positively and urgently to the report's recommendations on improving leadership and performance and simplifying funding arrangements in the public sector.

* Until any proposal for the future is agreed, the Council will concentrate its efforts on delivering its ambitious Corporate Plan and manage the cuts while maintaining priority services for residents.

Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, Leader of Denbighshire, said: "The Council has had time to consider carefully its response to the recommendations included in the report.

"The council has made its views known in the past that the public sector should concentrate its efforts on improving leadership, culture and performance rather than divert its attention to large scale reorganisation of public services. That view has not changed and whilst we will make our feelings known to the Welsh Government, only time will tell what the outcome will be."

Dr Mohammed Mehmet, Chief Executive of Denbighshire, said: "We have taken the decision not to merge voluntarily as we don't believe that large scale voluntary collaborations have worked in the past and there is no confidence that they will work in the future.

"There is a lot of uncertainty around whether these proposals will actually happen and if they will, when will the changes be implemented.  Such uncertainty is not good for the public sector and the time and effort involved in preparing for merger that may or may not happen would be much better directed to delivering our priorities.

"Our efforts continue to be focussed on providing the best services possible for the people of Denbighshire."

Go Compare man to sing alongside Bryn Terfel in Llan

* Incomparable ... top tenor Wynne Evans who'll be starring

in Sweeney Todd with Bryn Terfel at Llangollen International

Musical Eisteddfod.

Top tenor Wynne Evans has landed an incomparable new role - singing alongside opera superstar Bryn Terfel in Llangollen.

Wynne  – best known as the waiter who belts out catchy jingles in the Go Compare TV ads – will be starring with the bass baritone in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street at this summer’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

 

But first Wynne faces a mad dash from Covent Garden where he'll be performing in the Richard Strauss opera, Ariadne auf Naxos, the night before at the Royal Opera House.

 

He'll be joining Bryn and an all-Welsh cast in an English language production of the Sondheim classic on the opening night of the Llangollen Eisteddfod on Monday, July 7, that's being sponsored by the Pendine Park care organisation.

 

According to Wynne, 42, Llangollen is one of his favourite places on the planet.

He explained: “Llangollen is a very special place and one of the most special places on earth for a week.

 

“I performed in a headline concert there a couple of years ago and also presenting BBC 2’s coverage of the festival for the last two years.

“Llangollen is a wonderful place to return to especially as I’m going to be performing with my old mate Bryn Terfel.

“I’m playing the role of Pirelli, Sweeney Todd’s arch rival who is slain by the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Luckily, Bryn and I are good friends or I might just take it personally!

“We both attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, although he was a few years ahead of me. So we have been good friends having know each other for a long time."

Wynne, who was born in Carmarthen, was an established opera star long before he was picked to play Gio Compario for the Go Compare TV ads and has performed at many of the world’s top venues including the Royal Albert Hall.

The TV exposure, he says, has been a bonus when it comes to concert ticket sales.
He added: “It’s amazing really. Six years ago I was relatively unknown until of course Gio Compario came along. It doesn’t bother me though, I know I was a successful opera singer before he came along and I will continue performing in the future.

“I think about the attention I get as my being an ambassador for Wales actually. I have just been over to Dublin for the rugby international, I was working for a TV station, and, as usual, I got lots and lots of ‘Go Compare’ shouts from across the street.

“However, I feel quite honoured really. I know some artists and performers who get quite precious and don’t want to perform the very song that made them famous. I can never understand that, it just doesn’t make sense to me.

"People expect you to perform what they know you best for. What’s the point in disappointing people?

“I know a lot of people come along to concerts or opera performances I’m in as a direct result of seeing those TV ads so I am happy to celebrate that.

“And I’m filming a few more ads in the near future so you can expect to see Gio Compario back on your TV screens quite soon!”

Sweeney Todd was the perfect introduction for anybody who hasn't seen live opera before.
He said: “It’s superb. Fast moving and menacing it's got a bit of everything including murder and intrigue and the music is just sensational."

This year’s Eisteddfod will also feature concerts by Dutch jazz sensation Caro Emerald and veteran British rockers Status Quo as well as a world premiere of a new work, Adiemus Colores, by top composer Karl Jenkins.

 

He will conduct his Latin American themed work with American tenor Noah Stewart, Venezuelan trumpeter Pacho Flores and Latvian accordion player Ksenija Sidorova to the accompaniment of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod Orchestra.

 

The Friday night concert, Spirit of Unity, will feature the Cape Town Opera, Africa’s premiere opera company, famed for their "vibrant vocalism and high-octane stage performances".

 

Appearing with them will be Wales’ representative in Cardiff Singer of the World, Gary Griffiths, the Wales Millennium Centre Only Kidz Aloud Chorus under the baton of celebrity conductor Tim Rhys Evans and British Sinfonietta, one of the UK's leading independent professional orchestras.

 

The Choir of the World competition for the Pavarotti Trophy on the Saturday night is the blue riband event of the week-long festival which will close with a Sunday night concert by Status Quo.

 

To book tickets and for more details on the 2014 festival go to the website at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

Local youngsters shoot monuments film

* Valle Crucis Abbey.

 

Denbighshire schoolchildren will be the stars on the red carpet in an upcoming premiere of their films on Welsh heritage sites at the Llangollen International Pavilion.

Inspired by Welsh heritage sites at Rug Chapel and the Valle Crucis Abbey, the pupils will showcase the results of their hard work in creating films based on the monuments under Cadw guardianship.

The schoolchildren from Ysgol Caer Drewyn in Corwen and Ysgol Bryn Collen in Llangollen will showcase their work to friends and family in a launch on March 6.

 

Valle Crucis Abbey was visited by Ysgol Bryn Collen’s year 4 class.

 

The pupils spent the day exploring the site and its surroundings, including the ninth century Eliseg’s Pillar which stands on a Bronze Age burial mound just 500 metres from the abbey. After tours from the Cadw custodian and archaeologists, the pupils worked on creating their interpretation of the historical area in film.

 

Pupils from year 5 at Ysgol Caer Drewyn visited the Rug Chapel site and connected with its past through a series of poems they had written. A digital film was then created at the school which showcases the stunning historical site with the pupils poetry read out over the images.

 

The project, led by Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service, had utilised  the pupil’s skills in communication, team working and literacy, applying the Curriculum Cymreig to learn about music, languages, geography and art as well as history. The children have been working with award winning company Big Heritage to create the films.

 

Dean Paton, at the Big Heritage company said: “Big Heritage exist to create new ways for people to engage with their shared past, so we were really pleased to work with Cadw to help local schoolchildren to explore the stories of two amazing local places".

 

"Valle Crucis gave us an opportunity to tell stories of a whole landscape, whilst Rug Chapel focused on the tiniest of details that caught the imagination. The project has helped the local schools to appreciate their past, and the films leave a wonderful creative legacy for others to enjoy."

Dai Chef cooks up his dream job

 

* Dai Chef at Bodnant Welsh Food.

 

A TOP celebrity chef who wowed opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti with his culinary skills has landed his "dream job".

 

Dai Chef, who lived in Chirk for many years, has vowed to champion Welsh produce after being appointed as the resident chef at Bodnant Welsh Food in the Conwy Valley.

 

The centre of excellence at the heart of the 5,000 acre estate has been a big hit since it was officially opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2012.

 

According to Dai, his role at Bodnant  is the culmination of a 30-year mission to promote the merits of Welsh food.

 

Working with Executive Chef Clare Jones who's been at Bodnant since it opened, he will be running the centre's Hayloft restaurant and tea room as well as teaching in the cookery school, with the ingredients coming from Bodnant's acclaimed farm shop.

 

Dai famously cooked for Pavarotti when he came to perform at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in 1995, exactly 40 years after he first came to Llangollen as part of his father's choir from Modena, in Italy.

 

A native of Aberystwyth, Dai gained his initial experience in some of the largest hotels in London's West end and by the age of 21 he was the youngest chef saucier – in charge of the creation of delicious sauces – at the world famous Carlton Club in St James’s.

 

He was the founder of the Welsh Culinary Team and is now seen as the "Daddy of Welsh Chefs", having trained the like of Rhodri Williams, the Senior Sous Chef at Raymond Blanc's legendary Oxfordshire eatery, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons.

 

For the past six years Dai has been chef director at the Ship Inn at Red Wharf Bay on Anglesey and in 2008 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at Glyndwr University in Wrexham.

 

Dai, who's moved to live in Colwyn Bay, said: "I started championing Welsh food 30 years ago when it wasn't flavour of the month so my role at Bodnant - as the centre of excellence for Welsh food - is truly a dream job for me. It's a marriage made in culinary heaven.

 

"The menu at the Hayloft restaurant will be full on Welsh rustic food with a modern twist.

 

"All the ingredients are available right here literally on the doorstep. Bodnant has its own butchers shop and delicatessen. The butter is produced here, the bread is baked here. We're not talking food miles - it's more like food yards.

 

"I'm just putting the final touches to the menu for St David's Day and I've gone down the traditional route with lamb, leek and lava bread in a cawl style.  I’m going to slice some lovely potatoes over the top with some the award winning Bodnant cheese."

 

Gwyndaf Pritchard, the General Manager at Bodnant Welsh Food, was equally excited about Dai's arrival.

 

He said: "We are the Welsh Food Centre and Dai is very passionate about Welsh produce, as well as being extremely talented and creative.

 

"Bodnant is now well established as a centre of excellence but we are determined not to rest on our laurels and Dai's appointment will help take us to the next level.

 

"Food is an increasingly important part of the Welsh economy and we are doing our bit by sustaining local growers and local farmers.

 

"Forty per cent of the produce on sale in our shop comes from Bodnant Welsh Food and if we can't produce something ourselves, then the Conwy Valley is our first port of call.

 

"These are exciting times at Bodnant and we have an appetite for even more success."

New health centre plan gets go-ahead

* An artist's impression of the new health centre.

County councillors have approved plans to bulldoze the former River Lodge (pictured below right)and replace it with a new £5.5 million health centre on the same site off the A539.

The application from the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was given the go-ahead by the planning committee earlier this week.

However, a number of extra conditions were imposed on the original application.

These are:

8. The car parking areas shall not be brought into use until the written confirmation of the Local Planning Authority has been obtained to the proposed management arrangements for the use of the parking areas outside core operating hours.

Two conditions also need to be added to the suggested list, to cover the requirements of the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust, and questions raised over the potential for contaminated land on the line of the former railway.

Suggested new condition(s):

20. No development shall take place within the application site until the applicant, their agents, or successors in title has secured the implementation of a programme of archaeological work in accordance with a written scheme of investigation, which has been submitted by the applicant and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The archaeological work shall be undertaken and completed in accordance with the standards laid down by the Institute for Archaeologists and MoRPHE (2006). On completion, appropriate reports and an archive assessment shall be submitted for approval to the Local Planning Authority and the Development Control Archaeologist, Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust, 41 Broad Street, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 7RR  Telephone 01938 553670.

Reason: To ensure appropriate archaeological investigation and works are undertaken in conjunction with the development.

22. If, during development, contamination not previously identified is found to be present at the site then no further development (unless otherwise agreed in writing with the Local Planning Authority) shall be carried out until the developer has submitted a remediation strategy to the local planning authority detailing how this unsuspected contamination shall be dealt with and obtained written approval from the local planning authority. The remediation strategy shall be implemented as approved.

Reason: To ensure that appropriate steps are taken in the event of contamination being identified in the interests of protecting the adjacent main river from pollution.

Plas Madoc battlers could seek judicial review

* The packed public meeting in Acrefair. Picture courtesy of Mabon ap Gwyfor. 

Campaigners at a public meeting in Acrefair last night (Thursday) said they planned to consult a barrister about the possibility of a judicial review into the proposed closure of Plas Madoc leisure centre.

See a report on the BBC website at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-26269338

Segway centre plan is withdrawn

llanblogger exclusive

A planning application for a segway adventure trail on the edge of Llangollen has been withdrawn.

Details of the scheme - reference number 03/2013/1014 - on land to the north of Cilmedw Farm, were submitted to Denbighshire County Council last August. 

The plan called for the creation of a segway adventure trail, the demolition of an existing building and the erection of a replacement building to provide facilities for a segway centre and, as a white water rafting centre, the formation of vehicular access and creation of car park and associated development.

According to the planning brief, the site of the application was to the west of the A5 and to the north west of the White Water Hotel, and located close to the edge of Llangollen amongst a cluster of development associated with the town and set around the A5. 

However, yesterday (Thursday) an objector to the scheme was sent a letter from Graham Boase, Denbighshire’s Head of Planning and Public Protection, says: “I write to advise you that the above application submitted to the Local Planning Authority has now been withdrawn by the applicants/agent and the Authority will not therefore proceed any further with its consideration.”

The site of the application is currently agricultural land which slopes up from the A5 towards the northern and western sides of the site in line with the land form of the area, which is defined by the wooded slopes that form the western side of the Vale of Llangollen. 

The brief explains: “The proposal is a full application for the creation of a segway adventure trail and a white water rafting centre which involves the following elements:

• Creation of a segway track (with a grass surface);

• Demolition of existing agricultural building on site and erection of a replacement building of a similar size and scale which will provide facilities for the segway centre, and will also be used as the base for the applicant’s white water rafting business;

• Creation of a new access and formation of a parking area (gravel surface);

• Provision of wood chip path between parking area and building;

• Formation of soakaways to serve the building."

The planning brief submitted with the application said: “The proposal would make a positive contribution to the area’s economic character as it would provide employment and would be an additional attraction that would assist in attracting and retaining visitors. 

“A new access will be provided for the site onto the road bordering the northern section of the western edge of the site, this will then allow access onto the A5 via the existing junction.” 

Well-known local campaigner Martin Crumpton, of Berwyn, who led the initial opposition to the Sainsbury’s supermarket on the Dobson & Crowther site off the A5 and also battled plans for the closure of Llangollen Cottage Hospital, opposed the segway scheme.

Writing to a county council planning official last August Mr Crumpton expressed his concern the proposed development would destroy an identified, active badger sett and lead to what he described as “further decimation of AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and World Heritage land”.

On hearing that the application had been withdrawn, Mr Crumpton said: "The badgers who live at an undisclosed location west of Cilmedw are now safe."