AM calls for action to protect community pubs

 

 

* North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood and Welsh

Conservative Leader Andrew RT Davies at the recent North Wales  launch of the ‘Save your Local Pub’ campaign.

 

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has sent a letter to the Minister for Housing and Regeneration Carl Sargeant AM calling for the Welsh Government to take action to protect valued community pubs from closure.

 

Mr Isherwood, contacted the Minister after receiving a letter from constituents who are members of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, who would like  the Welsh Government to uses its power under the UK Localism Act 2011 to enact the Community Right to Bid for Assets of Community Value in Wales, which would help prevent further pub closures in Wales. Mr Isherwood has also previously spoken in favour of this in the Assembly.

 

New powers introduced under the Localism Act have given communities in England the opportunity to help protect valued community facilities such as pubs by listing them as Assets of Community Value (ACVs).

 

Listing pubs as ACVs prevents their sale behind the back of local people and allows communities to delay any sale by up to six months while they investigate options for saving the pub. Many of the 350 pubs listed as ACVs in England have brought together people from a variety of backgrounds to campaign on behalf of saving their local pub. ACV status can also be used as a material consideration in planning decisions.

 

Mr Isherwood said: “As the CAMRA members state ‘pubs play a critical role in the Welsh community; supporting over 34,000 full and part-time jobs, supporting local food and drink production, and providing a regulated environment to enjoy alcohol responsibly.

 

"However community pubs in Wales are in crisis with three closing every week, often without the local community having a say. Without added protection for pubs in Wales, they will continue to close at an alarming rate.’

 

Mr Isherwood added: “The Welsh Assembly Government has the power to enact the Community Right to Bid for Assets of Community Value in Wales, which would help protect our valued community pubs from closure.

 

“I strongly support the introduction of the Community Right to Bid in Wales and I am therefore calling on the Minister to give this matter his urgent attention and confirm the Welsh Government's intended course of action.”

Tourism businesses invited to forum event

Tourism-related businesses in Denbighshire are being invited to attend a forum which looks at developing the visitor offer across the county.

The Denbighshire Tourism Forum has been arranged on Thursday 12 June 2014 at Ruthin Castle where delegates can discuss Denbighshire's Destination Management Plan, growing tourism in Denbighshire, learn a few customer service techniques and discover Denbighshire's newest digital tourism product.  

Councillor Huw Jones, Cabinet Lead Member with responsibility for tourism, said:"This is an ideal opportunity for businesses and individuals to get together and share ideas as to how we can get more people to discover what Denbighshire has to offer."

If you would like to attend the Denbighshire Tourism Forum, please  e-mail: dcc_tourism@denbighshire.gov.uk or ring 01824 706223.  Registration is from 10am, the Forum starts at 10.30am with lunch and networking at 1pm.

This project has received funding through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

County council wants your views on priorities

Denbighshire County Council is focussing on delivering its priorities and would like to hear your views about some of its proposed activities for the year ahead.

Each council in Wales is expected to produce an improvement plan and Denbighshire’s five year Corporate Plan was agreed in 2012.

Every year, the council announces its planned projects for the year ahead, to support the delivery of its priorities.

The priorities are:
·        Developing the local economy
·        Improving performance in education and in the quality of school buildings
·        Improving roads
·        Vulnerable people are protected and are able to live as independently as possible.
Ensuring access to good quality housing
·        Modernising the Council to deliver efficiencies and improve services for customers.

The full document with the Council’s planned activities can be viewed on Denbighshire’s website: www.denbighshire.gov.uk/consultations

If you have any comments or suggestions regarding these projects, you can contact the Council by e - mailing corporate.improvement@denbighshire.gov.uk or by phone:  01824 706161.

The closing date is 12pm on May 12.

What the forthcoming Euro election is all about

Check out the BBC's guide to this month's Euro elections.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-27068444?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

Llangollen Railway fronts tourism brochure

* The new brochure featuring Carrog Station.

The front cover of the 2014 tourism brochure for North East Wales features a dramatic view of the Dee Valley as seen from Carrog station with a steam train departing.

The view encompasses the splendid scenery of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the valley of the River Dee with the availability of the heritage railway to provide easy enjoyment of it from the comfort of a traditional train journey.

In addition to this prime illustration, there is a whole page promotion given to the Llangollen Railway acknowledging its position as a major tourist attraction in the region which includes Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham.

As the only operating standard gauge heritage railway in the whole of North Wales, the Llangollen Railway provides a range of travel opportunities and activities for visitors to the region to explore the delights of the Dee Valley.

These will soon be enhanced when the railway's extension to Corwen opens later in the summer of 2014.

George Jones, for Llangollen Railway, said: "We are delighted that the front cover of the new brochure features the railway at Carrog within its setting of the dramatic Welsh scenery. The scenic view from the train as it runs between Llangollen and Carrog continually attracts praise from visitors who experience the journey and acknowledge the claim that the Llangollen Railway is among the best in Britain for its setting."

With a print run of 60,000 it will be distributed widely to key markets in the Midlands and North West – underlying the accessibility of the area to visitors. The brochure will also be distributed via advertising campaigns, promotion at exhibitions and by direct mail as well as via media and public relations visits.

Councillor Huw Jones, Lead Member for promoting Denbighshire, said: "This is a fantastic marketing tool, to encourage more visitors to the area; with so much to see and do is such a small area, it shows that Denbighshire is an ideal location for the family market as well as for the more specialist walkers and heritage enthusiasts.”

This brochure is available from all UK Tourist Information Centres and also the Exhibition Coach at Llangollen Station.

It can also be downloaded from www.northeastwales.co.uk or contact Denbighshire’s Tourism, Marketing and Communications Department on 01824 706072 for a copy.

Llan women involved in Dylan performance project

Two Llangollen women are taking part in an event which is part of the Dylan Thomas 100^th birthday celebrations and will be streamed live on the internet next week.

Lleisiau is a Wales-wide sonic/performance arts project, which celebrates the way the population of Wales uses its voice in a variety of unsung ways.

 

Performances will happen in Cardiff from May 8-10 and start at 7.30pm.

 

From the newspaper seller, to the town crier, a shepherd, a rag and bone man, a singer of alawon gwerin, a rapper, an auctioneer, performers have been recruited from across Wales by open audition, chosen for their distinctive use of voice in their daily lives, in Welsh, English or other languages spoken in Wales.

 

The result is an informal and experimental evening of live and pre-recorded entertainment.

 

Among those taking part are Rachel Morris and Francesca Simmons, a creative violinist, from Llangollen.

 

Rachel said: “It’s being live-streamed on the internet. I'll be reading a piece I wrote about the role of voice in personal identity and 'fitting in', and Francesca will be playing a saw, I believe!”

 

* See more at: http://www.chapter.org/lleisiau#sthash.WYwFLRKp.dpuf

Shȃn takes scary role in Sweeney Todd

Popular Welsh singer Shȃn Cothi is about to step in the shoes of Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson.

 

The former West End star (pictured below) will transform herself into the rough Cockney schemer, Mrs Nellie Lovett,  in Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street which will be the curtain-raiser for the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod on Monday, July 7.

She be performing alongside old friends, opera superstar Bryn Terfel and the top tenor Wynne Evans aka Gio Compario in the Go Compare TV ads, in what promises to be a sensational opening night.

 

It will be a homecoming for one of Britain's top singing actors, Eric Roberts, who hails originally from Llangollen and will be playing the part of Judge Turpin.

 

Meanwhile, Alun Rhys Jenkins, one of the Three Welsh Tenors, will be taking the role of Beadle Banford while, mezzo soprano Leah Marian Jones, the former company principal at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, will be performing as the Beggar Woman.

 

They will be joined on stage by schoolboy Dewi Wykes, 14, from Ruthin, who was hand-picked by Bryn to play Tobias Ragg.

 

Dewi was alerted to the auditions for the role by his grandparents, Llinos and Tyrone Powell-Jones, who live in Wrexham, who had read about them in the Leader.

 

Earlier this year Bryn earned rave reviews when he played the Demon Barber in Broadway production co-starring Emma Thompson.

 

Shan is delighted to be part of the iconic international festival, forged in the aftermath of the Second World War with the aim of promoting world peace and harmony.

During the first full week in July every year since, Llangollen is becomes a cultural melting pot where Wales meets the world.

Singers and dancers, often resplendent in colourful national costumes, travel from the four corners of the earth to be part of the unique event.

For the time being though, Shȃn is concentrating on learning the role of the formidable Nellie Lovett.

 

“It’s scary to be honest”, she said, having just finished her morning Bore Cothi - Morning Cothi - show on BBC Radio Cymru, “It really is a huge role and I’m fully aware the audience will be full of real fans of the genre, people who know Stephen Sondheim’s work inside out.

 

“And while I have watched every production I can to get a feel for the role, I want to put my own stamp on the part.

 

“I do have a lot to live up to however, as there have been some amazing performers who have played the role. People like Angela Landsbury, who was the original Mrs Lovett, and Emma Thompson who won critical acclaim in the role opposite Bryn in New York just last month.

 

“Performers of that quality are the benchmark really and I’m going to have to work hard to get this important role just right.”

 

“I’ve taken on something really big and a bit out of my comfort zone.

 

“I’m spending three hours a day learning the part and thinking about how I want to present this mature, scheming, rough old Cockney bird to the audience. It’s going to be some transformation to be honest.”

 

But Shân says she accepted the role the second she was asked knowing she’d be appearing alongside old mates Bryn Terfel and Wynne Evans.

 

She said: “I competed at Llangollen many times but this will be my first appearance in an evening concert. I really am looking to get my teeth into the Mrs Lovett role.

 

“She a cheery sort whose business is on a bit of downward spiral due to a lack of fresh meat and she really wants to be a bit more than a landlady to the mean and moody Sweeney Todd.”

 

Shân Cothi was born, the daughter of a blacksmith in a little village, Ffarmers, in Carmarthenshire and graduated from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth having studied music and drama.

 

After leaving university she was initially a music teacher at a South Wales high school but decided to turn professional, as a singer, after winning the prestigious Blue Riband prize at the 1995 Abergele National Eisteddfod. 

 

Since then her career has spanned a wide range of music styles from opera to oratorio and musical theatre, she played Carlotta in Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera in the West End for 15 months, to traditional Welsh songs.

 

And she’s performed in some of the UK’s iconic venues from the Wales Millennium Centre to the Royal Albert Hall as well as abroad.

 

Bryn Terfel, Wynne Evans and Shân Cothi will appear in Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, sponsored by Pendine Park Care Organisation, at the Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod on the evening of Monday, July 7.

 

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.

 

For tickets and more information visit http://international-eisteddfod.co.uk/ or call the Box Office on 01978 862 000.