AM calls for help with railway extension

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Transport Minister for Wales to support Phase 2 of the new extension of Llangollen Railway.

 

Last month the first passenger train ran into Dwyrain, Corwen East,  completing Phase 1 of the Corwen Extension Project. Funding is now required for Phase 2.

 

Raising the matter in the Assembly Chamber this week, Mr Isherwood said: “High passenger demand has been welcomed on the Llangollen Railway. In its first 10-day season 4,000 passengers travelled on the new extension to Corwen.

 

“Of course, Welsh Government grant aid was provided for that. Originally, the Welsh Government looked at this on the basis of wider regeneration potential for Corwen as well as Llangollen and the wider area. Now, Phase 2 has to be funded because the original grant funding could not be provided in full.

 

“What consideration can you and your colleagues give to supporting Phase 2 for the delivery of a station in Corwen and the wider infrastructure to go with it?”

 

The Minister, Edwina Hart AM,  Edwina Hart, said she could not provide “an absolutely positive answer on this issue” because “there are budgetary considerations for all of this.”

 

She added: “I can assure you that if the funds become available and we see successful operations we will be able to give further consideration to make them even more successful.”

 

Mr Isherwood added: “I am hugely impressed by the achievement of Llangollen Railway and its volunteers on the track extension to  Corwen. They now deserve support for stage two and the region deserves the wider regeneration which this could bring.”

* Watch the question on Senedd TV: http://www.senedd.tv/Meeting/Archive/35764a19-6abe-4e5f-ad7b-969dd154e19a?startPos=3099&autostart=True
 

Joanna gets the chance to speak in Parliament

* Joanna Stallard, front row right, in Parliament with the rest of the group involved in the Westminster Debate. 

A Llangollen sixth former who may be heading for Cambridge has just been on a memorable visit to Westminster.

Joanna Stallard, 18, daughter of the vicar of the town’s parish church of St Collen’s, journeyed to London to take part in the UK Youth Parliament’s Westminster Youth Debate, organised by the British Youth Council, after winning the privilege of being able to give the commemorative WW1 speech at the dispatch box in Parliament.

Joanna, a pupil at Ysgol Dinas Bran in Llangollen, stood up on live TV to give a talk, in English and Welsh, about the soldier and poet Elis Humphrey Evans, known as Hedd Wyn.

She also had the chance to meet former Foreign Secretary William Hague and House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, even managing to get a selfie picture with him (pictured below left).

No stranger to public performance, Joanna has appeared a number of times in amateur productions in her home town.

She is also a budding politician and is currently receiving university offers, including Cambridge where she has an interview next month.

Joanne became involved in political events when she was 15 by joining the Denbighshire Youth Council and the former Welsh Youth Parliament (Funky Dragon).

Speaking of her big day in London, she said:  “I had the honour of being one of 24 young people in Wales to attend the UK Youth Parliament's annual Westminster Debate organised by Mr Speaker John Bercow in conjunction with the British Youth Council.

“Along with four other young people from North Wales, I went down on the train to London where we met the group from the south for a meal and catch-up - all expenses paid by the BYC -  before getting a good night's sleep in a central hotel, ready for an early start the following morning.

“After a hearty breakfast we set off promptly to register in Parliament at 9am. There some of our group had the chance to grab a second breakfast, however myself and Avery - who had the prestigious role of being our lead speaker in the Living Wage debate - were quickly swept away to a formal reception with the Rt Hon William Hague MP, Richard Benyon MP and the Rt Hon John Bercow MP.

“There we had a photo opportunity and were able to engage briefly in conversation with these notable figures.

“We then made our way to the chamber, I  felt daunted but equally inspired after that unexpected exchange.

“Luckily, the commemorative speech was first on the agenda, after the parliamentary welcome, so I didn't have enough time to allow fear to completely consume me.

“As John Bercow called out each name I could feel myself shaking as nerves began to build up, I was very aware of what an honour it was to be sat in the hallowed chamber at all, let alone on the front bench meters away from the dispatch box, where so many of my heroes had stood to make iconic speeches previously.”

Joanna added: “This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and a privilege, I knew I could not let myself or my family down. This determination took over as I heard my name called and I made my way over to the dispatch box where I would deliver my message.

“As I arrived there, I felt all of my worries disintegrate, my dream was becoming a reality, I was in awe and loved every second of it. Across from me I could see William Hague, former Secretary of State for Wales, nodding with encouragement as I relayed a story he was clearly familiar with, the story of  a soldier, Elis Humphrey Evans aka Hedd Wyn.

“I tried to incorporate a few sentences in Welsh, as it was important  – it being my mother tongue - to have it incorporated in the Welsh contribution.

“The positive response my story received left me feeling elated and inspired. It confirmed my prior beliefs that politics might be a career I'd like to pursue in the future. I wanted to do it again, to say more, but of course, the time people had to speak was limited, I had been lucky to be among the few who did have the chance to speak and I knew the majority of those who'd wanted to speak had not been fortunate enough, so I was grateful that I had been able to do so thanks to the Welsh competition.

“It is thanks to my school council and the former Welsh Youth Parliament (Funky Dragon) that I was able to get involved in this event.

“I am sad that the funding for the Funky Dragon has been cut and I hope this decision may be overturned. I cannot thank those who helped me enough for having catalysed what I hope will be a successful career in politics in the future.”

PCC welcomes crime recording success

North Wales Police is one of the top five forces for recording crime figures accurately, it's been revealed.

 

A new report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary showed that 94 per cent of crimes in the region were recorded properly.

 

The news was welcomed by North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Winston Roddick CB QC (pictured left).

 

But the Commissioner stressed there was "no room for complacency" and pledged to push for further improvements.

 

Mr Roddick said: "The integrity of crime figures is vitally important for a whole host of reasons, not least to provide reassurance to the public in general and victims in particular that the police are doing their job properly.

 

"Recording crimes reliably is important as it not only enables me to set policing strategy for North Wales, it also gives people confidence in the policing service they receive.

 

"The report shows that North Wales Police is among the best five forces in England and Wales in relation to the accurate recording of crime statistics.

 

"HMIC found that out of 78 cases where a crime should have been recorded that 73 were recorded by the Force and this is the fifth best compliance rate in this part of the report which means the force has a compliance rate of 94 per cent.

 

"Whilst, overall, the figures for North Wales Police are positive  there is certainly no room for complacency and there is always room for improvement.

"I take my responsibilities in this regard very seriously and scrutiny arrangements have been put in place in relation to the way North Wales Police records crime.

 

"The scrutiny process has included ensuring the force has the right leadership in place to ensure that crimes are recorded properly.

"Quite deliberately, my Police and Crime Plan for North Wales does not include specific targets other than the overall reduction of crime.

"Specific targets can lead to a target culture which puts pressure on police to keep their crime figures down."

Deputy Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard said: “I welcome sight of the full report although HMIC provided North Wales Police with its interim findings earlier this year in May.  

"The full report endorses the interim account and confirms we have a very high compliance rate in how we record crime, i.e. 94 per cent which I understand is the fifth highest in England and Wales and very encouraging.”

“Following the interim report we have an action plan and Governance Group chaired by a Chief Superintendent on which I also sit and our focus is to improve our crime recording processes further still.”

“Since May we have strengthened our procedures by reviewing and reducing the number of decision makers and so a small cadre of experienced and highly trained staff in the field of Home Office Crime Recording rules can now focus on achieving uniformity and accuracy across the force.”

“However, we won’t rest on our laurels and will look to see from the reports overall conclusions lessons learned and best practice to tighten further our crime recording procedures.   It is important the public of north Wales have full confidence in the way we record, as well as investigate crime, and I am reassured that HMIC concur.”

EE mobile signal lost again

For the second time within a few days the centre of Llangollen has been left without an EE mobile phone signal.

The first loss of signal took place last Friday and Saturday and lasted for a number of hours on both occasions.

Latest blackout came this morning (Tuesday) at around 9.30am.

Responding to the first signal loss, EE's press office told llanblogger: "An electrical fault resulted in some disruption to service in the Llangollen are on Friday and Saturday.

"The mast was fixed on Saturday night, and normal service was resumed. We apologise to any customers affected."

An EE spokesman said engineers were currently looking into the second problem.

Llan councillor opposes merger with Conwy

Llangollen councillor Stuart Davies has voted against the possibility of a voluntary merger between Denbighshire County Council and neighbouring Conwy.

A deadline of the end of November has been set for councils across Wales to consider expressing an interest in a voluntary merger.

Councillors in both counties met separately in September and agreed to investigate the potential of merger, providing doing so voluntarily would offer substantial financial advantages.

They met again yesterday (Monday) and agreed to a positive response to the expressions of interest request.

But during a debate on the issue at County Hall in Denbighshire, Cllr Davies argued against the idea.

He said: “My people in Llangollen are talking to me and saying, `what is the point of going to Conwy’. They don’t like the idea and don’t see the point. It’s over the other side of the mountain, and I tend to agree. I tend to look the other way towards Wrexham.

“I’m the guy who fought the fight to keep Llangollen in Denbighshire in 1999.

“I think there is still too much uncertainty in this for me and in my view we should be staying where we are.

“I’m not going to be voting for this recommendation myself.

“Like Wrexham, we should stand up and say no. I’m fed up with the Welsh Government telling us what to do.

“We should keep the status quo and for a few little bits and pieces go to Wrexham.”

Subject to the Welsh Government's response to the Expression of Interest, which is expected in January 2015, work will start on preparing a full business case for merger, to be considered by both councils in summer 2015.

Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, said: "We were the first councils in Wales to publicly declare an interest in the potential of a merger with a neighbouring authority, but we must make it clear that this is an expression of interest and not a full business case for merger. We have agreed to formally explore the options, with a view to consider submitting a full business case in the summer. We believe there are a number of important reasons to proceed to develop a full business case.”

Leader of Conwy, Cllr Dilwyn Roberts, said: "There are similarities between the local authority areas - cost savings could be made. There is early encouraging support from the Welsh Government and there are advantages to voluntary merger over a compulsory move, but there are also risks to managing the merger process and the outcome. All this will be taken into account when a full business case is drawn up.”

During their discussions today, councillors in both Conwy and Denbighshire acknowledged that the impact on residents and local communities would be a key consideration.

To see a webcast of the debate go to: http://www.denbighshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/155310
Cllr Davies appears at 1.21.

Hosting Wales Rally brings "massive" opportunities to region

* The rally was at Chirk Castle on Saturday.

According to a story on the BBC news website, organisers of the event say hosting the Wales Rally GB in north and mid Wales gives businesses "massive" commercial and promotional opportunities".

For the full story see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-30074197

* The champagne finish of the rally.

Trio of stars to shine at eisteddfod concert

A TRIO of Welsh musical stars will top the bill at a Christmas concert which aims to raise cash to help bring competitors from abroad to next year’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

Rhys Meirion, one of the world famous Three Welsh Tenors, will appear alongside pianist Annette Bryn Parri and 14-year-old schoolboy sensation Dewi Wykes, who sang alongside opera legend Bryn Terfel in the production of Sweeney Todd at this year’s eisteddfod, at the concert on Sunday, December 14 in Llangollen Pavilion.

Masterminded by the eisteddfod’s Music and Staging Committee, proceeds from the big seasonal show will go towards the overseas competitor bursary fund which supports competitors from developing countries.           

Rhys Meirion, who was born in Porthmadog, Gwynedd, worked as a primary school headteacher at Ysgol Pentrecelyn near Ruhtin before leaving in 1997 to study opera at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Together with Aled Hall and Alun Rhys-Jenkins, he is one of the inconic Three Welsh Tenors and his album with Bryn Terfel, Benedictus, was nominated for a Classical Brit Award in 2006.

He has sung the part of Rodolfo with Frankfurst Orchestra, West Australian Opera and Opera Australia and took the title role in Gounod’s Faust in Hong Kong.

He joined English National Opera in 1999 and later became company principal from 2001 to 2004.

There he sang most of the leading tenor roles including Rodolfo in La Boheme and Pinkerton in Madam Butterfly.

He has also played the role of Alfredo in La Traviata, Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore, Nadir in The Pearl Fishers, Marcello in Leoncavallo's La Boheme, Duke in Rigoletto, Tebaldo in Capuletti e Montecchi, Tamino in The Magic Flute, title role in Ernani, Sailor in Tristan und Isolde, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier, Froh in Das Rheingold and Zinovy in Lady Macbeth of Mtzensk.

Rhys was in Llangollen back in July when he stopped off in the town during his 200-mile sponsored walk to raise £250,000 for the Wales Air Ambulance of which he is official ambassador.

Annette Bryn Parri is a Welsh pianist, best known as an accompanist to opera stars such as Bryn Terfel, Rebecca Evans and Jason Howard.

She appears regularly on the Llangollen International Eisteddfod stage and also at the National Eisteddfod.

Born in Deiniolen, she studied piano with Rhiannon Gabrielson and graduated in 1984 from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester after studying under Marjorie Clementi.

Whilst at Manchester, she specialized in lieder, oratorio and opera, but her particular interest was in the Romantic composers.

In 1982, she won the Grace Williams Medal for composition at the Urdd Gobaith Cymru Eisteddfod in Pwllheli.

Schoolboy Dewi Wykes caused a critical stir when he appeared on stage with Bryn Terfel in the production of the musical Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street which was the curtain raiser to this year’s Llangollen Eisteddfod.  

He was hand-picked for the role of the young Tobias Ragg alongside the great bass-baritone in the of Stephen Sondheim masterpiece, bringing the house down with his stunning performance.

Also appearing at the concert, which starts at 7.30pm, are Ysgol Mogan Llwyd who were winners of this year’s Llangollen Eisteddfod Show Choir Competition, Mountain Lane Primary School and Llangollen Silver Band.

Tickets are available from the eisteddfod offices at the Pavilion, www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk/tickets (10978 862000), Glyn Davies the Butchers in Castle Street and Jades Hair and Beauty in Oak Street, both in Llangollen.