Chirk bypass now open following new incident

Shropshire Star (@ShropshireStar)

23/01/2015 16:52 Woman airlifted to hospital as #A483 closes following police incident on #Shropshire border shropshirestar.com/news/2015/01/2… pic.twitter.com/efDUIMLHB1

Tweeted just after 5.30pm:

North & Mid Wales ‏@TrafficWalesN                

#A5 : Now clear : Both directions : Chirk

Another major incident appears incident appears to have taken place on the A5 near Chirk.

The Daily Post tweeted around 4.20pm: "A5 Chirk Bypass closed in both directions closed, due to police incident and air ambulance in the road between A483 and B5070 Chirk Road."

llanblogger reader Mike Edwards, calling from his car, at around 4.30pm said that traffic was once again being diverted through Chirk.

County's dog fouling campaign continues

A campaign to tackle dog fouling in Denbighshire will continue into 2015 with a programme of on-going enforcement activities and promotional activity around the county.

In 2014, a total of 149 people were issued with fixed penalty notices for allowing their dogs to foul in public.

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, said: "The council has been targeting a number of 'hotspots' in the county which have been identified by members of the public through the reporting of problems with dog fouling.

"We would like to thank the public for this information, as information on offenders and problem areas are a major help to us in our efforts to tackle this anti-social problem.

"We have been running a campaign for the last few years and the number of reports coming in from the public are increasing year on year. We believe this is as a result of a co-ordinated campaign through the media, websites, social media and the local press to tell the public how to report dog fouling.

"However, we still need the public to provide the information that could lead to us identifying the culprits and taking enforcement action. Generally, a fixed penalty notice will be issued and court action may be considered if an individual refuses to pay."

To report dog fouling, please visit the Council's website: www.denbighshire.gov.uk/dogfouling or by contacting the Customer Contact Centre, on 01824 706100 (Welsh language line) or 01824 706101 (English language line).

Right to Buy homes scheme could be axed

New measures to protect Wales’ social housing stock have been put forward by the Welsh Government today.

 

Communities and Tackling Poverty Minister, Lesley Griffiths, has published a White Paper setting out the Welsh Government’s intention to end Right to Buy and Right to Acquire.

 

The Right to Buy and Right to Acquire allows eligible social housing tenants to buy their council or housing association home at a discount of up to £16,000.

Over the past 30 years, the policy has resulted in a significant reduction in social housing stock. Between 1981 and 2014, 138,423 council homes were sold – this is a 45% reduction in the social housing available when the policy was first introduced.

The Minister has also set out plans today to halve the current maximum discount from £16,000 to £8,000.

Lesley Griffiths said: “Many families depend on social housing for a safe, secure and affordable place to live.

“Our supply of homes is under considerable pressure and we are still seeing social rented properties being taken out of our social housing stock because of the Right to Buy, which is forcing many vulnerable people to wait longer for a home. This is why decisive action is needed to protect our social housing to make sure it is available for those who need it most.”

The Housing (Wales) Measure 2011 allows local authorities to apply for permission to suspend the Right to Buy and Right to Acquire locally to help tackle housing pressures. Carmarthenshire Council was the first local authority to ask the Welsh Government to suspend of Right to Buy and, today, the Communities and Tackling Poverty Minister, Lesley Griffiths, approved Carmarthenshire’s application.

Cllr Dyfed Edwards, Welsh Local Government Association spokesperson for Housing, said: “With many thousands of people currently on housing waiting lists, and at a time of acute shortages of affordable homes, the proposal from Welsh Government to abolish the Right To Buy scheme is a welcome step in tackling a growing problem in Wales.

“Despite the considerable efforts that local councils and housing associations are making to increase the overall supply of social housing by building new homes, housing provision continues to struggle to meet the rising level of housing need in Wales. The loss of properties through the Right To Buy has worsened this situation and has, in some circumstances, acted as a considerable disincentive for further housing development. Ending the Right to Buy scheme will help ensure that local councils and their wider housing sector partners can begin to meet housing demand and offer people access to affordable housing more quickly and effectively in the future.”

The Minister added: “We are taking action to protect Wales’ social housing stock – as well as moving to end Right to Buy. During this term of Government, we are investing over £400 million in affordable homes through our Social Housing Grant programme. Since 2011, 6,890 additional affordable homes have been delivered across Wales, while we are just 529 short of our target of bringing 5,000 empty homes back into use this Assembly term.”

The White Paper consultation seeks the public’s views on the proposals. The consultation will close on 16 April 2015.

Peter Black AM, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Housing, has said the Welsh Labour Government’s announcement of an outright ban on ‘Right to Buy’ is “unnecessary and is taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

 

He said: “We accept that ‘Right to Buy’ is making local authorities reluctant to build new homes.  However, they can already make the case to government to suspend ‘Right to Buy’ if they wish.

 

“The Minister’s plan for an outright ban on ‘Right to Buy’ is unnecessary and she is effectively taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

 

“If the Minister wants to give local authorities an additional incentive to build new homes, then she could do this by just restricting the right to buy on new builds – this could be implemented without affecting tenants existing rights while at the same time increasing the housing stock.

 

“Whilst it would be reasonable to stop the option of ‘Right to Buy’ to new tenants, it is completely unfair for people’s hopes and plans to buy their home to be dashed just because the Welsh Labour Government fancies grabbing a headline.  This is cheap politics that will cost many people dear.

 

“If the Welsh Labour Government was serious about sorting out Wales’ housing crisis, then it would finance the building of new homes – something it has categorically failed to do.”

Drink drive campaign sees 76 arrests

North Wales Police arrested 76 people during the recent all Wales Christmas Anti-Drink and Drug Driving Campaign.

Led by Dyfed Powys Police the month-long campaign 30,718 drivers throughout Wales were breath tested between 1^st December 2014 and 1^st January 2015.

 

The force carried out 15,627 breath tests with 76 being positive. Six people were also arrested for driving whilst under the influence of drugs.

Some of the highest readings recorded during the campaign in North Wales were 147, 106 and 105 compared to the legal limit of 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. All three Individuals have been charged and have appeared before the courts.

Chief Inspector Darren Wareing from North Wales Police’ Roads Policing Unit said: “We set ourselves a tough target this year in relation to drink and drug driving during the festive period.

"That target was ZERO. That is zero deaths on our roads as a result of drink or drug driving. I am pleased to report, that with the support of our communities, we achieved that.

“Our campaign this year was heavily focussed around preventing drink/drug driving although unfortunately we still found that some people were willing to risk their lives and the lives of others by drink/drug driving. Although we saw a downturn in the number of people we caught this year, which is encouraging, there are still too many willing to take the risk.

“We have had overwhelming support and I would like to thank those who positively engaged with the campaign."

He added: “Operation Sodium - our anti-drink/drug driving campaign continues throughout the year. The operation involves police officers using a number of tactics in specific areas to ensure we catch people who take the risk. Our message is simple yet strong – don’t do it, the people around you do not support what you are doing, the consequences can be devastating plus we will catch you.”

* If you have information relating to someone you think is driving whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs, please contact North Wales Police on 101 or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. In an emergency always dial 999.

AM takes up rail link cut fears

Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates has reacted to concerns over the future of a peak-time rail link from this area to the Midlands.

The 07:47 train from Wrexham to Birmingham has been left out of a draft timetable for May published online, according to the Shrewsbury to Chester Rail Users Association (SCRUA).

If the service is axed commuters face waits of half an hour for a connection at Shrewsbury, the group said.

Arriva Trains Wales has said "nothing has been finalised" on their May timetable.

Ken Skates said: “I have made repeated representations over this issue as the axing of the service would cause major inconvenience to many of my constituents who use Chirk and Ruabon stations, as well as Wrexham.

“I have written to Arriva Trains Wales and have also relayed concerns to Welsh Government Transport Minister Edwina Hart, who recognises the importance of rail travel in North Wales and the border areas.

“I will continue to fight for the best service provision possible for my constituents.”

Young Llan director goes on tour

* Director Natalie Evans.

A budding theatre director from Llangollen will soon be going on tour with a new stage production, supported by the town's own Twenty Club Amateur Players.

Natalie Evans, 21, will direct Winona, a new work from Welsh playwright Christopher T.Harris, which follows siblings Kate and Daf as they retreat to the family cottage following the sudden deaths of their parents.

* A publicity image for the play (Dorit Fuhg).

When a stranger named Ed comes to visit, however, their somewhat quiet retreat turns into something quite different.

Along with Natalie, the production stars fellow Twenty Club members Andy Evans and Ally Goodman on stage, with technician Jack Shimmin behind the scenes.

* The cast of Winona.

Natalie is currently pursuing her career in theatre directing and has previously taken charge of two Twenty Club productions - The Glass Menagerie (2013) and Season's Greetings (2014).

She has also taken the helm in productions with both Aberystwyth and Chester Universities and her own graduate theatre company, Quintus.

Winona will be performed at venues in Liverpool, Aberystwyth and Cardiff in February with more dates to be confirmed for later in the year.

 

The Twenty Club, with its aim of supporting young local theatre talent on stage and behind the scenes, will assist with the production costs along with the Arts Council of Wales.

 

Tickets for the tour start at £5 and more information can be found on the websites below:

Lantern Theatre, Liverpool - 12th February - lanterntheatreliverpool.co.uk
Aberystwyth Arts Centre - 19th February - aberystwythartscentre.co.uk
The Gate, Cardiff - 20th February - thegate.org.uk

Consider fostering says county council

Denbighshire County Council is encouraging people to make a new year's resolution - to consider becoming a foster carer.

The Council is running a campaign called Love Fostering, to increase the number of applications and enquiries received about fostering in the county and to promote the benefits of fostering county-wide.

The 'Love Fostering' campaign includes a new information website, promotional banners and booklets and the fostering team is arranging a programme of information events providing advice and information to prospective foster carers.

There are a number of differing types of fostering including general fostering (short and long term), respite care to allow other carers to take a break from their duties , short break care to support families who have children with disabilities, support care to enable families to overcome difficult periods in their lives and emergency foster care that can see children placed at very short notice.

Councillor Bobby Feeley, Cabinet Lead Member for Health and Social Care, said: "The start of a brand new year is a great time for people to look forward to the future and to consider a fresh new start. We want to use this opportunity to make people think about the possibility of becoming foster carers.

"We have a dedicated team of staff at the other end of the phone who would be more than willing to have an informal chat and advise people about the fostering process, the benefits of fostering and what it involves.  

"Making that phone call may make a real difference to the life of a child or young person in Denbighshire."

* To find out more, visit: www.lovefostering.co.uk or call 0800 7313215.