Denbighshire/Conwy merger plan rejected by Minister

Voluntary merger plans by six Welsh councils have been rejected by the public services minister.

The Williams Commission had called for the 22 councils to be cut by half.

Conwy and Denbighshire along with Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen and Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan had suggested pairing up in response to an appeal for voluntary mergers by Leighton Andrews.

However the minister said he was "not persuaded" that the councils had set out a "compelling vision" for merger.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Andrews said: "I am disappointed to report that on the basis of this assessment I am not persuaded that any one of these Expressions of Interest sufficiently meets the criteria for moving ahead to prepare a full Voluntary Merger Proposal."

The Leaders of Conwy and Denbighshire Councils have expressed  their disappointment  following the announcement.

In November, councillors in both Conwy and Denbighshire voted in favour of submitting an expression of interest to the Welsh Government regarding the possibility of a voluntary merger,  providing doing so voluntarily would offer substantial financial advantages.

A number of meetings have taken place between both councils over recent months to explore the idea further, political representatives in both counties have set up groups to oversee the merger developments, a number of discussions have taken place with Welsh Government officials and a high level meeting has taken place with Leighton Andrews.

Llangollen county councillor Stuart Davies said: "I am astounded to learn that the Minister, Leighton Andrews, has decided to not accept the offer of voluntary merger from DCC and Conwy.

"This Welsh Government is all over the place, it commissions a report at heavens knows what costs, then when some authorities go along with it, they turn them down!"

"Personally, I never wanted this to happen but after having gone through a budget process, where we are being forced to close old people's homes by the budget cuts from the WG, I find it difficult to comprehend the sheer waste of money.

"The Williams report cost an arm and a leg, local authorities have spent a small fortune on preliminary work and then this Labour Minister comes along and throws it all in the dustbin."

"When we see the sheer waste of money by this Labour-led Welsh Govt I wonder why people vote for them!"

Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, said: "We are astounded by today's announcement and feel that he has missed a real opportunity.

"Conwy and Denbighshire were the first councils in Wales to publicly declare an interest in the potential of a merger  and we were the only councils to submit an expression of interest based on the boundaries suggested by the Williams Commission and based on the Minister's own White Paper on local government reorganisation.

"We were committed to developing a full business case for a voluntary merger and this would have looked at issues such as a full consultation and work to align services, in readiness for a new authority.  We feel that there was a very strong case for a merger and it was definitely the right approach. We also saw the merger as a way of sustaining and improving services for the future.
"We had also received feedback from the Minister's advisors that the Expressions of Interest for a voluntary merger between Conwy and Denbighshire would be endorsed and that any issues identified would be resolved when the full business case was compiled.  

"The Minister clearly has a different map in mind and it would have been fairer to us for this to have been made clear.

"Today's announcement is a shock and clearly we will now need to consider our position."

Leader of Conwy, Councillor Dilwyn Roberts said: “I’ll be very interested to learn in more detail the Minister’s reasons for not supporting the Expression of Interest. I look forward to meeting with the Minister to discuss his vision and latest plans for the future of local government in Wales.” 
 

Church members tuck into haggis lunch

Members of Llangollen's churches enjoyed a hearty haggis lunch on Sunday at St Collen's Church Community Hall under the able auspices of Bob Brown, who acted as the Master of Ceremonies.

The meal was in celebration of the birthday of Robert Burns, the Scottish bard, on January 25.

Bob gave an introduction to the ingredients for a traditional Burns' night celebration and later gave a fascinating introduction to the poet's life and work.

The lunch concluded with the singing of Auld Lang Syne.

MP hits out over PIP assessments

Today (Monday) in the House of Commons Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones questioned the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions about the length of time people are having to wait for Personal Independence Payments to be assessed.

She said: "Last year, Iain Duncan Smith made a very clear promise that by the start of 2015 no-one would have to wait more than 16 weeks for an assessment.

"Today I asked a simple yes or no question as to whether this was now the case. The Government Minister couldn't answer it and just waffled about figures that were due out later in the week.

"The issue of Personal Independence Payment assessment times is a massive one for people with cancer and other serious conditions, in our area and more widely across the UK. It is  a great disappointment that David Cameron's Government has really let these people down."

County extends garden waste discount deadline

Denbighshire County Council is to extend the period for which an early-bird discount is available to residents by a further two weeks.

The reduced rates of £22 for the standard garden waste service and £34 for a higher capacity service will now be available to everyone signing-up before 14^th February.

The offer was originally scheduled to end on 31^st January.  So far, the Council had taken orders for 6,407 garden waste bins from 5,858 Denbighshire households.

Alan Roberts, Denbighshire’s Technical Waste Officer, explained that the level of orders placed exceeded expectations:  “This is the level of orders the Council expected to receive by the end of January and the Council would really like to thank everyone who has helped us plan the services by opting-in early.

"In fact the take-up has been so great, the Council has decided to extend the early-bird period in order to avoid a last minute rush of transactions.

 “Nearly 70% of orders have been placed by residents using the Council’s website. We would encourage this as it is not only convenient for the customer but it is the most cost-effective way for the Council to accept payments and helps us keep the cost of the garden waste service to a minimum.”

The Council is currently placing stickers on the wheeled bins of residents to remind them of the need to pay if they wish to receive garden waste collections in future.

These stickers show the extended early-bird discount deadline of 14^th February. After this date, the prices for the garden waste service will revert to the standard price of £24 or £36 for the higher capacity service.

Air Ambulance quiz night planned

A quiz night in aid of Wales Air Ambulance will be held at the Britannia Inn, Llangollen on Thursday, March 19.

With a 7pm for 7.30pm start, cost is £2 per person with a maximum of five players per team allowed. Quizmaster will be Martin Goggan.

Meals are available from 5pm.

AM asks Crimewatch about Trevaline case

An Assembly Member is hoping a TV appeal could finally solve the 25-year mystery of missing Llangollen woman Trevaline Evans. 

 

Ken Skates, the Labour AM for Clwyd South, has written to BBC’s Crimewatch programme to ask whether producers have any plans to revisit the case and attempt to finally establish what happened to Mrs Evans, who vanished in mysterious circumstances on June 16, 1990. 

 

After leaving a note in her antiques shop saying she would be back in two minutes, she was never seen again and her body has never been found. She was 52. 

 

Mr Skates, whose constituency office is in Llangollen, said: “Mrs Evans’ husband Richard passed away last month, aged 83, without ever knowing what had happened to her.  

 

“North Wales Police have said the case remains open but the investigation is currently inactive as they have exhausted every avenue. I have written to Chief Constable Mark Polin to see if that is likely to change, and am awaiting a response. 

 

“In all likelihood, the police’s resources are already too over-stretched to consider reopening such an old case without new evidence emerging. And while it may well prove fruitless, there is a chance – however small – that a fresh appeal on national television could yield key information. 

 

“Millions of people watch every edition of Crimewatch and, despite the great length of time that has elapsed since Mrs Evans’ disappearance, you just never know.” 

 

Mr Skates added: “I’m sure Mrs Evans’ surviving family will never lose hope that they might find out what happened to her, and I would urge anyone who has information which could help to contact police. 

 

“A quarter of a century is an incredibly long time, and this is a most unusual case, but of course it’s possible that someone still alive today knows what happened.” 

 

 

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.