Minister visits area's two new health centres

* The Minister with Ken Skates AM and Karen Sinclair meet the team at

Lllangollen's new health centre. 

A Welsh Government Minister got a first-hand look at two of the area's latest health facilities yesterday (Thursday).

Health Minister Mark Drakeford paid visits to new health centres in Llangollen and Chirk.

He was given a tour of the Castle Health Centre in Chirk with local Assembly Member Ken Skates, and also met staff and town council chairman Dewi Evans.

The Labour AMs then visited Llangollen Health Centre with Mr Skates’ predecessor Karen Sinclair, who was instrumental in bringing the state-of-the-art facility to the town at the old River Lodge Hotel site.

Mr Drakeford said: “Ken frequently tells me what fantastic facilities the Welsh Government has helped bring to Chirk and Llangollen, and it was wonderful to visit to see it for myself and to meet the teams.

“I was delighted to hear how the new health centres have greatly improves patients’ experiences. Chirk and Llangollen are just two examples of how our investment in the NHS in North Wales is paying dividends for people every day.”

* Ken Skates, left, with Mark Drakeford
a the Chirk health centre.  

After the visit Mr Skates, Labour AM for Clwyd South, said: “I’m extremely grateful to the Minister for taking the time to come to Clwyd South, and the staff at Chirk and Llangollen were delighted to host him. He was very impressed with what he saw.

“I was also able to take the opportunity to raise a number of other local issues with the Minister on behalf of my constituents.”

Mr Skates added: “I would once again like to pay tribute to Karen for the major role she played in bringing Llangollen Health Centre to fruition. It would not have been possible without the phenomenal amount of hard work she put in.”

Mrs Sinclair said she was ‘delighted and proud’ to join the Minister.

The Chirk centre, on Colliery Road, opened last year and has a range of eco-friendly features including solar panels as well as a minor operations facility and pharmacy.

Llangollen Health Centre opened its doors to the public in September.

Nightmare on Castle Street this Saturday

What's being billed as the ultimate Halloween fancy dress party comes to Llangollen Town hall on Saturday night.

Nightmare on Castle Street features Captain Zed, an Alice Cooper tribute band and a Halloween disco.

Doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start.

The event has been organised by the Llangollen Women’s Festival in aid of The Friends of Llangollen Town Hall. 

* Tickets, priced at £6, are available from Bailey’s Delicatessen in Castle Street.

Over 500 caught using mobiles at wheel

571 motorists were caught using their mobile phones whilst behind the wheel during the 2015 All-Wales Anti-Mobile Phone While Driving Campaign - 59 of them in North Wales

The enforcement campaign, which ran between September 24 and October 7, involved road safety partners and urged all road users to ‘keep their eyes on the road’ and not be distracted by answering their mobile phone, reading a text or going online.

Studies show that drivers using a hands-free or handheld mobile phone are slower at recognising and reacting to hazards.

Led by Dyfed Powys Police, officers from all four Welsh police forces and GoSafe carried out proactive patrols to target motorists who endangered other road users through this behaviour and educated drivers on the penalties they faced if caught.

During the campaign, officers detected a total of 571 mobile phone driving offences throughout Wales and issued 177 warnings.

North Wales Police caught and dealt with 59 offenders, in the Gwent area a total of 67 were caught, Dyfed Powys Police caught 388, and in South Wales Police 57 law breakers were dealt with.

T/Chief Inspector Martin Best from North Wales Police’ Roads Policing Unit said: “Although fewer motorists were caught in this year’s campaign throughout Wales, it remains a serious concern that so many drivers choose to risk becoming involved in a serious or fatal collision due to using a mobile phone whilst driving. Our warning is clear, even the most experienced or competent of drivers can be easily distracted and a slight lapse in concentration can have devastating consequences.

“Taking such a risk is totally unacceptable, and this is why officers from all four Welsh forces will continue to carry out proactive patrols to target motorists who endanger themselves and other road users. No call, text, app, or email is that important – they must all wait until you’ve stopped driving.”

Susan Storch, Chair of Road Safety Wales added: "Driving while using a mobile phone is not only illegal but dangerous. It doesn’t just put your own life at risk but also the lives of your passengers and other road users who may not have a say in your actions behind the wheel.

"While it’s saddening to see that so many motorists got caught using a mobile phone whilst driving it has also demonstrated the resolve of all the Road Safety Wales partners in tackling this issue and we will continue to work together to drive home the message that no call or text is that important."

During the campaign officers also detected 200 other offences whilst carrying out checks – they included offences known to contribute to fatal and serious collisions, such as drink and drug driving, speed, not wearing a seat belt, carelessness, no insurance, drugs and construction and use offences.

Friends of the Earth plan a pub crawl

The next meeting of Llangollen and District’s Friends of the Earth (FoE) group could be something to write home about.

That’s because they’re staging a pub crawl to kick off a campaign to write letters about the possible affects of climate change.

The letters will then be posted off to the area’s elected representatives.

The meeting, tomorrow (Thursday October 29), starts at Gales Wine Bar at 7.30pm.

FoE member Warren Davies said: “Our members are concerned about the possible affects of climate change.

"Many are concerned that less predictable and extreme weather coupled with sea level rises are likely to cause food shortages and mass migration.

"Some of the world's largest cities like New York in danger, and entire low-lying countries such as the Philippines could be lost forever.

"We want to ensure that our elected representatives know how concerned we are about climate change.

"Writing to local representatives like our AMs and MPs can be a little daunting, so we have planned this event to help new and existing members write informative letters expressing their concerns.

"2015 is a crucial year to change our course on climate change. In December governments will come together in Paris to strike a new deal for the climate. But on the ground locally it is our local
representatives that will drive change, and we want to make sure that they are well informed."

* Llangollen & District Friends of the Earth are organising a coach from Llangollen to London to join the climate change march on November 29.

Places on the coach can be booked at:
http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/peoples-march-2015-north-wales-coach. A £25 pledge secures a place on the coach.

FoE says it is using Crowdfunder so that if it is not able to fill the coach by November 20, no money will be taken from anyone.

County consults on future of bus services

Denbighshire County Council is asking for passenger and community views on the bus services it supports financially. 

 

The council says it is likely that further financial pressures in 2016/17 could potentially lead to further savings being needed through some bus services in the county.

However, it stresses this is a consultation and no decisions have been made.

A series of drop-in sessions are being arranged at three locations on November 13 where a member of Denbighshire’s Public Transport team and a member of Bus Users Cymru staff will be on hand to answer questions.

The sessions will take place at the following locations:

 

·       9.30am-11am  Corwen Library

·       12pm-1.30pm County Hall Reception, Ruthin

·       2.30pm-4.30pm  Denbigh Library

 

Passengers and communities are asked to comment on the options by visiting www.denbighshire.gov.uk/consultations   

Those passengers wishing to find out more may also contact the service by e-mail:  passengertransport@denbighshire.gov.uk or by phoning 01824 706964.

The closing date for the consultation is December 11.

Suggestions for services involving Llangollen are:

72 Betws GG-Ruthin
73 Ruthin Town Service
77 Llanelidan-Ruthin
91 Melin y Wig-Llangollen
95 Melin y Wig-Wrexham
98 Llangollen –Llantysilio/Pentredwr

Revisions by reducing the number of vehicles on these services from two to one.

Option 1

Offering a service six days a week by reducing the number of departures to Ruthin
on service 72 and operating a connecting service from Melin y Wig to Corwen for
Llangollen and Wrexham.

Ruthin Town Service reduced to two return journeys.

Ruthin-Llanelidan sees minor changes.

Services between Llangollen & Llantysilio/Pentredwr replaced by taxi on two days a
week.

Bryneglwys-Wrexham service replaced by taxi to Llandegla for X50 on two days a
week.

Option 2

Offering a direct service, as now, from Melin y Wig to Llangollen and Wrexham and
from Betws GG to Ruthin but only on certain days of the week.

Ruthin town service withdrawn on all but two days a week.

Option 3

As option 2 but withdrawing the twice a week journey at 1715 from Ruthin Leisure
Centre (1720 from Market Street).

Plaid leader to visit Llan

A political leader will be making a visit to Llangollen this week to talk about her hopes and aspirations for Wales following the Assembly elections next year.

 

Leanne Wood, who heads Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales, is to hold a special evening for the public at the Hand Hotel on Thursday at 7pm.

The 'What Next For Wales?' meeting will be chaired by Mabon ap Gwynfor,  the party's candidate for the area next year.

 

Mabon ap Gwynfor said: "The Welsh election next May is of vital importance for our families and communities. People want to know what direction our country is going in. How can we improve our health services? How can we improve educational achievements? How can we get more investment in north Wales to create more jobs?

 

"Leanne Wood will visit Llangollen so that people here have the opportunity to see how Wales could improve under a Plaid Cymru Government.

 

"Leanne Wood is a widely recognised and well liked politician, and people trust her. This is a rare quality in a politician.

 

"She is also a real candidate to become Wales' next First Minister, and it is only right that people get the chance to see how Wales could improve under a Plaid Cymru Government.

 

"For instance this week she announced that a Plaid Cymru Government would stop the proposed downgrade of maternity services in north Wales immediately on its election in May. "

Fun event raises £1,000 in aid of Town Hall

* Mayor Mike Adams shares the floor with Julie Thomas and The Strictly Fun Dancers. 

A sell-out event has raised £1,000 towards the repair and refurbishment of Llangollen Town Hall.

Raising the Roof, which was staged at the Town Hall last Friday, was a supper party with music and dancing.

The evening featured Julie Thomas and The Strictly Fun Dancers, local singer Charlie Jones, who sang a sultry mix of jazz and blues, and Chris Burton with a  lively set of rock and roll from the 60s and 70s.

The event, which drew a full house, was organised by Llangollen Mayor, Cllr Mike Adams, in support of the Friends of Llangollen Town Hall, a group which is aiming to raise the funds to reroof and refurbish the building. 

Cllr Adams was particularly appreciative of support from local businesses.

He said: “I would like to thank all the businesses for their kind donations to the raffle that raised £448, and particular thanks to our two brilliant town grocers who provided the fruit bowls for the tables to complete the meal.”

Although the fabric of the building is reasonably sound, it is in need of refurbishment and a new roof and the cost of the necessary work has been estimated at £200,000.

Friday’s event was the first of several planned in the coming months to raise money for the building which is a focal point for many groups in town and a regular venue for a wide array of theatre, cinema and musical entertainment.