Update on new Cefn Mawr health centre

Cefn Mawr could be set to get a new health centre after a campaign led by Assembly Member Ken Skates.

The Clwyd South AM (pictured) recently met Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board bosses to make a personal plea for a 21st century facility.

Health chiefs confirmed the current Caritas Surgery will undergo immediate upgrades to improve the building, and also said they would ‘develop a plan to provide more modern premises’ for Cefn and the surrounding area.

A BCUHB statement said: “It was agreed by all in the meeting that the current premises occupied by the GP practice are not adequate. The health board will carry out immediate work to improve the condition of the current building, whilst at the same develop a plan to provide more modern premises. The improvement work will begin the first week in October.

“The health board was in the process of reviewing the options for building developments for GP services across Wrexham and this work would be completed at the end of September. This work would recommend priorities for investment in premises in Wrexham and would include proposals for the Cefn Mawr area.

“Once a clearer view of what was required was agreed, all potential sites would be considered, including the Co-op building, and it was agreed that the health board would inform the owners of the site of their intentions to move things forward quickly.

“It was envisaged that a formal business case would be produced for submission to Welsh Government by the end of December.”

Mr Skates last year organised a petition which called for a new, purpose-built facility in Cefn and was signed by 2,000 people.

He said: “It was a very positive, productive meeting, and I’d like to thank Betsi chief executive Gary Doherty and chairman Peter Higson for their time and continuing interest in improving health services for my constituents in the Cefn Mawr area.”

The two local councillors who launched the petition with Mr Skates – Ken Bathers and Derek Wright – were also present at the meeting at Wrexham Maelor Hospital after years of calling for a new health centre.

Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones added: “It would be wonderful to see a brand new health facility in Cefn. Ken has put a great deal of energy into this campaign, as have Ken Bathers and Derek, and I look forward to the health board’s plans becoming a reality.”

Mr Skates successfully campaigned for new health centres in Chirk and Llangollen, which were built with money from the Welsh Labour Government, and pledged to deliver continued spending on health in Clwyd South if re-elected in May.

Chocolatier Jo aims to put bite on world record in Llan

* Aiming for a world record...chocolatier Jo Edwards.

A top chocolatier is aiming to snatch a world record from TV chef Gino D'Acampo and become the fastest truffle maker on the planet.

Jo Edwards, who set up her successful artisan chocolate company, Aballu, in 2006 will be going all out for the new benchmark in front of thousands of discerning chocoholics at the Hamper Llangollen food festival.

Jo aims to celebrate her decade in business by smashing the world two-minute record for chocolate truffle making set by the celebrity chef on his TV programme four years ago.

And she reckons that, given the right conditions, she can not only better his formidable tally of 47 but go on to smash it to pieces by rustling up over 50 truffles within the allotted 120 seconds. 

  

Jo, 42, who lives in Bradley, will bring many years of creating specialist chocs to bear on her record attempt, which will come in front of the public on the first day of Hamper Llangollen.

The crowd-pulling festival will see the Denbighshire tourist town become the culinary capital of Wales over the weekend of October 15 and 16.

After growing up in a village pub in Brymbo near Wrexham, Jo went off to Cardiff University from where she graduated with a degree in Language and Communication in 1997.

After a spell working as a publicity officer at the Welsh Office she moved back home to North Wales to join a large pub chain and later became a night manager at a supermarket in Wrexham.

At one stage Jo had little cash to spare for Christmas presents and came up with the idea of making chocolates for her family and friends.

Her creations were such a big hit that in 2005 she decided to resign from the supermarket and set up her own business.

A year later she had started Aballu, which is based at the Cocoa Rooms in Station Road, Rossett.

She and her two assistant, trainee chocolatiers Robyn Johns and James Rayfield, now lovingly produce a wide range of truffles in exotic flavours like Balckcurrant and Rosemary and chilli, ginger and lime along with chocolate animals in lamb and mint, duck and orange and pork and apple.

This year will be Jo’s 10^th time of exhibiting at Hamper Llangollen and to mark the anniversary of Aballu she decided to do something to make a big impact at the festival.

She said: “I wanted to do something to celebrate and when one of my friends started joking about going for a world record I decided that’s exactly what I’d do.

“It had to be something achievable at the show, so I did some research and came up with the idea of an attempt on the one for making the most chocolate truffles in two minutes.

“It was set by Gino D’Acampo on his show Gino and Mel in December 2012 when he made 47 truffles and won himself a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

“I’ll be making my attempt on the Saturday of Hamper in front of quite a large crowd on the main demonstration stage.

“What I have to do is use a mixture of cream and chocolate to roll out each truffle and then add three coatings.

“According to the rules, I must have two official timekeepers and two witnesses – one of whom is from the food industry – present to ensure everything is done properly.

“The truffles must all be of the correct shape and one of the witnesses has to taste them make sure they’re actually edible.

“A video will be made of the attempt which will then be sent off to the Guinness Book of Records to be verified, and that will take about eight weeks, I’m told.”

Jo added: “It’s obviously going to be nail biting waiting to hear if I’ve managed it but I’m confident I can beat Gino’s record.

“I reckon I can do more than 47 truffles and I’m actually aiming for 50 or 55 within the two minutes.

“I see it as a personal challenge which is down to just me and my skills.

“I’m delighted to be doing it at Hamper Llangollen where I’ve been exhibiting every year since I started my business.

“It has such a fantastic atmosphere, with some really nice food and drink producers and great crowds.” 

If she’s lucky enough to set a new world record Jo won’t be toasting the success of her achievement back at her Rossett base.

She explained: “The building we’re in, which in the past has been all sorts of things like a hairdressers, a greengrocers and a post office, and the building next door, which was once a bank, used to be part of cocoa rooms set up in Victorian times as part of the temperance movement to keep the young men of Rossett away from the demon drink.

“That means it still has a covenant on it that I can’t buy, sell or serve alcohol on the premises.

“As I use very small amounts of rum and Welsh whiskey in some of my truffles I had to get special permission from the landlord to use alcohol and that is now written into my contract.”

Hamper Llangollen chair Colin Loughlin is delighted the food festival has played a part in Aballu's success story.

He said: "Jo is a very talented chocolatier and is a very welcome regular at Hamper Llangollen.

"She has come up with a really novel way of celebrating her 10th anniversary and I'd like to wish her all the best in her world record attempt.

“Thanks to a whole host of indigenous companies, North East Wales is rapidly establishing a reputation as a centre of excellence for high quality products.

“The food festival is a perfect shop window for the companies who form the backbone of the local economy."

* For more information about Hamper Llangollen go to www.llangollenfoodfestival.com and for more information about Aballu go to www.aballu.co.uk

Food Assembly celebrates milestone with tasting session

A local food group will celebrate passing a major milestone with a special party at a town pub.

The Taster Extravaganza will be hosted by the Llangollen Food Assembly at the Ponsonby Arms on Wednesday (August 17).

The event has been arranged to mark the fact that the assembly recently signed up its 400th member.

The assembly has been running for nine months since its launch in November 2015 by Robyn Lovelock and her son Harris.

She said: "We now have over 400 registered customers with many people shopping almost weekly.

"Customers are mostly based in Llangollen or nearby, but quite a few come along from Chirk, Corwen, Ruabon and even the edges of Wrexham and Oswestry. 

"Orders are all placed online, and then collected weekly at the Ponsonby Arms between 6pm and 7.30pm on a Wednesday evening, or Thursday by arrangement."

She added: "We're expanding our range all the time, but you can be sure to have a wide choice of meat, veg, cheese, bread, eggs, cakes, coffee, chutneys, sauces and preserves - we're hoping to add pates, pies and more cheese over the coming weeks.

"Of every £1 spent, 92p stays local, supporting farmers and food producers and their families.

"The collections themselves are family-friendly affairs, outside if the weather cooperates, and a chance to chat with the people producing the food themselves - so customers can make dietary-specific requests, or give feedback on previous orders.

"No purchase from the Ponsonby Arms is required, but they have a wide selection of alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks and many customers arrange to meet friends for a drink and chat as they pick up their shopping.

"It's free to join and as a member, you're sent weekly emails with recipe ideas to inspire your cooking with local food.

"At the Taster Extravaganza at the Ponsonby Arms on Wednesday samples of the food produced by all our local farmers and food producers will be available, including meat from Abbey Farm and Pen Y Lan Pork, super fresh locally grown vegetables from Babbinswood Farm, cakes from the Cabin Kitchen, specialist bread created just for the event and quiches from Bar Llaeth Bakery and possibly some wild-caught venison butchered locally by the Wild Bushcraft Company.

"All food is grown, raised or produced within 12 miles of Llangollen."

* For more information, please visit www.foodassembly.com or contact Robyn at llangollenFA@gmail.com

Display house numbers says ambulance service

THE Welsh Ambulance Service is appealing for people to display their house name or number prominently in order to help save lives.

In Wales there are still many properties that don’t have door numbers or names, which could mean that precious time is wasted by blue light services searching for the property in an emergency.

Now, the Trust is urging householders to help further reduce response times by ensuring that their properties are clearly and prominently identified, and that there is nothing obstructing them.

Head of Operations Richard Lee said: “We need to get to 999 calls as quickly as possible. Sometimes if a house does not have its name or number clearly displayed there is a delay in us reaching the patient.

“It's vital that all properties display their name or number clearly and that it is visible from the road.

“Our control rooms have digital mapping systems to find addresses but in a life threatening emergency it's a good idea to send somebody outside to flag the ambulance or response car down. In these cases sometimes seconds save lives.”

The Trust is also encouraging anyone visiting Wales on holiday this summer to take steps to make sure they are prepared in the event of an emergency.

That means making sure you know the full address you’re staying at and checking what medical facilities are in the local area.

Richard added: “The NHS Direct Wales website has a useful search facility to help you find the nearest Pharmacy, Minor Injury Unit or Emergency Department.

“Also, if you are taking any medication, it’s important to make sure you have enough to last you the whole holiday.

“Please remember only to use 999 in the case of a genuine life-threatening emergency.”

What can you do? Follow these simple steps:
* Ensure that your house number or name is visible from the road.
* Ideally, house numbers should be the same size as the figures on a number plate.
* Help the numbers stand out – choose white numbers and place on a black background or vice versa.
* Encourage your neighbour(s) and local shopkeepers to follow suit.

AM receives word on delayed rail scheme

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has received confirmation from Network Rail that work on a delayed rail scheme to improve train times between Wrexham and Chester will start in March next year.

The scheme includes doubling the rail track between Rossett and Saltney junction, and has been continually delayed in recent months, much to the frustration of passengers.

Network Rail have indicated that they will carry out the final commissioning work during late March and early April 2017.

Concerns were raised with Mr Isherwood by local rail users wanting to know when the new track layout will be brought into use.

Mr Isherwood (pictured) received confirmation of the dates after pursuing the matter with Network Rail

Mr Isherwood said: “I am delighted that a date has now been given, although it is disappointing it has taken so long. Last October the project appeared nearly complete, with two lines of track in place and a lot of infrastructure done. Local rail users told me that at that time the Network Rail Project Engineer was saying that the work would be completed on time and on budget and passengers had expected trains to be using the two tracks during last winter.

“They further told me that work came to a stop when it was discovered that signalling cable needed replacement - something outside of the Network Rail budget for the job despite the £44m allocated by the  Welsh Government . The delays have been incredibly frustrating for passengers who travel between Wrexham and Chester.

“Whilst the new track might only allow one extra train per hour between Wrexham and Chester, it will provide extra rail capacity to handle trains when there is delay on the line.  Conclusion of the project will reduce inconvenience for passengers who otherwise have to wait at Wrexham for a train to clear the long section before the next one proceeds.

“Rail users have told me that the continuing delays are causing frustration and they are concerned that the benefits from this commissioning are unlikely to be released until later in 2017.

“I will be keeping a close eye on progress, ensuring that my constituents aren’t further let down.”  

The commissioning dates for the work are:

Package 1 – March 2017 - To connect the new signalling infrastructure into the existing systems at Chester and Wrexham. Network Rail will be taking full possession of the railway between Friday 24 March 2017 and Saturday 1 April 2017.

Package 2 – April 2017 - To enable line speed increases of 90mph, as well as connecting some additional new signalling infrastructure. Network Rail will be taking full possession of the railway between Shrewsbury and Gobowen from the early hours of Sunday 9 April 2017 until the early hours of Monday 10 April 2017. 

Llan goes for gold in Great British High Street competition

Llangollen is in the running to win up to £10,000 in prize money as part of the search for Britain’s best high streets.

Although there is still a month to go until applications close, the town is one of the first areas off the starting block to challenge for honours in the small market town category.

Now in its third year, the competition celebrates the great work that is being done to revive, adapt and diversify the nation’s high streets and is an opportunity for councils, businesses, community groups and volunteers to learn from the very best.

Last year’s competition saw a record-breaking 230 entries and attracted over 200,000 public votes, with Bishy Road in York, a former finalist, crowned Britain’s best.

Entries from the Wales were strong, with Prestatyn shortlisted to go through to 2015’s public vote for the coastal community category.

Welsh Assembly Member and Minister for Infrastructure, Ken Skates, is supporting Llangollen’s entry for the Great British High streets competition 2016.

He said: “Powering the retail sector and supporting thousands of jobs, high streets are a vital part of the fabric of Britain.

“That’s why I want to celebrate the hard work being done across Wales and support Llangollen’s application.

“I’m confident that Llangollen should thrive in this competition and  the local community should seize the opportunity to win up to £10,000 for the high street.”

Michael Edwards from Keep Llangollen Special said: “As an inland tourist destination in an AONB and UNESCO World Heritage Site we have a vibrant High Street with many independent convenience stores.

“Fingers crossed our entry will be successful so Llangollen will get recognised as a great place to live, shop and work.”

New to 2016, the competition is also looking for individuals to win a ‘high street hero’ award.

With categories for store managers and employees from national or independent retailers to under 25s and market traders, high streets are able to enter the individuals who are making a difference to their local community.

Nominations for both places and individuals are now open across England, Wales and Scotland.

The top three shortlisted in each category will be announced in October. 

They will then go through to a public online vote and be visited by the Future High Streets Forum judging panel made up of industry leaders from across retail, property and business.

The Great British High Street competition is run by the Department for Communities and Local Government and sponsored by Boots, the British Council of Shopping Centres, Ellandi, Holland and Barratt, Marks and Spencer, the Post Office and Wilko.

Details about the competition can be found at: www.thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk
 
The deadline for entries is Friday, September 9.

The public can support their local area on twitter by following @TheGBHighSt or using the hashtag #GBHighSt.

Police warn of quarry pool swimming danger

A campaign aimed at highlighting the dangers of swimming in quarry pools has been launched by North Wales Police.

Working in partnership with construction materials company Hanson, which operates five quarries in North Wales, the campaign warns children and young people to stay away from water-filled quarries as schools close for the summer.



The warning comes after North Wales Police were recently requested to carry out a safety audit at one of Hanson UK’s quarries in the Mold area due to concerns of people trespassing.

Superintendent Jane Banham, Head of Community Safety at North Wales Police said: “Sadly over recent years there have been tragedies in the region whereby people have gotten into difficulty after entering quarry pools.

“The water is extremely cold and the hidden dangers are immense which can quickly lead to something altogether more serious.

“Although it can be very tempting to jump into the nearest pool or lake to cool down on a hot day, or to swim in the water at disused quarries, the water depths are huge – up to 60 metres – and it can be very difficult to get out due to the steep faces.

“As well as the dangers associated with swimming at unsupervised and often remote places, jumping from the rocks also puts people in danger.

“Swimming at disused quarries is a very dangerous practice and I would appeal to all youngsters and anyone else to please stay away.”

Members of the public are also being reminded that quarries are private properties and anybody found swimming or on the rocks would be trespassing.

Supt Banham added: “We want people to enjoy themselves over the summer but to keep safe. Not only is the water temperature freezing but it can also contain hidden hazards such as debris, weeds and reeds that you may not be able to see from the surface.

“The water can also be very deep and swimmers can easily find themselves out of their depth. If you are thinking about going swimming in such places please think again, consider the dangers and don’t trespass.”

Hanson Communications Manager David Weeks added: “We work very hard to ensure our sites are secure and carry out regular patrols of the boundaries to check and repair fencing. The fences and warning signs are there for a reason – please respect them.”

Hanson are also planning to add dye to the water at its site near Mold to act as a further deterrent to swimmers.

PC Hazel Goss, from the Eastern Community Safety Department said: “We’ve been working closely with Hanson UK to try and deter people from trespassing on their land to access the quarry pools.

“Over the years we’ve even had reports of families ignoring the dangers to spend the day at these quarries, even taking picnics with them. Clearly this is unacceptable and this is why we have launched this awareness campaign to highlight the dangers.

“We are also urging parents to educate their children about the dangers of trespassing and to avoid swimming in any pools or lakes and to also be aware of where their children are and what they are doing this summer.”