Bring homes back into use, says county

Owners of empty homes across Denbighshire are being encouraged to return their properties to use to provide extra housing and deter antisocial behaviour.

There are a number of financial incentives available to assist empty home owners in bringing their properties back into use, from Welsh Government interest free loans to local authority assistance. 

The council can also help with project managing the works and give advice on how to get a reduction on VAT for renovation works to empty properties.

Currently there are around 700 long term empty properties in the county and an Empty Homes Officer has been allocated to help home owners with the process of returning their empty properties back to use.

Councillor Barbara Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Modernisation and Housing, said: “Long term empty properties are a cause for concern and homes left empty for more than six months are a wasted resource in an area of high housing demand, they can attract crime, vandalism and antisocial behaviour as well as being a financial burden on owners."

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for the Public Realm, said: “We understand that the prospect can be stressful and overwhelming so Denbighshire County Council have allocated an Empty Homes Officer who is available to offer tailored advice and support for anyone returning their property to use. 

"This includes advice on how to make the most of your property, renovation advice, financial advice and advice on selling your property, with all advice and assistance tailored to individual circumstances. An empty home needs to be looked after as much as one which is lived in, it makes financial sense to put your vacant property to use.”

Additional benefits can be gained by bringing a property back to use, including giving the owners a financial return, removing the burden and worry of being responsible for a vacant property and also provide extra homes in the County without the need for new builds.

Denbighshire County Council is keen to assist owners in returning their properties to use, however in circumstances where the property is considered to be having a detrimental effect on the neighbourhood and local amenities and all offers of voluntary assistance have been rejected, the council says it will consider taking enforcement action which could involve issuing an improvement notice to make the owner to bring their property up to current housing standards, enforcing the sale of the property or serving a demolition order.

For home owners wanting to find out more on this service or if you would like to have a discussion regarding your empty property, contact the Empty Homes Officer on:

Empty Homes Officer, 
Built Environment Team,
Caledfryn,
Smithfield Road,
Denbigh,
Denbighshire,
LL16 3RJ

Or you can email: built.environment@denbighshire.gov.uk / 01824 706717.

Balloon festival provides spectacular sight

* One of the balloons heads from the field and across town.

* A member of the Red Devils display team in action.

* Another of the balloons reaches for the sky.

* A third balloon gets airborne.

Llangollen Balloon Festival provided a thrilling display for scores of people waiting on the bridge and across town earlier this evening.

Around half a dozen colourful balloons launched from the International Pavilion field around teatime to drift slowly towards Regent Street.

Shortly afterwards there was another spectacular sight as members of the Red Devils Parachute Display Team went through their paces hundreds of feet above the town.

Still to come this evening:

* 8pm Evening Glow

* 8pm Firework Display

And programme for tomorrow (Sunday) is:

7am Gates open for early morning ascent.
10am Main show begins with balloon display in main arena.
11am Galloping Acrobats
12pm Cheshire Falconry
1pm Balloon Display
2pm Llangollen Motorcycle Club
3pm Galloping Acrobats
4pm Cheshire Falconry
5pm British Ironworks Balloon Race

New tourism awards celebrate success of North Wales

* North Wales Tourism managing director Jim Jones.

The first ever tourism awards celebrating the work the spectacular successes of the £2 billion industry in North Wales are being launched.

The Go North Wales Tourism Awards, which will also showcase local produce, aim to highlight excellence in the region’s high flying hospitality and tourism sectors. 

The awards are being run by private sector body North Wales Tourism, in partnership with Heart FM, and will be handed out at a gala dinner on Thursday, November 24 at Venue Cymru, Llandudno. Heart FM presenters Spencer and Rachel will also be at the black-tie event.

* White water rafting is one of the many

activities on offer in North Wales.

North Wales is at the centre of the growing adventure holidays market and is earning recognition as a world leader thanks to developments like Zip World, Surf Snowdonia and the Snowdonia Pass provided by the Attractions of Snowdonia.

Tourism already employs 40,000 people across North Wales - which adds up to one in every seven jobs in the area.

At the same time more than £100 million of mainly private sector money is currently being invested in tourism-related projects in the region.

North Wales Tourism managing director Jim Jones said: “These awards are all about celebrating everything that’s wonderful in North Wales. 

“They will showcase and celebrate the achievements, hard work and dedication of the hundreds of entrepreneurs who run businesses in this area.

“Tourism and hospitality are worth millions to the economy of North Wales, with the value growing every year. Thousands of people already work in the industry across the six counties and there’s the potential to grow this, to enable more jobs to be created.

“We want people to nominate their tourism business, by demonstrating their success and showing how they offer an exceptional experience to visitors - one that makes people return time and again to North Wales.

“There are a wide range of categories because there are so many different providers in the tourism and hospitality sector in North Wales. It could include an adventure park, bike trail, hotel or B&B, a crowd-pulling event or festival, campsite, promotional campaign, or a new food or drink. 

“There is also a Green Award as it is important that we safeguard this environment - we know visitors to North Wales come to enjoy the wonderful outdoors and we want future generations to continue to enjoy it. 

“I am very grateful to those businesses that have agreed to sponsor the different categories - their support will help us to showcase the very best in North Wales.”

Nominations can be made via the website GoNorthWalesTourismAwards.net until October 23. A judging panel will then draw up a shortlist in each category, with the winners announced on November 24.

The categories are

• Best Attraction, sponsored by Contact Centre Cymru
• Best Food or Drink, sponsored by Celtic Holiday Park
• Best Accommodation, sponsored by Wrexham Lager
• Best Caravan, Camping or Glamping site, sponsored by Wrexham Destination Partnership
• Best Destination (town or area), sponsored by WR Davies Motor Group
• The Green Award, sponsored by Carbon Zero
• Best Use of Digital, sponsored by Cartrefi Conwy
• Best Newcomer, sponsored by Silver Birch Golf Club
• Tourism Business Innovation, sponsored by North Wales Economic Ambition Board
• Year of Adventure, sponsored by Arriva
• Magnificent Crowd Puller (audience over 7,500) sponsored by Powlsons
• Magnificent Crowd Puller (audience under 7,500), sponsored by North Wales Tourism. 

North Wales Tourism is one of the UK’s leading tourism organisations, supporting businesses across the region’s six counties.  Its aim is to build and maintain a prosperous and sustainable tourism industry in North Wales.

The Awards evening on November 24 includes a gala dinner and award presentations followed by an evening of entertainment and dancing. Event tickets are available at a cost of £50 plus VAT per person or £500 plus VAT for a table to seat 10 guests.

To book by phone call 01492 539058 or visit GoNorthWalesTourismAwards.net

Big mountain bike event comes to Llan

British Cycling's National Downhill Mountain Bike Series Round Six, presented by Shimano, will be staged in Llangollen this Saturday and Sunday.

Riders contending for the series overall are measured on their best five results, with seeding counting for up to 50 points and race runs up to 200 points for the win.

The newly revised Squirrel Track will be used with a new re-vamped start straight with several new BMX track style jumps into two new berms.

The course itself is steep and technical as it winds itself down the famous Llangollen hillside with a spectator route cut top to bottom meaning nobody has to cross the course.

Saturday is practice all day from 09:30 to 18:00 with live timing in place for all riders.

Sunday is practice in the morning followed be seeding runs and then one race run, again with live timing throughout.

On Sunday between the intervals for seeding and race runs the Strider Downhill Race is packed with 40 stars of the future who will tackle a course that starts next to the famous Llangollen step downs.

They will then fire into the long finish arena and across the finish line and into the hot seat. The Strider riders will be in age categories and complete downhill timed runs.

Planning application submitted for "ghost" supermarket

* The Berwyn Street supermarket for which a planning application has now been submitted.

A planning application has been lodged with Denbighshire County Council which could possibly see Llangollen’s “ghost” supermarket split between two tenants – discount retailers Aldi and Home Bargains.

The 34,000 sq ft unit off Berwyn Street has stood empty since May 2015 when Sainsbury’s for whom it was built made the shock announcement that they would not be moving in due to a scaling back of their stores.

The application, made in the name of Sainsbury’s who still own the building, seeks permission for the subdivision of the existing retail unit and alterations to allow it to trade as two retail units with associated internal and external physical alterations to the building, service yard, customer entrance and forecourt areas.

The move, which comes after more than a year of speculation about the eventual tenant, has been welcomed by Llangollen county councillor Stuart Davies who said: “Mention of Aldi and Home Bargains being the two prospective tenants of the supermarket is made in the covering letter of the planning application and also in a background document.

“I am happy that an application has finally been made for this empty building and to see that there are prospective tenants in mind.”

The Sainsbury’s pull-out, which they blamed on “adverse trading conditions” at the time, dashed hopes for 130 promised jobs.

Sainsburys announced they wouldn’t themselves be running the store directly and revealed they were looking for potential tenants.

Interest by Aldi and the discount group Home Bargains has often been speculated upon but never confirmed by either company.

A spokesman for Aldi told llanblogger a few months ago:  “Aldi, the award-winning discount food retailer, is keen to develop a new food store in Llangollen.

“There is a clear need for greater shopping choice in the area and Aldi is looking at a variety of sites that fit both suitability and convenience for local shoppers.”

And a spokesman for Home Bargains said at the time: “Unfortunately, it’s a no comment from us, as we work to a strict planner of confirmed stores.”

* The application, reference number 03/2016/0887, can be inspected in full via the planning search section of the Denbighshire County Council website at: http://planning.denbighshire.gov.uk

Council slammed over station parking

* Ken Skates AM with Cllr Dana Davies at Ruabon Station.

Wrexham Council has made ‘an utter mess’ of parking charges at Ruabon Station, according to opposition politicians.

Along with many residents and station users, Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates and Ruabon councillor Dana Davies have previously criticised the authority over the introduction of a pay-and-display system at the popular station.

Now they say constant issues with the ticket machine are exacerbating problems – and have called on the council to address the situation.

Mr Skates and Cllr Davies last April suggested the council should reinvest money from the new parking charges – up to £400 a year per person – into improving the station’s facilities, such as better disabled access. But their plea fell on deaf ears at the Guildhall.

Cllr Davies, leader of the opposition Labour group said: “At least if the money had gone towards station improvements, commuters and users could’ve seen where it was going. This is purely a revenue stream, while at the same time the council is wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money trying to demolish The Groves.

“Since the charges came in, people are parking anywhere but at the train station, including at the cemetery and in residential areas.

“These issues were raised at the time the decision was made, but our concerns were ignored. They are still discussed on a regular basis at Ruabon Community Council, and I’m getting a lot of complaints from residents.

“The ticket machine is also faulty on a regular basis and people often have problems paying for long-term stays. I was assured this would be looked at, but I’m still waiting.”

Cllr Davies added: “Wrexham Council leaders continue to make an utter mess of this.”

Mr Skates added: “I use this station and know how frustrating the parking payment system is. I also know how badly the charges have impacted on neighbouring householders, who are finding people parking all over the place. I have taken this up with the chief executive once again and hope to get a response in the very near future.”

Cllr David A Bithell, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “I am flabbergasted at Labour’s hypocrisy, given the decision of the executive board on January 13, 2015, to introduce a Pay and Display service at Ruabon Railway Station - it is my recollection that this was a unanimous decision which included the two Labour members of the executive board at that time.

“It seems to me they have short-term memory loss, and I would suggest to Ken Skates AM that he needs to have more dialogue with his Labour members on Wrexham Council.”

Cllr Bithell added: “In respect of the issues raised, this was part of the revenue budget savings for 2015/16, where the Council had to make £11.6 million of savings. The department is also currently working with the local member on some localised issues around the use of Pay and Display at the car park.”

Llan could be part of proposed new constituency

* The proposed new constituency of South Clwyd and

North Montgomeryshire, with Llangollen

included in area four on the map.

Latest proposals from the Boundary Commission for Wales for changes to the country’s electoral map show that Llangollen could form part of a suggested new constituency called De Clwyd a Gogledd Sir Faldwyn (South Clwyd and North Montgomeryshire). 

The proposals, published prior to 12 weeks of public consultation, suggest the new seat being created from parts of the existing Clwyd South including the County of Denbighshire electoral wards of Corwen (1,826), Llandrillo (930) and Llangollen (3,319); and. the County Borough of Wrexham electoral wards of Cefn (3,709); Dyffryn Ceiriog/Ceiriog Valley (1,670), Chirk North (1,811), Chirk South (1,549), Johnstown (2,415), Llangollen Rural (1,578), Pant (1,534), Penycae (1,479), Penycae and Ruabon South (1,898), Plas Madoc (1,198), Ruabon (2,071) and Ponciau (without the Aberoer and Pentrebychan wards of the Community of Esclusham) (2,831).

Also included in the new constituency would be parts of the existing Clwyd West and Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Montgomeryshire and Vale of Clwyd seats.

The proposed constituency would have 71,097 electors which is 4.9% below the UKEQ of 74,769 electors per constituency. 

The Boundary Commission says: “The remaining electoral wards from the existing constituencies of Clwyd South, Clwyd West and the Vale of Clwyd were considered appropriate to combine in a constituency as they share similar rural, economic and social characteristics. 

“However, there is an insufficient electorate in these areas to form a constituency.  There is therefore a need to extend the proposal south encompassing the northern wards of the existing Montgomeryshire constituency.

“Wards from the existing Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency have also been included to enable sufficient road access to all parts of the proposed constituency. 

“The Commission acknowledges that this is the most disruptive change to the existing arrangements of all the newly proposed constituencies. 

“The proposed constituency is geographically large at 2,704 km2, reflecting the sparse population and rural nature of the area.”   

The Commission adds: “The Commission proposes placing the Ponciau North, Ponciau South and Rhos wards of the Community of Rhosllanerchrugog into the proposed ‘De Clwyd a Gogledd Sir Faldwyn’ constituency with the remaining wards of the Community of Esclusham forming part of the proposed Wrexham Maelor constituency.  

“The Commission has decided on the name to reflect the areas within the proposed constituency. 

“Having regard to the linguistic characteristics of the larger part of the area involved, the Commission has decided to give the proposal a Welsh language official name and an English language alternative name.” 

* Full details can be found at http://bcomm-wales.gov.uk/2018-review/maps_and_supporting_information?lang=en

* Representations about the review should be addressed, within 12 weeks, to the Boundary Commission for Wales, Hastings House, Fitzalan Court, Cardiff, CF24 0BL, faxed to 02920 464820, or e-mailed to bcomm.wales@wales.gsi.gov.uk.