Plas Madoc wins £500,000 boost

Assembly Member Ken Skates has welcomed a huge investment by the Welsh Labour Government in Plas Madoc Leisure Centre.

The Clwyd South AM said he was delighted that communities minister Carl Sargeant had awarded a £500,000 grant for the facility, which was saved from the bulldozers after Wrexham Council leaders voted to demolish it in 2014.

“This £0.5m grant is massive for Plas Madoc, and I’m delighted for the team that their application has been successful. They really deserve this,” said Mr Skates, who was a founder member of the charitable trust set up to save the centre.

Mr Skates added: “I’m proud that the Welsh Labour Government has shown its support for Plas Madoc Leisure Centre, and I would like to thank Carl Sargeant for awarding this grant.

“The volunteers who run the Trust and the centre’s hard-working staff have done such an amazing job, from rescuing and reopening it initially to making it the success story it is now.

“The fact that Plas Madoc is even still standing is testament to a people power, and the public need to continue to support it as they have done so brilliantly over the past two years.”

Decision time looms for controversial homes scheme

* The site of the proposed housing development at Vicarage Road.

A controversial scheme to build 99 homes on land at Vicarage Road in Llangollen is likely to be decided within the next couple of months, according to a senior county planner.

Earlier this year Castlemead Homes submitted an application to Denbighshire County Council for the development, which includes a mixture of two, three and four bedroom detached and semi-detached properties.

But the scheme has sparked fears amongst people in the area that local roads will not be able to cope with the extra traffic it will generate both during construction and when the new homes are occupied.

The scheme has attracted considerable opposition and members of the group campaigning against it have submitted evidence to the council which they say shows the kind of traffic problems it would create on roads leading to the site from the town centre.

One of the opponents has just received notification from a senior planning official which says: “We are in the process of receiving various amended details in relation to the application. Once these details are complete and finalised then a re-consultation with interested parties will take place.

“The deadline to report to October Planning Committee has passed and therefore I would anticipate that the application will be presented to either the November or December Planning meeting.”

Planning permission to build 54 houses on land adjacent to Vicarage Road was granted to Castlemead on appeal by Denbighshire back in 2001.

Attached to the original application was a Section 106 agreement under which the developer was legally bound to build a new access road to the site before the scheme was started.

The field above the main site has since been included in the Local Development Plan at the request of the Planning Inspectorate to encourage the building of more houses to meet local demand.

Castlemead’s latest application has been to build a further 45 homes, making a total of 99 houses on four parcels of land.

A statement issued on behalf of the company by planning consultants in support of the application said it would not be economic to build the access road before construction work starts on the houses and suggests it should be put in place by the time the 31^st dwelling has been occupied.

As part of the formal consultation process, the town council has been able to give its official response to the application although a decision on it rests with the county council.   

At their May meeting all seven members of the town’s planning committee voted to object to the proposal.

In a subsequent development, the Welsh Government told the county council not to decide on the application until major road issues had been clarified.

Wales Rally heading for county

Denbighshire County Council is gearing up to welcome the sights and sounds of rally cars as the Dayinsure Wales Rally GB returns to the county for the third year running.

Two of the stages of this year’s Rally of Legends – the penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship - will be staged in the Clocaenog Forest on Sunday morning, October 30^th.

Rally cars will be visiting Ruthin on Thursday 27th and Sunday 30th of October 2016 for servicing and refuelling purposes.

As a result, the car park on Park Road, Ruthin will be closed to the public, except permit holders from Wednesday October 26^th 2016 to Sunday October 30^th 2016  at 5pm.  

Permit holders will be permitted to use the car park outside the following hours; Wednesday October 26^th 6pm to 3pm Thursday October 27^th  2016 and Saturday October 29^th 3pm to 3pm Sunday October 30^th 2016.  On Sunday, 30^th October , rally cars will refuel between 8.30am and 2pm.

Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans OBE said: “We are delighted to see the return of Wales Rally GB to the county.

“The commitment of Wales Rally GB organisers to return shows that Denbighshire and North Wales as a region is a great place to host major events of this kind. It is one of the key highlights of  rallying calendar with thousands of spectators visiting the stages to see the action and others taking to the streets to show their support to passing vehicles.

“We have a wealth of fantastic scenery and forest locations that are ideal for the sport and we are delighted to be working with organisers to help facilitate another successful event in Denbighshire."

Dayinsure Wales Rally GB comes to the historic town of Ruthin on Sunday, 30^th October.  Live coverage of the Brenig Stage will also be screened at Park Road car park on Sunday, 30 October.  The live broadcast begins at 9am , cars are expected to arrive in Ruthin at 9.50am, the refuelling will be completed  by 12.15pm and the live broadcast comes to an end at 1pm.

For further information about the rally, please visit: www.walesrallygb.com

Special landlord event to be staged at Pavilion

Denbighshire County Council is hosting its latest Landlord Roadshow at Llangollen Pavilion on Tuesday November 1.

The event, which runs between 12 noon and 7pm, is held twice a year by the council's Housing Enforcement Team and provides help, advice, training sessions and presentations for landlords in the county.

There will be help and advice with a range of topics, including Rent Smart Wales, Housing Disrepair, Housing Options and Homelessness, Letting Agents, Energy Efficiency, North Wales Police & Fire Service, Landlord Insurance, My Deposits and Direct Collection Bailiffs.

Training sessions and presentations include:

* 1pm – Rent Smart Wales – Short presentation on new legislation for landlords registering and licensing followed by Q & A

* 2pm – SJL Insurance Services – Presentation Landlord Insurance and how to avoid having your insurance claim refused followed by Q & A

* 3pm – North Wales Police – Training. What all landlords need to know about modern slavery followed by Q & A

* 4pm – Energy Grants – Presentation on free grants available to landlords followed by Q & A

* 5pm – DCC housing Services – Presentation about Landlord incentives, preventing homelessness followed by Q & A

* 6pm – High Court Enforcement Services as seen on TV’s ‘The Sheriffs are coming’ -  Presentation on Enforcement services followed by Q & A.

Organisers say there's no need to book a place at this event, and people can come and go throughout the day. 

* For more information, call  01824 706389.

Eisteddfod celebration ale to premiere at food show

* Raising a toast to Harmony Ale ... Hamper Llangollen chairman

Colin Loughlin with Ynyr Evans from Llangollen Brewery.

A craft brewery has created a special ale so beer lovers can raise a hearty toast to Llangollen International Musical Festival’s landmark 70^th anniversary next year.

Ynyr Evans, who heads up the popular Llangollen Brewery based in Llantysilio just up the road from the famous Eisteddfod site, will be helping ale aficionados say cheers to the iconic annual cultural event when he launches the tasty new brew at this year’s Hamper Llangollen food festival.

And he reckons they’re in for a real treat when they taste his Harmony Ale, inspired by the Eisteddfod’s proud heritage of using music to promote peace and understanding amongst nations.

Thousands of foodies are expected to flock to the popular food festival which will see the Denbighshire tourist town become the culinary capital of Wales over the weekend of October 15 and 16.

Next July’s Eisteddfod will see a round of celebrations to mark 70 years since the very first festival was held in 1947 to foster international reconciliation and friendship in the dark years just after the end of World War Two.

It was with this in mind that 31-year-old Ynyr decided to produce the new ale which he says is specially blended to create a subtly harmonious flavour.

“I’ve been working on the new ale for some months now because I wanted to get the taste just right,” he explained.

“It’s a medium brown traditional bitter which is well-hopped to produce subtle after-tones conveying the Eisteddfod’s atmosphere of harmony.

“I love the festival and have been going there for many years both as a visitor and supplier of beer for the on-field and indoor bars.”

To come up with the new Harmony Ale, Ynyr has brought to bear years of brewing experience which began when he and his uncle Steven Evans, who owns the Abbey Grange Hotel and a number of pubs in the area, went into the beer making business together back in 2010.

Their new brewery was based in what had been the Abbey Grange’s farm shop on the road up to the Horseshoe Pass and close to historic Valle Crucis Abbey.

Ynyr, who had previously obtained a degree in geography and a master’s degree in countryside management, recalls that in the early days they were producing just 250 litres of ale per brewing but that expansion of the operation rapidly followed.

He said: “We extended the brewery into the old stables behind the hotel and gradually upped our production to our current 2,200 litres per brew and also increased our staff to three full-timers and two part-timers.

“We sell to scores of pubs across North Wales and into the North West of England but concentrate very much on looking after our local customer base.

“We only use the finest ingredients and local underground water source to produce our distinctive country ales, which include Llangollen and Welsh Black Bitters, Grange No. 1 and Wrexham Borders pale ales and Llangollen Lager.       

“A couple of years ago we created a beer named Holy Grail inspired by a local legend involving the great Cistercian abbey of Valle Crucis and Dinas Bran Castle, on the hilltop towering over Llangollen.

According to the story, the castle is the final resting place for the Holy Grail, the cup that Christ drank from at the Last Supper and that there is a tunnel all the way down to the abbey below.

“We launched it at Hamper Llangollen and it went down so well that we’ve kept it in our product line-up.

“We’re doing a single brew of the new Harmony Ale, which means we’ll have 2,200 litres in nine gallon casks selling at about £3 a pint.

“Apart from launching it on our stand at the food festival we’ll also put some of it into local pubs to see what people think of it. If it does we'll consider keeping it too.

“We’re really looking forward to being at Hamper Llangollen again because it’s such a popular festival which we’d never think of missing and I can’t wait to unveil the new Harmony Ale.”

Eisteddfod marketing officer Megan McNutt was very impressed that Ynyr had taken the trouble to brew up the new ale especially for the festival’s landmark anniversary.

“It’s a lovely idea and we’re very grateful to him,” she said.

“It’s particularly nice to see the Eisteddfod being supported in this way by a very prominent local enterprise because apart from its international outlook, our festival relies very heavily on community support."

Hamper Llangollen chairman Colin Loughlin is also looking forward to sampling the new brew.

He said: "I think it's a wonderful idea to create a new ale to celebrate this major milestone in the Eisteddfod's history.

"The fact that the brewery has chosen to launch it at Hamper Llangollen is a perfect way of bringing two of the town's iconic festivals together.

“We're looking forward to a really special event this year. Thanks to a whole host of indigenous companies, North East Wales is rapidly establishing a reputation as a centre of excellence for high quality cuisine.

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

"The location of the Pavilion is absolutely spectacular - I can't imagine that any other food festival in the UK has a more beautiful setting."

* For more details about Hamper Llangollen 2016 visit www.llangollenfoodfestival.com

Wild Pheasant hotel has new owner

The Daily Post is reporting this afternoon that Llangollen's Wild Pheasant hotel has been sold - two months after its sudden closure.

For the full story, see: http://www.dailypost.co.uk/business/business-news/llangollens-wild-pheasant-been-sold-11975097#ICID=sharebar_twitter

Tackle Ruabon speeding, urge Labour duo

Wrexham Council has been urged to tackle speeding drivers ‘hammering’ through Ruabon.

Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates and local councillor Dana Davies say many residents have raised concerns about motorists routinely flouting the 30mph limit on the B5605, the busy main road through the village.

Mr Skates said: “A growing number of my constituents are raising concerns about speeding through Ruabon, which has been ongoing for many years and, sadly, shows no sign of slowing down. I know Dana gets a lot of complaints about it, too.

“There is a play area not far off the main road, and parents are rightly worried about letting their children cross it because of cars regularly hammering along. I have asked the council to consider traffic-calming measures to ensure – as far as possible – that vehicles stick to the speed limit, and hope to have a response soon.”

Cllr Davies, leader of the Labour group on Wrexham Council, said: “This is an issue I’ve raised repeatedly and one I get a lot of complaints about. You get cars racing along that main road on a daily basis, and we’re not just talking about a few miles over limit. Something needs to be done sooner rather than later.”

Mr Skates has also asked North Wales Police Chief Constable Mark Polin to consider enforcement action in the village as a deterrent.