Free parking in run-up to Christmas announced

* Llangollen's Market Street car park is included in the Free After 3 scheme.  

Christmas shoppers are being given a festive treat from the county council when shopping in Denbighshire towns, including Llangollen, this festive season.

The "Free After 3" parking scheme will again be in operation this December to help support  town centres and encourage local shopping in the run-up to Christmas.

The scheme provides free parking in all council operated pay & display car parks in town centres after 3pm on a daily basis until December 31.

The car parks included in the initiative are:

Llangollen 
East Street 
Hall Street 
Market Street 
Mill Street 

Corwen
Green Lane 

Ruthin 
Crispin Yard (Cae Ddol) 
Dog Lane 
Market Street 
Park Road 
Rhos Street 
St Peter's Square 
Troed y Rhiw 

Denbigh 
Multi-storey 
Crown Lane 
Factory Ward 
Post Office Lane 
Vale Street 

Prestatyn 
Lower High Street 
Kings Avenue 
Railway Station (Coronation Gardens) 

Rhuddlan 
Parliament Street 

Rhyl 
Children's Village (Underground) 

Morfa Hall 
Morley Road 
Sky Tower 
West Kinmel Street 

St Asaph 
Bowling Green 

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, said: “We are delighted to be offering free parking across Denbighshire after 3pm again this year. 

“We feel this is a good way of encouraging people to support the town centres and to access the wide variety of goods and services available from our local businesses."

This initiative coincides with the Small Business Saturday initiative across the county where the council is urging people to support their local businesses and services on December 5 and in the run-up to Christmas.

Denbighshire County Council is also helping support local businesses through its shop local campaign, #LoveLiveLocal which encourages people to share positive experiences of Denbighshire as a fantastic place to shop on social media and a Christmas video which will showcase what the county has to offer shoppers over the festive period. 

North Wales is in Lonely Planet's top 10 list

North Wales has made it on to the Lonely Planet’s Top Ten ‘Best in Travel 2017’ list – the only destination in the UK to do so.

The area came in at number four on this prestigious list but what caught the eye of the Lonely Planet - said to be the world’s leading travel authority - is the way the former industrial landscape has been reinvented and repurposed to create a series of truly world class attractions, from high speed zip lining and inland surfing, to underground trampolining in a 176-year-old disused slate mine.

Wales has enjoyed two record breaking years with visitor numbers crossing the 10 million mark for the first time in 2014 and record spend from domestic and overseas visitors in 2015.

Wales is looking to sustain this performance with the raised profile from international events such as Euro 2016, and the success of the 2016 Year of Adventure tourism campaign.

Economy Secretary and North Wales AM, Ken Skates, said: “This is such fantastic news for Wales as our Year of Adventure draws to a close.  Being listed as one of the best in the world by such a well respected and established publication such as the Lonely Planet is a real coup for north Wales. 

“The award will of course play a big part in our marketing for 2017 as we move on to celebrate the Year of Legends in Wales.  I’m sure it will make people who haven’t visited before think about Wales as a holiday destination and will also entice those who haven’t visited for a while back to Wales.

“This recognition is testimony to the commitment and partnership working between public and private sector to deliver a world class visitor experience.  North Wales has reinvented itself over recent years and the addition of some cutting edge, world class facilities to match the awe-inspiring scenery has given people compelling reasons to visit the area.  

"We’ve seen Investment in products which are attracting people to Wales – many for the first time and once in Wales they experience the warm welcome, culture and history of the area.”

Tom Hall, Lonely Planet’s Editorial Director, said: “We included North Wales in this year’s list of top ten regions because it deserves to be recognised on the global stage. It’s a stunning area with a vast array of activities on offer to keep travellers entertained.

"North Wales has also become a haunt of in-the-know foodies, so however visitors get their kicks, once they’ve worked up an appetite, they’ll also be well catered for. North Wales is a gem and should be on every traveller’s radar.”

Top 10 Regions in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2017:

1. Choquequirao, Peru
2. Taranaki, New Zealand
3. The Azores, Portugal
4. North Wales, UK
5. South Australia
6. Aysén, Chile
7. The Tuamotus, French Polynesia
8. Coastal Georgia, USA
9. Perak, Malaysia
10. The Skellig Ring, Ireland.

AM raises questions on children from Jungle Camp

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood (pictured) has raised questions over the number of unaccompanied children from the ‘Jungle Camp’ in Calais who will be given protection in Wales and highlighted the challenges facing North Wales local authorities in dealing with the specific needs of refugees.   

Responding to the Statement by the Chair of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee on the Committee's Forward Work Programme including Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Unaccompanied Children, Mr Isherwood, who is hosting and sponsoring the ‘Sanctuary in the Senedd’ event with the Welsh Refugee Council on 7 December, when Members can meet asylum seekers and refugees from across Wales, spoke on the issue in the Assembly.

He said: “Obviously, references have been made to the horribly named Jungle camp in Calais and the fact that that’s closing down.

"The Children’s Commissioner for England has previously said that about 300 children there, from countries like Syria and Afghanistan, will come to the UK.

"We know that, last week, British and French officials began registering unaccompanied children in the camp who are hoping to join relatives in Britain. Do you have any indication if those figures are accurate or can you perhaps drill down to try and establish the number? If it is 300, or more, what proportion will be in Wales?

“Similarly, the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, has said the UK Government is, to quote, ‘moving quickly’. She wants as many children as possible brought to the UK before the camp is shut. But the charity Safe Passage UK, which is working with the UK Government, says it’s not yet been shown any operational plans setting out how the children will be transferred. Again, could you look at the operational plans as they develop, not only with the UK Government but with the Welsh Government, in terms of the settlement here?

“I have represented people, with a number of councils, and there have been different approaches, but above all, the key points raised are, for example, in Wrexham—which has already agreed to accept people (under the Syrian Refugee Settlement Scheme) —the need for language support and, in Flintshire, for full language and curriculum support in schools, supporting integration of families into local communities, as well as the hard-end issues such as housing and health.”

Mr Isherwood added: “As a Wrexham Council representative said, we have a proud tradition of welcoming people in need, but as Gwynedd Council, which has already welcomed people from Syria, have told me, they must be sure before accepting unaccompanied children that we are able to provide a stable and sustainable environment, and as Flintshire Council stated: “the bigger challenges will be to integrate families into local communities, remembering that people will be mentally and emotionally scarred by their experience and will be in need of empathy and support.”

Signs of the times at Llan Museum

Local traditional sign writer David Kynaston will be giving a talk in Llangollen Museum this Wednesday at 7.30pm.

David grew up locally and it was in art classes at school he developed his love of "lettering".

Now he is known internationally and travels the world sign writing and doing workshops.

He is responsible for almost all the beautiful signs around Llangollen.

All welcome. Admission £3 to include tea/ coffee.

Ambulance service launches promises to older people

* Alison Johnstone, Patient Experience & Community

Involvement Manager, holds up the Welsh

Ambulance Service’s Promises to Older People.

THE WELSH Ambulance Service has launched a list of promises to older people who use its services.

Over the last few months members of the Trust’s Patient Experience and Community Involvement team have engaged with hundreds of older people to find out how they would like to be treated.

There are over 800,000 people in Wales aged 60 or over, which accounts for more than a quarter of our population. 

This is expected to rise to over one million people in the next 20 years.

‘Our Promises to Older People’ was launched to coincide with International Day of Older Persons and includes pledges to treat older people with dignity and respect, provide good information and communication if a patient has sensory loss and to recognise the signs of people with dementia.

The Trust was recently shortlisted in the final of the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Friendly Awards for its work to help patients with dementia in the Swansea area.

Claire Bevan, Executive Director of Quality, Safety and Patient Experience for the Welsh Ambulance Service, said that the promises will help the Trust to focus on the individual care needs of older people across Wales.

She said: “We know that a high number of older people use our services regularly, whether calling 999 in a medical emergency or using our Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service for hospital appointments. 

“We want to make sure that the services we provide meet individual needs of older people and to ensure that they have a good experience when in our care.

“Our Promises to Older People are important to us, and we would like to thank everyone who took part in the consultation for their contribution to inform the development of Our Promises for Older People.”

The list of promises has been hailed as an example of good practice by Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, Sarah Rochira.

She said: “‘Our Promises to Older People’ is an excellent example of how to communicate with older people and their families in a way that is both meaningful and relevant.

“Setting out these commitments in such an accessible format, with a strong focus on values and outcomes, makes clear the high standards older people have a right to expect when accessing services provided by the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust.

“I have written to the Cabinet Minister for Health to highlight ‘Our Promises to Older People’ as an example of good practice and hope that other service providers across Wales will soon adopt similar approaches to communicate with those who use and rely upon their services.”

Llan Youth Band provide play area fanfare

* The Youth Band playing at Pontfadog.

Members of Llangollen Youth Band were delighted to play at the unveiling of a new children’s play area in Pontfadog on Thursday, October 20.

The grand opening was a celebration of four years of fundraising by the local community, led by Pontfadog resident Rachel Maries.

Amongst the members of the youth ensemble was Rachel’s son, Tom, who plays tuba in both the Youth and Senior Bands.

The honour of opening the play area went to Wales rugby international, Rupert Moon.

The band played a number of Welsh classics such as 'Men of Harlech' and 'All through the Night'.

A spokesman for the band said: “We were delighted to be able to send members of our talented Youth Band to the opening of the new children’s play area in Pontfadog.

"Our congratulations go to all that have been involved in the fundraising efforts and we hope that local children enjoy the new facility for years to come." 

Reviving ancient skill on the river

Coracle expert Les Davies has been reviving the ancient skill on the River Dee this afternoon as part of an autumn fun day at Llangollen Museum, which also features exhibitions of spinning and wood turning.

Les has his next coracle display on the river at 3pm.

Also at the museum in Parade Street until 4pm there are stalls selling cakes, jewellery, bric-a-brac and gifts.