County agrees on leisure development plan

Members of Denbighshire’s Cabinet have agreed to appoint Alliance Leisure Services as part of a four year framework agreement to develop new facilities and refurbish existing leisure facilities in the county.  

The council has already made a firm commitment to continue improving and enhancing its leisure offer across the county and says it is bucking the national trend by actually investing in its facilities during difficult financial times.

Alliance had been appointed to a previous framework and was recognised as bringing external expertise and innovation to the design and construction of facilities.

The council then advertised this latest framework on the open market and attracted significant interest from major construction companies.

The framework will be open to all UK local authorities, with Denbighshire as the lead authority.

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Cabinet Lead Member for Assets, said: “Our aim is to work with our development partner to design, build and fund capital projects and ensure that we deliver the right projects, on time and within budget.

“We have an excellent track record of working with Alliance on the previous framework and delivered successful projects at Ruthin and Denbigh leisure centres, as well as the redevelopment of the Nova, Prestatyn.

“The company itself has a wealth of experience in design, project management and an innovative approach to developments.  The appointment of Alliance as our development partner on the previous framework was recognised as sector-leading and provided facilities that are fit for the 21^st Century and improved participation opportunities and PE standards in our dual-use sites. This, in turn, helped improve the health and well-being of residents.

“We are delighted to be awarding the latest framework to Alliance after a stringent and open tendering process – this will help us to continue investing in facilities and develop our vision for improved leisure facilities to benefit all."

Paul Cluett, Managing Director of Alliance, said: “Alliance Leisure are delighted to have been appointed as the partner to the Council to deliver the Framework for the provision of leisure developments and related services over the next four years. 

“Alliance has a track record of delivering sustainable, ambitious and innovative enhancements to local authority leisure services throughout the UK.  Indeed, locally schemes such as the Nova redevelopment have already shown what can be achieved, and now we will be able to bring this experience to Councils across Wales, England, Scotland and N Ireland. 

"This ground breaking Framework model being delivered by DCC will also ensure that the Authority receives the public awareness it is rightly due for helping other Councils deliver services as successfully it has done."

MP calls for tougher sentences for police assaults

* Susan Elan Jones MP with representatives of the Police Federation in Parliament.

Susan Elan Jones MP is backing the Police Federation's campaign for tougher sentences for people who assault police officers.

The campaign was launched in response to the news that 22,394 officers in England and Wales were assaulted in the last year.

The Clwyd South Labour MP said: "We are now seeing a police officer assaulted every 22 minutes, with a fifth of all police having been assaulted. That is a national disgrace.

"Some of the sentences awarded are unbelievably lenient. They include someone who threw acid at an officer's face getting only 20 months in jail even though they were out on licence, someone who stabbed an officer getting a community sentence and 15 people jumping on a single police woman on Boxing Day leaving internal spinal injuries that class her as disabled receiving no custodial sentence.

"Police men and women work tirelessly to serve our communities and keep our streets safe. They should not have to endure assaults as part of their job. I am fully behind the Police Federation's campaign to support police safety and bring in harsher sentences where they are needed."

Stans thanks customers for backing campaign

* Manager Steve Jones at Stans in Llangollen.

TRADERS have said a heart-felt thank you to customers who have embraced a shopping campaign.

The #LoveLiveLocal campaign encourages shoppers to show support for Denbighshire businesses by using the hashtag on Twitter and Facebook to promote good experiences they’ve had and promote products and services locally they have ‘loved’.

The Denbighshire County Council-led campaign, which aims to encourage shopping at local businesses within the county, has now been praised by businesses after its launch earlier this year.

The campaign will continue over the festive period and will include the production of a Christmas shopping video to encourage residents to shop local.

Steve Jones, 41, is manager at Stans Superstore in Llangollen, having been with the family-run business for 25 years.

He said: “I would like to thank the customers who have supported local businesses like ourselves with this campaign.

“As local businesses we can offer customers something different to national chains. We can support customers’ needs and tailor our service to them. We can provide a friendly service.  We know our customers by their first names and for some of them we might be the only person they see that day.

“#LoveLiveLocal has been a good campaign, we are happy to support it. It has helped us get our message out there.”

Leader of Denbighshire County Council, Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, said: “We are calling on the people of Denbighshire to continue to show support for local businesses this Christmas and show community spirit by making sure we look after our high streets.

“There are so many fantastic businesses here in Denbighshire in all sorts of areas from food and hotels, to shops selling uniquely made crafts and providers of unique services and experiences.”

To get involved with the campaign take photos of products and post them on Facebook and Twitter using the #LoveLiveLocal hashtag." 

Youth Band foursome shine in Cheshire contest

* From left, Millie Turner, Taya Castley, Joel Brown

and Elizabeth Mwale who competed as the Llantastic Four in Sandbach.

Four talented members of Llangollen Silver Band competed in the Foden's Band Youth Contest at Sandbach School in Cheshire last Saturday.

The prestigious youth competition attracts some of the most talented young brass players from across Europe.

Representing Llangollen for the first time in the competition were Youth Band members Taya Castley (cornet), Elizabeth Mwale (euphonium), Joel Brown (baritone) and Millie Turner (cornet), all aged 14.

All four competed in the 14-16 year old quartet contest where they performed Soldier's Tale and won second place under the apt name of The Llantastic Four.

The foursome also competed in the duet competition. Taya and Elizabeth  played Pleasant Moments whilst Millie and Joel performed Lucia Di Lammermoor, finishing in fourth and fifth places respectively.

Taya also entered the solo contest and finished in a highly commendable 11th place, performing Softly Awakes My Heart. 

Llangollen Silver Band conductor, Trevor Williams, said: "We are incredibly proud of the achievements of all our young players and it is wonderful to see them competing in such a prestigious contest.

"Taya, Millie, Joel and Elizabeth are only 14 years old and, in addition to performing in the youth band, also hold key playing positions in the senior band too. My sincerest congratulations go to the four of them."

Travellers arrive on Market Street car park

* The caravans on Market Street car park.

A small group of Travellers are on the Market Street car park in Llangollen.

A spokesman for Denbighshire County Council said: "The council has been made aware this morning of the presence of Travellers on the Market Street car park. 

"The council’s Estates team is in contact with Highways (given that it’s a public car park) to look at the circumstances and we will be  deciding on the next steps during the course of the day.

"The council would normally issue a notice, asking for the Travellers to vacate the land. If they refused, then the council would then need to go through the legal process."

Fancy touch to Christmas festival parade

Organisers say they are hoping to make this year's Llangollen Christmas Festival parade more colourful than ever by inviting youngsters to take part wearing fancy dress.

There say there will be prizes for the best costumes.

Warning over Halloween costume safety

With Halloween 2016 is fast approaching, Trading Standards across Wales are urging parents to be aware of the potential fire risk presented by children’s fancy dress costumes.

In October 2014 television presenter Claudia Winkleman’s eight-year-old daughter was severely burned after her witch costume caught fire, having been in contact allegedly with or in close proximity to a lit candle inside a pumpkin. 

Following this incident a co-ordinated survey was conducted by Trading Standards Services throughout the UK to assess the level of compliance of children’s costumes available at that time.

The safety of children’s costumes currently falls under the need to comply with the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011, which is achieved through meeting the requirements of Part 2 of the Toy Safety Standard EN71.

Compliance with Toy Safety Regulations doesn’t mean that these costumes won’t catch fire as a ‘maximum allowable rate’ at which the flame can spread is defined.  Parents are advised to only purchase costumes that are CE marked and to follow the instructions and safety information carefully. 

Fancy dress costumes must be labelled with a ‘CE’ which is a declaration by the manufacturer that they comply with the Toy Safety Regulations.

Emlyn Jones, Denbighshire’s Public Protection Manager said: “We would encourage parents to be vigilant and aware of the potential risks associated with fancy dress costumes and fire or naked flames.

"The simple advice is to keep your children away from candles and naked flames or use an LED equivalent. Children are wearing fancy dress costumes more and more, including wigs and masks, not only during the Halloween period so follow this advice at all times. 

"Only buy costumes labelled with a ‘CE’ and report retailers to your Local Trading Standards Service if you encounter costumes that do not bear this important safety mark.”

Councillor David Smith, Denbighshire Council’s Lead Member for Public Realm, said: “The messages about highly flammable costumes are ones which we should make sure all members of our families are aware of. 

"Ensuring that safe products bought from reputable sources are the only products which enter our homes, should be seen as a priority for all families.”

* Children’s fancy dress costumes discovered without the CE mark should be reported to Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06.