AM raises questions over water takeover

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has questioned Severn Trent Water over its takeover of Dee Valley Water and sought assurances that customers and staff will not be adversely affected.

    

Mr Isherwood attended Friday’s Consumer Council for Water Wales Meeting in Public at Glyndwr University, which included a presentation by Severn Trent Water on their takeover of Dee Valley Water and service in the Dee Valley Water area. 

He also questioned Severn Trent Water over local concerns regarding the takeover.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Isherwood said: “We were told that they remain committed to Dee Valley Water’s Wrexham and Chester sites.

“They told us that they wanted to give everyone in the team at Dee Valley Water at least three options, that they had spoken to them on an individual basis and that just 14 out of 166 team members only had the option of voluntary redundancy.

“Responding to my questioning, they told me that team members still have a month before they have to come back with their decisions and that this information would then be shared with us.

“They stated that their ambition is to be an ‘upper quartile’ performer in water and waste, to join their sector performance on billing.

“They also stated that they planned to improve customer experience through a shift to digital service channels. When I highlighted that the most vulnerable customers were the least likely to use digital channels, they stated that if they identify vulnerable customers in their system, they treat them individually, that identifying vulnerability is a priority and that they were building a cross-industry data base of customers known to be vulnerable.

“I was also told that they will be retaining a ‘Customer Challenge Group’ in Wales.”

Twenty Club skilfully presents The Entertainer

* A scene from The Entertainer featuring, from left, Victoria White, Roberta Bailey and Grahame Smith.

Washed-up music hall comic Archie Rice shows no emotion as he trots through his dated and pathetic routines in front of his bored audience.

And he brings exactly the same non-emotions to bear as he deals with his dysfunctional family.

The character, which has become an icon of the British stage, and his bickering relatives are brought faithfully and believably to life - although there’s precious little of that left in Archie – by a very useful cast as Llangollen’s Twenty Club amateur players staged The Entertainer, John Osbourne’s legendary drama, at the Town Hall over three nights last week.

Archie is hanging precariously to the increasingly bedraggled coattails of old-fashioned music hall as its world is shattered by the advent of television in the mid-1950s.

There’s not a trace of joy in him as he goes through his down-at-heel comedy routines for an audience which wants to be there even less than he does.

He’s grown this hard emotionless shell over many years, developing the motto which he brings out in one of his little songs which has the lines, “If they see you’re blue they’ll look down on you, why should I bother to care?”

Back home there’s his old dad, himself a retired musical hall turn, his alcoholic wife and a son who preferred a spell in jail to doing his National Service and being shot at on some foreign field.

Catalyst for tipping the delicate balance which exists between them is an unexpected visit by Archie’s daughter who has just broken up with her boyfriend.

Archie, a role once occupied on film by Laurence Olivier, was played with panache by Twenty Club stalwart David Edgar employing just the right measure of deadpan comedy and pathos. He also took a prodigious amount of lines easily in his long stride.

His drunken wife Pheobe was neatly portrayed with both sympathy and emotion by Roberta Bailey who is a newcomer to the group.

And although it was only his second time on stage for the club, Grahame Smith very competently handled the role of Billy Rice, Archie’s father.

Another club second-timer, Victoria White, gave a very polished performance as Archie’s granddaughter Victoria and Dan Pedley, who has had three previous roles for the group, was right for the role of Archie’s son, Frank.

The Entertainer’s other son, Mick, we don’t meet but merely see the family mourning after word comes through that he’s been killed in action as he faithfully serves his country in the army which his brother had side-stepped.

This development at least stirs something in Archie but not for too long as he’s soon back on stage doing his patter again.

But as he strides off into the dark at the end of his act we could be left wondering if this is the final curtain for him. Or, actually, like The Entertainer himself, could we really give a damn?

This was a nice piece of work by Barry Cook, taking his first stint as director after many appearances on stage for the club, ably assisted as usual by a small army of backstage volunteers.

A neat touch towards the end was bringing on powerful gospel singer Sandra Butterworth to join in with the farewell to father Billy who dies near the end of the piece. That, unlike Archie, was full of emotion.

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Llangollen Railway steams back to 1957

* In May Llangollen Station will go back to eisteddfod week in 1957.

Llangollen Railway will soon be turning back the clock to the golden days of Eisteddfod Week in 1957.


During its Victorian Weekend on May 13 and 14 when it will be recreating how things were on the railway more than a century ago, the heritage organisation also has a second time-travelling event planned.


It is taking visitors back half a century to the late 1950s when the platforms were alive with people coming to and from the town’s world-famous international eisteddfod.      


Event organiser Peter Dickinson said: “The key concept of the Victorian Weekend is based around a perceived time-travelling experience from the present day back to the 19th century, so that each section of the journey brings new experiences, opportunities or attractions for our visitors.  


“Walking down the station ramp at Llangollen, the initial stage involves a fictional 60-year change from 2017 back to 1957.


“The next 60-year gap back to Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year of 1897 is achieved by boarding a steam-hauled train from Llangollen to the next station at Berwyn.”


He added: “With the International Eisteddfod at Llangollen celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, this means that in 1957 it  was its celebrating its 10th anniversary.


“Back then, huge crowds of visitors and competitors would have arrived at Llangollen station by train bound for the Eisteddfod.


“The station staff went out of their way to decorate the station in preparation for the event, with bunting and flags adorning the station platforms. It was known for performances to be made on the platform intermittently, as passengers waited for their train to arrive or as new competitors arrived.


“I have already received support from the Llangollen Motor Museum, who have committed to providing suitable 1957 vintage vehicles for display on the station ramp.


“Likewise, the Llangollen Male Voice Choir have agreed to perform on the platform at regular intervals on the Saturday, with the station being resplendent in bunting and flags once more to recreate the 1957 Eisteddfod Week.”


* Further details on the Victorian Weekend can be found at: http://www.llangollen-railway.co.uk/event/victorian-weekend-14th-may-2/

County launches new volunteering website

* Councillor Hugh Irving and the Little Tern volunteers

helping Countryside Services at Gronant Dunes.

Denbighshire County Council has unveiled its new and improved volunteering website.

The launch will enable the council to significantly build on the time that volunteers give to the local authority. 

A wide range of volunteering opportunities have been identified across the organisation and the roles will suit all kinds of skills and interests. 

Anyone can volunteer, whatever age, and people from all backgrounds and interests are welcome.

Councillor Hugh Irving, Lead Member for Communities, Customer Care and Libraries, said:  “For many years volunteers have been successfully engaged across a diverse range of Council services and have given thousands of hours of their own time. Volunteers have supported the work of countryside services, the arts, leisure services, youth centres and housing services to name just a few. 

“Volunteers have provided the added value and complemented the work of staff to enable the council to deliver better and more effective services.

“Volunteers also gain positive satisfaction from helping others and gaining new skills and making a contribution to their life of their community.”

Volunteering is a worthwhile exercise, according to Sam Mackie, who is a Denbigh High school work placement student.

“Having the opportunity to be assistant coach at 5x60 clubs has really helped to improved my confidence and communication levels with the students at school, something which I really wanted to improve on," Sam said. 

Gareth Evans, Active Young People Officer who provided Sam with his opportunity, said: “Over the past 18 months I have had several volunteer sport leaders who have helped me to deliver full-time 5x60 timetables within my two part-time secondary school roles.

"Not only that, one volunteer has refereed in a local community football league for five years. With the right support and guidance, volunteers can be invaluable to the work we do – without them and their support of projects, very little is sustainable in the long term." 

Visitors to the website can access a host of opportunities including coppicing at Loggerheads Country Park and helping to contribute towards the successful delivery of our Sportzone programme.  All volunteers must register on the new website by visiting www.denbighshire.gov.uk/volunteering 

Superfast broadband roll-out ends in December

A scheme to roll-out superfast broadband will come to an end later this year.

Denbighshire County Council is informing residents that the first phase of the Welsh Government’s Superfast Cymru project will finish in December.

The project, managed by BT, has helped increase the number of properties in Denbighshire with access to superfast broadband.

Areas still waiting for the roll-out will find out by June if they will be covered by this phase of the project.

Rebecca Maxwell, Denbighshire’s Corporate Director for the Economy & Public Realm, said: “Superfast broadband is available in 71 per cent of Denbighshire premises and by the end of the year this will have increased to more than 90 per cent.

“The council is working with the Welsh Government to ensure as many properties as possible still without superfast broadband will be included in the second phase of the project which will begin in 2018.

“We will also be working with them to make sure lessons can be learnt from the first phase, that there is better communication to residents and better targeting of premises.

“It is also important to remember that once your property is connected to superfast broadband you will still have to contact your internet provider to have the service switched on.”

Residents who would like access to superfast speeds before the second roll-out can apply for the Welsh Government’s Access Cymru Broadband grant, available to individuals and businesses, or the Ultrafast Connectivity Voucher which provides funding for the installation of ultrafast connections for businesses.

During the roll-out period the council has been working with businesses to make sure they are able to take advantage of the commercial benefits from being online by providing 45 hours of free digital training to more than 100 businesses as part of its Digital Denbighshire scheme.

Digital Denbighshire is part of the council’s work on developing the local economy to support healthy private businesses, create higher paid jobs and link these with residents to increase household incomes.

* For more information on available grants visit http://gov.wales/topics/science-and-technology/digital/infrastructure/superfast-broadband/?lang=en

Probe for underground structures at castle

* Castell Dinas Bran where the survey is taking place.

Denbighshire County Council is carrying out a geophysical survey at Castell Dinas Bran in Llangollen to see if there are any structures underground.

The work is being done thanks to funding from Cadw and The Castle Studies Trust.

A geophysical survey involves the use of probes and magnetism techniques which will allow the council to get a picture of what is within the castle and hillfort without disturbing the ground at the protected monument and site of special scientific interest.

Work started this week and is being undertaken by specialist company Tigergeo and the results should be available within a few weeks.

County archaeologist Fiona Gale said: “This is a great opportunity for us to try and find out more about this fantastic site which has been an important place in the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty for thousands of years.

“It will be intriguing to know whether any remains of the 2,500 year hillfort are evident or did the castle obliterate it all? We think there must have been more buildings within the castle walls but we’ll have to wait and see whether there are any hints of their remains.

“Hopefully, the work will allow us to know a little more about the castle and that will help us care for it in the future and interpret it to enhance the visitor experience.”

Jeremy Cunnington, chair of trustees at the Castle Studies Trust, said: “We’re delighted to co-fund this survey work to advance our understanding of Dinas Bran which is an iconic and vitally important native Welsh Castle."

* To learn more about these and previous projects the trust has funded people can visit the Trust’s website:  www.castlestudiestrust.org