Hillside fire burns through the night

The large grass fire which began yesterday (Thursday) afternoon appears to be still burning on the hillside near Llantysilio this morning.

A number of fire crews have been battling the blaze the smoke from which is clearly visible from Llangollen town centre.

Kids invited to read their way through summer

Denbighshire libraries are calling for children to sign up to read six books this summer as part of Mischief Makers, Summer Reading Challenge 2018.

The Summer Reading Challenge asks 4-11 year olds to borrow and read any six library books over the summer.

The theme for the 2018 Summer Reading Challenge is Mischief Makers, inspired by the much-loved children's title Beano, which celebrates its 80th anniversary.

Children will explore a map of Beanotown to find a hidden treasure chest full of pranks and become ultimate mischief makers.

As children read library books for the Summer Reading Challenge, they will receive special stickers, some with mysterious smells.

By adding these stickers to their map, young readers will help Dennis, Gnasher and friends solve clues and discover the treasure, having lots of fun and adventures along the way.

To take part in Mischief Makers, all children need to do is sign up at their nearest library for free where they will be given a colourful collector’s map of Beanotown to keep a record of their Summer Reading Challenge journey.

Mischief Makers runs throughout the summer until the end of September and several young people will be volunteering in their local library to help younger children take part in the challenge.

In Wales the Summer Reading Challenge is fully bilingual and supported by Welsh Government through the Welsh Books Council.

Sue Wilkinson, CEO of The Reading Agency said: “At The Reading Agency, we believe that everything changes when we read and we know from our research how much fun families and children have when taking part in the Challenge. Mischief Makers offers intergenerational appeal and we hope this family friendly, accessible theme will inspire more children than ever to read over the holidays and make use of their local library throughout the summer and beyond."

Councillor Richard Mainon, Cabinet Lead Member for Developing Community Infrastructure, said:  “The Summer Reading Challenge is great fun and helps children discover new books and authors for themselves. We’re looking forward to welcoming them to their local library again this year - last year over 3,000 children took part.”

Firefighters battle grass blaze near Llantysilio

Firefighters have spent the afternoon battling a large grass blaze on the hillside near Llantysilio.

Thick smoke can clearly be seen from Llangollen town centre.

Waste collection drop-in session planned

A series of drop –in sessions are being arranged across Denbighshire to answer questions from the public about proposed changes to recycling and waste collections.

The proposed changes to the recycling service will provide residents with:

• a new weekly collection for recyclables such as paper, glass, cans, and plastic
• a weekly collection for food waste
• a new fortnightly collection for clothes and small electrical items

With 64% of waste already being recycled and a weekly recycling collection with extra capacity there should only be small amounts of non-recyclable waste left in the black bin. 

The council is therefore proposing to change the collection of non-recyclable waste to every four weeks.  Instead of the current 140 litre black bins, the Council would provide new, larger 240 litre black bins instead.

The local drop-in session will take place at Llangollen Health Centre on Tuesday July 31, from 9.30-11.30am.

County warns over bogus tax calls

Scammers claiming to be from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are targeting people in Denbighshire and neighbouring authorities by attempting to trick them into paying bogus debts and taxes.

Denbighshire Trading Standards have received reports of the bogus phone calls from worried residents, who got in touch following warnings of similar calls being made across the country in recent weeks.

The fraudsters told their intended victims that they had unpaid tax bills and demanded immediate payment. One individual was told that they owed £860 in income tax payments and they would be taken to court if she did not pay immediately.

Payment has been requested in a number of formats including buying ITunes Vouchers that someone would call and collect.

Fortunately at this time residents reporting the matter have realised it was a scam and refused to hand any money over.

Denbighshire Trading Standards are issuing a warning today to help prevent others falling for the con.  

A spokesman said: “A genuine representative of HMRC would never call and ask for your bank details or for payment in iTunes vouchers.

“Be wary of any caller who asks you to give personal or financial details over the phone – wherever they claim to be from. “If you believe it may be a genuine call from your bank, a retailer where you have an account or a Government body, hang up and call them back later – and look up the contact details yourself rather than using a number the caller has given you.

“If they’re genuine they won’t have a problem with this and you could save yourself from handing over your hard earned cash to a scammer.”

“We would also ask that you pass on the details of this scam to any neighbours or relatives that you may have, we need to spread this message to any individuals who may be vulnerable or may not have access to online media.  Anyone who receives a call that they are suspicious about is asked to call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or report it online.

Public express their views on town centre traffic

* People gather at the drop-in session outside the Town Hall yesterday.

The public have given their views on the future of traffic management in Llangollen.

A stream of people expressed their opinions to consultants who ran a drop-in session outside the Town Hall yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon.

Representatives from Arcadis (Consulting) are currently looking at traffic issues in the area with financial support from Cadwyn Clwyd, the Welsh Government, the European Union Rural Development Fund, Denbighshire County Council, Llangollen Town Council and the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  

Interested parties were invited to write down their suggestions to solve congestion and improve traffic flow on post-it notes and then fix them to a large map of the town centre spread out on a table.

llanblogger took a note of some of the suggestions which included:

* “Underground car park or @ pavilion”

* “Make parking regulations at Aldi/Home Bargains car park clear for local shoppers and not just Aldi/HB”

* There were a number of post-it notes concerned with parking along Castle Street, including “Stop parking on Castle Street between 10.00 – 16.00. This would avoid congestion but still allow parking for disabled”

* “Unrealistic but cover Oak Street and make it pedestrian only street”

* “Multi-storey car park at Smithfield 1 down 1 ground 1up”

* “Roundabout at A5/Castle Street”

* “Demolish the old Smithfield pub remove old prison and rebuild it elsewhere. Build a roundabout in this area. Perfect”

Llangollen county councillor Graham Timms, who was at the drop-in session, said it had been a worthwhile exercise.   

He said earlier: “Arcadis are in the process of speaking to residents, businesses and visitors before they start to draw up their suggestions to make the town better for all.

“The event gave the opportunity for everyone to voice their opinions on problems in the centre of the town and how they might be improved.

“Last Friday and Saturday Arcadis carried out a survey at three major junctions - Castle Street/Abbey Road, Castle Street/A5 Regent Street and Market Street/A5 Berwyn Road. 

“The video evidence will be analysed by Arcadis using computer modelling to help them to better understand the issues with congestion and traffic flow through the town.

“We're expecting a further consultation in the late summer on the ideas that Arcadis put forward. A final report will be produced for the end of September 2018.

“The Llangollen 2020 working group wants to ensure that everyone can take part before the planning phase begins.”

As part of the same exercise local people are being encouraged to take part in an online survey which can be found at: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Llangollen2020

There will also be Facetime sessions, details of which are due to be given on social media. 

* The public's ideas were written on post-it notes and stuck on a map of the town centre.

Some of the notes are pictured below.

Public urged to take part in waste survey

Denbighshire County Council is reminding residents of a survey about proposed changes to recycling and waste collections in the county and urging them to get involved.

The proposed changes to the recycling service will provide residents with:

• a new weekly collection for recyclables such as paper, glass, cans, and plastic
• a weekly collection for food waste
• a new fortnightly collection for clothes and small electrical items

With 64% of waste already being recycled and a weekly recycling collection with extra capacity there should only be small amounts of non-recyclable waste left in the black bin. 

The Council is therefore proposing to change the collection of non-recyclable waste to every four weeks.  Instead of the current 140 litre black bins, the Council would provide new, larger 240 litre black bins instead.

Councillor Brian Jones, Cabinet Lead Member for Highways, Planning and Sustainable Travel, said: “Over 1,700 residents have already got involved in the survey and shared information on recycling and waste collections. We’d like to thank them for their feedback, as the information already received gives us a snapshot of people’s views. We were already aware of some of the issues raised and all the feedback will be considered when the survey closes.

“To make sure we develop the right model for Denbighshire, we want to understand more about people’s recycling needs, hear about any potential impacts these proposed changes may have on households and to work with communities to manage the proposed changes”.

People can complete the online questionnaire available on the Council’s website: www.denbighshire.gov.uk/recyclemore.  Alternatively, people can pick up a copy of the survey at One Stop Shops and libraries across the county.

The Council would expect that any proposed change would take place in 2020.