Incident involving railway's Santa Special

A spokesman for Llangollen Railway has given details of a “highly regrettable” incident on Sunday afternoon in which at least one hound from the local hunt was hit by a Santa Special steam train after straying on to the track.

Liz McGuinness, business manager of the popular heritage railway, said: “Our Santa Special was on its way back from Carrog station to Llangollen when the incident occurred at around 4pm today near the Deeside loop just after Glyndyfrdwy .

“From what I understand members of the local hunt were somewhere in the vicinity of the line when at least one of the hounds ended up running up the tracks towards the oncoming train which was carrying a large number of passengers – many of them young children – enjoying a festive day out.

“I understand that the train hit at least one of the dogs. I am not certain at this stage how badly the animal was injured but members of the hunt turned up to take the animal or animals away from the scene.”

She added: “No-one aboard the train, either on the footplate or in the passenger coaches, were hurt but the driver and crew were obviously badly shaken by this highly regrettable incident.

“The train eventually made its way back to Llangollen.

“I sincerely apologise to everyone on the Santa Special for what should have been an enjoyable afternoon ending in this way.

“Can I make it clear that the hunt does not have permission to be on Llangollen Railway property at any time.

“A full investigation into the incident will now be carried out by railway management.”

AM hears concerns of Ysgol y Gwernant pupils

* Assembly Member Llyr Gruffydd with pupils of Ysgol y Gwernant.

Plastic waste and traffic congestion in Llangollen were high on the agenda when pupils of Ysgol y Gwernant, Llangollen, met with regional Assembly Member Llyr Gruffydd this week.

Members of the School Council, Eco Council, Road Safety Group and Welsh Language Charter group invited Mr Gruffydd for a meeting to discuss their concerns.

Llyr Gruffydd, Plaid Cymru’s North Wales AM, gave a brief presentation of his work as an Assembly Member before listening to the pupils.

Llyr Gruffydd said: “The pupils of Ysgol y Gwernant were intelligent and eloquent, with a real concern about current affairs and issues. The waste and damage caused by Single-Use Plastics was a real worry for them.

“They were interested to hear that Plaid Cymru on Denbighshire Council are running a campaign to make the county a Single-Use Plastic-Free Council and there’s a strong local campaign in Llangollen as well.

“We agreed to write to the Welsh Government and Denbighshire County Council expressing their concerns. They also had concerns about the congestion and safety on Castle Street.

"This has been an ongoing concern for some time and it’s obvious that it impacts on the quality of life of people of all ages in the town. I know that the Town Council has an initiative to try to tackle this and the County Council has allocated some funds to this end, but it’s obvious that the children in the area feel that something should be done soon.

“It’s always a pleasure to talk to children about the issues that affect them. Far too often adults carry a lot of baggage with them and can make matters unnecessarily complicated. It was refreshing to hear the views of the younger generation. Even though they aren’t eligible to vote yet, I’m there to represent them as much as everybody else in the area.

“Ysgol y Gwernant is an excellent school and they obviously take their responsibilities seriously. There was a lovely environment there and it was a real pleasure to visit.”

* The AM chats to the children about a range of topics.

A5 roadworks to start on Monday

Work is due to start on Monday (December 10) to inspect and maintain the rock face on the westbound A5 to the east of Llangollen.  

Being undertaken by contractors on behalf of The North & Mid Wales Trunk Road Agency, the work is due to be completed by next Friday (December 14).

A westbound lane closure on the A5 is required in order to carry out the works.

Temporary traffic lights will be in place during daylight hours in addition to a 10mph temporary speed restriction and convoy working. Traffic signals only will be in place overnight.

The duration of the work may increase following inspection of rock face.

Traffic Wales has apologised in advance for any inconvenience caused by the work.

Bryn Collen's Christmas play was a real cracker

Everyone who saw yesterday afternoon's Christmas play by the children of Bryn Collen's primary school said it was excellent.

This picture was kindly supplied to llanblogger by Cllr Karen Edwards.

Llan celebrates its plastic-free achievements

* Mair Davies, second from left, with representatives of some of the businesses who have become official Plastic-Free Champions and civic leaders at the presentation ceremony in the Town Hall.

Llangollen has joined a network of communities across the UK which are leading the way on tackling

throw-away plastics.

The town has been awarded Plastic Free Community status by Surfers Against Sewage in recognition of the work it has done to start reducing the impact of throwaway plastics.

And, to celebrate, 10 local businesses have been honoured as Plastic-free Champions.

During a ceremony at the Town Hall this week Courtyard Café, Pro Adventure, Taylors Catering (Llangollen Railway), Oak Street Coffee Shop, Manor House, Llan Valley Natural Products, Zingiber Wholefoods, Porter's Deli, Pretty Vintage Tearoom and M'Eating Point each received special awards from Mair Davies who co-ordinates Llangollen's drive to reduce plastic waste.

Mair, from Friends of the Earth Llangollen, launched the campaign earlier this year after starting her own journey to reduce plastic waste.

Registering with the SAS Plastic Free Communities movement, she pulled together key players and businesses in the town to put in place a five-point plan to start reducing the impact of plastics on the local environment.

The objectives include setting up a community led steering group, instigating the Plastic Free Schools education programme, getting local council commitment and working with local businesses, organisations and community groups to minimise the amount of disposable plastics they use.

 “The whole campaign has been a very positive experience, it has been a joy to see the community come together with a shared wish to do their bit,” said Mair. 

“There has been a wide variety of ways that businesses have pledged to do to reduce plastic use, from Ditching the Straw, changing to paper bags, bulk buying, refilling containers, removing single serve items, ditching plastic cutlery and removal of plastic packaging.”

“She added: "There have been a wide variety of events in Llangollen to help reduce plastic in the town, from coffee mornings to litter picks and group talks to help empower people to make the change.

“It has been so nice to see how unifying this issue has been and how it affects all areas within the town, from The Town Council, Cittislow Llangollen, Chamber of Trade, the local Schools and the numerous community groups in the area.

“We couldn’t be more elated at getting Plastic Free Status for the town and being the first town in Denbighshire to get this award. Together we have made great strides to help safeguard nature and the beauty within this beautiful town, but more can be done.

"Of course Llangollen isn’t completely plastic free, but this is recognition of the steps that the community has already made to help reduce the negative impact of plastic.” 

The Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Community network aims to free the places where we live from single-use.

The marine conservation charity, based in St Agnes in Cornwall, says it wants to unite communities to tackle avoidable plastic, from the beach all the way back to the brands and businesses who create it. It says it is not about removing all plastic from our lives, but kicking our addiction to throwaway plastic and changing the system that produces it.

Rachel Yates, Plastic Free Communities Project Officer at Surfers Against Sewage, said: “It’s great to see the work that Llangollen has done to reduce the availability of avoidable plastics, raise awareness and encourage people to refill and reuse.

“We now have almost 400 communities across the UK working to reduce single use plastic and the impact it has on our environment. E

"Every step those communities and the individuals in them take is a step to tackle the problem at source, challenging our throwaway culture and encouraging the habit changes we need to see.”

Town centre 2020 traffic blueperint gets £20,000 boost

* The draft 2020 plan shown to the public earlier this year. 

The Llangollen 2020 working group has heard from the Welsh Labour Government that it has received a grant of £20,000 towards its £2.5 million town centre facelift scheme. 

The cash has been specifically allocated for the Active Travel aspects of the scheme which aim to encourage walking and cycling within the town centre. 

The 2020 group has been working to ease parking problems and traffic flow, two of the most difficult problems in the town.

It plans to make the area a more pedestrian friendly environment and to provide a more attractive, pleasant and prosperous town centre. 

Llangollen 2020 is one of only two schemes in Denbighshire to receive funding from the Welsh Government’s Local Transport scheme following successful applications submitted by the county earlier this year.

The grant comes after the working group held showcase events at council offices in Ruthin and Denbigh to promote the scheme and attract funding towards its estimated £2.5 million cost. 

Graham Timms, chair of Llangollen 2020 and Welsh Labour county councillor for the area, said: “We were delighted with the interest and enthusiasm for the scheme that was shown by county councillors, cabinet member and officers of Denbighshire County Council and they were pleased to hear that the scheme has widespread support amongst the community. The awarding of a £20,000 grant from Welsh Government too is a great encouragement.”

Town councillors Robyn Lovelock and Tony Baker joined Llangollen’s county councillors Melvyn Mile and Graham Timms on the promotion “roadshow”.

Cllr Lovelock, who is also a member pf the 2020 working group, said: “The final report from a professional consultancy, Arcadis Consultants, is expected to be published in the next few weeks but it is already predicted that the proposals will lead to a 20% increase in the economy of the town.

"It also shows that more than 100 new full-time jobs for local people will be created."

The Welsh Government's Transport Secretary Ken Skates said: “I’m delighted that a host of transport projects across Wales will be allocated funding from the Local Transport Fund.

“These schemes have the potential to make a massive difference to people’s everyday lives, with improvements to transport networks, infrastructure and cycle lanes making it easier to choose active and sustainable travel.

“These projects support our ambitions to provide a modern and connected transport infrastructure, whilst further boosting our efforts to encourage healthy and active lifestyles.

“This funding could also prove a shot in the arm to the Welsh economy by making it easier for people to travel for both business and leisure.”

County cited as example of good education practice

Denbighshire County Council has been highlighted as an example of good practice in Estyn’s annual report.

Denbighshire was one of only two authorities to receive excellence for leadership in the last round of inspections and is the first to be awarded an excellent rating for leadership under a new inspection framework introduced across Wales.

One of the other main findings highlighted the recent merger of education and children’s services in the county as having a “positive impact” on services for children, young people and their families.  

The inspection also highlighted  that “the authority has a strong moral purpose that underpins its education services, focusing on an ambition to maximise the life chances of every learner.”

The annual  report published by Estyn states: “In Denbighshire County Council, outcomes and the quality of education services are good and leadership is excellent. The authority’s political and strategic leadership is successful in managing change.

"For example, the restructure of education and children’s services has resulted in a coherent, blended service that is better able to meet the needs of children and young people. The connections between these services help the authority to respond quickly to the needs of families and pupils and help officers to implement intervention and support at an early stage.

"The authority knows its schools very well and has clear policies, strategies and processes for school improvement work. It has a suitable range of appropriate provision for vulnerable pupils, which is generally effective in meeting their needs. Performance across the secondary schools has been variable over the last three years, but standards at key stage 4 in nearly all key indicators broadly compare well over time with those in similar authorities across Wales, and with national outcomes.”

The Council has also provided a best practice case study to Estyn that has been shared with councils across Wales.

Councillor Huw Hilditch- Roberts, Cabinet Lead Member for Children, Young People and the Welsh Language, said: “The opportunities for our children and young people are at the heart of everything that we do. We want them to have the best education possible and have plenty of opportunity to thrive and develop as individuals.  We are delighted that this has been reflected in the annual Estyn report in such a comprehensive way.

“The original inspection report itself made very positive reading and we must pay tribute  to the tremendous amount of work that goes on in the local authority to support schools and ensure that all children receive the best than can with the resources available .  

"The approach to working with our partners in the public sector is also a key factor in this success.  We are all working together with a common goal:  to improve education and opportunities for our children and young people.

“Education in Denbighshire has been a priority for a number of years and this is paying dividends. We have also made a further commitment to improving education over the coming years and our vision for the best possible education for our children and young people has not changed."