Police boss wants to know your views

* North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones.

A police boss is urging people in North Wales to take part in a survey to gauge how much voters are prepared to pay for policing the region.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones has launched the online poll against a backdrop of £31 million in cuts imposed on North Wales Police by the Home Office since 2011.

According to Mr Jones, the force is having to cope with a rising tide of new and emerging crimes.

Around half the money for the budget comes from the UK Government and the rest comes from Council Tax, with the amount depending on the precept levied by Police and Crime Commissioners.

In consultation with the North Wales Police and Crime Panel, Mr Jones will make the proposal to set the level of the precept at a meeting on Monday, January 21.

Last year there was 3.79 per cent increase in the police precept which was among the lowest in Wales.

The Home Office recently announced a two per cent increase in the money allocated to North Wales Police but it is still a “real terms cut”.

Mr Jones said: “Last time round with public backing we were able to recruit seventeen extra police officers and an additional six staff.

“This was due to increasing the investment in community policing which worked out for people as less than the cost of a loaf of bread - 76p a month.”

The commissioner is also looking at adapting his Police and Crime Plan to reflect the changing demands on the police.

It’s currently focused on tackling domestic abuse, sexual abuse including child sexual exploitation, organised crime, modern slavery, and delivering safer neighbourhoods.

He wants to take on emerging threats such as criminal exploitation of vulnerable children and adults.

Mr Jones said: “The criminal exploitation of the vulnerable has emerged in recent years with evil organised crime groups targeting children, people with mental ill health and those suffering from addiction.

“The exploitation of the vulnerable is used in organised crime models, child sexual exploitation and modern slavery.

“Criminal exploitation is a significant factor in each of my policing priorities which is why I want to consult the public about making tackling it an overarching priority.”   

“I want the people of North Wales to share their views on police priorities with me so I can then put those views into action to keep our communities safe.

“The cost pressures means the police will have to change the way they work and we need t relook at our priorities and how they can be delivered.

“The Police and Crime Plan sets the strategic direction for North Wales Police, Community Safety Partnerships and other organisations dedicated to reducing crime and safeguarding our communities.

“As police and crime commissioner for North Wales, I have duty to consult local people on policing priorities.

“This survey is a way of finding out what the people of North Wales think.

"Listening to local people is one of the most important parts of my role and it is vital that people have a true voice in policing.”

“I will be using the feedback to inform my discussions with the Chief Constable in agreeing the precept with the Police and Crime Panel.”

* The survey can be completed in Welsh by clicking the following link https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/4709548/Ymgynghoriad-Praesept-Gogledd-Cymru-2019-20

The survey can be completed in English by clicking the following link https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/4650641/North-Wales-Precept-Survey-2019-20

Arrests made following spate of local burglaries

North Wales Police are appealing for witnesses following a spate of house burglaries in the Llangollen, Froncysyllte and Corwen areas during the weekend December 29 and 30.

CID officers are investigating five separate incidents where property was stolen.

Detective Chief Inspector Tim Evans said: "Due to the exceptional work of our local officers and staff, suspects were quickly identified and on Sunday afternoon, four persons were arrested in the Llangollen area and are due to be interviewed by detectives in connection with those offences. 

"Unfortunately, two North Wales Police employees were assaulted during those arrests. Thankfully, neither have sustained serious injury. 

"I would like to thank those members of the public who came to our assistance and would ask that any witnesses to the incident contact North Wales Police on 101 (quoting event W185151).

"Burglary of anyone’s home is understandably intrusive and, that items of property are stolen just after Christmas can be particularly upsetting.

"Due to the outstanding work of our staff, items of property have been recovered which we hope to reunite with owners in due course."
 

Local author aims to give his new novel a kickstart

Local author David Ebsworth is taking pre-orders for his new book, an historical novel about the "wicked" wife of Elihu Yale, through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.


The book comes highly recommended and if anyone wants to pre-order a copy it will help him to get the book launched successfully.

It starts in 1721 when an elderly Catherine Yale discovers that her second husband Elihu has left her nothing in his will except the slur of naming her a “wicked wife.”

Her private journals are filled with intimacies: her inner thoughts about life in Old Madras, where the East India Company’s intrigues are as complex as any in the Mughal Emperor’s court; about the conflicts she must endure as a mother now to the additional children she conceives with Elihu; about her role as a spy for the political factions determined to prevent a Catholic succession to the English crown; and about the realisation that she is now wed to a husband she is quickly coming to despise.

Yet these past 50 years, since the early days of her short and tragic first marriage to darling Joseph, the diaries have been kept safe and secret. Or have they? Perhaps it’s time to read them afresh, to go back before the days when Elihu first betrayed her, before she was betrayed also by the East India Company women who should have stood at her side – before she wreaked her own special revenge on them all. 

David says of his book: "It was a chance meeting. Our local Wrexham MP Ian Lucas asking me if I’d ever thought of writing a story about our local historical celebrity, Elihu Yale.

"Yale has a very fine and famous tomb in the grounds of St Giles Parish Church and is taught to Wrexham schoolkids as the philanthropist who bequeathed some of his wealth, and his name, to help found one of the world’s most famous universities, in New Haven, Connecticut.

"But I knew enough else about Yale to understand that, while he may have been the original nabob, he also made much of his wealth through the Indian slave trade – and thus he didn’t interest me much as a protagonist for a novel. But life’s never that simple and, out of respect for Ian’s own interest, I decided to dig a bit deeper.

"I then stumbled on a copy of Elihu Yale’s will, sent to me from the National Archives. And a remarkable document it turned out to be. This entry, a single line: To My Wicked Wife… And then? Nothing. No bequest. Not even her name. Simply a large blank space.
So who was she? And why so wicked?

"A lot of the story is pure fiction but all Catherine’s family background is authentic."

The novel, David's seventh, is due for publication on April 8 but it’s available to pre-order now through a Kickstarter crowd funding campaign, the link to which is:
The Doubtful Diaries of Wicked Mistress Yale on Kickstarter

The second novel in the trilogy, Wicked Mistress Yale, The Glorious Return is due for publication in late-autumn 2019, and picks up Catherine’s story with her return to a London turned upside down in 1689, while the third part, Wicked Mistress Yale, The Parting Glass, is scheduled for release in mid-2020.

County sends out reminder on waste collections

Denbighshire County Council is reminding residents of changes to the waste and recycling collections over the Christmas and New Year period.

Collections normally scheduled to take place on Thursday and Friday of this week are being collected a day later than the normal day. 

A special collection will take place on Saturday to catch up.

Bins and recycling will collected as normal on Monday, December 31 - there will be no change.  

There will be no collections on New Year’s Day.

In the first week of January, if you normally have your collections on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, they will  be collected a day later.

All collections will return to normal on Monday, January 7.

Fund launched to combat child exploitation

* Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales Arfon Jones and Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Neill Anderson.

A £60,000 fund boosted by money confiscated from criminals has been launched to help tackle the growing menace of youngsters being groomed and exploited by vicious drugs gangs.

According to North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones, the ill-gotten gains of villains will be recycled for the benefit of the community in a series of crime-fighting initiatives across the region.

The Your Community, Your Choice Awards are again putting up the Community Fund for local groups and Mr Jones is urging local groups to bid for the cash.

It’s being organised jointly by Mr Jones, North Wales Police and the North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT).

The money for the awards comes partly from money seized by the courts through the Proceeds of Crime Act with the rest from the Police Commissioner’s Fund.

Each of the region’s six counties will have up to £2,500 apiece for two groups with £5,000 each for two organisations that operate in three or more counties.

In addition this year, thanks to additional funding from the police and crime commissioner and North Wales Police, there will be two new grants of £10,000.

The larger grants are designed to fund projects addressing issues related to the emerging threat of County Lines, where young people are being coerced and threatened with violence to take part in illegal activity across the region.

The deadline for applications is January 18 and the successful groups will be chosen by public vote.

Entry forms are available on the North Wales Police website with a link to it on the Police Commissioner’s website.

A shortlist of applicants will be chosen by a special panel and voting opens on February 4 and runs until March 1 with that vote deciding the winners.

Mr Jones, a former police inspector, said: “I decided to give more money this year because of the growing threat of the County Lines phenomenon which involves the criminal exploitation of children and young people.

“These drugs supply networks are often run by criminals from out of the area via a mobile phone line who use associates or even coerce vulnerable people to act as local dealers to deal drugs for them.

“Violence and intimidation is a common theme in these abhorrent networks which have become known County Lines.

“There is a great deal that third sector organisations and community organisations can do, especially in terms of raising awareness amongst the potential victims themselves.

“It is vitally important that warn youngsters of the very real dangers of being ensnared by these vicious gangs.

“County lines is a growing scourge, not just here but also across the UK, it getting to grips with it is a major priority in my Police and Crime Plan.”

His message was backed by Assistant Chief Constable Neill Anderson who said: “The Your Community Your Choice fund hits at the very heart of what we’re trying to achieve.

“There are so many worthy community groups out there, and this initiative is about the police and the community working together to actually make things safer for the public of North Wales, with the added benefit of course is that some of the monies comes from criminals.

“All of this chimes  perfectly with the commissioner’s Police and rime plan and the force’s objectives.

“Whilst there is lots of enforcement activity on going with County Lines, and we’ve been very successful in that regard, this is about prevention.

“There are groups out there that I think could help young people to stay on the right path and not get pulled into any of these County Lines drugs supply networks.

“Once they’re sucked in, they’re exploited and their lives are made hell. The impact on them is just terrible and there are links here to modern day slavery.”

PACT project manager Dave Evans said: “Every applicant must look at the commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan and consider how their proposal can support one or more of the five priorities that are contained in the introduction within that plan.

“They also need to talk to their local Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team through their PCSO or directly through their local inspector who will need to endorse and support their application before it comes to the Police and Crime Commissioner’s panel.

“This is a win-win for society because it’s bad money being turned into good. This is now the sixth year that we’ve been running this fund and every year the quality of applications is getting better and better and the impact that money is having in the communities is absolutely fantastic. We’ve seen first-hand the benefits that the communities are seeing from this money both on a community basis and in an individual basis.

“The people of North Wales have a say in all of this. They are the ones who decide who is going to be successful in each category. The more votes that you can secure through your network of supporters as an applicant the better. It’s all down to the applicants to make sure that they encourage their supporters to vote for their particular project.”   

* Completed applications must be returned by e-mail to yourcommunityyourchoice@nthwales.pnn.police.uk by 5pm on the closing date of January 18. For more information go to www.northwales-pcc.gov.uk or www.north-wales.police.uk

County playgrounds could get more disabled friendly

* County Councillor Mabon ap Gwynfor at Llandrillo playground.

Playgrounds in Denbighshire could become more accessible for disabled children thanks to a drive to increase accessibility in the county.

County Councillor Mabon ap Gwynfor called for playgrounds to become more accessible earlier this year, and the authority agreed to take steps at last week’s Chairs and Vice Chairs Committee by making an audit of the current situation. 

Cllr ap Gwynfor, said: “There are children in our communities who are being excluded from an opportunity to play with their friends because many of our playgrounds have no suitable equipment. I have children in my ward who have mobility issues and can’t join with their friends in the playgrounds. This is true across the county. 

“The council has a programme of updating some of its playing parks at the moment, and we were asking that they consider the needs of disabled children.

"The authority carries out regular health and safety audits and have therefore agreed to carry out accessibility audits as well. This is excellent news.

"This information will allow playing ground planners to consider the needs of children with disabilities when they upgrade tour playgrounds, so that no child in the future will miss out on playing with their friends."

A statement from Disability Wales says: “In 2010 local authorities in Wales were given a duty to ensure children and young people in their areas had access to secure and sufficient play areas. Eight years on, the provision for inclusive play areas that disabled children can use remains poor.

"It is disappointing that despite the legislation disabled children are missing out on their right to play.

"It is great to hear of the campaign in Denbighshire to increase access to playgrounds for disabled children.

"Disability Wales welcomes the steps taken by Cllr Mabon ap Gwynfor to raise awareness of poor playground provision for disabled children in the county. Disabled children have the right to play in the same playgrounds as their non-disabled siblings and friends. 

"We hope that the playground refurbishment programme by Denbighshire Council will result in more inclusive playgrounds for disabled children.”

Peugeot travels to luxury end of people carrier market

* The Peugeot Traveller.

* The Traveller's interior.

Peugeot Traveller road test by Steve Rogers

Not so long ago no family was complete without a people carrier.

They were born in the eighties, the brainchild of Renault whose innovative Espace brought a whole new meaning to big family motoring. With seven comfy individual seats it was a bit like taking a trip in a miniature luxury coach.

The French company caught its rivals napping but habits change, the people carriers were a bit too big, not to mention expensive, and were pushed out by the smaller MPVs – Peugeot 5008, Ford S-Max, Vauxhall Zafira, Citroen Picasso etc.

All we are left with are the diehard Volkswagen Sharan, Seat Alhambra and Ford Galaxy.

Yet Peugeot has come up with a new people carrier. Well, sort of. The Traveller is not bespoke, it's based on the Expert van, a very good one as it happens, brim full of cutting edge technology, and just the job for throwing in such luxuries as heated and massaging leather front seats, tinted windows, thick pile carpets and few more homely touches.

The PSA group - that's Peugeot and Citroen - has joined forces with Toyota so if you think the Japanese company's Proace, Citroen Space Tourer and Pug Traveller look like triplets you would be right because only the front grille and badge setting them apart, oh and Peugeot would say its Traveller is far more luxurious, and it would be right. More expensive as well.

Does it work as a people carrier? Surely the firm suspension needed for commercial work compromises ride comfort for passengers.

It might, except this is not a heavy duty van, so the starting point offers the best of both worlds. My first journey was solo along B roads and the van DNA was obvious. Road rumbles came up through the suspension and it became obvious that Traveller does not have the composure of a big car.

On decent A roads and motorways the ride is fine and it got better with six people and luggage to settle it down, in fact Traveller got universal praise for comfort from the four back seat passengers.

The seat configuration is two-three-three with the second and third rows each having a 70/30 split, all on runners so there are a multitude of combinations. Legroom is ample for all adults but be aware boot space is limited on the shortest of the three versions when all the seats are in play.

To maximise capacity for our trip one two-seater was taken out so there was extra luggage space which was just as well given the boxes of wine that materialised. Versatility is the key here and movement between the rows is fairly easy. For carrying big items, and I mean big, all the seats can be lifted out but the doubles are heavy beggars so get a mate to give a hand.

Whether it is being used as a van or people carrier Traveller has car like driving habits. Driving position is good with adjustable steering column, nicely weighted steering, and dashboard mounted stick for the six speed gearbox.

My test car was the six speed automatic with a manual option operated from steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. The change is smooth enough but throttle response from start is a tad slow and can catch you out at busy roundabouts.

The features found on high spec cars are all here, electric windows, air conditioning, navigation, automatic wipers and headlights with auto dipping function along with a 360 degree rear camera which, incidentally, has brilliant definition.

Rear passengers get roof mounted heating controls, although it wasn't that effective, but the wide opening powered sliding doors went down particularly well along with the glass roof panels which pour light into a dark area.

Another useful feature not found on many cars is cabin storage space. There are loads of cubbies on the Traveller.

Safety isn't forgotten either with the excellent blind spot alert, a huge help on motorways picking up an overtaking car that can be out of site for a split second. Adaptive cruise control is another good safety feature on busy motorways as well as keeping the driver on the right side of average speed cameras. And should it snow the Traveller has Peugeot's highly praised grip control system which does exactly what it says on the tin, providing extra grip in slippery conditions.

Top prize goes to the windscreen head up display, perfectly positioned in the driver's eyeline for speed and navigation instructions. It's a brilliant aid and the sooner it is standard on all cars the better.

There is performance aplenty from the most powerful engine option, a 2-litre turbo diesel, which averaged between 39 and 41mpg over 1400 miles.

Just a couple of irritations: Lighting is needed for the temperature switches on the dashboard and the cruise/speed limiter stalk is hidden behind the steering wheel and difficult to use.

I don't see a lot of family's heading for the Traveller. It might be well equipped but £39k will buy a very decent big SUV. But it is perfect for VIP travel and taxi work.

Fast facts

Peugeot Traveller Allure

£39,239 (starts £31,850)

2-litre turbo diesel 180bhp auto

48.7mpg combined

151g/km. First year road tax £830

Insurance group 24