Festival team hands over big cheque to air ambulance

* Christmas Festival team members hand over the cheque to the Wales Air Ambulance crew. 

Members of the committee behind the annual Llangollen Christmas Festival have handed over almost £2,000 in donations to the Wales Air Ambulance.

They went along to the ambulance base at Mid Wales Airport in Welshpool to meet paramedics, doctors and pilots manning the lifesaving helicopter which flies from there on missions across the country.

And they presented them with two cheques – one for £1,000 which was the proceeds of last year’s festival at the end of November and the other for £950, the cash collected by festival committee chair and Llangollen town councillor Austin Cheminais on his appearances with Santa during the festival season.

The group was then given a closer look at the banks of hi-tech medical equipment packed in the helicopter’s fuselage.

Wales Air Ambulance covers the whole of Wales every single day.

Each year its fleet of helicopters attend around 2,500 missions, covering countryside, towns and cities. This includes miles of Welsh coastline and mountain ranges.

Wales Air Ambulance prides itself that it can be there for anyone in Wales within 20 minutes and brings a mobile A&E direct to patients.

Its team of critical care consultants and practitioners has some of the most pioneering equipment and skills in the world, including blood products and techniques developed in the armed forces. This means that patients receive advanced care before they even reach hospital.

The air ambulance is funded by the people of Wales and relies entirely on the public’s support to help keep the helicopters flying.

The charity does not receive direct funding from the government and does not qualify for National Lottery funding.

It therefore needs to raise £6.5 million every year to operate the service, with each mission costing an average of £2,500.

Cllr Cheminais has raised many hundreds of pounds for the air ambulance over the past few years as a way of saying thank you for the way the Midlands helicopter zoomed in to airlift him to hospital back in 2010 after he was run over twice by a delivery van in the car park of the school in Walsall where he was then headmaster.

_{He said: “All our air ambulances do a fantastic job of and I am delighted that, once again, we have been able to support the charity with money raised at the Llangollen Christmas Festival.}

_{“It was also very interesting for our committee members to get a first-hand look at the Wales Air Ambulance and chat to crew members about their vital role during our visit to Welshpool.”}  

_{* Team members are briefed on the working of the air ambulance.}

* Lifesaving equipment packed inside the air ambulance helicopter.

Pupils given chance to create ‘buzzing’ logo

Schoolchildren can create a ‘buzz’ about their work with the chance to design a new logo.

Denbighshire County Council is offering children aged 5-14 the chance to design the Council’s ‘Bee Friendly’ logo.

Last year the Council was awarded Bee Friendly status from the Welsh Government, a scheme which aims to make Wales a pollinator-friendly country.

The Council is working with schools and community groups to create bee and bug ‘hotels’, reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides and identify sites to improve for pollinators by planting wildflowers and sowing wildflower seeds.

Students are being asked to come up with a simple, eye-catching design to be used on all Bee Friendly sites and in publications and should include a pollinating insect like a bee or butterfly.

Cllr Tony Thomas, the council’s lead member for the Environment, said: “I’d like to wish all those who enter the competition the best of luck and I look forward to seeing the fantastic entries.

“Bees are vitally important to the eco system and as well as pollinating plants in gardens, parks and the wider countryside, they contribute to the wider environment. “Denbighshire becoming a Bee Friendly county is part of our work to enhance and protect the county’s environment.”

There are three age categories, 5-7, 7-11 and 11-14 and a winner will be chosen from each category, before an overall winner is selected.

Schools of category winners will be provided with assistance to create a ‘Bee Friendly’ area at their school.

The closing date for the competition is March 14 and to enter, send your designs to Denbighshire Countryside Services’ ‘Bee Friendly’ Logo Design Competition, Liam Blazey, Biodiversity Officer, Loggerheads Country Park, Ruthin Road, Mold, CH7 5LH.

* For more information contact 07787 741763 or liam.blazey@denbighshire.gov.uk

Composting workshop planned at Plas Newydd

A series of composting workshops are to be held across North Wales, including Llangollen, next month.

The workshops have been arranged by Friends of the Earth Cymru in conjunction with the Welsh Government and other organisations.

The local one will be at Plas Newydd on Sunday February 10, from 11.30am-3.30pm.

Other workshops are planned for Canolfan Ni in Corwen on February 27, from 11.30am-3.30pm, and at Prestatyn Men's Shed, from 10am-2.30pm.

* To book any of the workshops, contact Mair Davies on 07969 891683, or email: cerimair@gmail.com

Homes application for Tyn-Y-Wern site

A planning application has been submitted to the county council for the demolition of the former Tyn-Y-Wern Hotel on Maesmawr Road, Llangollen and the erection of 14 dwellings.

The plan, by Knights Construction Ltd, was validated last week and is due for consideration by the council.

A planning and design statement by consultants acting for the applicants says: “The proposed development would not materially alter the overall character of the area as the scale and density of the development reflects the existing ribbon style settlement pattern.

“The application site is located within the 40mph speed limit. The proposed access can achieve appropriate visibility in both directions.”   

A previous application, for 12 detached homes, was submitted for the site in October 2017.

* For further details of the current application, reference number 03/2018/1141, go to: http://planning.denbighshire.gov.uk/Planning/lg/GFPlanningWelcome.page

Chance for greatest dancers to be on top of the world

* Dawnswyr Bro Cefni competing at Llangollen.

A new festival is to offer Wales’s dancing hopefuls a unique route into one of the world’s greatest cultural events – and the chance to compete for a share of £3,500.

In a ground-breaking partnership the inaugural Festival of Discovery on Anglesey in May will give 12 troupes of folk dancers the chance to perform on stage at this year’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

It’s the first time the Eisteddfod, founded in 1947, has allowed another event to act as a qualifier for its prestigious competitions which have helped launch the careers of world stars like Sir Bryn Terfel, Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo.

The Festival of Discovery Wales will take place at the Anglesey Showground over three days from Thursday, May 30, to Saturday, June 1, and is really three events rolled into one combining adventure, culture and the great outdoors.

It chimes with the Visit Wales campaign which has designated 2019 as the Year of Discovery and includes a packed programme of music, dance, food, nature, science, adventure and evening entertainment as well as the chance to take up a glamping offer of luxury tented accommodation on site.

Folk dance will be an integral part of the cultural section with four competitions, Traditional Folk-Dance Group, Choreographed/Stylized Folk-Dance Group, Children’s Traditional Folk-Dance Group, and Cultural Showcase – with the top three in each class invited to Llangollen in July - as well as dance workshops to introduce dance to a new audience.

Wales’s very own king of clog dancers, Huw Williams, winner of dancing crowns at Wales’s National Eisteddfod and at Llangollen Eisteddfod, will be among those running dance workshops at the festival and he will also be a judge for the dance competitions.

Huw, 59, from Brynmawr, in Blaenau Gwent, has written songs for folk music legends Fairport Convention, performed with the chart-topping Ralph McTell and manages the acclaimed Welsh band Calan which includes his daughter, Bethan Rhiannon, also a Welsh clog dance champion.

He said: “Welsh folk music is enjoying a revival. It’s like watching a tornado starting and I think the same could happen to Welsh dance because it is quite unique.
“Welsh dance struggled to survive the religious revival of the 19^th century with dance particularly affected and it used to be that no Welsh dance group could ever win a folk dance competition because none of their dances were traditional – they were all composed.

“When I started in the 1970s we had to develop our own dances, inventing new steps and that is a unique aspect of Welsh folk dance.

“I invented many of the steps and younger dancers have come along and taken dance along and they are much better and more inventive than me and I’m looking forward to seeing that on Anglesey.

“It should be a fantastic festival and a chance to celebrate our Welsh culture and language.”

Festival of Discovery organiser Davina Carey-Evans, managing director of Beaumaris-based Sbarc Event Management, said: “It’s very exciting to have a partnership with Llangollen Eisteddfod and to have Huw Williams involved.

“He is a real legend of Welsh dance and this is a real opportunity to showcase dance as an important and vibrant element of Welsh culture and the competitions give a chance for dancers from across Wales to earn a place at the Eisteddfod and perhaps feature on the stage on Saturday night competing for the Dance Champions of the World title.”

That’s something the Eisteddfod’s Acting Musical Director Edward-Rhys Harry is excited about and he said: “This partnership with the Festival of Discovery is a first for us and is about reaching out into the community and forging links with other cultural events.

“Dance is very important to us at Llangollen and we are very well represented from an international point of view and we hope this will encourage a stronger entry from within Wales, across all ages, no holds barred.

“We have the Dance Champions of the World on stage on Saturday night at the Eisteddfod and I hope to see not just representation from Wales but for them to go all the way.”

* Entries for the Festival of Discovery’s four dance categories, must be in by March 29, and details of how to enter, as well as full information on the three-day event, are on the website at https://www.festivalofdiscovery.wales/

This year’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod takes places from July 1-7, see website for further details, https://international-eisteddfod.co.uk/

Rise in cost of policing is unveiled

* North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones.

A police boss has unveiled plans for a 38p-a-week increase in the cost of policing in North Wales – less than the price of a packet of chewing gum.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones says the 7.74 per cent rise is needed to recruit 34 extra officers and six more staff to focus on tackling emerging threats like serious and organised crime, child sexual exploitation, cyber-crime, modern day slavery, domestic abuse and drugs gangs who prey on children and young adults.

Mr Jones is seeking the backing of the North Wales Police and Crime Panel for the proposed increase at their meeting next Monday (January 28).

The 40 new recruits will over and above the 90 officers and staff taken on since 2016 when Mr Jones, a former police inspector, was elected.

At the same time, the force has just started redeploying officers and staff as part of a major reorganisation.

As a result of the Operational Improvement Plan, there will be 30 additional front line investigators.

An online survey carried out the commissioner showed that 51 per cent of the 1,877 council tax payers who took part were in favour of an increase of 37p or more – with a third of them supporting a much higher increase of 50p and above a week.

The survey also showed “overwhelming support” for the priorities in Mr Jones’s Police and Crime Plan which sets out the strategy for policing North Wales.

It all comes against the backdrop of £31 million in savings forced on North Wales Police since 2011 and a real-terms cut of £2.8 million in the annual grant from the Home Office for the coming year.

This year the UK Government has given special dispensation to forces to charge an extra £24-a-year for Band D properties to combat the double whammy of austerity and the need for forces to pump more cash into police pensions because of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.

The planned hike in police precept element of the council tax in North Wales amounts to  a total £19.98 for the year and would be among the lowest of all the 43 constabularies in England and Wales. It is understood that most commissioners are planning to opt for the full £24 increase.

According to Mr Jones, the overall £154 million budget for 2019/20 was designed to deliver the priorities in his Police and Crime Plan.

He said: “In putting together my blueprint, I was encouraged that my vision for improving the way the region is policed has the overwhelming support of the people of North Wales.

“The online survey showed that 92 per cent of council tax payers want tackling organised crime to remain a priority and 91 per cent agree that keeping neighbourhoods safe is important, while 67 per cent want me to continue focusing on combating the blight of modern day slavery.

“As well as consulting the public, I have had detailed discussions with the Chief Constable and his senior team who confirmed that a council tax increase of 7.74 per cent provides sufficient budget for the operational delivery of the policing service in North Wales.

“I am confident that the proposed increase strikes a proper and prudent balance between affordability for council tax payers and ensuring North Wales Police has enough money to continue to be an efficient and effective force.

“Four and a half per cent of the increase is needed just for a standstill budget and would mean that the force was unable to cope with the growing demand generated by new and emerging crime.

“The nature of policing has changed hugely and we are facing new and increasing challenges so the force must evolve and adapt accordingly.

“In spite of having to absorb the swingeing cuts we have faced over recent years, we are investing in our frontline, professionalising our frontline and making us fit for the future.”

Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said: “We have an ambition to be the safest place in the UK and the proposed budget will ensure we are able to meet the many challenges that lie ahead, not least because of the new and emerging crimes that we need to focus on.

“Our communities still want to see visible and proactive police officers, and want the reassurance that we will be there for them when they ask for help.

“But there are hidden crimes, such as cyber-crime and online exploitation, as well as major threats from so called County Lines – drugs gangs who operate across borders, with children and young people being coerced, groomed and threatened with violence to take part in illegal activity across the region.

“These issues, coupled with ongoing budgetary challenges, which have seen us making cuts of around £30 million since 2011, mean we are having to look at every aspect of our service, and be even smarter in the way we operate.”

Council seeks information on dumped caravan

The county council wants to track down the person responsible for dumping a caravan in the countryside just outside Llangollen.

It's on the Green Lane /Three Trees track and has been there since last Friday night.

A spokesman for Denbighshire County Council said: "We have been made aware of the incident and are in the process of removing the caravan.

"Anyone with any information as to who is responsible for dumping the caravan can contact the council's customer services on 01824 706000."