New online map aims to showcase North Wales

* The launch of the new online map introducing visitors to North Wales. 

The UK’s first online video map to promote tourism has been launched to help attract more visitors to North Wales.

The new map was unveiled at the annual meeting of North Wales Tourism and includes around 40 films from attractions, events and accommodation providers across the region.

According to managing director Jim Jones, they were now looking for more high end promotional videos to populate the map which can be accessed via the organisation’s website, www.gonorthwales.co.uk

The map can be used with North Wales Tourism’s new online itinerary planner which is also on the website.

Mr Jones told the meeting that the spectacular growth in the tourism industry in recent years was being driven by adrenaline-fuelled tourism.

That had been the spur to launch a new umbrella campaign, branding North Wales as the European Capital of Adventure.

Overall, the visitor economy is now worth £3.1 billion a year and employs 40,000 people.

He said: “We thought it would be a really good idea to launch the new video map as an excellent tool for visitors, showcasing North Wales through video.

“All the videos featured are from our members and they are a really good way to see what they can expect when they arrive at a destination.

“We’ve had a soft launch to make sure all the technology is working but we have the capacity for a lot more and that’s what we’re working on at the moment.

“I’m not aware of anything else like it in the UK and the same goes for our itinerary planner which is an incredible piece of software.

“Visitors can go to our website and can formulate plans using the information about the accommodation, attractions and activities.

“They can factor in their journey time, plan their dwell time and it can be printed out or sent via email in a nice, easy-to-read format.

“Essentially, we have put in a lot of work to make life easier for visitors and provide added benefits to our members.”

The aim,  he said, was to capitalise on the huge investment that’s going into North Wales at the moment.

Mr Jones added: “Tourism is booming and it’s one of the biggest sectors in the region’s economy and as a business North Wales Tourism has seen a five per cent year-on-year growth.

“We are riding high and there is a lot of confidence in the industry too.

“There is massive potential for growth and the North Wales Growth Bid is going to have a huge part to play in that because hopefully they are going to create the infrastructure and the environment in order for everybody to benefit.”

Among the guest speakers was John Irving, the chief executive of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, who said that North Wales was an important catchment for them.

He said: “We want to play a role as a gateway for the north west of England but also for the North of Wales.

“We’re at five million passengers now so we think in the next five years we can reach six million just growing the route network and getting some different carriers into the airport.

“There’s about 35,000 inbound passengers coming to North Wales at the moment through Liverpool and there’ll be many more coming through Manchester and via the rest of the UK.”

Lee Robinson, Transport for Wales’s development director for North Wales, told the meeting that on the ground there was an £800m investment to replace every train by 2023 in Wales and that 95 per cent of rail journeys will be made on brand new trains.

North Wales Tourism chair Christopher Frost, who runs the Manorhaus boutique hotels in Ruthin and Llangollen, said: “We’ve had a fantastic 10 years or so with an increase in inbound tourism and outbound tourism and fantastic engagement with overseas markets also.

“North Wales Tourism has been instrumental in creating alliances and creating partnerships with both public and private sector organisations to promote tourism to our members across the whole world.

“It’s a very exciting time because of the amount business that is coming our way with an increase of a significant proportion compared to other regions of Wales and compared to other regions of the UK.

“Adventure tourism is very important and has seen massive financial input in the North Wales economy, which has impacted across the whole of North Wales.

“I operate in Ruthin and Llangollen and even the events and attractions in Snowdonia impact my business because people come and stay with me and drive an hour into Snowdonia to the Zip Wire or to do the surfing or that kind of thing.

“One consequence is that we are now attracting younger people to North Wales.

“Whereas 20 years ago, the demographic was 40 or 50 plus, the demographic we are seeing is mid-20s to 40.

“We can offer the best of both worlds. As well as the new adventure attractions, we still have the coast, the castle and the culture for those wanting a gentler time.

“We’ve added a new dimension to something that was already brilliant.”

Isherwood calls on health minister to quit

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood (pictured) has called on the Welsh Health Minister, Vaughan Gething, to resign for “failing to deliver" the required improvement at the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) which covers Llangollen.

Speaking in the Welsh Conservatives debate on the troubled North Wales Health Board, Mr Isherwood expressed concern that BCUHB has been in Special Measures for coming up to four years, said that the Health Minister’s “repeated statements that he ‘expects to see action’ have become hollow”, and called for him to stand down.

Mr Isherwood said: “The self-proclaimed party of the NHS, Labour, is responsible for just seven Health Boards in Wales. It is shocking that five of these are in special measures of some kind.  

“The largest of these, serving 1 million people, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in North Wales, will not be celebrating the fact that next Saturday will be four years since it was placed into special measures. Ministerial oversight of these special measures arrangements has been with the current Health Minister.

“No Conservative Prime Minister has ever cut an NHS budget. Under Labour, however, Wales was the only UK Nation to see a real terms decrease in identifiable expenditure on health between 2010 and 2016.

“Betsi Cadwaladr entered special measures after horrific reports emanated from the Tawel Fan Mental Health ward. 

“The Welsh Labour Government has failed to heed the warnings of the Ockenden Review of this - and consistently ignored the concerns of families involved.

“They have instead relied on the 2018 HASCAS review which was described as a cover-up by the families."

He added: “In January Donna Ockenden said she had seen ‘insufficient progress’ in improving mental health services and revealed that staff had told her services ‘were going backwards’.  

“Her 2018 Review was repeatedly informed that from the Health Board’s birth in October 2009, there was very significant cause for concern in the systems, structures and processes of governance underpinning a range of services provided by Betsi Cadwaladr.

“Speaking here in May last year, I asked the Health Minister why the conclusions of the HASCAS report Commissioned by Betsi Cadwaladr did not stack up with the findings of Donna Ockenden’s 2015 report, which the Welsh Government had accepted - or with a Healthcare Inspectorate Wales Report, or  Dementia Care mapping work, both in 2013, the year that the Health Board states that it was alerted to serious concerns regarding patient care on the Tawel Fan ward. In fact, I had highlighted concerns  in 2009. 

“While frontline staff are working incredibly hard, last month the Public Accounts Committee found that the Welsh Government’s intervention with the Board has had ‘little practical impact’.  

“The North Wales Community Health Council stated that it totally agreed with this report’s recommendations - and referred to a letter sent to the Health Minister in which they stated there is a belief among its members that Special Measures  is now ‘the new normal’ and ‘appears to have lost its impact’.

Mr Isherwood also highlighted that the latest A&E figures show that Betsi Cadwaladr remains the worst performing in Wales, and that Wrexham Maelor hospital’s A&E department only saw half of its patients within four hours, and referred to the fact that in January, the North Wales Coroner, John Gittins, stated that ‘ambulance hold ups, staff shortages and the difficulty of getting speedy A&E care have contributed to numerous deaths and may claim more lives’. 

He added: “This Health Minister’s repeated statement that he ‘expects to see action’ have become hollow. 

“He needs to accept his responsibility for failing to deliver the required improvement at the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, and honourably resign.”

Temporary bus route changes from tomorrow

Bus users are being warned of some temporary route changes in place from next week.

Due to the closure of the roundabout at the junction of the A539 (Llangollen Road) and B5605 the following bus route diversions will be in place.

As a result the below changes will be in place for five nights from Monday 10th June between 7pm to 6am.

Service 2, Oswestry, Arriva Midlands – From Wrexham to Oswestry
Normal route to Johnstown B5605, then via Stryt Las, B5097 Pant Hill/Afoneitha Road, Plas Bennion Road to re-join normal route on A539 Llangollen Road towards Cefn Mawr & Oswestry.

From Oswestry to Wrexham
Normal route to A539, then via Plas Bennion Road, B5097 Afoneitha Road, Pant Hill, Church Street, B5426 Hill Street, Gutter Hill & Maelor Road to re-join normal route on B5605 in Johnstown.
Service 5, Llangollen, Arriva Bus Wales – From Wrexham to Llangollen

Normal route to Johnstown B5605, then via Stryt Las, B5097 Pant Hill/Afoneitha Road, Plas Bennion Road to re-join normal route on A539 Llangollen Road towards Llangollen.

From Llangollen to Wrexham
Normal route to A539, then via Plas Bennion Road, B5097 Afoneitha Road, Pant Hill, Church Street, B5426 Hill Street, Gutter Hill & Maelor Road to re-join normal route on B5605 in Johnstown.

Service T3, Barmouth, Lloyds Coaches – From Wrexham to Barmouth
Normal route to Johnstown B5605, then via Stryt Las, B5097 Pant Hill/Afoneitha Road, Plas Bennion Road to re-join normal route on A539 Llangollen Road towards Barmouth

From Barmouth to Wrexham
Normal route to A539, then via Plas Bennion Road, B5097 Afoneitha Road, Pant Hill, Church Street, B5426 Hill Street, Gutter Hill & Maelor Road to re-join normal route on B5605 in Johnstown.

County council backs Carers Week

Denbighshire County Council is backing a national event supporting carers.

Carers Week will take place across the UK between June 10 and 16 and raises awareness of carers, recognising the contribution they make to families and communities.

As part of its Corporate Plan, the council has committed to supporting carers by improving the services that exist and ensuring young, parent and adult carers are aware of the support available to them.

Cllr Bobby Feeley, lead member for Well-being and Independence, said: “Carers play a pivotal role in our society and I would like to thank all Denbighshire carers for the support they provide.

“Carers Week brings individuals and organisations together to show the importance of caring, celebrate carers and their contribution and help carers find out what support is available to them.

“Here in Denbighshire we are working hard to support carers by improving the provision of information, advice and assistance, helping carers access leisure services, providing financial support to allow carers to take short breaks, by offering training for carers to support and maintain their caring role as well as promoting life-long learning for people who have a caring role and supporting carers to continue working or re-enter the workforce.”

Across Wales 370,000 people are carers, supporting a loved one who is older, disabled or seriously ill with 11,600 of those in Denbighshire.

Denbighshire County Council will also be launching a new information leaflet during Carers Week.

* For more information about carers contact Denbighshire’s Single Point of Access on 0300 456 1000 or North East Wales Carers Information Service (NEWCIS) on 01745 331181 or via http://newcis.org.uk

Rain fails to dampen successful summer fete

* Historical re-enactors battle it out.

Rain failed to dampen the enthusiasm for this afternoon's annual summer fete at Plas Newydd organised once again by the Rotary Club of Llangollen and the Inner Wheel Club of Llangollen.

To music provided by Llangollen Silver Band, people who went along enjoyed a host of attractions including historical re-enactments, Punch & Judy and magician plus a range of stalls and sideshows.

llanblogger was on hand to record the afternoon's events.

* The flower and plant stall was a blooming success.

* Llangollen Silver Band set the tone for the afternoon.

 * Town Mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy checks out a craft stall.

* A re-enactment warrior shows no mercy to his vanquished opponent. 

* The field is mine!

* The Scout stall is fully prepared for fun.

* Youngsters try their hand at hook-a-duck.

* A little close-up magic under cover.

Police appeal following A483 incident

Police are appealing for witnesses following a hit and run road traffic collision on the A483 Southbound in Wrexham which resulted in a police officer being injured.

The collision involving a police vehicle and a silver /grey Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 which was towing an Ivor Williams agricultural trailer at the time, happened at 4.09pm yesterday, Thursday 6th June.

The driver of the vehicle reversed into the police vehicle before driving off in the direction of Oswestry. The trailer was later found abandoned a short distance along the road.

PC Richard Priamo of the Roads Policing Unit said: “The collision resulted in the officer being taken to hospital, but thankfully his injuries were not deemed serious.”

“We are appealing to anyone who witnessed the collision or who may have been travelling along the route and who saw the incident, to come forward.”

“We would also like to speak to anybody who may have dash cam footage from their vehicles prior to the collision.”

Please contact the Roads Policing Unit in St Asaph on 101 quoting reference 19100293260.  Alternatively use the live webchat https://www.north-wales.police.uk/contact/live-chat-support

Inner Wheel holds international gathering at Pavilion

District 18 of the Inner Wheel held their International Rally and AGM at the Pavilion in Llangollen yesterday (Thursday) and have sent these pictures to llanblogger ...