Llanblogger wishes readers a Happy New Year

Ambulance service prepares for busy New Year

THE Welsh Ambulance Service is reminding New Year’s Eve revellers to stay safe and know their limits as they ring in 2020.

As with Black Friday, the Trust has teamed up with blue light partners, health boards, St John Cymru Wales and local authorities across Wales to ensure one of its busiest nights of the year goes off without a hitch.

Louise Platt, the Trust’s Assistant Director of Operations, said: “After a busy Christmas period our ambulance service is preparing for New Year’s Eve with a plea to those celebrating to start 2020 safe and well.

“The traditional party night puts more demand on 999 call handlers, ambulance dispatchers, clinicians in the control room and ambulance crews than any other time of the year.

“Whilst most people will drink responsibly, unfortunately there are some who will overdo it.
“From causing a scene in a bar, falling over and breaking your leg, to driving home over the limit, we urge everyone to stop and think.“We don’t have an endless supply of ambulances and our message is clear: behave responsibly and only call us if it is a genuine emergency.”The service is urging people to consider these tips to have a good time and keep safe:

·       Don’t drink on an empty stomach – make sure to eat something before you go out

·       Drink in moderation and pace yourself – alternate your alcoholic beverages with soft drinks or water

·       Don’t drink and drive – pre-book your taxi home or arrange a lift

·       Think carefully about when you jump in the car the following day – tiredness itself can impede your ability to drive

·       Keep away from hostile situations

·       Look after yourself and your friends

Health chiefs deny claims of cuts to heart failure service

* Mabon ap Gwynfor claims the heart failure services faces the axe. 

A pioneering heart treatment service in north Wales faces the axe as the local health board looks to make savings, it has been claimed.

But this has been denied by a board spokesperson.

Since 2015, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) has funded the heart failure service - a series of community hospital based one-stop diagnostic clinics, heart failure nurses and pharmacists - to look after the most seriously ill heart patients.

The money was designated as “spend to save” and has resulted in significant savings for the health board, hospitals and their patients.

But health campaigner Mabon ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymru's National Assembly candidate in Dwyfor Meirionnydd, says the board's "dire" financial situation means that there is no core funding to continue the service in the longer term.

He said: "The service has been shown to prevent between a quarter and a half of heart-failure patients being admitted to a district general hospital.

"It costs about £430,000 a year but is estimated to save at least £1.5m a year because of reduced admissions.

"Concerned GPs contacted me over plans to cut funding last month and the service has had a six-month extension. However, the future of the service remains uncertain and is likely to deteriorate further without guarantees of long-term funding."

He added: "The health board has spent the last year unable to decide on whether to continue the service funding, despite the evidence presented of lives improved and hospital admissions saved.

"GPs say this has exposed serious deficiencies in the health board management’s ability to make simple decisions. Despite intense lobbying of different managers and executives, the board’s funding lapsed and the service was due to be disbanded until a last-minute temporary reprieve.

“The community heart failure service is saving around £1.5 million each year in direct inpatient hospital costs, not to mention the benefits in patient safety, lives saved and quality of life improved, enabling our DGHs to avoid further overcrowding.

"With further investment to a total of £600,000, the service could be extended across the region and make the £2.5 million annual savings that it was on the verge of reaching previously."

Mr ap Gwynfor said he was disappointed that a service that was delivering good outcomes for patients and making savings was "under threat" and called on the health minister, who has direct control over BCUHB, due to it being in special measures, to intervene.

But a BCUHB spokesperson said: “It’s entirely wrong to suggest we are looking to cut funding to this service.

“We asked the service to complete a business case which takes into account an evaluation of the service and its performance, as well as detail on how it can be replicated in other areas of North Wales. 

"As with all requests the health board receives to commit funding, we need to go through a robust evaluation of the benefits of non-recurring projects to ensure the best use of public funds.

“This request for a business case is not about stopping the service, but about ensuring we have the best approach to providing this service to people across North Wales.

“More work is needed to ensure this business case takes into account the future development and provision of the service.

“We fully recognise the value of the heart failure service, and are actively working with the service so that, together, we can continue to ensure this service remains available to people in North Wales.”

Railway volunteers in running for top award

* The new track looking west into the station site.

The Llangollen Railway Trust is in line for an award for the work put in by its volunteers to complete a new track layout for the Corwen station project.

The Trust has been listed for the Heritage Railway Association's 2020 Award for Large Groups for the completion of the trackwork to connect with the extension railhead into the station site.

There are five entries in the Large Group category with competition from projects including the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway, TalyLlyn Railway, Isle of Wight Steam Railway and the Volk's Electric Railway at Brighton.

The winner will be unveiled at the annual Heritage Railways Association Awards night to be held in Birmingham on February 8 when the shortlisted entries in all categories are announced.

George Jones, spokesman for the Corwen project, said. "We hope the immense effort to infill the gap in the embankment and lay a new rail formation across it during the course of the past eight months will receive appropriate recognition at the awards ceremony, although we recognise we are up against some stiff competition."

Following the Golden Fishplate occasion on December 10 the volunteers continued to work laying track for the siding and completed the 300 ft length on December 21. There is a now an impressive length of double track on the final approach to the Corwen terminus where once there had been a void in the embankment.

Looking forward to the New Year, the project members plan to concentrate on completion of the island platform with the insertion of drains, installation of lamp posts and running-in board, and the final pair of canopy columns, with a need to level up the infill material and spread fine grain sand ready for the pavers. 

There is also the matter on completing the gap in the platform wall, which has provided road vehicle access, with the final layer of easi-blocs and platform edging.

All this represents a lot of work for the project volunteers, who are mainly retired and working on the basis of three day a week.

Ballasting, packing and alignment of the track in the platform loop, with the aid of a hired in tamper machine, will follow before an official inspection later in the year.

If all this can be achieved, the new station will open on a date to be announced in 2020. It is all subject to available resources and continued support to complete the project.

Hard to see the road ahead for comeback Camry

* The revived Toyota Camry (above and below).

Toyota Camry road test by Steve Rogers

Toyota is turning into a company of comebacks.

First we had Corolla, back after 13 years on gardening leave, and now the Camry has been given a second chance 15 years in exile.

It's a strange one because Camry was loved the world over - a staggering 19 million sold since 1982 - yet it couldn't do the numbers in Britain. 

Thirty years ago this was the sort of car most people aspired to, downsizing hadn't entered our vocabulary, but we preferred our Ford Sierras, Vauxhall Cavaliers, and Volkswagen Passats to a Camry or Mazda 626.

Bringing Corolla back made total sense because people are still buying family hatchbacks, but Camry? It is in the same league as Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Insignia etc where sales have plummeted as customers turn to SUVs and smaller cars.

Premium models like Audi A4, Mercedes C-Class and BMW 3 Series are coasting along but Camry is not in that league and wouldn't you buy a Lexus, the luxury arm of Toyota, instead?

Not everyone thinks that way so here are a few positives to get us in the mood with Camry. It's well built, roomy with space aplenty front and back, and it's a hybrid. Mark my words there will be plenty of action on the hybrid and electric fronts in 2020.

Yet my first impressions of Camry were a bit dulled. There was a dated look to the dashboard, a mixture of the future (touchscreen) and past (big switches). Then I drove and did not like the feel of the brakes. The pedal did not have the usual progressive feel; all a bit too sharp and took a while to produce smooth braking. Minor stuff in the scheme of things although I believe first impressions count for a lot, particularly when parting with big money for a car.

Oddly enough I got to like the big, clearly marked illuminated switches because it harked back to the days when life was easy. You got straight on with it rather than spending 10 minutes, or more, trying to fathom the touchscreen just to get some heat or change the radio station.

Readers may recall my silly rant a few weeks ago with the voice control on the Lexus UX. As a sister car the Camry uses much the same technology and although our friend rejected my request to change the radio station she did manage to input a post code for navigation so let's just leave it at that.

Go for the top of the range Excel and you will get a decent amount of kit for your money. Toyota has weighed in heavily on safety so there is a full range of features to keep you safe. I was particularly grateful for the rear cross traffic alert when warned of an approaching car when reversing out of a parking space with a van alongside blocking my view.

Excel sits on 18in alloy rims with low profile tyres so road thumps are often felt although generally the ride is all you would expect from a large family saloon where the emphasis is on comfort rather than sharp handling.

Which brings us on to the hybrid engine. Camry gets the larger 2.5 litre petrol which combined with the electric motor pumps out a healthy 215bhp. It is the only choice and a drawback for fleet sales where there is still a market for diesel but Toyota is sticking to its guns.

The surprise is that in spite of its size economy is good and engine emissions exceptionally low. It never fell below 46mpg and there were trips when I averaged better than 50mpg so as far as hybrid goes I am finally convinced this is a viable alternative to diesel.

I hear fellow motoring scribes digging the knife into the electric CVT transmission - I've done the same in the past - but Toyota has refined the system down the years and I had no complaints this time round. Acceleration is brisk, mid range pick up adequate, and as long as you don't thrash the engine, when it doesn't sound happy, everything is smooth and refined.

Batteries for the electric motor are housed under the back seat which means boot space is not compromised and is a good size.

If hybrid is your bag then you have to look at Camry because Toyota has pedigree and knows what it is doing.

Is Camry set to make the big comeback? It is going to be difficult, the market for big saloons is declining, and Camry is not making it into my top five.

Key facts

Camry Excel hybrid

£31,295

2.5 litre petrol; 215bhp

0-62mph 8.3secs; 112mph

50.4-53.3mpg combined

101g/km. 1st year tax £140

Insurance group 32

Boot: 524 litres

£8m boost for youngsters with extra learning needs

Children and young people in Wales with additional learning needs are set to benefit from an £8m investment.

The funding is part of the Welsh Government’s Draft Budget for 2020-21 and helps children and young people with additional needs to receive a high-quality education and reach their full potential.

The investment will support local authorities and further education colleges in providing education for children and young people with additional learning needs (ALN). 

The new amount is in addition to the £20m package currently supporting the implementation of the new ALN system over this Assembly term.

ALN education is being transformed in Wales, following the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act, which became law last year. A new statutory support system for children and young people with ALN is due to come into force in September 2021.

Making the announcement, the Education Minister, Kirsty Williams said:

“We remain determined to ensure that all learners, no matter their background, are supported to meet their full potential.

“We recognise that local authorities continue to face significant pressures in supporting young people with additional learning needs. The investment we are announcing is specifically targeted to help manage those pressures and provide the best possible education for learners, while implementing our ambitious programme of ALN reform.

“We can be proud that Wales is leading the way with our ALN reforms. Our changes will ensure we identify those with ALN as early as possible, so we can work with them and their families to plan tailored support to meet their needs.

“We are changing the expectations, experiences and outcomes for young people to help all our learners achieve their full potential.”

Sally Holland, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, said: “I welcome the Welsh Government’s plans to give this much-needed boost to the system. My Investigation and Advice Service is contacted more frequently about support for additional learning needs than any other issue and my case work shows that children and young people do not always get what they need. 

“It is essential to invest now, both so that children and young people can be supported immediately and to increase our capacity across Wales before the new law is implemented.”

Allotment sheds may no longer need permission

Planning permission will no longer be required for the erection of a shed or glasshouse on an allotment in Wales under new Welsh Government plans to simplify planning rules.

An allotment is traditionally used for the growing of fresh fruit and veg produce, although in some instances may also be used for growing plants, the keeping of hens, rabbits or bees.

They are usually large areas of land divided up into smaller plots. The site is often owned by a local authority, or managed by an allotment association with the individual plots cultivated by one person or family.

Structures such as sheds and glasshouses are commonly sited on allotments.

Currently, in most circumstances, planning permission will be required for the erection of a shed or glasshouse.

It is being proposed planning rules are amended to permit the erection of a shed/ glasshouse on each plot, subject to conditions limiting their size.

To prevent the density of development increasing to unacceptable levels on allotments, it’s proposed there should be a limit of one shed/glasshouse per 125 square metres (equivalent to half a plot).

Local Government Minister, Julie James said: “Requiring planning permission for a shed or a glasshouse on an allotment, which is small in scale and has limited effects, is unnecessary. It imposes unwarranted costs on individuals and local planning authorities.

“I want the communities of the future in Wales to be places where people want to live, work and enjoy leisure activities. Providing support for community food growing and green infrastructure is essential to delivering this vision.

“Our allotments are not only great for growing our own food, they’re a wonderful example of places that create opportunities for leisure and social interaction, while also supporting healthy and active lifestyles.

“I hope the changes we propose making to planning rules will allow our allotments to grow and thrive long into the future.”

The proposed changes will also reduce the number of minor planning applications, allowing Local Planning Authorities to concentrate their resources on larger, more complex applications.

The consultation, which ends on 28^th February, can be found here: https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/consultations/2019-12/consultation-permitted-development-and-allotments.pdf