Cat casts the spotlight on Llangollen's volunteer heroes

* Chloe Jane Chard has been volunteering at the newsagents in Castle Street.

To celebrate the current National Volunteers' Week, Cat Meade, co-ordinator of the Llangollen Coronvirus Help Group, has taken to Facebook to shine the spotlight on two sets of volunteers whose actions have stood out during the Covid-19 crisis.

They are Chloe Jane Chard, who has been helping out at the newsagents in Castle Street, and the team at Dee Valley Produce in Oak Street.

Cat says of them:

Chloe has been assisting Newsagents Castle Street as a Volunteer for the past 10 weeks, working 6 days a week delivering to those hard to reach areas of Llangollen and surrounding areas, using her moped she has turned up every day to ensure those newspapers got to their rightful owner who were awaiting their delivery.

Last week Chloe's moped broke down, rather than say she couldn't help she went on her way, on foot to deliver. 

I asked Chloe to tell me a bit about herself so I could share ...

"Hi, my name's Chloe and I’m 17 years old. My lifelong aspiration is to join the military as a nurse and out of lockdown I attended the military awareness course provided my North Wales training in Kinmel Camp, Bodelwyddan. I am a registered nursing cadet with the Royal College of Nursing and awaiting a clinical placement in Wrexham Maelor but due to current circumstances that has been postponed."

Cat says: PLEASE join me in saying a BIG THANK YOU to Chloe, our next Generation, proud of you Chloe and well done. I have a little gift coming your way."

* Part of the team who have kept Dee Valley Produce open during the Covid crisis. 

Dee Valley Produce

Please see below A THANK YOU from Sam & Wayne for all the Volunteers who have assisted with deliveries these past 10 WEEKS.

The Staff at the shop have worked long hard hours to keep the fresh produce coming to your door, the Volunteers have ensured every request has been fulfilled.

Thank you all, and please ensure we remain LOYAL to this fantastic LOCAL BUSINESS on the other side. 

The shop's team themselves say: "The past few months have been a very scary and uncertain time for all of us, we would like to send out a huge thank you to our wonderful staff and volunteers who have helped us through this tough time! 

"We couldn’t of done it without them, we are forever grateful especially to our staff members who have worked really hard ....

"Rhian Davies, David Dillon, Jordan Hamner, Heather Pritchard-Jones, Sophie Preston, Julie Davies, Ann and Dave Bithell, Robin Williams, Karen Maurice, Phillipa, Tony & Harry Capstick, Vicky Davies, Howard Jones, Amy (Three Eagles). You are all amazing.

"Wayne, Sam & family." 

Cat has promised to feature more volunteers during the course of the week.  

County appeals for people to follow new 'stay local' guidelines

Denbighshire County Council has thanked residents for supporting the national Stay at Home messages over recent weeks in the efforts to protect communities from coronavirus – but has now urged people to stay local and keep Wales safe.

From today Welsh Government has confirmed that two households in the same local area will be able to meet outdoors, but must follow social distancing guidelines and strict hand hygiene practices to control the spread of the virus.

'Local' means not generally travelling more than 5 miles from home to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading from one area to another and the Council would like to make it clear that beauty and tourist spots in Denbighshire and throughout the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, including country parks,  remain closed until further notice.

Councillor Tony Thomas, Cabinet Lead Member for Housing and Communities, said: “The people of Denbighshire and other parts of Wales have played a crucial role in reducing the spread of coronavirus in our communities and we want to thank them for their efforts to stay at home and follow national guidelines.

“We recognise that the guidance has now changed, which allows people to stay local and allowing two households to meet in the outdoors.  All that we’re asking people to do is follow the guidelines and let’s play our part in keeping Wales safe.

“We have also been pleased that the vast majority of visitors have stayed away from our beauty spots.  The great weather we have experienced has made it really tempting for people to get out and visit our scenic countryside and beaches but we are asking visitors to continue to follow the guidelines and to stay away for the time being.  We will be opening up Denbighshire to visitors as soon as we can, but will not do so until the time is right."

MS probes possible agreement for Llan people to use Plas Madoc tip

With Llangollen's lack of suitable waste recycling facilities rapidly becoming a hot topic, Clwyd South Senedd Member Ken Skates (pictured) is looking into whether an agreement exists between Denbighshire and Wrexham for local people to use the Plas Madoc tip.

Since Llangollen's own recycling facility on the A539 was closed in 2007 people from this area have been using either the Wrexham site, or the "pop-up" Saturday morning waste service on the Pavilion car park. 

Both facilities closed when the coronavirus lockdown began about 10 weeks ago.

But while Wrexham has now re-opened Plas Madoc, the Pavilion service has not yet been reintroduced.

Mr Skates asked Wrexham last week if Plas Madoc could be used by local people but, as llanblogger reported earlier today, he was told this was being reserved for Wrexham residents.

Now it has been suggested that some form of agreement was reached between Denbighshire and Wrexham for Llangollen's use of Plas Madoc 13 years ago.

And Mr Skates said today he was seeking clarification from the two councils about whether this is the case.

Llangollen county councillor Graham Timms is also looking into the agreement claim, which has been made by his county council predecessor Stuart Davies.

llanblogger will keep readers updated on developments.

Why Llan residents can't use the Plas Madoc waste recyling site

* Wrexham's Plas Madoc recycling centre.

Light has been shed on why Wrexham is unable to assist Llangollen people with their lack of waste recycling facilities.

With the nearest facility being at Ruthin, but like the rest of those in Denbighshire restricted to an appointment-only system to observe social distancing, there have been growing calls for a more localised way for people to dispose of their rubbish. 

On llanblogger former Llangollen county councillor has backed calls for the re-introduction of  Saturday morning recycling at the Pavilion car park which was stopped when the lockdown began.

This idea has been gathering support on social media. 

There have also been suggestions that Llangollen residents should be able to use the Plas Madoc  recycling facility in neighbouring Wrexham.

But llanblogger has been shown a copy of the reply Ken Skates received from a Wrexham Council official last week when he asked them if this would be possible.

The email, from a senior environment department official and dated last Thursday, says: "I refer to your e-mail regarding the above addressed to the Chief Executive which has been passed to me to provide a response.

"This is an already massively oversubscribed service to which our residents are entitled and indirectly support through their Council Tax and as such we need to restrict it to them. 

"We have had people from many, many miles away trying to use these sites and we are unable to take on the waste responsibility of other local authorities so have put the controls in place to protect our interests.

"To allow anybody to utilise the HWRC (Household Waste Recycling) sites in Wrexham would cause even more congestion than now and would put an unfair weighting onto Wrexham County Borough Council. To open the HRWC sites was a major political and logistical exercise carried out solely for the benefit of the residents of the Borough.

"Denbighshire are currently working on the final details for opening their HRWC sites following the same guidelines as we did and will be putting similar control measures in place, so the residents of Llangollen will need to utilise the HWRC's within their own County when the opportunity presents itself."      

Eisteddfod stages online event in wake of Covid cancellation

An online taste of Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is to be staged this summer.

In a bid to stay connected with worldwide audiences following the cancellation of this year's festival in March due to the coronavirus crisis, it will host a free-to-view web event entitled Llangollen Online #ConnectingtheWorld.

Between June 1 until July 11 viewers will be able to vote for their favourite archive footage from previous festivals going back over the past 25 years.

From today, working in collaboration with media partners Rondo Media, the eisteddfod will be screening the classic footage and asking people to vote for their favourite moment until the end of the month. 

The archive material will be presented in five categories: Mixed, Chamber and Youth Choirs, Single Voice and Barbershop Choirs, Children’s Choirs, Folk Groups and Choirs and Adult and Youth Dance. 

Vote winners in each category will be announced daily during what was due to be eisteddfod week from July 7-11.

During that week audiences will be able to see new content to complement the archive footage.

This includes Heddwch a Harmoni: Byd gwâr yw ein byd o gân, lines by renowned Welsh poet, Mererid Hopwood, which focus on the eisteddfod’s founding principles to bring international communities together in peace and harmony.

Eisteddfod artistic director,Edward-Rhys Harry said: “It felt vital to bring our global community together to share music and dance and of course, continue a message of peace and harmony. 

"Normally at this time of year, our staff, volunteers and local community are working full speed to deliver the festival, and we have also had lots of messages from overseas participants telling us how much they are missing us and the experience. So in some way we wanted to be able to connect and share on a different platform this year as best we can.”

He added: “There is a whole host of activity surrounding this. On Tuesday the Peace Message will be children and youth-centric, so will, in effect, replace the Children’s Day message this year. 

"The Thursday message will be centred around several major events - a message from our president Terry Waite, the new commission by Mererid Hopwood, who will help narrate this, along with a number of our volunteers, children and other participants, and a song of peace and hope.”

Gareth Williams, Rondo Media said: "Over the past few weeks, we've been going through the eisteddfod archive which includes 25 years of footage showcasing performers from 57 different countries and well over 10,000 competitors. 

"In 2019, leading up to eisteddfod week, we held an online voting competition to find the Choir of the World Champions. 

"It proved to be hugely popular and so we knew there was appetite amongst our core international eisteddfod audiences for something similar. We have also been working with S4C for many years to share."

The Welsh Government recently announced funding for Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod to help with business continuity through 2020, including planning and preparation for the 2021 events.

Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language, Eluned Morgan, said: “The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is one of Wales’ signature summer events and I’m delighted that we’ll still be able to get a digital experience this year.  

"The innovation and creativity shown by our events and creative industries sector has been excellent - and is allowing people from across the world to come together and provides a platform to share and celebrate during these unprecedented times.”

* Voting opens today on Llangollen.TV and closes on June 30. More details of the programme and events will be released over the coming weeks on social media and Llangollen.net.

Ex-councillor's solution to Llan's recycling issue

* The Pavilion car park where the Saturday morning refuse collection service was based until it was shut down by the Covid crisis.

The lack of recycling facilities in Llangollen, highlighted during the current lockdown, has become a local talking point with calls for the Saturday morning facility at the Pavilion car park to be reinstated as soon as possible.

Here former Llangollen county councillor Stuart Davies gives his views on the issue ...

Recently residents are up in arms on Facebook and are rightly concerned that the ability to use Plas Madoc for recycling has been stopped for Llangollen residents. 

I was part of the solution when the contractor who used to run the Llangollen Wenffrwyd site walked away because the entrance was too dangerous to get their large wagons in and out. 

We put in a system whereby we could use the Plas Madoc site and DCC wagons would be sent to the Pavilion on a Saturday to pick up rubbish as well. This has continued up until recently, with promises to put in a recycle centre for us coming to nothing.

Officers have allegedly recently said that they know nothing about these arrangements. However ,the Environment Scrutiny meeting records from October 2007 quite clearly show that DCC and Wrexham were in agreement to our use of Plas Madoc.

https://moderngov.denbighshire.gov.uk/CeListDocuments.aspx?CommitteeId=147&MeetingId=3118&DF=25%2F10%2F2007&Ver=2&LLL=0&fbclid=IwAR3gN-uGe9KBUJV-dm_Zipgs-uOxf3ofgQj9oYRYAUVH09Pa0BO8zeMlxdY

Steps now need to be taken to address the lack of facilities here in the Dee Valley, at the very least the wagon at the Pavilion on a Saturday morning needs to be re-instated immediately. 

The excuse that C9 makes it too dangerous and we should take our waste to Ruthin. Really?

It does not wash with me, there is plenty of space at the Pavilion car park for the operators to keep their distance and what is more dangerous, the public driving to Ruthin to the recycle centre there in close proximity to the operators or them coming to Llangollen where there is plenty of space?

I am calling on our members to get their act together and get the Lead Member and Environment Officers to get our service back ASAP and to re-open talks with Wrexham to reinstate our use of Plas Madoc recycling centre.

Stuart Davies

MP says Cummings showed "poor judgement" with road trip

The Prime Minister's chief adviser Dominic Cummings showed "poor judgement" when he broke lockdown regulations to drive to County Durham with his family.

That's the view of Clwyd South Conservative MP Simon Baynes (pictured) who has just taken to Facebook to explain his position on the affair.

Mr Baynes says he would not have made the journey in the same situation and believes Mr Cummings should have explained his position when the story first broke in the media.

However, he adds that he respects Boris Johnson's controversial decision to keep Mr Cummings in his post. 

Mr Baynes has posted on his Facebook page: "Many thanks to everyone in Clwyd South who has taken the trouble to write to me about Dominic Cummings and I fully understand and sympathise with your deep concern on this matter. Please rest assured that I have communicated your views to No.10 Downing Street and the government loud and clear over the last few days.

"I have been very moved by the emails and messages that I have received which describe the sacrifices people have made during the lockdown, particularly being unable to see much loved family and friends and, in some cases, the heart-breaking death of loved ones from Coronavirus.

"I am currently answering these emails and messages and hope to have replied to everyone by the end of this weekend.

"Like you, I have stayed at home during the crisis with my family and have worked remotely as your MP throughout this period. My team and I have had contact remotely with many hundreds of constituents during this time and they have often asked my advice about difficult decisions they were faced with during the crisis.

"Dominic Cummings also had difficult decisions to make given the vulnerability of his four year-old son when his wife was suffering from Covid-19 and that his home in London was a target for protesters, some of whom threatened violence. He has spoken in detail and been questioned at length about the action he took in going to his parents’ farm to self-isolate in a separate building, his trip to Barnard Castle (which in my view was badly misjudged) and then his return to work afterwards.

"Whilst I understand the course of action he took in exceptionally difficult circumstances and can accept that it was within the letter of the regulations, I think he showed poor judgement and I would have not made the same journey if I had been faced with this situation myself.

"Furthermore, I feel strongly that he should have fully explained his reasons when the story first became public and apologised for his behaviour. I accept, however, the Prime Minister’s decision to keep Mr Cummings in his post but trust that the public reaction has emphasised the importance of accountability and integrity in these matters.

"My priority now is to continue to provide the best representation possible for the people of Clwyd South both in the constituency and at Westminster, making sure that your views and concerns are strongly communicated to the Prime Minister and the government as we continue the task of fighting Coronavirus and easing lockdown restrictions."

Please do not hesitate to contact me on simon.baynes.mp@parliament.uk if I can help on any matter and thank you again for everything that you are doing to keep us and the NHS safe in Clwyd South.