Police carrying out speed checks on main roads in town

Police are currently carrying out speed checks on roads in Llangollen.

The warning comes in a message from PCSO Geraint Jones on the North Wales force's community alert website.

He says: "Due to a number of complaints in relation to speeding in Llangollen, local PCSOs have been monitoring the Abbey Road and Berwyn Street areas.

"The Neighbourhood Policy Team will continue to monitor these locations on a regular basis."

1950s coach has £5k facelift by railway volunteers

* The new coach is seen on arrival at Carrog on Friday.

Carriage restoration enthusiasts are celebrating the completion of their project to return a 1950s compartment coach to working condition at the Llangollen Railway.

The coach, once used on commuter trains in and out of London Kings Cross, is described as a Brake Second Suburban unit. 

It has taken three years of volunteer effort to restore it at the railway’s Carriage & Wagon Works. 

The coach features six separate compartments for passengers with a guard’s compartment. 

It will join an existing rake of four previously-restored suburban coaches. Together they will offer a unique train operating formation on Llangollen Railway.

Coach No.E43359 was taken for a trial run with the 11am departure from Llangollen hauled by the Class 26 diesel locomotive No.5310, recreating a scene from the late 1950s when such trains ran on the Eastern Region lines in north London.

During the restoration the opportunity was taken to provide additional capacity for the less able passengers to travel.

The luggage space within the guard’s compartment was partitioned off and fitted with seats and space to accommodate wheel chair users and their carers. An added feature is the installation of two windows in the end wall which offer an observation coach view of the line when at the rear of the train.

* Project team members Peter Jump and Paul Bailey with LRT deputy chair Phil Coles sample the new compartment for mobility impaired passengers

Project leader Peter Jump said: “When the coach was acquired in dilapidated condition from another railway its restoration was considered a major job.

“So it proved to be and three years later the Llangollen Railway Suburban Group members are more than pleased with the outcome of their endeavours.

"It shows what dedicated volunteers can achieve working one-day-week in the open air with a minimum of facilities. 

"This style of coach has 18 doors, half of which had to be replaced and the rest repaired. The bench seating in each compartment has been reupholstered with a Scot Rail machete material and each compartment has four framed reproduction prints of British Railways countrywide scenes, each sponsored by supporters. 

"The project has cost about £5,000, plus innumerable volunteer hours of work.”

Llangollen Railway Trust deputy chairman Phil Coles acknowledged the successful completion of the project by the group of volunteers.

He said: “On behalf of the Trust, I congratulate them for their dedication to see the work completed, especially during the period of the pandemic.

“The Suburban coaches will provide the regular set for weekend trains during the autumn period running through to Halloween. Either a steam or diesel locomotive will haul the train and offer an example of what it was like to travel into the City of London in pre-electrification days.”

To be formed as a five-coach rake, the Suburban set offers a modern-day seating capacity of around 300. 

This is rather less than the number of commuters British Railways wanted to cram in 60 years ago when travellers were a lot thinner and a compartment was expected to take 12 adults in cosy comfort.

Today the availability of all the compartments makes the coaches ideal for maintaining social distancing, as well as offering an unusual rail experience at Llangollen Railway.

* The Class 26 diesel and train at Carrog.

Have your say on council services in Denbighshire

Residents are being invited to have their say on Council services and their local area.

Denbighshire County Council is launching an online survey to find out how well the Council is performing and we want to know what you think.

The results will be used to help improve services that are important to you, as well as monitor the progress of our current Corporate Plan.

If you are a Denbighshire resident and take part in the survey, you are in with the chance to win a month’s Denbighshire Leisure membership.

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, the Council’s Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets, said: “This is a chance to tell us what you think about services that Denbighshire County Council provides, and how you feel about your local area. Whether you live, work or own a businesses in Denbighshire, you can take part in the survey.

“Asking the views of our residents helps inform our decision making and allows you to tell us what our priorities should be.

“I would encourage as many people as possible to take this chance to help improve services and your local area.”

The online survey is running between September 13 and October 24.

* To take part and have your say, please visit https://countyconversation.denbighshire.gov.uk/project/612 and paper copies are available in all Denbighshire libraries.

Wider choice of test providers for those returning from abroad

 

A wider choice of test providers will be available for people returning to Wales from overseas to book PCR tests from 21 September, Health Minister Eluned Morgan confirmed today.

The change comes as new standards and spot checks are being introduced, which will help to address long-standing concerns and issues about the market for PCR tests for all travellers returning to the UK. The Competitions and Market Authority (CMA) has also made a series of recommendations to the UK Government to further improve the travel testing market. All travellers returning to the UK from overseas must take PCR tests on their return home to help identify any new cases of coronavirus and prevent its onward spread. Until now, these must be NHS tests for Welsh residents – people living in other parts of the UK have had a wider choice of test provider. But concerns have been raised about issues with some of the private test providers, including inaccurate and misleading advertised prices, slow delivery and processing of tests and results not flowing into Welsh systems. New legislative standards for private test providers will come into force from 21 September. They will include ensuring that test results and genomic sequencing – which is used to identify any new variants – are processed and reported quickly and within a comparable time period to NHS tests.  Health Minister Eluned Morgan said: “Given the new regulations and the impact on standards for private tests, we will make changes to the rules to enable people travelling to Wales to book tests with private sector providers, if they wish. NHS tests will also continue to be available to book. “These changes will come into effect from 21 September to coincide with the new standards coming into force in England. “I welcome the progress that has been made in addressing the significant concerns we have raised with UK Government, especially with the introduction of new regulatory standards on 21 September. I also expect further improvements following the publication of the CMA report and acceptance of the recommendations to further improve outcomes. “It’s important to remember that coronavirus is still with us, and our advice continues to be that people should avoid all non-essential international travel.” If you do need to travel overseas, you can check the current guidance on the requirements for arriving in Wales here. The current list of eligible private test providers can be found on the gov.uk website.

Tip campaigner takes matters to a higher level

* The household waste site at Plas Madoc. 

A local tip campaigner says he is taking things to a higher level after the county council rejected his argument in favour of providing access to Wrexham's Plas Madoc household recycling centre for residents of the Dee Valley.

Earlier this year Phil Jones organised a 900-signature petition calling for an agreement between Denbighshire and Wrexham councils which would mean local people would no longer have to drive over to Ruthin use the to tip there. 

In his latest update on the campaign he says: 

"Have you ever marked your own homework? Well Denbighshire County Council has and it gave itself an A*. 

"You may recall that the new Chief Executive, Mr Graham Boase, decided that my letter to him, asking him to take a fresh look at the whole issue of recycling in the Dee Valley, should be processed as a ‘complaint’. 

"I was then informed that the person appointed to deal with my complaint would be Mr Tony Ward, head of service for waste. 

"I asked for a different head of service to be appointed to review the case because Mr Ward is the ‘responsible officer’ for the service which is the subject of the complaint.

"How could Mr Ward be relied on to review the facts objectively, you may wonder. Well, my request was rejected without any attempt to justify or explain why it was appropriate for a head of service to be judge and jury in the review of a complaint made against his own service. 

"You will not be surprised to hear that Mr Ward tells me 'the decision not to pursue the option of paying WCBC to enable residents from the Dee Valley to access the Plas Madoc recycling centre was a properly made decision'.

He also tells me: 'You are correct that this (the pop-up service at the Pavilion) is not the same level of service as you would have if you lived closer to one of our HWRC sites, but it generally seems to be well received by residents in the Dee Valley'. 

"‘Well received’ by whom you might ask? 

"Mr Ward makes no mention of the 900+ people who signed the petition, who are very dissatisfied with the service.

"The outcome is very clear. DCC will not listen to the express wishes of its rate-payers and will continue to spin the facts to claim it is a paragon of recycling. 

"Our only recourse now is to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman. It seems the fight is not yet over, and if you feel angry about this get your friends and neighbours to sign the petition if they have not already done so. 

"When elections come around its worth remembering that of the town and county councillors who are currently elected to represent the rate-payers of Llangollen, only two, Cllr John Palmer and Cllr Stuart Davies, have spoken in support of our campaign. Cllr Mile confirmed publicly that he has ‘never supported’ the campaign, why you might ask? Is anybody listening to YOUR views?"

Kamiq is a plain Jane but with tardis-like space

Skoda Kamiq drive by Steve Rogers

Remember the Yeti, Skoda's ground breaking family SUV with the Tonka toy looks?

This is its replacement, the Kamiq, and instead of chunky toy think Dr Who's tardis.

Kamiq is the smallest in Skoda's trio of SUVs coming under Karoq and the big seven seat Kodiaq, and shares much of what you will find in a Seat Arona and Volkswagen T-Cross which are all part of the VW family.

It might be classed as small but is anything but once inside hence the tardis reference. This is a spacious package all round with a healthy amount of legroom for back seat passengers. Plenty of space for adult legs here and it has not been achieved by slicing into boot capacity, which is a handy 400 litres and not far off best in the class.

It is family practical too with a wide opening tailgate and a few hooks and tethering points to stop things rolling around. The double sided boot mat is really useful but is a 75 quid extra. Come on Skoda that should be buckshee.

Skoda always tries to throw in some 'simply clever' touches so here are four things to make you smile: a mini sized umbrella slotted into the driver's door frame, just like a Rolls Royce; an ice scraper tucked into the fuel filler cap; a seat belt slot to stop them disappearing when the split back seats are lifted back into place; and a funnel on the windscreen washer bottle. Now isn't that thoughtful but I put on my glum face at the sight of a hand brake rather than an electronic parking brake. That is so 20th century, just like an ignition key. Thankfully this Kamiq has a starter button.

Does Kamiq catch the eye of onlookers? Hardly, it is a plain Jane up against Renault Captur, Nissan Juke, Peugeot 2008 or Ford Puma and it is the same inside, not much character and lots of black although there should be no complaints with trim and build quality, and isn't space the key here anyway.

What I do like about the dashboard is the simplicity whether it is the driver's binnacle where you can toggle between the various menus, or the centre console which retains physical switches for heating and that is a bonus these days.

The standard central touchscreen is eight inches but you can spec up to the 9.2in version that includes navigation and voice control. It will set you back £930 and is tempting because it is a super clear, fast reacting system and so easy to use.

I was in it all the time switching off lane assist which is annoying on anything other than motorways. Trouble is the default setting is 'on' when the engine is fired up, so it is tap this, tap that, five annoying times to turn it off. Why can't we have a simple switch?

On the petrol engine front the choice is three-cylinder one litre with 94 or 114bhp and a 148bhp 1.5 four cylinder. I was glad to have the 114bhp version because it is a cracking engine with lively pick up and fuss free cruising thanks to the six speed gearbox. The lower output makes do with a five speed.

The delivery driver set the economy bar high with 51mpg for his 160 mile mainly motorway journey, too high for me as I ended the week on 45.2 some way off Skoda's 52.3mpg average, but I could live with that as Kamiq is a no nonsense fun car to drive on any road and is pretty comfortable into the bargain.

Kamiq's spec sheet is reasonable from the start but the next along the line SE is the favoured model and has just about all that is needed including wireless smartlink, two USB-C ports, one touch front and rear electric windows, LED headlights, a range of safety features and rear parking sensors. No reversing camera on SE is a disappointment and the low slung front passenger seat needs a height adjuster.

A fair question is why bother with a traditional family hatchback when you can pay less for a small SUV with just as much space? Kamiq is good value with only the Dacia Duster beating it on price.

Kamiq will never enjoy the cult following of the Yeti but when wading through the long list of small SUVs it has to be a contender.

Fast facts

Kamiq SE 6sp manual

£20,985 (starts £19,095)

1-litre TSI 108bhp

0-62mph 10.2secs; 120mph

52.3mpg combined

124g/km. 1st VED £175

Insurance group 13

Boot 400-1395 litres

 

Tidy Town Team remakes part of Centenary Square

Members of Llangollen Tidy Town Team, pictured, have undertaken a remake of the corner garden area of Centenary Square. 

The area had deteriorated with people walking over the plants, dogs being allowed to foul the area, the growth of persistent weeds and cigarette ends being dropped.

On behalf of Llangollen Town Council and with the expert guidance of Chris Morris, some plants were repositioned, the area dug out, levelled, lined and filled with some 2.5 tonnes of local slate by members of the team who are all volunteers.