Update on changes to county's recycling and waste parks

Denbighshire County Council is reminding residents of changes to its recycling and waste parks. 

From April 1 the three main sites in Denbigh, Ruthin and Rhyl will be managed by social enterprise Bryson Recycling, as part of a joint contract with Conwy County Borough Council. 

The new contract aims to increase recycling rates, introduce more reuse activities and implement a local circular economy approach to recycling. 

It will also see earlier opening times, improved access, a wider range of items accepted at the Ruthin and Denbigh sites and free compost, while Denbighshire residents will be able to use two Conwy recycling and waste parks at Abergele and Mochdre, says the council.

As part of the changes, a small charge will apply from April 1 for residents choosing to bring in non-household waste, such as DIY and construction waste from works or improvements. 

This waste is classified as industrial waste, not household waste, and Council Tax only covers the cost of collecting, recycling and disposing of household waste. 

Cllr Brian Jones said: “Working together with Conwy County Borough Council to appoint a single operator has enabled us to provide value for money for our residents, as management costs have reduced while increasing the amount of waste we recycle.

“The new contract also includes more green initiatives, such as availability of free compost to site users and a new ‘Choose to Reuse’ area at each site for customers to help themselves to useful materials that other people have brought, a charity run re-use shop at the Rhyl site and more support of reuse projects within our communities. 

“Bryson is also pledging £1 for every tonne of waste recycled to be donated to St Kentigern Hospice. 

“Under the new contract there will be no charge for household waste created in the day-to-day running of households.

“The council is not required to accept DIY and construction materials for disposal, even though that waste comes from a domestic property.  However, we understand residents do sometimes create this type of waste themselves and we can handle this waste at our sites with a small charge, to cover the costs of handling and disposal. 

“The charges are not designed to make a profit and have been kept as low as possible for everyone. 

“This change has been introduced to enable us to reduce the overall cost of providing the service to help the council to manage a balanced budget and continue to support our priority services for the people of Denbighshire. 

“Introducing a small charge also helps eliminate the temptation for businesses to deposit waste illegally at our sites. Despite strict controls in place to prevent this, we know some waste from commercial activity makes its way onto our sites by those masquerading as householders.” 

Charges will apply only to DIY and construction materials such as rubble, plasterboard, asbestos, gas bottle, tyres and insulation material. 

Gareth Walsh, General Manager at Bryson Recycling, said: “We are delighted to win this contract and have an opportunity to bring our social enterprise approach to the management of the three Denbighshire sites. We will focus on maximising recycling and reuse at the sites, while making a visit to the Recycling Centre an easy and pleasant experience.”

Tickets still available for latest Ukraine fundraiser

The Llangollen group set up to help the people of the Ukraine after their invasion by Russia is currently running a major fundraiser for the cause. 

Cat Meade, who works at the Castle Street office of estate agents Wingett's, sprang into action two years ago to mastermind the setting up of the Llangollen Covid Support Group.

Now, as war rages through Ukraine, Cat has set up a support group specifically for Ukraine with the proceeds of all its fundraising going to UareUK - United to Assist Refugees UK (Refugees North Wales and Overseas).

Latest event, with prizes supplied by a host of businesses, has set tickets available until tomorrow (Saturday) on the Support Group Facebook page at https://m.facebook.com/groups/2605345223029039/permalink/3201860253377530/ or at Wingetts.

Prizes are:

£100 voucher The Three Eagles

£50 voucher Fouzi's Cafe Llangollen

£50 meal voucher Gales Wine Bar

£50 framing voucher Witzend Gallery Llangollen

4hr Cruise for 2 with afternoon tea & prosecco Llangollen Wharf

90minute combo TNR Outdoors

£40 Lily Rose Interiors

£30 Deeside Cafe Bistro

£30 @mayburysuk homeware

£30 tees Recollections

Tshirt voucher Gwalia Classics

£25 Llangollen Oggie Shop & Fine Foods

Afternoon tea 4 two Bridge End Hotel Llangollen

Fruit box Dee Valley Produce

Fish and chips for 2 @kellys chippy

Home fragrance & bath & body set £30 Cantraig - Fragrance for your Home, Bath & Body

Reiki session Violet Forest Holistic

£20 George's Cafe Llangollen

£25 voucher Llangollen barber shop

2 large pizzas Street Pizza & Kebab Llangollen

2 big breakfasts and hot drinks Finley's

Voucher Shop Around The Corner

£10 Gifts from Wales Ltd & £10 Ice Cream Cottage

1 month Dance Classes for Strictly Fun Dancing

& Zumba Gold Julie Kirk Thomas

Tickets are £5 per number. Paypal or drop into Wingetts.

Unlimited goes and each gift per ticket drawn.

Cat said: "We are doing amazingly for Ukraine. The support and generosity of local people and businesses so far has been fantastic."

Police appeal follows graffiti attack on castle

* Graffiti spray-painted onto the castle.

An appeal for information has been launched after vandals daubed graffiti onto Llangollen's historic castle.

Castell Dinas Bran, which sits on a hilltop above Llangollen, is popular with locals and tourists alike.

But the 13th century ancient monument has been defaced by paw prints being spray-painted onto it in red.

North Wales Police's Rural Crime Team say the Gate House wall of the site has been damaged by the vandals.

Castell Dinas Bran is looked after by CADW, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. They are aware of the incident and say they are working to rectify it. 

Officers are now appealing for witnesses to come forward and help identify those responsible.

A statement from the force read: "The team are appealing for any witnesses to the graffitiing of the Gate house of Castell Dinas Bran nr Llangollen.

"Cadw are aware of the damage and will take steps to rectify it. However if you have seen anything please contact the team on 101 or via webchat reference B035381."

Community cast sought for new Ladies of Llangollen show

Theatr Clwyd in Mold is producing a new show based on the true story of the Ladies of Llangollen.

And they are currently recruiting a community cast to help them bring it to the stage this summer.

Celebrated Virgins, written by Katie Elin-Salt and directed by Eleri B. Jones, tells the story of Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby who famously lived at Plas Newydd in Llangollen.

When the two women found each other, they defied convention, fleeing their homes and families, cast out by a society who did not understand their love.

Starting a new life in Llangollen, they became celebrities of the day, forced to witness their own lives re-told by those who weren’t there. 

In this new play they are back, ready to reclaim the story that’s rightfully theirs, and this time, it’s on their terms.

The community ensemble will be fully involved in the show and an integral part of the company. 

They’ll be working with the professional cast in rehearsals and will be involved in the show’s movement, text and visual language to help tell the story.

The production team is looking for a cast of 16, divided into two teams of eight.

The opportunity is open to anyone over the age of 18 and access needs can be accommodated.

Dates for the Project are April 18 until June 6.

Rehearsals are Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturdays between April 18 and May 14. Technical rehearsals are evenings during the week of May 16.

There will be four performances a week per group during the week of May 23 and 30, with possible additional performances in the week of June 6.

Workshop Day is Saturday March 12.

To audition you’ll need to sign up for one of our workshop sessions and places are limited. These are 10:00-12:00, 13:00-15:00 an 15:30-17:30.

There isn’t anything to prepare and people will be working with the director Eleri on some ensemble pieces and reading some short excerpts of text from the play.

This this is a participatory opportunity for community members and is not an opportunity for professional actors.

Click here to sign up for auditions.

Town council adopts the Llangollen's People's Plan

 

At its monthly meeting last night the town council formally adopted Llangollen’s People’s Plan.

Known as Caru/Love Llangollen, the plan has been prepared by a team of volunteers, under the auspices of the council, with the aim of providing a comprehensive vision for how the town should develop over the next four years. 

The suggestions in it are based on what the group Shape My Llangollen (SML), which steered the project, was told by the people of the area in a series of pre-pandemic public consultation sessions when they were asked about what they liked or didn't like about the town and how they reckon it could be improved.

These consultation sessions generated over 1,700 separate answers.

And, based on these answers, the volunteers produced the final draft of the plan which contains around 90 proposals for improving Llangollen and its quality of life and work up until the year 2026. 

Shape My Llangollen put the People's Plan back to the people for the final round of consultation last December before producing the final version, which was approved by members of the town council at their meeting last night.

Now that it has been formally adopted, the new council, elected on May 5, will be able to consider which elements of the plan can be fed into the council's business plan. 

At last night's meeting town councillors thanked members of Shape My Llangollen’s core team for their hard work in preparing it since 2018.

Phil Robinson, who chairs SML, said: “The plan’s adoption by the town council is the culmination of almost four years of hard work by the team which I have had the honour of leading.

"This is truly the People's Plan and something which has never been done before in Llangollen.

"I'd like to thank everyone, including organisations large and small, who helped us to complete this very important piece of work for the town’s future development and members of SML whose dedication has seen our work through to its conclusion.”

* To look through the finalised plan online - and turn it over page by page - go to: https://pubhtml5.com/gaql/bmps

Lorry in collision with bridge this morning

* A crowd gathers on Castle Street to watch developments.

Picture: Llangollen Advocate.

* Damage caused to the Deeside railings and the bridge. 

* A workman cuts off the globe on the damaged lampost.

* Picture: Paula Lingard.

A recycling truck collided with a section of the Llangollen Bridge in Castle Street earlier this morning.

The incident has effectively cut the town in two with the street completely closed by police and traffic being diverted around the town.

As a crowd looks on, the lorry is still lying across the middle of the carriageway and a number of people are complaining that they can't negotiate the bridge to get to their homes on either side.  

Damage has been caused to the railngs in front of the seating area in front of the Deeside cafe bar and a number of large stones along the top of the adjacent bridge.

A lampost on the bridge has also been damaged and just after midday a workman in a cherry picker sawed off one of the globes at the top in what was apparently a precautionary measure.

Town councillor Stuart Davies has blamed the incident on what he called the "ever-moving" barriers of the 2020 project making it difficult for drivers to maneuver properly in the narrowed roadways. 

Denbighshire County Council, which is overseeing the roadworks, has been asked for a comment. 

Only yesterday the bridge was repaired after stonework was damaged by contractors working on the town's 2020 project.

A spokesperson for Denbighshire County Council said: “This morning a private (non- council) bin lorry was involved in an incident at the end of Castle Street bridge near Dee Lane.

“The bridge is currently closed to vehicles and pedestrians whilst the area is made safe. The lorry is still in position.

“The council’s Bridges and Structures team are checking the structural safety of the bridge and making a lighting column safe that has also been damaged.

“Once these assessments have been made, and if assessed to be safe, then the bridge can be reopened. The police are also in attendance.”

Work to start on electric vehicle charging points in town

* Market Street car park is the location of two electric vehicle charging points.  

Work is due to start on the installation of a pilot electric vehicle public charging points across Denbighshire, including four in Llangollen.

The county council has secured a total of £57,400 grant funding from the UK Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, supported by the Energy Saving Trust, to pay for installation of fast-charging points in eight public car parks.

These are located at: Market St Car Park, Llangollen (2), Pavilion Car Park, National Pavilion, Llangollen (2), Fern Avenue, Prestatyn, Factory Ward Car Park, Denbigh, Bowling Green Car Park/ Lower High Street, St Asaph, Cae Ddol Car Park, Crispin Yard, Clwyd Street, Ruthin, Craft Centre Car Park, Park Road, Ruthin, Morley Road Car Park, Rhyl.

Work on the pilot is expected to be completed by early summer.

The county car parks have been chosen using a range of criteria including location and accessibility and include a mixture of key routes and car parks close to residential properties without access to off-road parking.

The chargers will be in place to support residents to transition to an electric vehicle where they didn’t previously have access to a charging facility.

The project is part of the council’s action to tackle climate change following the declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2019 and adoption of the Climate and Ecological Change Strategy in 2021. 

Cllr Brian Jones, the council’s Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, said: “We are pleased to see the start of the installation work for this important project. These charging points will help us with our climate change work and also be a really benefit to nearby households with no off road charging facilities."

* More details of the four charging points in Llangollen are:

Market St Car Park		2 x 22 kW AC (ability to charge 4 vehicles)
Pavilion Car Park		2 x 22 kW AC (ability to charge 4 vehicles)