Work planned for next week on 2020 project

Work planned for week starting Monday, May 23 on the town's 2020 project is:

• Remedial works only
• Temporary traffic lights will be removed
• There are plans to reduce the size of the compound in Market Street car park when it’s possible to do so

Council's update on school attendance guidance

Parents and carers in Denbighshire are being informed that the Welsh Government has reverted back to the use of Fixed Penalty Notices for non-school attendance.

Following an announcement from the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Denbighshire County Council will follow the guidance to ensure young people are accessing their education.

Geraint Davies, the Council’s Head of Education, said: “Denbighshire is informing parents and carers of the update from the minister for education. We are committed to ensuring school attendance, attainment and the well-being of our young people.

“The Fixed Penalty Notices are to be used in only the most extreme cases, as part of a range of options and when all efforts to engage have been tried and failed, and where it is evident that there are no underlying reasons that are impacting upon attendance at school.

“We ask that parents and carers work with schools and education closely communicating any difficulties and issues that are impacting on their child attending school regularly.

“Where there are genuine reasons for absences these must be discussed with school to ensure Denbighshire can work collaboratively with parents and schools to maintain school attendance of all pupils in the county.”

The new guidance is effective immediately.

Fixed-penalty notices for non-attendance had been available to local authorities during the pandemic, however the Welsh Government had recommended against their use.

For more information visit https://gov.wales/oral-statement-school-attendance

 

Castle Street to be closed Sunday night

Llangollen county councillor Karen Edwards says she has been notified that Castle Street will be closed from 6 pm until midnight on Sunday in order to complete white -lining works connected to the 2020 project.

The works had originally been scheduled to complete this evening (Friday 20th May), but some delays with the road resurfacing works have caused an overrun.

The works will require a road closure with the diversion route via the A5, A483 and A539.

 

Wrexham is awarded city status

The Leader is reporting that Wrexham has today been awarded official city status.

* For the full story, see: Wrexham is awarded city status | The Leader (leaderlive.co.uk)

Member of Parliament for Clwyd South, Simon Baynes, has welcomed the announcement today (Friday 20^th May) that Wrexham is among eight winners selected for city status as part of Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.  

He said: “This is excellent news for the town of Wrexham, the wider County Borough, and North Wales as a whole. Wrexham has, of course, made several bids for City Status in the past, so I’m extremely happy to hear that we have been successful and will be awarded full City Status for the County Borough. 

“Wrexham and Clwyd South’s strong cultural identity, as well as its status as an industrial and commercial hub, mean that we are well placed to reap the benefits of City Status, and I am particularly excited about the opportunity this gives us to celebrate the amazing history, language and culture of our part of Wales and share them with a wider audience.”

Message from the town's new Mayor, Cllr Paul Keddie

* New Town Mayor, Paul Keddie.

Paul Keddie was chosen earlier this week by his fellow town councillors as Lllangollen's new Mayor.

Cllr Keddie, who also became one of the area's two county councillors at the May 5 election, has sent this message to the people of the town:

"I am truly honoured and proud to be voted Mayor of Llangollen, thank you to Cllr Haddy and Cllr Rush for proposing and seconding me and to those who voted for me.

As with County Council, my goals are to improve the way we all live our lives by improving the local facilities, transport links, waste and recycling management and moving towards a greener community.

The way we live our lives in the aftermath of the dreadful pandemic is slowly becoming more ‘normal’ and similar to pre-pandemic ways, but some of the changes that were forced upon us in the Covid times can still be used to make things easier and greener for us.  Examples of this are working from home and attending meetings using virtual access methods, both are saving on travel and reducing the toxic waste given out as a result. 

Festivals and events are returning to their former glory, please support these as best you can.  They bring the community together and share our wonderful town and surroundings with people from all over Britain and the world.  A smile to a stranger goes a long way in a town like ours, it is helping to secure our future - keeping our visitors happy so they are more likely to return and will spread the word that the Welsh can be friendly.

I wish you all well and look forward serving you during my term of office."

Cllr Keddie replaces Austin Cheminais. who stood down from the Town Council on May 5, as Town Mayor.      

Councillor Jen Rush (pictured below) has been appointed Deputy Mayor.

She said “I am honoured to have this opportunity to serve the town and look forward to supporting Cllr Keddie in his well-deserved role as Mayor.

"We are fortunate to have two experienced councillors and an accomplished Town Clerk to guide those of us who are new to the role, with the benefit of new councillors to bring fresh ideas and ways of thinking to the table.

"I hope the co-option process makes the Town Council more diverse, so all residents feel supported and represented. I would urge anyone interested to get in touch with the Town Clerk before 10 June.

"I know from volunteering with New Dot Cinema that our community groups and events are a huge part of what makes our town so vibrant. Our wonderful grass-roots support groups like Llangollen Food Share do an invaluable job of making sure no resident of Llangollen has to go without. These groups are going to be more important than ever as we rebuild post-pandemic, let's do our best support them.

"Outside my role as Town Councillor, I am mum to a toddler and own a small digital marketing agency, where I work exclusively with charities and not-for-profits. I am also due to complete a Master’s in Digital Communications this year, so it is a busy time, but as several people have recently said to me ‘If you want something doing, ask a busy woman’! 

Former butchers shop at centre of spirited social media debate

* The former Gwyn Davies butchers which a dog has trouble walking past.

A fascinating Facebook post about a closed-down Llangollen business has turned into a running story with ghostly overtones.

It began yesterday afternoon when a visitor to the town posed the question on Llangollen & District Noticeboard, above a picture of the former Gwyn Davies butchers in Castle Street which closed about six months ago: “Why does my dog freak out walking past this old butchers shop?

“Been coming Llangollen, for years, great place, whenever I walk the dog past this place my dog goes crazy and tries to run away, he's done this for four years since he was a pup, has anybody else experienced this? He's a huge mastiff and has never been spooked by anything other than walking past here.”

* Copper, the dog that started the debate.

The question immediately sparked an intensive online debate about the reasons behind the dog’s odd behaviour which has so far attracted around 80 comments.

A number have been the usual mickey-taking but some have suggested a supernatural reason for why the animal gets spooked outside the shop, which remains unoccupied following the retirement of Gwyn Davies.

One person commented: “Senses animal death vibes/energy maybe.

Another suggested: “They can smell blood.”

And another: “All animals are sensitive to spirits. May be coincidence it’s a butchers.”

“He feels like he is walking past a graveyard with all the dead meat in there,” said someone else.

Other people related similar experiences such as: “We had a collie many years ago, when we took her with us on holiday there was a butchers in Barmouth that she wouldn't go past.”

Then the history of the Castle Street shop comes in focus, with one person commenting: “Recent historic pictures of Llangollen have shown many raw carcasses hanging outside the shop years ago. Row upon row of sheep cows and chickens before Gwyn had it.”

Then another person explained: “It used to be slaughterhouse and butchers.”

Later in the comments things took a supernatural turn as someone posted: “I remember my Uncle, old Noddy (local historian) telling me that above the shop was haunted. Maybe that is why?”

The ghostly theme is taken up in another comment which said: “There was a large German Shepherd that would not enter the kitchen in our local pub, as he got to the door of the kitchen he froze. It was said the pub was haunted.”

And someone else said: “My father worked there when Edwards’s owned it many years ago, they used to do their own slaughtering in those days at the rear of the premises, he may sense these things, dogs are really intelligent/sensitive.”

There are further ghostly suggestions with the comment: “I found at article about a previous butcher seeing a ghost whilst walking to work in the butcher shop.”

Taking this up, another person commented: “I worked there for Gwyn Davies a few years back in the early 90's and heard tales that the cellar and the flat upstairs were haunted. I never saw or heard anything though.”

Amusing but rather unhelpful was one of the later comments, which suggested to the original poster: “You need to call ghost butchers.”

* To see the Facebook post, go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/220715008050894/permalink/4965354713586876/

Tourism bosses call for return of London rail link

* North Wales and Mersey Dee Business Council members Ashley Rogers, Adam Williams, Sean Taylor and Jim Jones at Rhyl train station.      

A group of influential business leaders are calling for direct train services between North Wales and London to be reinstated in full as a matter of urgency.

The plea came from the North Wales Mersey Dee Business Council along with some of the biggest names in the tourism industry who fear the coming summer season will be a “major lost opportunity” because of the lack of services.

Among those fronting the campaign are two of the region’s biggest tourism operators, Zip World president and co-founder Sean Taylor and Adam Williams, owner of Llandudno Pier, Tir Prince Raceway in Kinmel Bay and a string of holiday parks and amusement arcades.

Also playing a central role in the drive is North Wales Tourism, a private membership organisation which represents nearly 2,000 businesses across the region’s six counties and is a founder member of the Business Council.

The sector employs more than 43,000 people and, before Coronavirus struck, they generated around £3.6 billion a year, providing a massive boost to the regional economy.

There were big promises from Avanti when they took over the West Coast franchise from Virgin Trains in December 2019.

Avanti vowed to maintain and increase the existing services linking North Wales, Chester and London, saying that passengers would benefit from more trains, more seats, simplified fares and more frequent services.

But the UK’s transport infrastructure ground to a virtual halt when lockdown was imposed.

As a result, the number of direct trains between North Wales and London was slashed to three return services a day.

Earlier this month Avanti introduced another two direct services a day, taking the number to five and in September the number should increase to at least 10 daily services both ways.

But that’s still well short of the 14 daily return services that were running before the pandemic.

The Business Council has been lobbying Avanti and UK Government to reinstate the full original timetable by December at the latest.

According to Sean Taylor, having first class rail links with London was crucial to Zip World who already employ more than 500 people.

As well as branching out in other areas of the UK, the fast-growing, adrelaline-fuelled adventure company are unveiling two brand new attractions in North Wales this summer, with Underground Golf in Llechwedd Slave Caverns in Blaenau Ffestiniog and the SkyFlyer airship in Rhyl that will take thrill seekers 400ft in the air.

Mr Taylor said: “It’s hugely important to us and everybody else in North Wales to have  proper direct train services for lots of different reasons.

“One is perception because symbolically having a great train service says that North Wales is open for business and that we’re not some sleepy backwater.

“On a practical level, if people want to come here on business or on holiday, having limited direct services puts them off – it’s a very real barrier for travellers.

“When Virgin had the franchise, it was a fantastic service and we want that service back because it’s not just important for Zip World, it’s important to the hotels, retailers and other businesses involved in the sector because those customers will do other things as well while they’re here.”

It was a sentiment echoed by Adam Williams whose growing businesses employ around 320 people.

He said: “Resorts like Rhyl, Towyn, Kinmel Bay and Llandudno depend on trains and, with the issue of climate change looming large, it’s more important than ever that we encourage people to travel by train.

“The trouble is that by not having a proper direct train service we are sending out the message that people who want to come should drive here in their cars.

“Surely, on that basis alone, we should be running a lot more trains to take cars off the road.

“It’s a bit of shock to hear where things are at. It’s frightening for our investment and it’s frightening for all our staff and something needs to be done asap.

“Not having a full train service means that this summer season is going to be a total lost opportunity. We’ll lose a large enough percentage to make a big difference.

“It’s hugely important that the Business Council is banging the drum on our behalf and championing the call for improved rail services.

“Getting to where we were isn’t the goal. We need to improve on that and have even more direct trains. That’s the only way we’re going to thrive – otherwise, we’re going to be in trouble.”

Jim Jones, the chief executive of North Wales Tourism, also has fears for the future without a “fit-for-purpose” train service.

He said: “Transport connectivity is incredibly important in terms of tourism and the flow of visitors in and out of North Wales, especially this link between London and Holyhead.

“It’s long overdue because this is a vitally important strategic route and tourism is central to the economic recovery here in North Wales.

“I use the route quite frequently and there is nothing more infuriating than having to change trains at Crewe and or Chester.

“It was even part of the franchise agreement that Avanti would improve what we had before because it’s such an important route.

“I know there are issues in terms of resource because of a shortage of drivers and the time it takes to train new ones but North Wales is such an important destination.”

The campaign is being coordinated by Ashley Rogers, chief executive of the Business Council and board member of Growth Track 360, a cross-border alliance of business, political and public sector leaders in North Wales and Cheshire that was launched to secure £1 billion of rail improvements.

Ashley Rogers said: “The increase in services in May and planned for September are a welcome step in the right direction and testament to positive working between the Department for Transport and Avanti. 

“However, direct services to and from North Wales and Chester are essential for the regional economy, whether that’s tourism bringing in our visitors or business travel, and anything below 14 return services a day means a 20^th century service in a 21^st century world. 

“Without complete re-instatement of the full timetable, there are real long term risks of major damage to the North Wales economy because it’s such a crucial part of our connectivity to London and other key areas of the UK.”