Minor works to start on Four Great Highways project

* The steps at Lower Dee Mill Park.

Minor works are to start in town on Monday (April 3) in connection with the Four Great Highways project.

A spokesperson for the project said: "Ground investigation works are being carried out to help us better understand the ground conditions at the Wharf and Lower Dee Mill Park in Llangollen to inform the detailed design of the project.  

"The techniques that will be used may result in intermittent noise associated with the drilling of boreholes to extract the material to be sampled.  This will involve some path closures for short periods during the week for the work to be carried out.

"The work will be limited to the following days and will take place during normal working hours.  Please note there may be some slight variation to the following schedule."

Date	Location	Disruptions / Closure
Monday 3 April 2023	Lower Dee Mill Park	Temporary closure of the path and metal stepped access will be required.   Alternative steps and access available further down Mill Street.
Tuesday 4 April 2023	Lower Dee Mill Park	Temporary closure of the path and metal stepped access will be required.   Alternative steps and access available further down Mill Street.
Wednesday 5 April 2023	Llangollen Wharf	Temporary closure of stepped access.   Ramped access will be available up to the Wharf.
Thursday 6 April 2023	Lower Dee Mill Park	No path closures

The spokesperson added: "We apologise in advance for any disruption caused and would also like to reassure you that the areas affected will be left in a safe condition once the work is complete. Thank you for your patience and understanding." 

Person taken to hospital after incident on Horseshoe Pass

Leaderlive is reporting this afternoon (Friday) that a person was taken to hospital following a road traffic collision near Llangollen this morning. 

* For the full story, see: https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/23426402.person-taken-hospital-crash-horseshoe-pass-llangollen/

Man dies after road traffic collision near Corwen

The Denbighshire Free Press is reporting that a man has died following a road traffic collision near Corwen yesterday afternoon (Thursday, March 30).

* For the full story, see: https://www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk/news/23425422.man-dies-corwen-traffic-collision-bus-car/?fbclid=IwAR3hR5xqRS_e7rVjfmtC1haBm3WLtYl7mZ5yvTWJFjun0LE6e3Uqbfz-LCk 

Parks Project gets £2,217 boost for Pengwern adventure trail

* Jess Evans accepts the cheque from Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin and North Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Chris Allsop. 

A Llangollen scheme was amongst the winners of a special £120,000 fund to help communities across North Wales announced at a dedicated ceremony in the White House, Rhuallt last Wednesday.

The Your Community, Your Choice fund supports grass-roots projects and is supported by the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT) and North Wales Police. 

After applications were shortlisted, the North Wales public was asked to vote for their preferred projects and over 16,000 votes were cast across the region in the online ballot.

Amongst the four winners in Denbighshire was the Llangollen Parks Project, which will use the £2,217 it received to provide adventure trail equipment in Pengwern Park.

This will be added add to the £1,300 the project has already secured from another source.  

Project spokesperson Jessica Evans said: "We hope to go ahead with installing the equipment within the next few months." 

This year’s awards were even more significant as Your Community, Your Choice is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2023 and, over the past ten years, a total of over £500,000 has been awarded to more than 150 projects working to reduce crime in their areas and to support the priorities in the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan. 

The funding for Your Community, Your Choice comes partly from money seized by the courts through the Proceeds of Crime Act, with the rest from the Police and Crime Commissioner. 

In recognition if this 10-year milestone, the funding available to winning projects this year was increased to a total of £120,000, shared across 25 projects.

North Wales Police & Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin said: “I am delighted to see so many excellent and deserving winners receive funding that will help transform communities across North Wales. Your Community, Your Choice is a true collective effort – from my office, the police and PACT, to local communities, the organisations who apply, and to the public who vote for them.

“Everyone has a stake in the success of Your Community, Your Choice and, over the past 10 years, it has shown the difference it can make in offering community groups new opportunities. These organisations give their time and energy to help their local area and the initiative is a great way to give back and help these organisations achieve their aims. They help to keep our neighbourhoods safe and secure, and to meet the priorities in my Police and Crime Plan. And the fact that part of the money comes from funds seized from criminals also helps show to people that crime doesn’t pay, but community activism does!”

Pengwern Community Hub's April what's on guide

 

Plan ahead for Easter countryside visits, says council

Denbighshire County Council and the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB are advising people to plan ahead for Easter visits to county countryside beauty spots.

As the Easter holiday fast approaches people should check ahead to see if facilities are open and where possible access quieter sites and walks to help avoid parking issues and busy periods.

A large number of countryside beauty spots have become more popular since people were asked to stay local during the pandemic and drivers are urged to be mindful of finding suitable areas to park or alternative transport to sites so as not to disrupt surrounding routes into the areas.

The Council has introduced a series of measures at Moel Famau to relieve congestion in the area. New double yellow lines are part of a series of measures, including additional parking spaces and road side parking provision that is hoped to improve visitor flow.

Last year saw grid lock as cars parked of the verges blocked the road – and on a number of occasions preventing emergency vehicles being able to access the area. Parking enforcement officers will patrol the site.

Visitors are also urged to respect the countryside and be sensible by parking responsibly, not littering and only riding bikes on permitted routes.

If the weather is fine over the period, people ae urged not to have BBQ’s, camping stoves or campfires on the moorland areas of the AONB because of the significant risk of fire.

Dog owners are also reminded to act responsibly and keep their pets on leads when walking through the countryside around livestock especially as lambing season continues

For more information on planning your trip ahead, visit https://www.clwydianrangeanddeevalleyaonb.org.uk/   and follow the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB on Facebook and Twitter.

Tourism leader welcomes Riverside Park make-over

* The 9-hole bespoke mini golf under construction.

Sam Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, has welcomed plans to give a popular Llangollen park a new look.

Mr Rowlands, chair of the Senedd’s Cross-Party Group on Tourism, said: “I am delighted to hear about all the work which is going to be carried out to enhance and develop Riverside Park. 

“The town is an extremely popular tourist destination and as a very keen supporter of attracting visitors to this lovely part of the world it is good to see work being carried out to upgrade recreational spaces.

 

“I am also pleased to see this sort of investment in Llangollen which can only enhance and improve the area for local people and visitors alike.”

Contractors are currently working on a raft of new features for the Llangollen site including a new 9-hole bespoke mini golf which is due to be finished end of March with holes representing places and features of interest within Llangollen and the Dee Valley. 

This will include an active travel interpretation map for the area and replaces the old course at the site.

New play equipment for the 5-12 year old age range is also going to be installed early April and work is underway at the bandstand to install electricity power points to increase opportunities for entertainment along with seating block created in to the bank area for spectators.

Green infrastructure has also been introduced sat the park with trees to create shade, wildflower planting and shrub planting around the park. Also a green space area will be extended by introducing grass up to and around the blocked dragon area.

The work has been made possible through the Welsh Government’s Brilliant Basics funding round for 2022/23.

Paul Evans, Plas Newydd Site Manager, said: “ While planning this work, we worked closely with Llangollen Fringe along with Llangollen Parks Community group and Llangollen Town Council, who both provided some of the match funding towards the project.”

Cash boost for Pengwern Park

* Llangollen Parks Project has picked up a cheque for £2,217 from the North Wales Police Your Community Your Choice scheme.

The money will go towards providing adventure trail equipment in Pengwern Park and will add to the £1,300 the project has already secured from another source.  

Project spokesperson Jessica Evans said: "We hope to go ahead with installing the equipment within the next few months."