Latest column from Denbighshire Citizens Advice

Here's the latest column from Denbighshire Citizens Advice:

Q: Damp and mould is building up in our house as the weather gets colder. Our living room is the worst and there’s a strong smell, so we’ve stopped having friends round. We’re also concerned about our health. We’ve reported it to our landlord, but they haven’t done anything. With six months left on the occupation contract, we’re running out of options. What should we do? 

A: You’ve done the right thing by bringing this to your landlord. To work out if they are responsible you’ll need to find the cause of the damp and mould, but this can take time unless there’s a clear cause, like bad insulation or a leaking roof. 

Damp is when an area of your property doesn’t dry out, often because it’s cold. The main types are rising, penetrating, construction, and condensation damp. It can lead to mould, which is a fungus that grows in areas where warm damp air condenses on cold surfaces, like window frames. Information on our website can help you work out what type of damp you have, who is responsible and what you can do. You should also check your written statement for mentions of repairs and damp. 

Your landlord is responsible for fixing a damp problem if it’s making your home unsafe to live in. For example, this could be if it’s affecting your health or the health of those you live with. Your landlord will also be responsible if the damp is related to repairs they should have carried out, like if the window frames are rotting. They would have to cover the cost of repairs to any items damaged by the damp, including carpets and furniture. 

Condensation is a key cause of damp we’re all familiar with. Keeping homes well-heated and well-ventilated is the best way to prevent this, but for many of us today, high heating costs and cold weather are making this very difficult. If you’re finding it hard to insulate and heat your home, check our website to see if you’re eligible for support. 

Always avoid doing anything that can make damp worse, as it may affect whether the landlord takes responsibility for repairs. Our website has advice on what to avoid, like drying clothes on heaters, blocking air vents, or using portable gas heaters. 

You may reach the point where you just want to get out of your occupation contract early, but remember this can be very tricky and there might be things you haven’t tried yet. 

For example, if your landlord is responsible for the damp in your home but doesn’t do anything, there are steps you can take, like reporting them to the local authority. And as a private renter, if you’ve got evidence from a health professional that damp is making you ill, you may be able to get free legal advice through Legal Aid. 

If you’re feeling stuck, always speak to your local Citizens Advice or call our Adviceline on 0800 144 8848 for personalised support.  

Storytelling Cafe embraces the theme of love

Organisers say this month's Caffi Stori Llangollen Storytelling Cafe will be even more special than usual. 

The latest session will be held at St Collen's Community Hall in Regent Street on Thursday February 15 starting at 7.30pm and will feature Ben Haggerty and Stephe Brittain with their new work Love Rites.

The Caffi's Fiona Collins said: "Join two of Britain's foremost storytellers for their original take on St Valentine, romance and everything that goes with that crazy little thing called love."

Tickets at £5 and £4 are available on the door.

* For more information contact Fiona: fionastory3@gmail.com or call 07941 918159.

County council advises on yellow snow warning

Denbighshire County Council has passed on a yellow weather warning for snow affecting the area. It says:

Between 03:00 (UTC) on Thu 8 Feb 2024 and 03:00 (UTC) on Fri 9 Feb 2024. 

A period of snowfall could bring some disruption on Thursday and Thursday night.

A band of rain, sleet, and increasingly snow, will push north on Thursday bringing up to 2cm snow at lower-levels, 2-5cm on ground above 200m, and perhaps as much as 10-20cm above 400m. 

The snow will ease later in the day, and may turn back to rain or drizzle, especially in the south and east of the area. 

There is some uncertainty with respect to the rain/snow boundary, and the northern limit of the snow, and so details may change in the coming days as confidence increases in these aspects.

What should I do? Snowy, wintry weather can cause delays and make driving conditions dangerous, so to keep yourself and others safe: plan your route, checking for delays and road closures, amending your travel plans if necessary; if driving, leave more time to prepare and check your car before setting off; make sure you have essentials packed in your car in the event of any delays (warm clothing, food, water, a blanket, a torch, ice scraper/de-icer, a warning triangle, high visibility vest and an in-car phone charger). 

People cope better when they have prepared in advance for the risk of power cuts or being cut off from services and amenities due to the snow. It’s easy to do; consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items. 

Be prepared for weather warnings to change quickly: when a weather warning is issued, the Met Office recommends staying up to date with the weather forecast in your area.

DCC gritting teams will be working continuously through this period to keep the primary network open and the teams will be salting all priority gritting routes.

Further updates will be provided if deemed necessary.

Please report any issues to our Customer Service Team between 8:30am – 5pm Monday to Friday:

1) email to customerservice@denbighshire.gov.uk

2) telephone 01824 706000

3) visit in person a One Stop Shop.

4) use an online web form, available on Denbighshire’s website: https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/onlineforms

In the event of any emergency situation requiring an immediate response, contact should be made directly via the out of hours contact centre between 5pm – 8:30am including weekends on 0300 123 3068. 

Suzuki gets Across the big SUV market

Suzuki Across drive by Steve Rogers

Having friends in high places has come in handy for Suzuki particularly when the buddy is one of the world’s biggest car companies.

The Japanese company has only a modest chunk of the UK market even though it has a reliability record that is the envy of big name rivals.

The funky Ignis and evergreen Swift have quite a following but the range lacked a big SUV so it looked to partner Toyota who said help yourself to our RAV4. Enter Across.

Across is starting its fourth year and still confuses people who can’t decide what it is, mainly because it does not look like a Suzuki. The body is 99 per cent RAV4, the only difference is a Suzuki grille which makes the front snazzier than the Toyota.

Unlike Rav4 the Across is a single model; an all wheel drive plug-in hybrid which is astonishingly economic, putting some rivals to shame. My best return was 74.3mpg and a look through the computer economy stats showed it was often up around 60mpg so expect to regularly return 50mpg, heaps ahead of the official figure.

The downside is a price tag closing in on 50 grand. A two wheel drive hybrid Rav4 comes in under 40k. That said you get a lot for your bucks which we will come to later.

Suzuki was fortunate to inherit a car that was bang on point from the start but there has been a significant update for 2024 with the output for the on board AC charger doubled to 6kW slashing the charging time from a home charger from five and a half hours to 2h 45mins.

That gives Across an electric only range of 46 miles, one of the best around, so if journeys are short you can stay away from the petrol pumps and may be get close to the claimed 282mpg max.

You can also enjoy some fiery performance thanks to two electric motors, one on each axle, significantly boosting the 182bhp petrol engine. Maximum output is a commendable 302bhp so foot to the floor will have you at sixty in a swift six seconds, quicker than most rivals. Too much of that obviously defeats the object of keeping running costs low.

This is a big family car, a full five seater with plenty of leg, head and shoulder room and a big boot. All the kit for the plug-in hybrid cuts into boot space but there is still plenty of room for the family luggage. Disappointing that there are no boot wall levers to drop the split back seats, but you do get a powered tailgate with a kick opening option when hands are full.

Across has a more than generous spec list so expect the usual niceties like full leather, heated front seats, powered driver's seat (but no memory function) heated steering wheel, all round LED and auto dipping headlights, and keyless entry.

The one significant omission is on board navigation - it was not part of the Toyota package, but there is a new, larger 10.25in central touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay so navigation apps can be paired to the screen. And the USB ports have been upgraded to type C making them compatible with a wider range of mobiles.

The list of safety features is even more impressive and includes my essential cross traffic alert which is a real boon when reversing in a busy car park, especially supermarkets where some drivers treat the lanes as race tracks.

I tend not to dwell on the handling qualities of SUVs, it is not that important. Across has a fairly hard ride, common with all wheel drive cars, so expect to feel a few bumps, and when pushed it rolls a bit in corners, but generally this is a safe, comfortable family car that is perfect for long motorway journeys.

This is the most crowded sector of the car market but, with the help of Toyota, Suzuki is one of the best when it comes to economy, quality, reliability and low running costs. That said it is outgunned by the exceptional new Honda CR-V reviewed here in December. Good job it is more expensive than Across.

Fast facts

Across E-Four E-CVT

£48,729

2.5 litre PHEV; 302bhp

0-62mph 6secs; 112mph

EV range 46 miles

42.9mpg combined

22g/km. First tax: Zero

Insurance group 39

Boot: 490-1168 litres

Local roadworks alerts for this week

Latest local roadworks update from one.network is:

Hall Street, Llangollen, Denbighshire 05 February - 15 March   Delays likely - Diversion route   Name: Diversion   Location: Hall Street   Description: Streetworks / License - Streetworks   Responsibility for event: Denbighshire County Council   Current status: Planned   Hall Street, Llangollen, Denbighshire 05 February - 15 March   Delays likely - Road closure   Name: Hall Street, Llangollen   Location: Hall Street   Description: Streetworks / License - Streetworks   Responsibility for event: Denbighshire County Council   Current status: Planned   Castle Street, Llangollen, Denbighshire 06 February - 06 February   Roadworks, Delays likely   Traffic management: Traffic control (multi-way signals)   Description: NMWTRA traffic light modification   Works location: Castle Street, Llangollen   Public facing description: one.network has automatically assigned a category of Unclassified works to this Works based on the information available. Please note: Works Descriptions are not published by Denbighshire County Council.   Responsibility for works: Denbighshire County Council   Current status: Advanced planning   Works reference: QR007S000000000910   Hill Street, Llangollen, Denbighshire 05 February - 15 March   Roadworks, Delays likely   Traffic management: Road closure   Description: REPLACE 205M OF OLD METALLIC GAS MAINS WITH NEW PLASTIC MAINS AND RENEW/TRANSFER APPROX. 26 SERVICE   Works location: JUNC HALL STREET - JUNC VICARAGE ROAD   Public facing description: Wales & West Utilities Ltd has not assigned a specific description to this Works. Please note: Works Descriptions are not published by Wales & West Utilities Ltd.   Responsibility for works: Wales & West Utilities   Current status: Advanced planning   Works reference: XY254003001625640

Busy Tidy Town Team clocks up 400 hours' work in 2023

 

* Members of Llangollen Tidy Town Team enjoy their annual Christmas dinner at the Sun Trevor last year. 

Llangollen Tidy Town Team clocked up over 400 hours of voluntary effort during 2023.

In the latest annual report of the organisation, which was founded in 2006, its co-ordinator David Davies gives a full run-down of the packed programme of work undertaken by its dedicated band of volunteers during the year. 

He reports: "Our meetings continue, at least once a month, with a mixture of 'regular' duties, winding down of a long-term project and adding some new tasks this year.

"To our regular maintenance duties in the town  square of litter picking, leaf sweeping and garden tidying we again added Christmas tree 'planting' and removal. Unfortunately, a number of the grasses planted on the bank area have died and a major replanting needs consideration.

"We finalised our main involvement in the St John’s Wood area project, in which we have participated during the past five years, with the planting of over twenty fruit trees. An annual keep-it-tidy maintenance visit is now on our schedule.

"Our assistance was in evidence at the very successful Garden Railway event and in traffic and lights management duties at the ever increasing popular Llangollen Christmas Festival."

* Some of the 21 sacks of rubbish collected recently by the Tidy Town Team in the area between the surgery and Wenffrwd Nature Reserve. Also retrieved were a lead pipe, a car wheel and bumper and a road sign stand.

He adds: "During the year we undertook a litter clear of the Aldi car park. Home Bargains were appreciative but Aldi were noticeable by their total lack of response and any effort to keep it tidy. 

"On call-out, we were pleased to assist the museum in relocating items to other storage following their unfortunate flooding. New funding recently announced now enables them to undertake the necessary substantial roof repairs.

"We met with enthusiasm the challenge that the Bowling Club at the RAFA provided us with substantially reducing the height of their hedge along the canal side. This required manual effort of a full team and 'treaders' to compress the contents of an overfull large skip.

"Finally, a big thank you for some funds donated from the Llangollen and District Gardening Club, following their sad closure, and from the Spar and Kenrick Motors during the year. This all helps keeping us working, clocking up over 400 hours of voluntary effort during this year, trying to keep Llangollen a Tidy Town to the benefit of residents and visitors."

Police incident closes section of A483

North Wales Police posted on Facebook around 7.40pm this evening (Saturday:

## A483 J1 RUABON SOUTH BOUND ##

Please be aware that the A483 J1 Ruabon South Bound will be temporarily closed for a short period of time whilst officers deal with an incident