Leaderlive is reporting today that repair work on the Newbridge Road landslip is finally set to commence, according to a councillor.
* For the full story, go to: https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/24503821.work-finally-set-start-newbridge-road-repairs/
A respected retired GP from the town has emailed Denbighshire County Council’s chief executive telling him straight that the closure of Llangollen’s public toilets would be a “public relations disaster”.
Dr Rhys Davies was amongst the 100-plus local residents and businesses who attended this week’s public meeting at the Town Hall called by Rod Holt to air protests against the proposal by the county council to shed all its public toilets in a bid to balance its budget.
Dr Davies repeated his assertion – first highlighted by llanblogger last April - that while the council had no legal duty to provide public loos it certainly had a moral one, which drew huge applause from the audience who were angered that no council officers had attended the meeting despite numerous invitations.
He has now followed that up by writing directly to chief executive Graham Boase to hammer home the damage which would be caused to our busy tourist town if the toilets have to go.
Dr Davies, a former chairman of Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, writes: “I write to support the objections to the potential closure of the public toilets on Market St in Llangollen. I write as a previous GP in the town and district for 30 years and also as a long term resident.
“A meeting of residents was held on August 6th in the Town Hall along with the Town Council. DCC had been invited, but no-one turned up. This was very disappointing for the attendees who had many questions to ask. The meeting was attended by in excess of 100, all of whom wanted the toilets to be retained. The Town Council and our local representatives on DCC , Councillors Edwards and Keddie, will be able to provide feedback.
“Although DCC doesn’t have a legal or statutory obligation to provide public conveniences in Llangollen there certainly is a moral obligation. Public conveniences have been provided here for many years and they are essential for a tourist town the size of Llangollen. Although the population of the town is only 3,600, by its very nature of being a tourist/market town it serves a much bigger population even within a small radius and of course at weekends and in the summer.
“I would have thought that the remuneration from the Smithfield car park would more than finance the current public conveniences. Also, the money received by DCC to reflect the number of visitors we have to Llangollen should be reinvested in the town and would also contribute and should not be kept by DCC.
“There are other non-statutory expenses which could be reduced in place of public conveniences such as marketing (where less tourism could be expected if conveniences are closed).
“DCC cannot ‘cherry pick’ what benefits them the most. Any transfer of estates should go hand in hand. The toilets and car park should remain as one.
“If the town council were to take over the running of the conveniences they should receive all the remuneration mentioned.
“The idea of paying pubs, restaurants,
take-aways, shops etc to allow the public to use their services is a non-starter.
We are not a city centre and there simply aren't enough places in Llangollen to
accommodate people requiring conveniences especially those with disabilities
and wheelchair users. Also, when buses full of tourists arrive, often earlier in the morning, very few places
are open. There is nowhere that could cope with a busload of elderly visitors
needing conveniences. As a result bus companies won't come to Llangollen and so
there will be a significant loss of business and thus tourism. This would be
detrimental to the town’s economy.
“Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod has just had its largest festival for years attracting 50.0OO visitors and such a move by DCC would be a retrograde step.
“Many people, residents and visitors included, have urinary problems which require frequent toilet visits due to urinary frequency, urgency and incontinence secondary to numerous urological causes. We mustn't forget those with colostomies, ileostomies and urostomies who all need access to suitable conveniences to manage their condition.
“In a civilised society it is essential that all are treated with respect and provided with conveniences when needed. Closure of the public conveniences in Llangollen by DCC as a cost-saving exercise doesn't make sense, the loss of business to Llangollen would be far greater along with the loss of respect from residents and visitors, in short it would be a PR [public relations] disaster!”
For the next five months City Church in Llangollen is hosting a series of training sessions as well as running 'pop up' healing rooms.
A spokesperson for the church, in Brook Street,
said: “In affiliation with Healings Rooms England & Wales and following our
successful Healing Rooms training day in March our aim is to provide training and
practical sessions, as well as build a wider interest.
“They are for anyone needing healing,
physical, mental, or emotional, are free of charge and take place at the church
on Saturday mornings, from 11am-12.30pm.
“We are working towards transitioning into a
monthly Healing Rooms centre in Llangollen later in the year.
“You are welcome to come join us for as many or few of the dates we are
running. If you have an interest in serving in the Llangollen Healing
Rooms please speak to a member of City Church on the training days and we will
give you more information.
“Please invite your friends & family to come along for either training or
healing or both.
“Upcoming dates are August10, September 28, October 26 and November 23.”
* If you are interested in joining and want more
information, click on the links below:
Healing Training Sessions
Pop up Healing Rooms
Llangollen’s under-threat public toilets are too valuable to lose.
That was the strong message which came out of a public meeting last night (Tuesday) called to allow residents and businesses the chance to discuss the possible loss of the loos in Market Street.
In a bid to balance its budget, Denbighshire County Council aims to shed all the public conveniences it runs and offer local town and community councils the chance to take them over, including the local ones.
But Llangollen Town Council has already ruled out a take-over on the grounds that it would be beyond its financial means and lead to a big increase in the amount it draws from council tax.
The idea that a major tourist town like
Llangollen stands to lose its busy public loos has sparked major protests on
social media ranging over the past couple of months since the plan was
revealed.
The meeting in the Town Hall was
arranged by concerned resident Rod Holt after weeks of negotiations with the
town council.
An estimated 130 people turned up to hear Mr Holt outline the problems in keeping the toilets open, which was followed by a string of people airing their disgust and disbelief at the idea of losing them.
Although both the area’s county councillors were present along with a large number of town councillors – including town mayor Aled Morris who took the chair – not a single officer of the county council accepted the invitation to attend.
Mr Holt said: “The officers responsible were supposed to be here to explain what was happening and answer questions from the people of the town but nobody has come. Basically, Denbighshire County Council doesn’t care about Llangollen.”
He added: “This town has a number of events, such as the Eisteddfod, which bring large numbers of people here who need public toilets. We also have many coaches calling here whose passengers all use the toilets. If the coach companies hear we are going to lose the toilets they’ll simply stop coming. I know this is a fact because people have told me so.”
Setting out the town council’s position, the mayor explained that the county council was planning to shed its public toilets to meet an estimated shortfall of around £27.5 million in the next financial year.
But he described the town council taking over the Market Street loos as a “non-starter” on financial grounds.
He said it had been estimated the cost of bringing them up to modern standards would be at least £110,000, which would mean an increase of 57 per cent in the town council precept – the amount added on top of the council tax to run the town council’s local assets such as the Town Hall and Centenary Square. This, he said, equated to £45 a year.
Resident Phil Jones suggested from the floor that the town council agrees to take on the toilets provided it could also take over the adjacent car park – estimated to bring in £187,000 a year in ticket sales – and use money from this to pay for the loos. The suggestion received a round of applause from the audience.
Retired local GP Dr Rhys Davies said that while the county council had no statutory duty to provide public toilets, it certainly had a moral one. This again attracted applause.
Another suggestion which was warmly greeted came from Eisteddfod trustee board member Dave Hennigan who said: “We should consider what we can do as a community to take action on this matter and if they won’t come to our meeting, maybe a number of us should go to theirs.”
The area’s new MP, Becky Gittins, who was in the audience and making copious notes, said she would do everything possible to get stakeholders in the issue together.
The meeting, which lasted just under two hours, ended with the mayor describing it as having been useful.
He said the town council, which had already had a number of meetings with county officers on the issue, would not be giving up on it and was still looking at a number of “different options”.
The county council is due to make the final decision on the fate of the toilets next month.
This summer, libraries across Denbighshire are encouraging children to fire up their imaginations through the power of reading and creative expression.
Working in partnership with Denbighshire Leisure Community Arts, libraries county-wide will be running craft workshops for the readers taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge.
The Summer Reading Challenge aims to prevent the "summer dip" learning loss many children experience over the holidays when they aren't in school.
With libraries' support, it provides a free, fun way to keep young minds active. In 2023, over 685,000 children across the UK participated.
The theme of this year’s challenge is 'Marvellous Makers', and Denbighshire’s Libraries are being joined by brilliant local artists for the summer, including, Tara Dean, Jess Balla, Lisa Carter and Elen Williams.
These creative activities will include printmaking with air dry clay, decorating paper hats, collage printing and creating a comic.
Sessions are free but spaces are limited, so please contact your local library to book a place.
These sessions are arranged in partnership with DLL Active Communities, and are funded by UK Government.
* The Marvellous Makers Craft Workshop with Tara Dean will be held at Llangollen Library on Wednesday 7th August, 2-4pm.
* The Old Railway Trail parkrun celebrated its first anniversary in June. An official warns it might have to end if Llangollen's public toilets are lost.
A major local event attended by hundreds every week may be forced to end if Llangollen's public toilets are lost.
That's the message to Denbighshire's county council chief from one of the organisers.
In a bid to balance its budget, Denbighshire aims to shed all the public conveniences it runs across the county and offer local town and community councils the chance to take them over.
This includes the toilets in Llangollen’s Market Street. But the Town Council has already ruled out a take-over on the grounds that it would be beyond its financial means and lead to a big increase on the amount it draws from the council tax.
The idea that a major tourist town like Llangollen stands to lose its busy public loos has sparked major protests on social media ranging over the past couple of months since the plan was revealed.
A public meeting will be held on the issue at the Town Hall in Parade Street tomorrow (Tuesday August 6) starting at 6pm.
Meanwhile, Mike Edwards has emailed county chief executive Graham Boase to urge the council to "carefully consider " the closure of the toilets.
He says: "I write to you as Co-Event Director of the Old Railway Trail parkrun which takes place every Saturday morning at 9am from our Health Centre. We launched the events in June 2023, last week saw our 59th parkrun which regularly attracts hundred runners plus every week.
"There is no access to public toilets for participants other than the Market Street toilets where people also park when visiting our town.
"We are glad to be part of the parkrun community, but may be forced to end the event if there are no public toilets available for participants because we always attract a good proportion of tourists to each event."
Mr Edwards also cites another major annual event which would be hit if the toilets were lost to the town.
He gives a link to a news story highlighting the fact that over 50,000 music-lovers visited Llangollen during June and July for a series of evenings concerts, featuring headliners such as Tom Jones and the Manic Street Preachers.
Mr Edwards adds: "The decision also needs to be made taking into account of the impact closure will have on the income produced by the Market Street car park, which you will know produces more revenue than any other carpark in Denbighshire.
"Without public toilets coaches and cars will not park at Market Street to the extent they do now and this will also effect businesses in Llangollen reducing their trade.
"I would ask you to bring the above points to the attention of Council when they consider this decision."
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Also here are posters for Art and Craft (aimed at 6-10 year olds in the morning) and Minecraft (aimed at 10-15 year olds in the afternoon) with Menter Iaith on August 20.
* Contact Gwion@misirddinbych.cymru or 01745
812 822 – booking is essential.
Organisers say there are still have some places left for Circus Skills next Wednesday August 7 but it’s filling up fast – so do book your place if you want to come.
The organisers say they are hoping to start a sustainable gardening course in September which is looking like it’s going to be a popular one, adding: "Please let us know if you are interested."
On September 14 there is a harvest gathering featuring food and family fun activities.
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