WREXHAM Council say they hope Newbridge Road repairs will be completed in spring next year despite challenges with funding, according to a story in Leader Live today.
* For the full story, go to: Wrexham Council give estimated date for Newbridge repairs | The Leader (leaderlive.co.uk)
People of Llangollen are invited to an End of Summer Celebration at Pengwern Community Hub this Saturday, September 14, starting at 12 noon.
The event has a Harvest theme and lots of lovely activities will be available for free for all ages.
There will be nature arts and crafts provided by local artist Rosie McConnell.
Professional beekeeper Kirsty Williams will be on hand to chat ‘bees’ and provide some honey tasting.
Nature 4 Health will be along with the apple press and Jilly from the Area for Outstanding Natural Beauty team will be doing Vegetable Block Printing.
Kelly will be making keyrings with an autumn theme. There will be jacket potatoes and lovely fillings for lunch.
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Friends of Pengwern will have a number of stalls to raise funds to replace pads in the defibrillator based at the hub including tombola, raffle, guess the weight of the pumpkin, plant sale, homemade jams and Bric a Brac.
As well as a celebration, the event has been organised by South Denbighshire Community Partnership (SDCP) to ask the people of Llangollen what they would like to have happen at Pengwern Community Hub and Llangollen over the next few years – so be sure to bring your ideas! It’s bound to be a great event – so pop up and enjoy a warm welcome.
If you can’t make this event, perhaps you’ll be around for another event planned by SDCP on Thursday September 19 at St Collen's Community Hall.
Enjoy a free buffet from 12.30pm and get involved in planning, designing and developing our activities in Llangollen from 1pm – 3pm.
A vote of no-confidence in the leader and cabinet of Denbighshire County Council sparked by the way they have handled the troubled introduction of a new waste recycling scheme was lost 25-17 at the full council meeting this morning (Tuesday).
The motion, put forward by the Independent group of councillors and supported by the Conservatives, was successfully defeated by the ruling Labour group backed by Plaid Cymru and Green members. There were three abstentions.
Supported by Llangollen’s two county councillors, Karen Edwards and Paul Keddie, the motion, which was debated at length, read: “We wish to propose the motion for the removal of Leader Councillor Jason McLellan and his Cabinet.
“Recent events surrounding the leadership of the council have raised serious concerns about their effectiveness.
“The disastrous and inefficient execution of the new waste recycling system, coupled with the lack of clarity and ownership highlighted in a recent briefing, has resulted in a complete loss of confidence among residents.
“Moreover, the ripple effects of this new system have placed a significant strain on other departments within Denbighshire County Council, as staff resources have been diverted to address the failures of the recycling initiative.
“This diversion has led to a noticeable increase in operational costs, which in turn has negatively impacted frontline services that are vital to the community.
“The lack of strategy and effective leadership has caused considerable challenges for residents throughout the county, and the financial implications for the authority have been immense. It is no longer sustainable to maintain this approach, and the priority must be the well-being of Denbighshire residents. Therefore, as members of the independent group, we strongly call upon the Leader and his Cabinet to resign.”
A spokesperson for the county council said: “During
today’s full council meeting in County Hall, Ruthin, a motion of no confidence
in the Leader and the Cabinet of Denbighshire County Council was put forward.
In accordance with due process a full and open discussion was conducted in the
council meeting followed by a recorded vote.
“The result of the recorded vote was 17 for the motion,
25 against the motion and 3 abstentions, which means the motion was not
carried, therefore the Leader and Cabinet will remain in situ.”
Cllr Karen Edwards said in the debate: "For the last 15 weeks chaos and confusion has reigned supreme over the new Denbighshire waste and recycling collection service.
"We are all aware how quickly the rollout failed to deliver and by the middle of June I had already voiced my concerns with respect to the systemic issues that were causing the failures in service delivery within Llangollen and the surrounding rural villages. The leadership of the Council supported by the Cabinet dismissed these as 'teething problems'.
"Rather than hold DCC leadership to account and demand improvement,
the Cabinet backed those officers responsible, collectively offered some
apologies, donned some PPE, made some videos, ridden the waste lorries on the
rounds and told us, all would be well in 12 weeks.
"The situation only got worse. Collections
across the county failed to materialise and rubbish piled up in residents’ bins
,driveways, pavements, and streets, meanwhile they congratulated themselves
and their colleagues for the great steps forward and DCC officers told
residents how proud they were of the work done whilst the Head of Service
chastised Councillors for stepping in on the ground with waste teams to help
get rubbish collected from our wards. The HOS ( Head of Service ) asked me to ‘refrain from interfering with operational matters’.
"This is a Council Leadership and Cabinet in collective denial at the scale of
the problem.
"Fifteen weeks on we still have a system which albeit marginally improved from the
start is still failing to consistently deliver a statutory service to the
residents in my ward. It has consumed over £500k of additional costs and
partial improvements have only been brought about by the addition of extra
personnel and vehicles, increased rounds, overtime and DCC staff being
reallocated from their normal duties.
"All throughout this period the Cabinet and Council leadership have, like Nero,
simply fiddled and in some cases holidayed whilst Denbighshire's fragile budget
is being burnt up on this bonfire of failure.
"Rather than seek to determine the real systemic failures they have offered
apology after apology week in week out to anyone they can possibly give one to.
These apologies are meaningless. The Cabinet leader has admitted apologies
don’t collect waste, but he still offers them knowing they are hollow.
"Whilst some councillors will claim all is well in their wards, I can hand on
heart say they are not well in Llangollen. As an example, over the weekend,
residents who I have helped several times already have come to me again
advising of no collections in the past fortnight.
"There have also been reports of other Health and safety issues and all this taking place despite officers telling us that extensive training had been undertaken.
"New cases arise, and closed cases reopen,
it’s a perpetual pattern and for the last 15 weeks, my life has been
consumed by this issue. Officers never appeared to have control of this
project and they are still struggling to get into a steady state. They have
resorted to obfuscation, hand wringing, meaningless apologies, numerous
short-lived initiatives, and constant denial of the true scales of the
problems.
"The Cabinet under the current leadership is failing to demonstrate its control
over DCC officers to rectify the situation. It is weakly led and
unwilling to act decisively to demand more accountability and responsibility
and to accept this system was not fit for purpose. The Lead member for waste
and recycling and the Leader have to accept responsibility for this failure.
"Getting back to the basics though, as we sit here now in this chamber, waste
remains uncollected, the rollout of additional programmes such as AHP are
stalled because the system cannot cope with any more demand, and every week
more overspend is happening. Control of the scheme has failed; fresh
initiatives by DCC Officers to regain control are short lived, root causes of
failure remain unknown, and control of the budget has been completely lost.
"The
original estimated cost saving of £500K per annum has been consumed and it
continues to cost £55-60K per week more than planned which equates to
approximately £3m per annum. That is the stark reality we are now facing, the
evidence of failure is overwhelming, undisputable, and ultimately, no doubt
it will be the residents that will be expected to pick up the tab, for
what is a complete failure in the planning and implementation of this scheme
and that is totally unacceptable.
"Consequently I have no confidence that any cabinet member or any of the
leadership team responsible for this disaster can provide the assurance needed
today that there is an end in sight, a fit for purpose recovery plan in place,
and when the additional costs which are deeply damaging to the County’s budget
will cease."
* To watch the debate, go to: https://denbighshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/909417
The Welsh Charity Awards are back!
The awards, organised by WCVA, recognise and celebrate the fantastic contribution charities, community groups, not-for-profits and volunteers make to Wales by highlighting and championing the positive difference we can make to each other’s lives.
This is your chance to celebrate the life changing impact of not only charities but volunteers and voluntary organisations of all shapes and sizes in Wales. Whether or not they’re an award winner or finalist, being nominated for an award shows an organisation or individual that their work is valued and makes a huge difference.
There are eight categories in this year’s Welsh
Charity Awards:
Making a nomination is easy, simply visit the Welsh Charity Awards website and, read the rules and complete the online form.
Organisers say: "Please take this opportunity to shout about your favourite voluntary organisation or volunteer, and give them the chance of getting some well-earned recognition and a glitzy night to remember at the Welsh Charity Awards ceremony."
The deadline for nominations is September 13, 2024. For more information and
to nominate, visit www.welshcharityawards.cymru.
The Welsh Charity Awards are made possible thanks to headline sponsor The Open University Wales and the other
category sponsors.
BYD Dolphin launch by Steve Rogers
The BYD story is picking up pace with two new versions of the best selling Dolphin and a new SUV later this month.
First a quick reminder about the company that is still a mystery to many. It arrived from China last year with two electric cars, ATO 3 SUV and then the Dolphin, a five door family hatchback around the size of a Vauxhall Astra that has become its best seller.
BYD - Build Your Dreams - started life as a battery maker and, believe it or not, plays a huge part in our daily lives powering one in five smartphones and half of the world’s ipads.
Its big selling point is building affordable electric cars and on the back of the success of Dolphin is expanding the range with smaller battery outputs to keep prices down.
So two new models each with a 44.9kWh battery pack, Active with a range of 211 miles and the more powerful Boost with 193 miles. Even the 95bhp Active is sprightly but you get more zing from the 173bhp Boost which also switches to multi-link rear suspension for a slightly more settled ride. A fair question is why isn’t it on the Active model as well?
If planning a long journey a top up would be needed around the 150 mile mark so look for a 100kW charging point and the car can be 80 percent full in just under half an hour although these new models are aimed at customers who do not cover many miles.
Pricing is still competitive compared to the big names but cannot claim to be the cheapest with the Renault backed Dacia setting the cat amongst the pigeons with its £15k low range electric car.
Reducing the size of the battery pack has not impacted on the level of equipment, a strong point of the Dolphin, so you still get the big rotating screen, vegan leather trim, 360 degree surround camera, powered front seats. LED auto dipping headlights, and a safety pack that includes forward collision warning with emergency braking and rear cross traffic braking. There is a trolley full of technology, cheery design with lots of thoughtful touches and several storage spaces.
This is a spacious car thanks to its wafer thin underfloor battery pack. I sat behind a six foot driver and had plenty of legroom. Boot space is not class leading but more than adequate for family motoring.
Living with the Dolphin will take a bit of getting used to. There is precious little in the way of switches so prepare to be bamboozled by the touchscreen which controls just about everything. A good voice control system helps out until you get used to operating regular functions like heating selections and tuning the radio. There is no navigation but connections for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay so routes can be displayed on the main screen.
BYD has had a good first 18 months with sales climbing steadily from 213 to 3,600. Dealerships have gone from four to 60 and that will double through next year when showrooms will open in north and south Wales.
We are going to see a lot more Chinese vehicles on our roads because joining BYD and MG is another newcomer with the strange name of Omoda. Next up for BYD is a plug-in hybrid SUV version of the Seal luxury saloon with prices ranging from £33,205 to £39,905.
That should be very interesting because the Seal was my 2023 Car of the Year.
Fast facts
Dolphin Active/Boost
£26,195/£27,195
Battery: 44.9kWh
Power: 95bhp/173bhp
Boot: 345-1310 litres
Warranty: 6 years
Battery: 8 years
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From September, parents and carers will now be able to make applications for the academic year starting September in 2025, using a new Education Self-Service system.
The new system will cover Nursery, Reception, Junior, and Year 7 school places, and will help streamline the application process, allowing parents and guardians to have a central and accessible way to easily view applications.
To be able to use this system, users will need to setup a secure account and provide relevant details such as:
This change will make it easier for parents and carers to track their applications from start to finish, with future outcome notifications also provided in the system.
|
Admission Phase |
Admission
forms available from |
Consideration
period |
Closing
date |
Offer
Date |
|
Secondary |
02/09/2024 |
02/09/2024
- 04/11/2024 |
04/11/2024 |
03/03/2025 |
|
Junior |
23/09/2024 |
23/09/2024
– 18/11/2024 |
18/11/2024 |
16/04/2025 |
|
Reception
|
23/09/2024 |
23/09/2024
– 18/11/2024 |
18/11/2024 |
16/04/2025 |
|
Nursery |
23/09/2024 |
23/09/2024
– 17/02/2025 |
17/02/2025 |
06/05/2025 |
Applications must be received before the closing dates shown above in order to be considered.
For applications
for September 2025, pupils must be of the following age:
|
Child
must be born between: |
|
|
Nursery |
1 September 2021
& 31 August 2022 |
|
Reception |
1 September 2020
& 31 August 2021 |
|
Junior
(year 3) |
1 September 2017
& 31 August 2018 |
|
Secondary
(year 7) |
1 September 2013
& 31 August 2014 |
* Parents and
guardians can set up an account through this link: www.denbighshire.gov.uk/education-self-service
Geraint Davies, Head of Service for Education at Denbighshire County Council said: “This new online facility will allow parents and carers to access and track their applications from start to finish more easily. Having the applications in one place also helps if there are a number of applications pending at one time."
Councillor Diane King, Lead Member for Education, Children and Families said: “It is great that we are making our school applications system easier to use and more accessible. I’d like to thank all involved for all of their hard work in developing and implementing this new system.”
In time to commemorate its 90th anniversary later this month a man closely associated with the area’s coal mining heritage has published a book about the Gresford Colliery Disaster.
The 1934 catastrophe, which took place on September 22nd 1934, saw a series of explosions rip through the Dennis Section of the mine to claim the lives of over 250 men in a matter of minutes.
The men blamed the pit management, the management blamed the men and the government fined the pit owner £500, or £2 per man lost. The dead are still underground.
George Roberts McGill, who lives in Ruabon and for years has run a well-known antique shop in Llangollen, was born into a mining community in Southsea, Wrexham, 75 years ago and had family members who worked down the local Plas Power pit.
Although the paperback he has created runs to 140 pages he points out that it isn’t written in the style of a book at all but rather a theatrical script with over dozen characters who appear in it being guided by stage directions and speaking their lines as in the theatre.
George, who is retired but for many years has had the Passers Buy antique shop in Llangollen, said the title of his work is taken from a poem about the disaster by local writer Rhona Roberts, which appeared first in a Wrexham newspaper in the year of the disaster.
“I decided to use it as the title for the book – or play - which took me over 20 years to put together and has just been published,” he explained.
“I decided to write it as a script as I’m not a writer and couldn’t do a book. But I do know a bit about the style of plays, dialogue, scripts and stage directions as for a number of years I’ve appeared in local amateur stage productions. I’m actually rehearsing at the moment for the latest comedy, ‘Allo ‘Allo: The Camembert Caper, which Llangollen Twenty Club will be performing in November.”
George built up “No Moon No Stars” using anecdotes about Wrexham’s coal mining years he fund in books, autobiographies, biographies and old films of the period and the “cast” includes a mining family of grandfather, son and daughter, a police sergeant, a local doctor, a vicar and even a drunken Mancunian visitor to the area.
The action takes place just before, during and in the aftermath of the disaster, with even a few scenes set down a coalmine.
George said: “It is being sold on Amazon and I’m also distributing it to various venues in and around Wrexham, such as the Miners Rescue Museum in the city’s Maesgwn Road, Waterstones bookshop and the local library.
“I’m not taking any money for the ones they sell and have told them to keep the proceeds and put it towards their own upkeep.
“I wanted to do this because I have a strong feeling for the coal mining community, not just in this area but right across Britain.
“I even painted the front cover myself in the dementia-friendly art class in Wrexham that I help out with.
“It’s likely to be my one and only venture into writing but I must admit I have another subject in mind which quite interests me, so you never know.”
* No Moon No Stars is available on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Moon-Stars-George-Roberts-McGill/dp/B0DDHCVP22
