Latest roadworks alerts from the county council

Latest roadworks alerts from Denbighshire County Council are:

Hall St jct with A5 Berwyn St, Llangollen HALL STREET 27/01/2025 28/03/2025 Gwaith Ar Wal Gynnal/ Retaining Wall Works OBR CONSTRUCTION

OUTSIDE NUMBER 3 GREEN LANE 03/02/2025 07/02/2025 Gwaith Nwy / Gas Works WALES & WEST UTILITIES (D LLANGOLLEN Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

NR CATTLE GRID A539 LLANGOLLEN ROAD LLANGOLLEN LL20 7UH A539 LLANGOLLEN ROAD 20/02/2025 20/02/2025 2 Way signals is required for safe pole testing works. SUNBELT RENTALS

Hall Street, Llangollen. 12/04/2025 17/04/2025 Gwaith Draenio / Drainage Works NMWTRA (DCC) LLANGOLLEN Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

PARKING BAY EAST STREET EAST STREET 28/01/2025 30/01/2025 Gwaith Dwr / Water Works HAFREN DYFRDWY (GEORGIA) LLANGOLLEN Atal Parcio yn unig / Parking Suspension Only

GLAN YR AFON HORSESHOE PASS VIEW 10/02/2025 10/02/2025 Gwaith Dwr / Water Works HAFREN DYFRDWY (DCC) LLANGOLLEN Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

O/S NUMBER 20 CASTLE STREET 07/04/2025 09/04/2025 Gwaith Dwr / Water Works HAFREN DYFRDWY (DCC) LLANGOLLEN Goleuadau Traffig Dros Dro/ Temp Traffic Lights

A539 Verge PANORAMA WALK 03/02/2025 07/02/2025 Cynnal y Lon Gerbydau/ Carrigeway Maintenance DCC HIGHWAYS Ffordd ar Gau/Road Closure

County council kept busy dealing with trees felled by storm Éowyn

During last weekend’s storm Éowyn, which saw strong winds and rainy showers, the council responded to a number of fallen trees, as well as other disruptions on Denbighshire's road network.

Their highways teams were stationed ready on Thursday evening, working out-of-hours ready to respond to callouts.

A total of 29 calls were attended to from fallen tree reports throughout Friday and the weekend, with the teams working with local partners to quickly clear roads around the whole county. 

Along with the calls about fallen trees, a number of more minor reports were attended to along the road network.

Paul Jackson, Head of Highways & Environmental Services, said: “The highways teams were prepared for this recent spell of bad weather, and worked in very windy and unfavourable conditions to ensure that our road network stayed open and safe throughout the weather warning period.”

Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “I’d like to thank our highways teams, as well as the multiple partners we work with for their quick response to a number of fallen tree reports throughout the weekend. They help keep our roads safe and secure, making sure our roads are passable.”

 

Students will continue to benefit from education grants, says Skates

* Minister for Further and Higher Education, Vikki Howells, discusses the grants with students.

Thousands of students in Denbighshire and Wrexham will continue to benefit from weekly grants from the Welsh Labour Government, says a local Member of the Senedd.

More post-16 learners in colleges and sixth forms will now receive the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) following a Welsh Government decision to uplift the household income thresholds – resulting in more families being able to apply.

EMA is a weekly grant of £40 designed to support 16 to 18-year-olds with further education costs.

Ken Skates, whose Clwyd South constituency includes parts of Wrexham and Denbighshire, said: “EMA was scrapped in England by the Tories and Lib Dems in 2011, and is retained at a lower rate of £30 in Scotland and Northern Ireland – meaning Wales’ system is the most generous in the UK.

“Currently around 16,000 Welsh learners receive EMA, which can be a lifeline for students, but starting from the new academic year in September an estimated 3,500 more will benefit.”

The threshold for households with one dependent child is currently £20,817, which will increase to £23,400 – meaning students in a household with an income of £23,400 or less will be eligible. The threshold for households with two or more dependents will also rise to £25,974 from £23,077

Last year, more than 1,000 students in Wrexham and Denbighshire received EMA, and around 3,500 across the two counties have benefited from the scheme in the past three years.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Vikki Howells, said: “Wales already delivers the most generous Education Maintenance Allowance in the UK, helping post-16 learners to continue studying, and this change means we will now be supporting thousands more learners.

“We are very proud of our record in maintaining and increasing the Education Maintenance Allowance. We are clear that our Draft Budget is a budget for a brighter future and the uplift to EMA eligibility is one of the ways we are delivering this. The announcement means thousands more learners will now benefit from further financial support to continue their journey.”

Llangollen Railway features in two high-profile stories

* The story about the signal box planning application in Nation.Cymru.

A listed Victorian signal box in Llangollen could be turned into a wheelchair accessible wildlife viewing hub.

Llangollen Railway Trust has applied to Denbighshire’s planning department, seeking permission to build a wheelchair accessible platform adjacent to the historic signal box.

* For the full in Nation.Cymru story, see: Historic signal box could become wildlife viewing hub

And picturesque Berwyn Station is featured in an article in the Daily Express.

* To see the full story, go to: Beautiful Tudor train station next to river named as 'one of the best' in country

*Berwyn Station is featured in the Daily Express.

Dee Pizza restaurant hits national BBC headlines

* Dee Pizza is featured in a story on BBC Wales online.

Llangollen's Dee Pizza has hit the headlines on BBC Wales online for the way it has gone viral on TikTok.

The restaurant in Oak Street has surpassed 700,000 followers on the platform and their videos regularly get more than a million views.

* For the full story to go to: TikTok: How 'going viral' has changed the restaurant industry - BBC News

 

Reablement care service to expand within Denbighshire

Denbighshire County Council is expanding its Reablement Service in Adult Social Care, which helps residents do ordinary things such as dressing and cooking, by recruiting eight new staff. 

This forms part of Denbighshire’s transformation to ensure a sustainable social care service for the future, and also helps mitigate some of the financial pressures the council faces.

The new staff will be supporting people who need a hand to regain the skills to do everyday activities like cooking meals, washing, dressing, moving about the home and going out.

There are a number of reasons why people may need this support, like following a period of illness or a hospital stay. This support can last for as little as one or two weeks, but can be offered for up to six weeks if it is needed.

In addition to this support, the Care and Support Team offer longer term domiciliary support when this is required.

Darylanne, a Senior Care and Support Worker at the Council, said: “Our Reablement Service helps people to learn or re-learn the skills necessary to be able to engage in everyday activities, and to be as independent as possible. It is incredibly rewarding to see someone regain their independence and to start living their lives to the fullest.”

Ann Lloyd, Head of Service for Adult Social Care & Homelessness Service, said: “Being able to live as they wish in their own homes is vitally important to our residents, and we want to do everything possible to help them with this.

"With the right support at the right time, we can help residents have a better chance of maintaining their wellbeing, as well as stay independent in their own homes for longer.

We are looking for people who want to help residents gain skills, to help them to remain living independently at home, to come and join our team, and discover the rewarding role of caring for those who need our help."

Councillor Elen Heaton, Lead Member for Health and Social Care, said: “Residents who have just arrived home from hospital or treatment often need some support in adjusting back into domestic life, needing help with everyday tasks such as cooking, cleaning or maybe help with doing their shopping.

"A successful Reablement Worker has good communication skills, empathy and most of all a real commitment for helping those who need it. I’d urge anyone who feels this way to come and join our passionate and caring team.”

* The full job description and details of how to apply can be found here:

https://workfor.denbighshire.gov.uk/tlive_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC107GF.open?VACANCY_ID%3d127371Dvif&WVID=7576912FL1&LANG=USA

For an informal chat about these roles, candidates can visit Hafan Deg, War Memorial Court, Grange Road, Rhyl LL18 4BS between 4:30-5:30pm on Thursday throughout January and February.

Energy company serves up fish and chips on town car park

                                                                               

* The fish and chip van sets up on the Market Street car park earlier this afternoon.

A mobile fish and chip shop is spending this afternoon (Saturday) serving portions of food to people on Llangollen’s Market Street car park.

The service has been laid on by local power provider SP Energy Networks (Scottish Power) which says on its website that for those without power as a result of Storm Éowyn hot meals are being provided via food trucks at a number of locations.

Most of these are in Scotland, which was worst hit by the storm, but also on the list was Llangollen where, between 1 and 4pm, the food van was to be parked up outside the town’s Food Share office.

On its own Facebook page Food Share posted: “Free fish and chips for people without power in Market Street car park outside Food Share.

“500 portions when they’re gone, they’re gone ... please spread far and wide so that people find out about this. This is provided by Scottish Power.”

Just after 1pm a queue was forming outside the truck as people began to collect their meals.

* Llangollen Food Share's Facebook post.