Noise reduction plan for Ruabon bypass

Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates has welcomed news that work to reduce noise on the Ruabon bypass - used regularly by Llan motorists - is to be undertaken by the Welsh Government.

Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant has written to Mr Skates to say that Ramboll Consultants have been appointed by the government to undertake detailed noise modelling on the A483 at Ruabon and oversee construction of a noise barrier on sections of the road.

The two metre high fence will be made of timber and is planned to be erected within the existing highway boundary.

Mr Skates said: “I’m pleased the Welsh Government is taking steps to reduce noise levels on the Ruabon bypass. It is a very important road economically, however sections of the trunk road can be quite noisy and it’s important we do all we can to reduce the sound coming from traffic.

“The road already utilises a low noise surface material, but the addition of timber noise barriers could help reduce noise and disruption from traffic still further.

“What is important is that we get public and business support from those most directly impacted by this and that the contractors work with the local community to get the best result.

“I am conscious of the harmful effect high noise levels can have on people’s quality of life and so I am glad this work is now being prioritised by the Welsh Government.”

Update: Flood warning in place on Lower Dee Valley

As of 5pm tonight (Monday) the Environment Agency has a Flood Warning in force on the Lower Dee Valley from Llangollen to Chester.

The locations it covers are isolated properties and extensive areas of agricultural land in the Lower Dee flood plain.

Reader Maggie Smith has sent this striking picture of a flooded Offas Dyke foopath on the, Eglwyseg, which she took four hours ago.

 

Any other local flooding pictures would be appreciated. 

 

Just send them to us at llanblogger@gmail.com

 

 

Council monitors flooding as heavy rain continues

Breaking news ...

Denbighshire County Council is continuing to monitor the weather situation as the heavy rain that has been affecting the region continues.
The Environment Agency has issued flood alerts for the Upper and Lower Dee rivers, as well as the River Clwyd from Clocaenog to Ruthin.

The council says it has received a significant number of calls and requests for sandbags over recent hours, with the Corwen and Prestatyn seeming to be the worst affected areas.

The main problems appear to be with streams and other watercourses overflowing and creating problems but the council assures it is doing all it can to deal with any problems.

If you are concerned about flooding in your area, you should call the Floodline number on 0845 988 1188 using quickdial 192002 for up-to-date flooding information. People can also follow television, radio and online weather forecasts for the latest information.

Rain turns river into raging torrent

Heavy rain which began late on Sunday turned the River Dee through Llangollen into a raging torrent today (Monday)

And water washing down from the upper levels of Riverside Park submerged part of the path by the river in front of the cafe and crazy golf pitch.

llanblogger was on hand to record the watery scenes.

More rain is forecast for the rest of Monday and tomorrow (Tuesday) in this area.

* The Dee in flood.

 

 

 

* The flooded path in the park.

Welsh Government gives reasons why Llan plans were not called-in

llanblogger exclusive

* The Dobson & Crowther site.

A Welsh Government official has outlined the reasons why last Wednesday's decisions by Denbighshire County Council to approve applications for a new Sainsbury's supermarket and a print factory in Llangollen were not "called-in" for further examination.

Despite local opposition, the planning commitee resoundingly backed plans for the new foodstore on land currently occupied by the Dobson & Crowther factory in Berwyn Street.

Members also gave the go-ahead to a separate application to build a new factory for Dobson & Crowther - the town's largest employer - at nearby Cilmedw Farm.

Applicants, J Ross Developments, claim the new Sainsbury's will create over 100 full-time equivalent jobs and the replacement factory will help preserve around 100 Dobson & Crowther jobs by giving the company room to expand and develop.

The Welsh Government, which has the power to halt planning approvals where it considers wider issues which may be involved and order a public inquiry where it thinks necessary, decided almost immediately after the meeting not to call-in the two schemes.

But local campaign group Keep Llangollen Special (KLS), which opposed the plans, was unhappy with that decision and asked the government office concerned to give the reasons behind it.

On Saturday, KLS received a nine-page letter from John Saunders, of the decisions branch of the government's planning division, which provides a detailed explanation.

It deals first with the printworks application and the reaction to it by transport experts, saying: "As far as impact on the Trunk Road (A5) is concerned I do not consider that there are any major issues to support call-in."

It then quotes the reaction of historic buildings body Cadw - an arm of the Welsh Government - which says the application "does not raise any significant issues related to listed buildings, historic landscape or the World Heritage Site."

From the perspective of the Forestry Commission, the letter says the scheme "does not affect any woodland grant scheme or semi-natural woodland," adding there is "no comment to make other than it is only of local interest."

Giving the view of the Countryside Commission, it says that the "issues are not more than of local importance."

Substantially the same replies were given by each organisation to the related foodstore application.

Dinas Bran's GCSE results improve after re-grading

* Re-grading has improved pupils' GCSE results at Ysgol Dinas Bran. 

Eight pupils at Ysgol Dinas Bran in Llangollen have seen their GCSE results improve as a result of a re-grading exercise ordered by the Welsh Government.

As regulator of examinations in Wales, the government  recently issued a direction to the WJEC to re-grade this year’s GCSE English Language results after a thorough and detailed review found there were significant problems with the methodology used to award grades.

A cross-border political row broke out after the UK Government’s Education Minister Michael Gove refused to allow a similar re-grading to take place in England.

The WJEC has confirmed that as a result of the re-grading in Wales, 1,202 students will now have their grades increased from a D to a C and 598 from a C grade to a B.

The lowering of grade boundaries also meant there were some changes at other grades, resulting in an overall figure of 2,386 receiving raised grades.

A spokesman for Ysgol Dinas Bran said: “Good news - we have the following re-grades: five from D to C and three from C to B.”

Wales’ Minister for Education and Skills, Leighton Andrews, said:  “What we have seen is the swift resolution of an injustice served to well over 2000 Welsh candidates.

““The decision to direct the WJEC to re-grade was about fairness and ensuring that Welsh students got the grades they deserved for the work they put into their examination.

““We are grateful to those examiners and other staff of the WJEC who worked tirelessly to ensure that candidates received their revised grades on time.

““This announcement was the only acceptable outcome for learners affected by a questionable grading methodology. Candidates can now rest assured that the process used to determine their final grades was fair and just.”

llanblogger passes another milestone!

llanblogger has just passed another significant milestone when we posted the 200th online story since our launch on July 9.

During that time we have also recorded almost 8,000 page views - giving a healthy average daily viewing figure.

That means an increasing number of people are interested in the wide range of news and views we are dedicated to bringing to you, our readers.

And we would like to say a big thank you everyone who has sent in items or read our stories so far.

A growing band of local organisations are now e-mailing in their news items and pictures for us to publish - but we still need more groups and individuals to get involved - all for FREE!

It's simple to contact us by e-mail at llanblogger@gmail.com

We're also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/Llanblogger and Twitter at @ProbinPhil

We're waiting to hear from you.

Thanks,

The Editor