Councillor Chris Dolphin

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Out and about in the 5 Villages planting daffodils with Arthur Jennings, Chairman of the Whitford Community Council and fellow members. Seven thousand daffodils planted in the Autumn will certainly help to herald in the Spring of 2010. Congratulations to Arthur on a simple but economic and inclusive idea. I thoroughly enjoyed the planting 'experience'.

During the cold windy late Autumn and Winter, if you can, 'get out and feel the leaves' - 'Ewch allan i gyffwrdd y dail. RH

Police Report Special

A Neighbourhood Police Meeting took place in Gorsedd during September. All 5 Villages were represented by concerned and supportive residents of this initiative. Issues discussed were speeding [particularly in Gorsedd], parking [particularly in Lloc], littering and dog fouling in all areas.

The 5 Villages Community Beat Manager [CBM] has been promoted to Sergeant and is now in Deeside. Police Community Support Officer [PCSO] Phil Rushby is OUR MAN and will soon be joined by the new CBM if Inspector Roome can 'swing it'.

Police Meeting - Tuesday 15th December -7pm - Carmel Village Hall

Please come along and raise any Policing issues you may have. All are welcome.

5 Villages Stats [Whitford Ward]

Jul Aug Sep Average

2008 6 4 11 7

2009 9 3 4 5.3

The average number of crimes in this area has decreased from 7 to 5.3 (23.8%) (compared to the same three month period last year)

The average number of burglaries in this area has decreased from 1 to 0.3 (66.7%)

The average number of robberies in this area has not changed - ZERO

Jul Aug Sep Average

2008 1 2 3 2

2009 6 0 0 2

The average number of vehicle crimes in this area has not changed

Jul Aug Sep Average

2008 0 0 1 0.3

2009 0 2 1 1

The average number of violent crimes in this area has increased from 0.3 to 1 (200%!)

Jul Aug Sep Average

2008 8 9 8 8.3

2009 3 3 1 2.3

The average number of anti-social behaviour incidents in this area has decreased from 8.3 to 2.3 (72%).

From the above stats it can be clearly seen that figures never tell the full story. For example violent crimes in the 5 Villages have increased 200%!! Unbelievable - but true. Anti-social behaviour stats show a decrease of 72% - which is obviously welcome! All the figures for the 5 Villages are low which is a great credit to the Police but more so to the 5 Villagers themselves.

Whitford crime levels & statistics are provided by North Wales Police and are available online http://maps.north-wales.police.uk/map/whitford/. The figures above only deal with the summer months of 2008 / 2009 which are the most up to date at the time of writing [November]. If you wish to know how all the above figures are calculated check online or give me a call.

New 101 Police Phone Number. The best way to contact the local Police now is to dial 101. This new number makes it much easier than the old numbers to remember. If you wish to speak on a non-urgent Police matter simply dial 101. In the case of emergencies always dial 999.

Dog Fouling - during the Winter months to come PCSO's and County Council Enforcement Officers will soon have the power to fine offenders who allow their dogs to foul. Council Enforcement Officers and PCSO's will have a range of enforcement tools at their disposal including the issue of Fixed Penalty Notices and prosecution. At the present time the County Council will now also visit offenders to 'educate' the owners who have no regard to public sanitation. If you wish to report an offender contact the Council or myself with details.

In carrying out their duties and responsibilities Council Enforcement Officers and PCSO's will also comply with the Joint Protocol on Effective Enforcement agreed between the Council and North Wales Police.

County Council Finances

The Welsh Assembly Government [WAG] has announced that Flintshire is to receive a below average increase in its finances. Flintshire will receive only 1.9% in Assembly funding, the Welsh average increase is 2.1%. Money from WAG amounts to four fifths to all Council funding with only one fifth being raised by Council Tax. The Councils running costs are bound to increase by more than 1.9% so what may seem like an increase, is effectively a cut!!

Welsh Local Government Association [WLGA] confirms 'local government is facing a period of severe financial pain and service delivery pressure which will last 5 years'.

The good news is If you can, 'get out and feel the leaves' - 'Ewch allan i gyffwrdd y dail. RH

Contact

If you need to contact your 5 villages Whitford Ward County Councillor contact Chris Dolphin on 01352 713415 or 0784 945 9568, e-mail chris_dolphin@hotmail.co.uk or write to me at 11 Ffordd Aelwyd, Carmel, CH8 8SH.

Cyngor Cynghorydd

Er gwybodaeth rhif cyswllt cynghorydd sir ardal Chwitffordd a'r pum pentref yw Chris Dolphin, 01352 713415, 0784 945 9568, ebost chris_dolphin@hotmail.co.uk neu pe dymunwch ysgrifennu llythyr fy nghyfeiriad yw, 11 Ffordd Aelwyd, Carmel, CH8 8SH.

Peidiwch byth rhoir ffidil yn to a digalonni!!!

Never, never, ever ever give up!!!

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Summer News from Cllr Chris Dolphin

Hello, helo

A summer of community spirit here in the 5 Villages. The Pennant Group invited us all to Whitford village to learn a little more about the famous local naturalist Thomas Pennant. An exhibition in St Marys Church Whitford which hundreds of local school children attended, walks and entertainment provided a week of history, culture and entertainment for adults and children. Brilliant!

International Twenty20 cricket at the Pen y Gelli ground in Lloc. Wow! Teams from Europe including Russia, Bulgaria, Alderney and the colourful Croatians joined in. The weather was rather unkind but the spirit of cricket prevailed. Hard work of Neil and Tony the groundsman paid off. The committee and organisers can take great pride in what they achieved again. A victory for France on the pitch, a victory for the hosts and runners up; and a victory for European relations.

Various summer fund raising events have taken place, the younger children have attended the Flintshire summer Play Schemes in Carmel and Whitford and the Good Companions in particular celebrated with a royal visit.

Police Meeting

A police meeting will take place in Gorsedd School Hall,

7pm on Monday 28th September.

This will be an opportunity to meet up with our local Police including Acting Sergeant Tim Shurmer our local 'Bobby' and PCSO Phil Rushby. Tim and Phil know the 5 Villages well and are very pro-active.

Neighbourhood Wardens

Neighbourhood Wardens

The Neighbourhood Wardens based in Greenfield are a backup to the Police and co-ordinate with the County Council. Regular patrols are carried out throughout the 5 Villages, information is a great form of co-ordination! Graffiti is petty and can be offensive; normally the Wardens are the team who remove this form of vandalism.

The Pavilions on the School playing fields in Carmel are now protected by anti-vandal paint, youths who wish to climb onto the roofs will find themselves in rather a mess!!! GOOD.

Please report any anti-social behaviour to myself, as i am local and easy to get hold of, the local Police, or the Neighbourhood Wardens.

Contact Numbers...

PC1539 Tim Shurmer 0779 533 2873 PCSO2600 Phil Rushby 0771 746 0066

If the local Police are not available and you need to speak to a Police Officer in relation to a non urgent matter call 0845 607 1002. If immediate assistance is required, dial 999.

Os nad yw'r RhRhG ar gael, ac mae angen siarad gyda swyddog am fater nad yw yn un brys, yna ffoniwch: 0845 607 1001. Os oes angen gwasanaeth ar unwaith arnoch, deialwch: 999.

Neighbourhood Wardens contacts are, Unit 61 Greenfield Business Park, telephone 701818. The team will do there upmost to help you, and are an invaluable service to Flintshire.

Local Issues

Street lighting. Oh yes, now this does cause local problems. As a rule the County Council maintain metal lamp posts such as main road street lighting. The Community Council maintains wooden posts, such as in Gorsedd, the Community Council has contractors NWP who are paid to maintain the street light service. On occasions NWP have to hand over work to Scottish Power, a huge utility, which is extremely hard to overview.

This summer, Scottish Power have carried out major upgrading works throughout the 5 Villages and this has caused disruption. Lights on all day, lights off all night, that's not a misprint! It can take weeks / months when Scottish Power are involved, NWP, Community and County Councils become more or less powerless to move things on quickly. At the present time street lights in parts of Gorsedd are off at night. This is unacceptable. All parties concerned do urge the relevant maintenance utility to resolve matters. I would expect that the centre of Gorsedd will soon be back to normal.

Roads - I love the colour grey! I love 10mph speed limits! Various lanes, village roads and estates have received 'dressing' works recently. The patch work done during the Spring gave us smooth even roads but of course it is exactly what the title says - patching. The dressing works helps the lifes of the roads concerned and gives a more pleasing view. The roads settle, after a couple of weeks. The roads that were dressed were not too bad to start with, which is why the major capital work of resurfacing did not take place on them.

We may have the odd pot-hole [such as in Allt y Golch] at present, but to my mind and I am confident in saying the 5 Villages has the best roads in the area. Now i realise nothing is perfect such as the road from Penrallt to Myndd Mostyn, near Trelogan, which is why I keep a constant vigil on the whole area.

Dog Bins - now this may sound easy to most of us, but obviously just one or two people are not capable of using the Dog Bins correctly... The Dog Bin on Monastery Road in Pantasaph is not a collection point for bin bags! The Dog Bin near the steps leading to Ocean View in Carmel does not except half full plastic bag full's of foul. It would seem this particularly Dog Bin is full on a Saturday morning when it was emptied on the Friday. Of course, it is not, it is blocked by a half full bag, probably the full week's takings of someone's elephant!!! I have cleared this bin several times of 'obstructions' myself, it is expensive to call out the Council just to clear a bag. If you are reading this, and you can help, thank you.

Please note - the salt bins are not for beer cans, even when neatly packaged - thank you.

School Parking - all the children are back at school now, this is a reminder. Please do not park on the zig-zags outside the school entrances in Whitford and Carmel. It is inconsiderate, probably lazy, above all it is a danger to all users of the schools. The zig-zags are in place for safety. Thank you.

Major Housing Developments

None in the 5 Villages. Yyyyyaaaahhhhhoooooooooo! This is good news for villages in the countryside. If you want countryside do not build major housing developments in it. The Golch Field adjacent to the Halfway House in Carmel is safe. Mertyn Lane near the Golch is also to be safeguarded, by being removed from Carmel settlement boundary and placed officially in 'Open Countryside' and of course Mertyn Lane abuts Green Barrier land which stretches east towards Holywell.

The Planning Inspectors report concerning the Unitary Development Plan [UDP] dealt with 15,874 representations in total, with almost 95% relating to objections. The Inspector considers the revised housing requirement put forward by the County Council of 7,400 is appropriate and sufficient land is available within the County.

The Inspector recommended a small number of deletions from the UDP. Mold Alex, Lower Ash Farm in Mancot, North of Issa Farm in Mynydd Isa and a site in New Brighton along with the Golch Field were totally deleted. However, new sites are allocated for Mancot and Mynydd Isa.

The total deletion of the Golch Field along with Mertyn Lane being recognised as 'Open Countryside' is truly exceptional.

The next step for the UDP is for the Modified Plan to be available for public consultation in late September for a 6 week period. The County Council will publicise this process, the plan should be fully adopted in early 2010.

Contact

If you need to contact your 5 villages Whitford Ward County Councillor contact Chris Dolphin on 01352 713415 or 0784 945 9568, e-mail chris_dolphin@hotmail.co.uk or write to me at 11 Ffordd Aelwyd, Carmel, CH8 8SH.

Cyngor Cynghorydd

Er gwybodaeth rhif cyswllt cynghorydd sir ardal Chwitffordd a'r pum pentref yw Chris Dolphin, 01352 713415, 0784 945 9568, ebost chris_dolphin@hotmail.co.uk neu pe dymunwch ysgrifennu llythyr fy nghyfeiriad yw, 11 Ffordd Aelwyd, Carmel, CH8 8SH.

Peidiwch byth rhoir ffidil yn to a digalonni!!!

Never, never, ever ever give up!!!

News from Whitford ward by Cllr Chris Dolphin

June 2009

UDP – We win!

Hello, helo

Boom - Bust - credit crunch and the red hot topic of MP's expenses!!! Do not pass 'go', do not 'collect £200', do not buy a second 'house' [or 'hotel'], you cannot buy 'Trafalgar Square' etc... You took a 'chance', failed the 'community', 'go straight to jail'.

A swift General Election and a clear out of the 'few' who abuse not just the system but our country. MP's, AM's, local government Councillors who abuse the democratic system for gain should be sought out and dealt with by the law and the electorate. Expenses have never been claimed by me.

Council Investment in Landsbanki [Icelandic Banking Crisis]

Flintshire has a total of £3.7 million invested in Landsbanki, this is a small amount compared to other local authorities in Britain. All the investments were made in accordance with the approved Treasury Management Policy. The County Council is continuing to be advised by the Local Government Association [LGA] which is working on behalf of local authority creditors. The authority are confident on its legal advice that they will be preferential creditors under Icelandic law. However, it's likely to be early next year before issues are resolved. So the present situation confirms the authority is owed £3.7million and the authorities share of legal costs so far is £855. The legal costs are shared with all local authorities concerned with this matter.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Cardboard recycling is now taking place as a pilot in some parts of our 5 Villages, the large blue bags are a welcome addition to our county's efforts in meeting European directives. I am a member of the Environment & Regeneration Committee, and one of its main topics of work at present is a procurement of 'Anaerobic Digestion Capacity. This is to deal with food waste not being taken to landfill, therefore not creating methane gas emissions.

Welsh Assembly Government has recognised that Wales has a large deficit in the capacity available to treat food waste and has approved funding over the next three years to support the procurement fees and capital costs of developing appropriate Anaerobic Digestion facilities and also to provide revenue relief on additional gate fees to start with.

Flintshire is working in partnership with Conwy and Denbighshire. The actually site for this facility is as yet unconfirmed, but is not expected to be in Flintshire.

Update

In the last issue I wrote about Sat-Nav signs. The signs we have within our 5 Villages are on a trial basis and await Welsh Assembly confirmation. I have had much feedback from residents concerning these signs, they seem to work really well in preventing large HGV wagons travelling along country lanes. The County Council is now fully aware of concerns in the Penfforddllan, Penrallt, and Gelli areas towards Mostyn Docks. At present no more signs are available until trials are finished.

Dog Fouling

A Dog Control Order is expected to be in force this summer. At the time of writing consultation is taking place under the 'Clean Neighbourhoods & Environment Act of 2005'. The County Council proposes to introduce a Dog Fouling Order across the whole of the County to allow action to be taken when people allow their dogs to foul and fail to remove the waste forthwith.

The order will apply to any publicly or privately owned land which is open to the air and to which the public are entitled or permitted to have access. This will include roads, footpaths, verges and garage forecourts etc...

Penalties for an offender at the present time would be £1000 or alternatively an on the spot fine of between £50-£80. The County Council does have a dog warden who has visited the 5 Villages at least twice recently, is going to employ a fulltime enforcement officer and with the help of the Police will need to bring forward either fines or convictions or both to prove its worth!!! This is welcomed by myself and many others at the County Council.

Boundary Commission

An 'independent' Boundary Commission is at present taking place within Flintshire. It would seem the Assembly Government is quite clear that it expects some reorganisation of County Council Ward boundaries on the basis that those where the Councillor / Electorate is below 1:1750. The actual figure for the 5 Villages Whitford Ward is 1:1872. The figures seem fine, and the 5 Villages Ward is one of the largest in area, but that does not mean the ward will be left alone.

I have attended meetings, voiced my concerns to keep our ward as it is for the community of the 5 Villages and written to the Boundary Commission myself emphasising the wealth of history and community spirit within the villages. Many Councillors believe that the Boundary Commission will reduce Councillor numbers and Council Wards. Personally i believe there are too many Councillors and some reduction would be of no detriment to the County. This commission will lead to another which will deal with Town and Community Councillors of which there are far too many.

UDP - We win!

This is headline news, but at the time of writing not public information. The possible housing development on the Golch Field near the Halfway House is to be totally deleted from the Unitary Development Plan. We win. More information in the next Chronicle.

The Golch Field which was the former cricket pitch in Carmel adjacent the Halfway House pub is now going to be referred back to the County Council for clarification.

The recommendation of the Welsh Assembly appointed planning inspector is to delete HSG1 (27) from the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) and, together with the development in the vicinity of Mertyn Lane, be excluded from the settlement boundary.

It is not all over yet, but the biggest of all hurdles has now been overcome. The County Council will need to approve the recommendations of the inspector and formally adopt the UDP with a very important deletion - the Golch field.

Chris Dolphin is informed that it is unlikely the total deletion of the Golch field will be challenged by the County Council. The UDP and all its consequences good and bad for Flintshire has been many years in the making. It was a plan to deal with originally the year 2000 - 2015.

The next plan will be the Delyn Local Plan - the battle is nearly over but the war on building in the countryside never will be and at some stage will intensify.

Hundreds of people supported the keeping of the open countryside within our Five Villages. The Public Inquiry held in 2007 was a major turning point for what has now occurred. Chris Dolphin spoke at the inquiry and would particularly like to thank the other speakers; Professor Robert Moore, Richard Davies and Christine Marsh.

 A consultant Emyr Hughes supported farmer Richard Davies at the inquiry and spoke on technical matters, we are also indebted to his professionalism.

Christine put great efforts into alerting the local area to what could happen and was the original driving force for what has now occurred. Robert spoke with great clarity and calmness at the inquiry.

If this development had gone ahead, do not be fooled there would have been no cheap housing options, no low cost housing. The land would have been expensive; the houses would still have been unaffordable for many.

The open countryside is winning here in Carmel. All raise a cheer, enjoy the view, and enjoy the countryside.  

Contact

If you need to contact your 5 villages Whitford Ward County Councillor contact Chris Dolphin on 01352 713415 or 0784 945 9568, e-mail chris_dolphin@hotmail.co.uk or write to me at 11 Ffordd Aelwyd, Carmel, CH8 8SH.

Cyngor Cynghorydd

Er gwybodaeth rhif cyswllt cynghorydd sir ardal Chwitffordd a'r pum pentref yw Chris Dolphin, 01352 713415, 0784 945 9568, ebost chris_dolphin@hotmail.co.uk neu pe dymunwch ysgrifennu llythyr fy nghyfeiriad yw, 11 Ffordd Aelwyd, Carmel, CH8 8SH.

Peidiwch byth rhoir ffidil yn to a digalonni!!!

Never, never, ever ever give up!!!

March 2009

Councillor Chris Dolphin

Hello, helo

The picture shows one of the signs that is proving most helpful in keeping HGV lorries from wandering around the lanes of the Five Villages upon receiving information from on board sat navs. Are they helping?

Are they helping?

Planning

The 'Truck Stop' applications on land near Crown Estate in Lloc were determined by the Planning Committee in February. Both applications were REFUSED.

Various policies in the UDP [Unitary Development Plan] would have been contravened. One such policy would have been AC20 which specifically deals with, 'lorry parks which accommodate either short term or overnight stays will be permitted, provided that the need has been established' it goes on to say at section a of AC20 'on existing industrial estates'. It is also important to emphasis a fundamental point concerning the principal of development. This area is open agricultural land and plainly any development here would contravene many policies.

Congratulations to the STAG 31 Committee. The people of Caerwys, surrounding local areas including our Five Villages made sure their voices and views were heard by intelligent debate, petitions and probably above all, a pulling together, team work, inclusiveness, COMMUNITY SPIRIT. A community that the nation can be proud of. Be proud Caerwys, be proud 5 Villagers.

In Carmel the 5 Villagers await the outcome of the inquiry concerning land opposite the Halfway House. Petitions and intelligent debate may carry the day? If not, it will be a boot in the stomach of the Welsh countryside but we would all as thinking decent citizens look forward, build our community spirit even more and be inclusive and proud 5 Villagers. We should know the fate of this land sometime soon?

Recycling

Community behaviour, a culture. This may seem odd in respect of recycling, but the success of recycling in Flintshire is in no small way due to exactly that, community behaviour bringing about a new culture of recycling. Brown bins, blue boxes, blue bags and this Spring the cardboard recycling will hopefully start in our area.

The stock piles of recycled goods as shown on tv news programmes may lead many people to think it's not worth bothering. It is. As Flintshire has kerbside recycling, meaning separation takes place at the collection point Flintshire's recycled products are very saleable, they are clean. Paper for instance is not wanted by paper mills if it's dirty or wet. In Flintshire, we have come a long way in a few short years and taken massive strides on this environmental issue.

Greenfield Ghetto Drama Group

This drama group based in Greenfield has many members from the Holywell area including the Five Villages. The actor Jonathan Pryce of Hollywood fame once of Carmel, if he was a young man today may well have been a friend and part of this drama group. If you have ambitions of acting or singing or dancing, join them - or living it up in Hollywood at a later date!

The groups meets every Thursday 6pm at Parys Mine Lodge, Greenfield, which is adjacent to the car park near the shops. You will receive a warm welcome from the present members. If you want a phone number get in touch with me.

Trees

Part of the woodland south of Crecas Lane is privately owned. Many residents have been concerned and not just from the Five Villages. It is sad to see several Ash trees, mature Beech and Sycamores felled. The clearance that has taken place is untidy and the piles of brushwood a possible hazard. The County Officers are fully aware of the situation.

The rumours of house building are just rumours. No documentation has been available to substantiate claims of permission. This area is approachable from an unadopted road and a dirt track. It is also outside the settlement boundary.

A lone Yew tree stands in the clearing. Bad luck to fell a Yew [an old tree felling saying].

Budget

This is the time of year when the precepts are set for the next financial year. The local Community Council set what is normally a small charge for services such as street lighting on minor roads. The County Council normally set a small charge also, perhaps in line with inflation. Lower than 3% is my preferred option, but the County Council Coalition may prefer it to be as high as 3.5%. Somewhere between 2.7% and 3.5%, but where? Hopefully we can break the 3% barrier, it is certainly possible and costed.

The Police Authority will also set a budget, no doubt higher than the Community or County Council as normal. All three figures when finalised will appear on our Community Council Tax cards. It should be noted that the County Council does not set the Police Authority figure, but only collects it.

At a recent County Council meeting Chief Superintendent Purdie gave a presentation on policing matters. A large part of the presentation concerned Community Beat Managers [CBMs] and how well it worked and what good value it was.

We have no CBM in the Five Villages at present. The Holway also has no dedicated CBM. I challenged Chief Superintendent Purdie at the meeting concerning CBMs. Bobbys on the beat only work if the Bobby in question has time to get to know his beat. The Five Villages in the last five years have had four CBMs, totally unacceptable. CBMs have three year contracts, which obviously mean little. CBMs are not dedicated local Policemen, they are response officers, and as such are over worked and often in other places.

Good news on Policing, the good news is Phil Rushby. PCSO 2600 Phil Rushby our dedicated and quite brilliant Police Community Support Officer. Phil has been in post for over five years. Phil knows the Five Villages, as well as the Holway and Greenfield, many people know him and I am pleased to say Phil 'knows the score'.

PCSO Phill Rushby is pictured with County Councillor Chris Dolphin

A Police Meeting will have been held in Carmel Village Hall during early March, this will have been publicised locally.

Police Contact Numbers:

Phil Rushby

Mobile 07717 460 066

Tel 0845 6071002 ext 85271 - if immediate assistance is needed dial 999

E-mail Phillip.Rushby@nthwales.pnn.police.uk

Os nad yw'r RhRhg ar gael, ac mae angen siarad gyda swyddog am fater nad yw yn un brys, yna ffoniwch: 0845 607 1001. Os oes angen gwasanaeth ar unwaith arnoch, deialwch: 999.

Thank you Phil. Diolch.

A Police Meeting will have taken place in early March with Phil and Sergeant John Williams the CBMs leader in North Flintshire.

9 hours later

03:37 on Sunday 9 hours after I had written the above which is promoting community spirit, Rosetta and I once again received the security call for the Post Office. The Pharmacy area was broken into, pills and till stolen. Police [4], tracker dog, alarm security personnel, and an emergency joiner all on site for a couple of hours. There is a suspect, so we shall see............

Never, never, ever ever give up!!!

Peidiwch byth rhoir ffidil yn to a digalonni!!!

WINTER 2008

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Its October now!!! Bright and sunny, an international monetary crisis is in progress. We will all take a hit[s] in time to come. Here in the 5 Villages.... well....maybe....we are just lucky!!!

Roads

During October and early November major road resurfacing is / will be taking place on various country lanes. The picture shows Upper Downing Road, Whitford, couple of days after resurfacing. At the present time Whitford Road is entering its second week of works and Mertyn Lane is about to start. In November Penfforddllan to Gelli Fawr will commence. The markings will be painted in approximately a month after each road is completed.

Footways

A remodelled footway was completed in Whitford village earlier in the year. At the present time a restructured footway in Saithffynnon on Whitford Road is well on the way to being completed with all kerbing included.

The roads and footways of our 5 Villages have certainly been given recent TLC by the County Council with huge investment. A footway is needed on the Dyserth Road. The scheme from Lloc Service Station to Top y Lloc Lane will cost in the region of £55,000. Various costings over the last five years have been supplied by the County Council. Match funding schemes with the Community Council were available then. The costings would have been £11,000 approx each. Costings have obviously risen!!!

The footway for Dyserth Road as always has the support of myself. The County Council have been approached by the Community Council for a grant from the Capital Programme. The Community Council have offered to pay £20 - 25,000 with the balance being paid by the County Council. It is hoped with some reason that this bid will be successful. The County Council officers who have entered the bid are keen for success. It is appreciated that this scheme is one of some significance.

Whatever the outcome of the bid to the County Councils Capital Programme this footway is needed and must at all times be progressed by those that can.

A5026, Lloc [Crown Estate Roundabout]

Many people will know this area as 'McDonalds' [I have never ate one]. A new petrol station and supporting shops are also now on site. These planning applications go back to the 1990's and now have come to fruition. Parking has and is a major problem in this area.

After various meetings with County Council Highway Officers and the Police, it is now agreed locally that prohibitation is required. There is a continuing problem with vehicles, more especially caravans, LGV's and HGV's, parking on the main road, [St Asaph Road]. This does pose a serious road safety hazard. A proposal of double yellow lines on both sides of the road from the roundabout to McDonalds eastern boundary and the placement of rumble strips, has been forwarded from the County Council to the Inspector of Police in Wrexham for approval. If approved a public consentation would be instigated.

Planning

The truck stop application for the Lloc / Caerwys areas has still not been forwarded to the County Planning Committee. An application for a truck stop in Deeside has been approved. This was a new petrol station, HGV services, office development and associated car parking on the Deeside Industrial Park. The parking was for 17 HGV's and 35 other car parking spaces to serve the offices and staff. This site is located within an existing employment development zone with a mix of commercial uses. Policy AC20 of the Unitary Development Plan identifies industrial estates as being suitable for lorry parks.

A major application within our 5 Villages was a full application for refurbishment of the 18th Century house at what is known as Altbridge Nursing Home at the far end of Upper Downing Road to provide a facility for assisted living. This application is extant and therefore was implementable; this was a significant material in regards to this application. A number of building conditions are attached to this approved application such as; a limitation upon use and occupations. In order to prevent the use of the units as independent dwellings, the applicants have to enter into an agreement which will restrict the occupation of the units to those aged 55 and over and for whom an assisted care need can be demonstrated. An example of another condition will be the protection of trees, which in this location is particularly important along with a photographic survey.

Town Centre Health Checks

As a member of the Scrutiny Committee which deals with regeneration of various areas a town centre health check study has taken place. Our local home town Holywell has seen significant changes over the last two years. A new Hospital and two major food stores have recently arrived. This study dealt and deals with the actual town centre itself. The town centre to my mind has certain problems, as indeed any town centre has.

Personally i do not like full pedestrianisation, and Holywell has two; Tower Gardens and the High Street. The gateway from the new Tesco store to Tower Gardens is not attractive and on certain days with so many shops shut is uninviting. The Hotel Victoria [The grand Hotel of Holywell] is closed and has been for several years, this situation has to change. Too many takeaways, all town centres probably have too many, but Holywell for its size certainly does.

We have a Leisure Centre and Library in close proximity to the centre, but no real meeting place for groups of any real size.

Flintshire as a whole has no cinema, could Flint be the answer? Flintshire has no crematorium? Do you have an opinion?

AUTUMN 2008

Hello, helo

My wife [Rosetta] bought a new car recently, the first drive i took in it was to collect six bags of rubbish from Pantasaph!!!

Fly tipping - general litter and graffiti blight our country. This very morning Carmel School playing fields have been litter picked for an hour and a half due to litter. The usual crisp packets, plastic bottles but also with the added summer playscheme litter of drawing paper and pens. I would like to thank those local 5 Villagers who 'do there bit'. It is no accident that Carmel Play Area, the Halfway House areas of road and estate plus the school playing fields are normally of a tidy appearance. Our 5 Villages have a really good reputation at the County Council and generally throughout the county, and it is us the '5 Villagers' who have created and need to maintain this reputation.

Recycling - brown bins take our garden waste, blue sacks take most paper waste, blue boxes take glass and plastic bottles. Shredded paper is ideally disposed of in a compost heap or home composter where it will mix in well with grass cuttings. Shredded paper otherwise needs to be taken to Greenfield Recycling Centre and put in the paper banks. Shredded paper is a bad source of windblown litter and should not be used for kerbside recycling. Those who wish to have a compost bin can contact the Queensferry Depot on 01244 703350.

Cardboard at the present time can only be recycled at the recycling centres. The County Council is investigating the possibility of cardboard kerbside recycling, and our 5 Villages will hopefully be a trial area.

Dog Bins - a very contentious subject. Here in the 5 Villages we are well served by these bright illuminating red boxes [too bright and illuminating]. The County Council has invested significantly in the provision of red 'dog fouling bins' throughout Flintshire. There are 470 dog bins across the county. The approximate investment in this service to date is over £50,000 with a cost for collection also over £50,000 for 2007/08. The Council has not yet taken any successful enforcement action and no fines have been issued. At the present time Council Officers are considering a number of current operational posts to be trained and supported to respond to sitings of breaches leading to enforcement action. The Bye-laws Working Party is overseeing this work, the success of this approach will depend on reporting sitings being made and evidenced by the public, Councillors etc...

Alcohol Free Zones - Carmel Play Area and Ysgol Bro Carmel playing fields have been applied for. New legislation is now awaited from National Government. The present system is completely bureaucratic and extremely expensive. For example advertising of an individual site runs into several thousand pounds. With new legislation awaited all legal work has been temporarily stopped.

Planning Updates - Golch Field, Carmel, latest information is another delay by the planning inspectorate and no information is expected this year.

The 'truck stop' application near Caerwys and Lloc is still awaiting to go to Planning Committee. It is interesting to note that a 'truck stop' application on Deeside Industrial Estate, Queensferry, has been submitted for eighteen vehicles and associated works, and may well be decided upon before the original Caerwys/Lloc applications.

A major landfill application has just been refused for Parry's Quarry, Alltami, near Buckley. Flintshire at present has no landfill capacity. This application is going to appeal with Welsh Assembly Government.

Post Offices - closures / future. Carmel Post Office and the Holway Post Office will close soon!!! Rosetta Dolphin who is the Postmaster in Greenfield and myself [Post Office trained] 'know the score'. We know that over the last few years the Government has directed customers, old and new, away from the Post Office. This has been to the detriment of all Post Office businesses and to Britain. We know the future is not bright for the remaining Post Offices. An example is a huge loss of income to individual Postmasters.

The Post Office today would have more customers if the government departments had not given the impression there was no option but to leave or not go to the Post Office. This was a direct attack on all Post Offices which to the present time has proved to be a 'knife to the heart'.

The future, particularly of Post Office Card Accounts [POCA] is under review, if this business goes the 'knife to the heart', will be a 'knife to the heart and twisted.'

Community Health Council [CHC] - help patients or their representatives in making a complaint about health services. This covers Hospitals, Doctors, Dentists, Opticians, Pharmacists and other health services. The CHC give advice, information, provide support and will write letters. All services are free, friendly and private. The CHC can be contacted on 01978 356178, 0800 226 7292, or write to CHC, Cartrefle, Cefyn Road, Wrexham, LL13 9NH. E-mail admin@clwydchc.org.uk, or visit their website www.clwydchc.org.uk.

Where we live - did you know that Bryn Aur which is in Gorsedd means Golden Hill. Clydfan near the Carmel Village Hall means cosy / snug place. Ffordd Ffynnon means Well Road. Ffordd Gwelfor means view of the sea road. Gelli which is out in the countryside means the grove. Hafod y Coed means a woodland summer dwelling. Llyn Helyg means willow lake. Penrallt which goes to the top of a hill means top of the hill.

The following are house names in our 5 Villages. Bryn Mair means Marys Hill. Gelli Fawr means large grove. Glan Llyn means bank of a lake. Hendre Bach means a small winter dwelling. Llys Mair means Marys Court. Plas Canol means middle hall.

The picture shows Pant - y - Wacco in Lloc. Many place and house names often have no translation from Welsh to English, examples would be Glascoed and Maes Rhydwen. An historical meaning maybe the reason for the modern name. So, Pant - y - Wacco, Glascoed and Maes Rhydwen any ideas? Please write in to the 5 Villages.

Summer 2008

An evening of music and song, in Pilgrims Hall, Pantasaph, courtesy of the 'Good Companions' of Holywell Community Hospital. An evening of....... community. Compere Gron Ellis (who else), with a smile, laughter and quick thinking wit co-ordinating the hall. Jean and John Saunders and other 'Good Companions' raising the funds that eventually may well help us all, particularly at a critical time.

Togetherness, helping, entertain and celebrate are all part of being a community. The 5 Villages, this chronicle also contributes to binding together its people, its community.

The elections for the Whitford Community Council and County Council have come and gone. Celebrations (small) for some and disappointment for others. We can all celebrate the democracy in our County and in our community. Full elections were held in our 5 Villages.

All candidates are winner's, I still remember the feeling of losing. It builds character, and I have remembered that always from being a young boy when I was constantly told it!!!

The turnout for the County Whitford Ward was 48.4% overall, the turn out in the Carmel Ward section was nearly 60%.

At County Hall major changes in power have taken place. The Executive (County Cabinet) now consists of 7 Independents, 2 Lib Dems, 1 Conservative, a complete turnaround. A coalition is now in place, working together is a must.

The composition of the Council is: Alliance (Independents) 25 seats (35.714%), Labour 22 (31.428%), Lib Dems 11 (15.714%), Conservative 9 (12.857%) and Non Aligned 2 (2.86%). The Hope bi-election was cancelled, and will take place on June 12th, a straight fight between Independent and Lib Dems.

The Executive members need to give at least two and half days to Council duties. Obviously working Councillors are unable to commit such time during the day. I have chosen to be a Committee Member only, at the present time. I appreciate the time Airbus UK, my main place of employment permit me to have for Council duties in their time.

The Executive Member for Waste Strategy and Management has been made aware of my preference for cardboard recycling and the simplification of household recycling i.e. glass, plastics and paper. Too many blue bags, blue bins, plastic bags, green bottles, brown bottles, alu cans, steel cans, yoghurt pots etc...

Brown bins for Carmel Hill for garden recycling will be in the next roll out.

Highways - major road resurfacing will take place at various locations within the 5 villages. The precise dates are not available as yet, but it is envisaged work on the following roads will be completed this year: Whitford Road, Mertyn Lane, Upper Downing Road and Penfforddlan to Gelli Fawr. The County Council is making a commitment to minor roads within our 5 villages.

Ocean View Estate will have road dressing works, sections of the estate are cracked but not actually holes. The dressing works will address these cracking's.

Ysgol Bro Carmel - the County Council is committing half a million pound towards maintenance of the school buildings infrastructure. This is the news that anyone associated with the school required and needs. A lump sum of this amount will secure the long term future of Ysgol Bro Carmel.

Public Rights of Way - All public rights of way are highways in law, a defined route over which the public has a right of access. Public Footpath: a highway over which there is a right of way on foot. Public Bridleway: a highway over which there is a right of way on foot, horseback and cyclists. Byway open to all traffic and Restricted Byway: the use of mechanically-propelled vehicles is not permitted.

Public rights of way represent a major public asset and are protected by law. The local highway authority has a duty to ensure that all highways, including public rights of way, are kept open, available, and properly maintained at all times.

At the present time Rights of Way Improvement Plan (DRAFT) is taking shape. This is a strategic document that will help the Authority to manage the Rights Of Way network of which it is responsible. The plan will set out how the County Council intends to deliver improvements to the Rights of Way network and improve the service.

Council tax - it is of interest to note that the 5 Villages area is one of the cheapest areas to live within the County based upon a band D average.