New Common Bye-Laws
A set of proposals has been drafted for the introduction of New Common Bye-Laws. A copy can be found by clicking here.
Roadworks Bulletin
Click here for a list of the latest Roadworks to be undertaken.
Re - Elected
At the Annual General Meeting of Flintshire County Council, held on 11th May 2010, I was re-elected as political Leader of the county council, for this current municipal year, by the ruling administration comprising 25 Independent, 12 LibDem and 9 Conservative elected members. I am very grateful for their continuing support and deeply aware of both the honour and responsibility that go with the position.
As we move towards the end of May 2010, the several early warnings from the WAG and Westminster of dire financial problems over public spending in the next 3 to 5 years and beyond, have become firmed up. Nobody is now in any doubt about what faces us, locally and nationally. Austerity, stringency and perhaps cuts in services.
The county council's Budget Proposals for the 2010-2011 financial year were formally adopted at a full county council meeting on 2nd March, 2010. While we do try to plot, plan and predict, to the very best of our ability, there are some known unpredictables, such as the cost of "Out of County Placements of Children in Care" and "The gritting of Highways" during periods of ice/snow, which we have to deal with, but can only know "after the event" as it were. To deal with those we have certain contingency reserves built into the overall budget. All being well, any unforeseen demands in those areas, as the year proceeds, will be managed from within those sums. If demand rises above our contingency reserves, we shall have to do some quick thinking on our feet and make some adjustments here and there. Looking ahead as we must, we have already started to outline our actions and re-organisations needed for the following year, 2011-2012, in which we expect to have to save some £6 to £8Million as a result of the economy demands and decreased funding from Westminster and Welsh Assembly Government.
Council Newsletters
By now you should have received your new look Council Newsletters. They have been delivered to homes in the area to provide you with news from Flintshire County Council. They are aimed at providing a replacement to the old format of newsletters but in a way which is both cheaper to produce and more environmentally friendly. Because of the savings made it means that it can be increased from two editions each year to three, providing more news and information.
There is a danger that the contents of this newsletter will become a matter of what the management at FCC wishes to tell you, rather than the contents being matters that YOU want to know about. The answer is for you to tell me whether the contents are what YOU WANT or are off target. So, don't be shy. Tell me, as each edition comes out, if it is readable, informative and useful, or a right old load of codswallop. Use my email at arnold.woolley@flintshire.gov.uk or give me a phone call at the office of (01352) 702103 or (01352) 752121.
Dog Control Orders
I did promise residents that the coalition that I lead would introduce Dog Control Orders and create a position for a dog Warden to try to control the dog fouling of pavements and public parks. Well, we now have the Control Orders and we did allocate £35k of public funds to engage a Dog Warden. However, our Environmental Officers decided that putting just one pair of feet on the ground to tackle this county-wide problem would have little effect. An engagement was commenced with North Wales Police, for the purpose of giving them the funding and getting all of their PCSOs to engage in the attempt to clean up the streets and recreation areas. County Council produced the necessary ticket books and handed them over to the North Wales Police in December of 2009. Sadly, I have to report that not one single ticket has been issued, no prosecutions in court have appeared and the dog-fouling of our county goes on unabated. I am now intent upon re-introducing Dog Licences to the county. Preliminary discussions are showing a keen appetite for just that that step. If you have strong views, one way or another, get in touch with me. I need to know. For starters, the exercise will not add any cost to your Community Charge, because it will be designed to be cost neutral on the budget.
Freedom of the county to The Royal Welsh
On April 24th 2009 a motion was put to the Council:
"That in recognition of the glorious achievements of the Royal Welsh and its predecessor Regiments, its continued association with the County of Flintshire and in special appreciation and remembrance of men and women from Flintshire who serve or who have served in the said regiments that,
The Freedom of the County of Flintshire is conferred upon the Royal Welsh.
And thereby the privilege, honour and distinction of marching through the streets of the County of Flintshire on all ceremonial occasions with colours flying, bayonets fixed and drums beating"
This special meeting included a special ceremony and a parade through the streets of Mold.
The New Medical Centre.
I know! We all wanted it to go into the centre of our town. If we, townspeople and local councillors, had had our way, there it would have gone. However, do please register and remember that you residents, alongside us councillors, had no say in the matter at all, when decisions had to be made. The decision, made solely between the new North Wales Health Trust, the Welsh Assembly Government and the chosen Developer, has now been made, finally and irrevocably. The new health centre will be built on the site of the now demolished Ysgol Belmont. There will of course now be a full Planning process, with investigation of every aspect, including those of roadway layout, parking, access and public transport to and from that location. My final comment must be that not all of the medical practices in Buckley have agreed to move to that location.
Buckley Old Swimming Baths.
Last October, there was an attempt, a quite shameful attempt, by Flintshire County Council, to sell off the land and the Old Baths Building, so that it could be demolished in order to build another block of flats. In fact, the first that was really known about it was when a demolition company, acting for developers, asked the Town Clerk for the keys to the baths building so that they could take a look around it before starting demolition!
I am delighted to say that with much good, hard work performed by our Town Clerk, Martin Wright and a great deal of research into archived and non-archived records by his wife Mary, that effort was scotched.
There is no doubt that the land on which the Old Baths Building stands, is owned by Flintshire County Council. However, there is clear evidence that the building itself, built by the mining and other communities of Buckley way back in the 1920s, is NOT owned by the county authority, but by CISWO, the Coal Industries Social and Welfare Organisation.
After representations to county legal officers by the Town Clerk and all five Town Councillors who represent Buckley also at County level, a far more reasonable and acceptable dialogue is now under way. Given a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck, the Town Council will be able to purchase the land from County Council, negotiate an arrangement with CISWO, obtain funding to renovate and renew the Old Baths Building and keep it alive and used for the benefit of the town’s residents. No certainty as to what it will become yet, but suggestions vary from an indoor market to a museum, to a theatre. If you have a view on this, please let me know. Your views are important.
Coronation Gardens
This is another little piece of Buckley history that was claimed by Flintshire County Council, who did offer to sell it to Buckley Town Council for conversion into a car park to improve motoring and commerce in the Lane End Area. However, once again, some careful digging into the records of past affairs revealed interesting situations.
The reality being, that when Buckley Urban District Council ceased to exist in 1974 and the District Councils came into being, the ownership of that piece of land passed to Alyn and Deeside District Council. Perhaps because there were many loyal Buckley councilors on that District Council, Alyn and Deeside District Council actually passed a resolution giving that piece of land back to Buckley Town Council.
Somehow, although all of the written records of the motion exist for all to see, nobody at that time actually made the legal transfer of land that was needed to finalise the arrangement. Now that the county legal officers have accepted what the true legal position is, the process of transferring legal title of the land from County, to Buckley Town is actually under way and should be completed within a matter of a couple of months.
That will raise again the question of what best use to make of the gardens? Keep it as it is? Turn part or all of it into parking to encourage trade for the local businesses? What do you feel? Do let me know.
Now, at the end of May 2010, I can report that Buckley Town Council legally and formally owns the gardens once again, on behalf of the people of the town. County Council provided some "Tidy Towns" funding that allowed the gardens to be re-furbished. The re-generated gardens were formally opened by Cllr. Carol Ellis, the Mayor of Buckley at that time, on 24th April, 2010. The gardens now form a local amenity for residents. There are fragrant flowers and shrubs to enjoy and seats to sit upon while you do it. The Coronation Gardens are once again well worth a visit.
Padeswood Cement Works
Please see the report on the Environment section of this website or by clicking here, which goes into detail about this matter.
Hawkesbury Hall
The old house, not far from Hawkesbury Community Centre, has a lengthy history, since it was built at the end of the 18th Century by the Catherall family. The lounge was used as a non-denominational church on Sundays for many years. However, pressures from the then religious establishment meant that no bell could be used at the house. Instead, a bell tower was established some short distance away, so that the start of those religious services could be advertised to all around. That bell tower was demolished in the 1960s when the land and the house and cottages attached were sold by the old Buckley Pantomime Society to the Education Department to form playing fields for Elfed School.
Originally, the County placed a caretaker in one of the small attached cottages. However, when the incumbent died a few years later, the county authority decided NOT to replace him. As a result, the cottages and the main house fell into disrepair. The cottages were demolished and the main building boarded/bricked up. That did not prevent intrusion and degradation. In 1982, the authorities requested demolition, but the late Jim Bentley, local artist and archaeologist, ever protective of the history of Buckley, rather quietly and craftily, had it listed as a Grade II building, which prevented the intended demolition.
By 2000, the insides of the building had been badly vandalized and there was evidence of drugs use within the building. After a visit and look around inside the building, with the now retired councilor Arthur Roberts, I took a Chronicle photographer into the building and generated a little publicity about its state and its fate. It really did need restoring, or demolishing. The problem being that to restore it required around £275,000, which County did not have. In November 2003, I set a motion before Buckley Town Council, calling upon Flintshire County Council to either restore it, or demolish it. That motion was supported by every one of the 18 sitting town councilors.
In an attempt to finalise this matter, in August 2009 the county council decided to make one last try to find a buyer for the building. As of this date, 06/02/2010, there is one expression of interest. That interested person is seeking to purchase the site from county council, for a nominal sum, under a contract that will guarantee that the building will be fully restored to its original condition. That will enable the building to be returned to occupancy as a residence. Nothing is certain yet about this potential arrangement, but the building may now be considered to be "Sold, Subject To Contract." The devil will of course be in the detail as the saying goes, because, if the potential purchaser fails to obtain all of the necessary planning and other permits, or fails to achieve the restoration called for, then the contract will be deemed to have failed and ownership of the building and attached land will revert to Flintshire County Council. That is to guarantee that, should full restoration by the potential new owner fail, for whatever reason, there will not be a couple of modern Executive Homes arising on the site, or worse still an unsightly block of flats.
Walkabout Buckley
Jim and Lynne Dyson, who are ward residents, are avid walkers. They were part of Walkabout Flintshire, an activity designed to get residents out and about on short and medium length walks, for exercise or for rehabilitative activities following operations or illness. I joined in that activity and, in support of Jim and Lynne, became one of the trained walk leaders. I turn out as often as my County Councillor duties permit. Last year there was a bit of a fracture, after Walkabout Flintshire, as part of Groundwork Trust’s activities, parted company with the then co-ordinator, Ian Gibbons, for what many of us regarded as somewhat shoddy reasons. We all like to see fair play and to be treated fairly, so there was a rift. From that rift, Walkabout Buckley came into being.
Properly supervised, properly insured and well organized, walkers from all around Buckley and beyond get together for exercise and for a bit of socializing over a cup of tea or coffee after each walk. On occasions, as many as 75 of us! Basics start with around 2.5 miles, or about an hour and a bit, beginning and ending at the car park between the Potters Wheel and the Legion Building on Precinct way at 10:00 a.m. each Thursday morning.
There is a slightly shorter and slower walk for rehabilitation and beginners. Once walkers are comfortable and confident, they can move on to the longer walks of up to 6 miles, usually undertaken on other days of the week in the more scenic bits of the Flintshire countryside. Good exercise, grand company and usually an appetizing lunch at a friendly pub or restaurant at the end of each walk.
If you want to know more, give me a phone call, or come along on the Thursday morning. You will be made more than welcome.
To get some idea of the continuing popularity of the Buckley Walkabout activity, the record for 2009 shows that the total of attendance was 2278. The total distance covered was 7341 miles.
For those of you who digest statistics for breakfast, the breakdown of attendance was:
Males 16-65 - 9%
Females 16-65 - 40%
Males 65+ -14%
Females 65+ - 37%
There is also a very active combined walkabout activity for Denbighshire and Flintshire, supported by both county councils, based at the Countryside Rangers' Office at Loggerheads. If you wish to know more about that, get in touch with me, or with Howard Sutcliff, or Katrina at Loggerheads and enjoy a bit of walking in the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. If you are really keen, you can buff up your Nordic Walking skills along the way.
If you need any more details, contact Jim or Lyn on 01244 550488
Buckley Little Theatre Group
I am not quite sure why, but the existence of this group and their really terrific stage presentations seem to be one of the least known of Buckley’s community activities.
The Little Theatre itself has been a county council owned building. Until a few days ago that is, when I had the pleasure of signing off the documentation that has now agreed the sale of the theatre to the Little Theatre Group. The building stands directly behind the derelict listed building that is the old Hawkesbury Hall House. Now that they own the theatre, the company can get on and do some of the alterations and improvements to the building that they have been unable to do as tenants.
For a bunch of dedicated amateurs, the quality of performance, be it Pantomime, Comedy, or Drama, is high. When the next production comes about, as they do every few months, do get a ticket or two and go along for an evening of quality entertainment at very reasonable cost – and right on your doorstep at that.
Incidentally, I know that the group is always on the lookout for new faces. So, if you feel the call of spotlights, greasepaint and applause, get in touch with me, or with George or Joyce Hughes (01244 543225) and you will find yourself warmly welcomed.
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