Education for Penyffordd Cllrs 2011 ?

Civilised Streets: Guide to Traffic Calming [Hardcover]

Carmen Hass-Klau (Author), etc. (Author), Inge Nold (Illustrator), Bram Coombs


It's bit dear but they can borrow our copy for free


Link Bookworld

Penyffordd 2010 and 2011

National stuff that affected Penyffordd.

1. National Government let the banks bet Trillions and then bailed them out with us having to pick up the bill over the next 20 years.
2.The banks then failed to lend to small business and people who want mortgages.
3. Interest rates kept artificially low so savers are paying for those who lent too much.
4. The EU and USA are bankrupt. The debt is being hidden.
5. Penyffordd Cllrs backed North Wales Police in not policing traffic in Chester Rd risking lives.
6. Penyffordd Cllrs sat on their hands whilst Chester Rd became the new best short cut that is faster
than the bypass via A55 Warren Hall.
7. Penyffordd Cllrs backed our CBM even when he told lies over speeding traffic figures.


2011

1. The unions who sponsor the Labour Party who got us in this financial mess will try their best to overthrow the current government with civil unrest and strikes.
2. Penyffordd Cllrs will continue to ignore traffic issues in Chester Rd.
3. The Western World will sink into a greater financial depression.
4. The Conservative Lib Dem government will continue to show that they are not interested in communities and speeding traffic.
5. Penyffordd will be partially insulated from further recession due to Airbus being down the road.
6. Penyffordd Cllrs will continue to back Gosafe in ignoring Chester Rd.
7. Penyffordd will loose our CBM. ( No great loss here)
8. Welsh Assembly Elections.


I have about 10 Foie's lined up that will be more difficult to ignore.

Chief Superintendent Ruth Purdie - A product of the politically correct

Chief Superintendent, Ruth Purdie, North Wales Police: Community prevention of crime at first Rape & Justice in Ireland con. from RCNI on Vimeo.


Link Vimeo
Former Penyffordd village bobby and now in charge of South Flintshire division of which Penyffordd is part of.
No wonder she has no interest in village safety or environment. If you read the vimeo link. Wrong vocation really. Should have been a social worker.

Penyffordd rural homes at risk from heating oil thieves

in The Flintshire Chronicle.

Our dog Trollie would just love to run with these, he would run until fatigue overtook him

I personally have no truck with those who allow the savage killing of foxes. Our dog however would love ( a life's ambition)  to run with the hounds. The pack instinct in dogs very powerful, primeval. It is acted out each day in the garden instigated by the bitch Dolly.

Link Walesonline

Everything you wished to know about swimming in freezing water

In The Independent

Some things I thought might be true confirmed.

Carl Sargeant AM and Mark Isherwood AM Welsh Assembly Elections 2011

to be expanded shortly................

Two foxes seen together today on walk

Lisa tried to take a photo but they were too fast.
They are relatively safe where seen. It's wild and rarely visited. Maybe 10 people a year go through this area.  The local hunt would not get near this here. Slight concern over two badger setts that have been visited by two people and dogs. The snow shows up everything, the woods are full of badger and fox tracks. We hope the visits  are not for bad reasons.

With regards the foxes perhaps they are a mating couple. Foxes only cause trouble at lambing time. The rest of the year they (and buzzards, crows, magpies, ravens, badgers) clear up fallen stock (inc dead lambs) and anything else that's dead. Nobody is supposed to know that though. There was a dead pheasant on the bridle path the other day, it must have been killed by a domestic dog. I left it on a path I know is used by foxes and badgers. Anyway some thing has had the Xmas pheasant as I checked today, all that's left are feathers.

postscript: John Large when out viewing the lunar eclipse the other night spotted a fox walking up the middle of the road in Green Park.

A meal fit for Kings

Let us begin

b

A master chef who does not cook writes....................

a little later

Christmas Day Walk

 

Mummy's Boy and the Dark Destroyer looking a little timid wearing 

Aunty Joyce's coats which she made for them

v

Badger Wood 

A Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to those that visit

 

May peace be with you

Nadolig Llawen i chi gyd a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

Gordon Brown's Legacy

The article by Libby Brooks worthy of any troll* on the web. The comments are especially worth a read, lest you forget. The Guardian

* a troll being a wind up merchant

A building that has a story

This house sits on the edge of Llandegla moors. A Winter walk past it today and not one person or car seen for over 2 miles. To get to it you drive down a lane that I think must have been private it's over a mile long. The entrance used to boast two large sandstone pillars at the entrance until our farmer friend Elwyn sold them for a tenner. They are still on the estate just a bit further down the road. The farm has a walled garden of some acres. The ten foot wall which protects the garden from the very cold winds must be over half a mile long. The fields that make up the estate has stone walls whose length can be measured in many miles. It would take a few million to return the walls to their former glory.

This was a house built with vision, a paradise. The instigator of this estate was supposedly an officer who had returned from the Napoleonic Wars. He must have returned with a lot of gold to build it. The house bears a stone with the date of 1812. The owner would have never seen all the splendor he planned. Beech trees line the roads and forest strips between some of the fields, the trees well over 100 ft high, many 100's of them. I would name the estate but the owner is a very private person. And so it sits in dereliction waiting to be returned to its former glory. It will not matter however if it stays as it is, a little paradise in a world that is too busy with too many people.

Link Napoleonic Wars

The New Horticulture

How do you like my polytunnel? At the risk of giving Howie our CBM the excuse to raid the house I wish to discuss latest methods of growing food. That's food Howie not Ganga. Over the past month or two I have been researching hydroponics, aeroponics, growing small apple, plum, apricot and pear trees.

Not many people know you can grow a pear tree on a hawthorn bush or have ten different apple varieties on the same tree. Different fruit trees can be put together for as little a £4 a go and if you can find people (scion4fruitUK) to swap fruit tree material with you can do it for nothing. All you need is a small section of a branch (scion) and a suitable root stock for £2 and you can get fruit in three years.
If you can clone rootstock its all free except for a few postage stamps
There are over 3000 varieties of apple in the UK alone. Varieties that taste good, store well, crop early, crop late.

As for drugs. Each week we have media reports that various drug operations have been busted with loads of back slapping thrown in. I think a complete waste of police time even Former Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom thought this.  They are not even scratching the surface. A quick look through Ebay under the heading "hydroponics" shows the full extent of what is a multi million pound growing industry. It's now possible to grow drugs in a busted fridge the technology has got that good.

Here's a good site that shows how things are progressing  OODU
It's ironic that the illegal growing of drugs is also the way forward for year round fresh fruit and vegetables with very low energy requirements. The technology is being pushed forward by NASA for when we head to the planets.

I am currently working on my Genesis project which is about growing food aeroponically insulated with Kingspan. You can go an awful long way with a plastic storage box, 12 volt LED's, aquarium air pumps and air stones and water pumps. Or you can pay a £1000 for a proper one.

Links
Wikipedia Hydroponics
http://www.gb-online.co.uk/livecart/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRnBzn_ytQ4
Kuffelcreek
Welsh Apples
Different Systems

Flintshire AM Carl Sargeant urges young people to vote

in the Flintshire Leader

Is there any power in voting. Why should the village of Penyffordd vote for Carl Sargeant next year.
The WAG have stuffed Chester Rd with the "improved" A55 Warren Hall exits. We are now the natural short cut to Mid Wales to and from the North of UK inc Scotland.

Work on Warren Interchange junction between A55 and A5104 in Broughton completed

Link Flintshire Chronicle

Will this mean more short cut traffic for Chester Rd, Vounog and Corwen Rd?
Are our elected representatives asking for traffic data before and after opening? Ostriches with heads in the sand.

A world I am not familiar with

There is a family in the local newspaper who have had their Xmas presents stolen. They had managed to scrape together £3000 for the presents but some low life has stolen them.

The words scrape and £3000 in the same sentence.................................

Gritters spotted

Twice this morning. They even went up Penynmynydd Rd. A quick audit of grit bins on the Vounog yesterday when walking the dog revealed them to be empty.
Complaining about lack of gritting is like pushing at an open door. Pay more rates get more gritting. It would be fair to say the current conditions are unusual over the last 10 years.

Politicians - lowest form of life?

Lib Dems backstabbing here Press Association
Oliver says things are ok The Telegraph

Physicists push back the boundaries here Nature.

Have politicians actually evolved?

Elton John - All the Young Girls Love Alice

Good Times in Rochdale 25 years ago

or maybe 30 ................

And just in case

you have this silly idea that the coalition government has spending under control. It's still rising. The Lib Dems look to be a kamikaze outfit. First time in government for 80 years and they are trying their best to get kicked out. Who ever is in government will need to make cuts. There's an awful lot of us out here who are fed up paying taxes for people to have ten kids with no means to support them. I am of the opinion that tax receipts are falling drastically. We shall see. The man to blame of course Gordon Brown who should be in prison for what he has done.

You try going to your bank manager saying you have over spent £23,000 this month rather than the overspend of £17000 you promised him and that the over spend on your loan will be £155,000 for the year.
That's what UK PLC has done but make it billions.

We are currently borrowing money to pay for monthly repayment on debt.

Link The Guardian

The sound you do not want to hear at 7.30 in the morning

with three days to go until Christmas and snow for the forseeable future.

The central heating malfunctioning. The circulation pump making a noise and radiators clanking.

For years I have refused a boiler upgrade.

The old gas boilers use more gas than new ones but they work very simply. I have a friend who has just had a new high efficient gas boiler fitted three months ago.
First frosts left it malfunctioning at 2. 00 am in the morning. The problem is the condensate freezes where the drain pipe reaches the outside. This system by the way was fitted by a registered gas fitter which it has to be.
If you ring British Gas up at the moment the recorded message asks you to check the pipe I mention above for frozen water. I was told by a plumber at the skips last week that the pipe needs a second pipe over it to stop the water freezing. My friend has a piece of carpet over hers.

You couldn't make it up could you. There has been this constant pressure to upgrade. How much does the new gas boilers cost to fit and to maintain over the savings made each year?

I consider gas fitters crooks until they prove otherwise. The standard line being your gas boiler is obselete we can't get the parts. Millions have been conned on this. I have spoken to a gas fitter who says tens of thousands of boilers have been ripped out that required very little to put them right.

Oh and the fault?  An airlock stopping water getting to the pump - problem sorted.

Where we walk which is out in the sticks everyone has at least two methods of keeping the house warm. A wood fire is to be fitted this coming year. Gas will become a lot more expensive. Also a home made solar panel for hot water. The manufactured ones cost an arm and a leg. There is enough free knowledge on the web to make a very efficient one cheaply. Also our solid walls are to be lined with Kingspan that can be got cheaply off Ebay.

Postscript: It would appear there are a lot of boiler issues at the moment. Walesonline
Further postscript: The fault was actually in the jacuzzi room which is unheated..................

A Winter's Walk

 

 

Pen Lan Y Gwr

Alison on AD Waste and Steve Vaughan Penyffordd butcher

Alternative Headline: Alison wins Steve Vaughan's free raffle

Link Alison Halford

The above link shows the frustration of being a county councillor and the jiggery pokery that exists. This sort of stuff needs to be out in the open.

Alison Halford back from the dead

Link Alison Halford Blog on Overlea Drive, Hawarden

Alison Halford has died

Link Alison Halford Blog

Personal or Political?

Each year Penyffordd Community Council hand out our money ( rates) back to us to help support local clubs and societies. It's normally somewhere between £150 and £250. This year Cllr Tom Jones (Scrooge) decided to lean on other councillors to favour our youth. So the wine society of which I am a member, the Red Lion Strollers and the Flower club have ended up with £50 each. I hear (don't mention me on the blog) that others are not happy either.

I do hope Tom didn't vote himself ( Penyffordd Institute member) £250.
I would also point out that there is a resident of the village who hates our Wine Society with a poisonous passion and would be of good cheer if we closed down tomorrow. Perhaps that person can arrange for Institute fees to double next year?

Gritting in Flintshire

Whilst roads in Penyffordd off our "trunk roads" are like skating rinks there appear to be exceptions elsewhere. A house up a narrow winding lane uphill elsewhere in Flintshire is gritted to a large house but no further. The second instance at Pontblyddyn on steep drive ways. The former a multi millionaire the latter a council worker.

You know you have had too much

when you call the police for a hamburger. This item was Twittered by Supt Simon Shaw who as well as a Twitterer is head of North Wales Police traffic. Simon ignores speeding communities abetted by our elected representatives.

I'm thinking of joining Twitter.


Link Daily Post

Good news for Patrick?

Flintshire County Council have agreed to pay Cllr Patrick Heesom's  legal bill as long as he wins. My limited view of Flintshire County Council is not impressive. They seem to have this idea that they know best and will frustrate and attempt to gain  proper information or action. Many county councillors will share this view but will not admit it in public. Dealing with county hall is a PIA.

They have tried for 4 years to hide traffic data taken on Chester Rd. Penyffordd has been taken for a ride with regards the new A55 Warren bank exits. We are part of the new trunk road structure whether we like it or not. We have been shafted.

It is a fact the the Flintshire County Executive hate Cllr Patrick Heesom. They do not I think like Cllr Alison Halford. Robust questioning on short comings ( ie council housing or Canton) sends officers into hissy fits.

At the end of the day robust questioning of county officers will become a thing of the past. With the cry " I am being bullied" stopping any councillor dead in their tracks. The downside being for the county councillor financial ruin. Officers retire into the sunset on gold plated pensions.

The bottom line being Patrick hasn't murdered anyone. Do Flintshire ratepayers want an efficient run county or one that seems to be there for lots of not very hard pressed jobs with good pensions?

Having an efficient run county involves robustness when faced with obsfucation and inefficiency.

Link The Daily Post

Martin has left the following comment. At present Blogger is refusing to show comments in full below the blog. Martin's comment is where the comment section below is.
Martin Said
 I for one, will certainly not be congratulating Cllr. Heesom. In this harsh economic climate we should not be throwing money at Councillors who fail to adhere to the Code of Conduct. 
Just because Cllr's like Patrick Heesom and Alison Halford ask awkward questions, and court controversy it does not make them the hero’s of the hour. 
Alison Halford's Blog is very destructive. It has caused untold misery and considerable mayhem in County Hall. All the bleating about Canton will never repair the damage she has inflicted on the characters of those in high office.
Those of us who foolishly voted for her-and deeply regret it-having read some of her blog entries, feel that the only decent thing for her to do would be resign and take Cllr. Patrick Heesom with her!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colin replied
Thanks for the comments Martin which are most welcome. Just for the record may I say I have never spoken  to or had any emails off either. I find AH's blog of interest. There needs to be more blogs about Flintshire County Council. We need a Druid of Anglesey.  You talk of codes of conduct. I have had a senior officer sit opposite me in a meeting  knowing full well there were nearly 2000 vehicles a day speeding through Chester Rd Penyffordd. He sat there and said nothing. Didn't even say they had measured the traffic. 
He's not lost anything he's waded off into the sunset with a gold plated pension.


FCC have lied and cheated me over traffic data for Chester Rd for three years. Codes of conduct seem to go only one way. ( Where may you ask are Penyffordd Cllrs on this)


Any way if the Big O finds against PH you may have half your wish.


A sad day for democracy. 




keywords: Welsh Ombudsman.

Penyffordd Ice Rink

I do not recommend the Well House estate it's treacherous. I suppose that applies to most roads off our main roads. More to come this morning. Penyffordd has been lucky so far. We missed a shed load last night.

Let's hope the idiot muppets will see sense. This one didn't.

Link The Daily Post

Klaus annoying another community

Klaus made himself extremely unpopular over a gate and a footpath in Penyffordd. Connah's Quay have had issues with him now he's at it in Treuddyn. He would try the patience of Job. I can't find the article by Carolyn mentioned in The Leader.

Links
The Leader
Treuddyn Website.

ps. you will notice the website complete and working which is not how ours is.

Castell Alun School Hope Sports facilities

in The Leader

This will affect Penyffordd which has no floodlit all weather 5 a side facilities.
Penyffordd has governors at Castell Alun.

"Councillors in Hope have been looking at ways of retaining public use leisure facilities at Castell Alun High School.
They have been told the main issue is whether an agreement can be reached with the governing body to keep the premises open to the public outside school hours.
They have written to the county council asking if meetings can be convened with other town and community councils to see if they might be willing to offer financial support to threatened sports facilities for the benefit of their residents."

All Penyffordd residents are equal but some are more equal than others

Our CBM Howie Williams and a traffic warden have been stopping drivers in the restricted zone of Penymynydd Rd and either warning them or booking them for driving in a restricted access zone.

Last night I and others watched Cllr Tom Jones drive up Penymynydd Rd through the restricted zone to the other end.

Some are more equal than others Tom. Penyffordd Council have being trying to push Howie for months and our previous CBM Chris Pullen to stop short cut traffic going through Penymynydd Rd, Penymynydd.

Link Animal farm

Illegal Drugs

A voice of reason in The Independent.

keyword: Bob Ainsworth

Dobshill woman gets stolen bulldog back

in The Leader.

keywords Margaret Williams.

Education - All must have fees

Link The Spectator

Two for the price of one

in The Independent

Eric Pickles for Prime Minister

Here is what Eric has to say " What I'm asking, though, is that instead of reporting to me, councils become much more open and transparent to local people so they can see where their money is going. "


Link 
Channel 4
Localism at a Glance

North Wales Police Helicopter

A lovely piece of kit. Costs £1.7 million a year to run. The story in the Daily Post. I usually wave to it when it goes overhead.

Links 

Helicopter detail

Eurocopter

More bobby chopper pics and detail
If you want to see the specifications click on the link on the above page. Its on the right.

Eurocopter main website

For those who do not like helicopter noise
http://www.helicopter-noise.org.uk/

A Letter The Leader will NOT consider

The excuse a matter of semantics. They had the decency to say so though.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Leader

I see you are currently not allowing comments on cancer rates shock.

http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/96598/cancer-rates-shock-for-north-wales-villages.aspx#comments

Shall I try a letter?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With regards your front page headline "Cancer Rates Shock for Villages". It's interesting to note that you report that Llanfynydd which is miles away over Hope Mountain has a perceived higher rate for respiratory and cancer incidents over the normal national rates for Penyffordd which is half a mile down wind from the main stack which has a population many times that of Llanfynydd.

This would suggest a clean bill of health with regards Hanson Cement and the so called increased risks to health for Penyffordd, Padeswood and Buckley residents.

You also report in the above article that noise is an issue emanating from Hanson Cement for Penyffordd. Speeding traffic 24/7 on Penyffordd By Pass poor road surface and through unpoliced village centre traffic make an awful lot more noise than Hanson Cement. It would be good to see Penyffordd elected representatives concentrating on matters closer to home such as child and OAP safety and village environment.

Environment means more than planting daffodils cllrs !

Colin Hughes

Penyffordd


Further Links 
Daily Post
BBC NE Wales

postscript: I've spoken to someone about the statistics produced and they say the statistics are of little use because of what the statistics are and also not compared with.


ie. an area similar in geography but without a cement works stuck in the middle of the valley. 

MOT ripoff?

Making do with older cars the MOT has always been a PIA. We currently have a little man who takes the car for the MOT then does any repairs required to get it through. He has the honesty of a saint.

Here's the latest on MOT's in the rest of Europe on Anna Raccoon

Penyffordd Turkeys

At Karen's Farm

Mark Tami MP, David Hanson MP on the non merits of a new police watchdog

Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami added: “I have very serious concerns about proposals being put forward, which will lead to the politicisation of the police force.

“This would also make policing far more reactionary and susceptible to vested interests.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr Alun Lewis NWPA Chairman said: “The functions of the Police and Crime Panel will be very limited. We believe the Government’s proposals are likely to promote confrontation instead of building consensus.

“We are also concerned the legal structures proposed require a huge amount of legal work to untangle the current arrangements and involve unnecessary duplication.

“We believe joint responsibility for governance should rest between the Commissioner, the Panel and the Chief Constable, each with a clearly defined role and responsibility to co-operate with the others.

“The Commissioner would have a powerful role in taking over the responsibilities and statutory duties of the police authority, particularly in relation to holding the Chief Constable to account, setting the force budget and the policing element of the council tax.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Delyn Labour MP and former Government Policing Minister, David Hanson, told the Chronicle he will be voting against the proposals because there is ‘no justification’ for the expected £100m+ a year cost.

“There is no justification at a time when the Government is cutting police resources and the number of police community support officers,” he said.

Link Flintshire Chronicle

My thoughts. We have a police force that spends more time on holiday than on the beat. North Wales Police have no interest in traffic policing, they drive around in cars rather than walk. 

There is no way to get them to do something if they wish otherwise even though its part of the job for which I pay them.

What's wrong with The Guardian

in The Slog

Now there's a funny thing

Hospital admission and Cancer Registry figures showed levels of all cancers in this area at 497 cases per 100,000 people, much higher than the Welsh average of 413 cases per 100,000.

But in six other nearby areas, including towns and villages in the immediate vicinity of the plant in Padeswood (and Penyffordd) , cancer rates were either on a par or below the Wales average.

The other six areas drawn up for the study included parts of Buckley, Padeswood, Penyffordd and Penymynydd.

The rest in The Daily Post

Hanson Cement News

on the BBC NE Wales website

Melwood Close play area could be closed to save council cash

in The Flintshire Leader

Newspapers and Blogs

As with lots of areas (excepting our village environment) big change is happening. Local and national papers are suffering year on year losses. This can only go on a few more years. Even The Guardian which has perhaps the best online website ( not necessarily the political content) is loosing money.

Early this year The Times owner Rupert Murdoch took The Times behind a pay wall. This is not going very well. Congratulations to Guido for beating The Times. However loosing local newspapers is not good for local democracy. There will be no central place for the short comings of our local politicians to be highlighted.

Just a reminder in case some of you forget or do not know

Gordon Brown's new book is out. This is a review of the book on Amazon.

Link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyond-Crash-Overcoming-Crisis-Globalisation/dp/0857202855

The comment

By 

Supertzar - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalisation (Hardcover)

When you read Tony Blair's response to the coalition's plans, when you consider the ideas Frank Field had to transform welfare in Britain, when you look at the spectacular growth in ultimately ineffective tick-box City compliance, when you consider the £6bn the UK Exchequer lost from selling the country's gold reserves or the decimation of private sector pensions, when you consider which country alone had a run on its banks or look at the level of indebtedness and structural defecit in the UK, you begin to notice a thread. 

It's quite clear that the country has paid a high price for the grandiose delusions of Gordon Brown. Whether delaying welfare reform, jacking up taxes with precious little to show for it, reducing the UK's competitiveness, increasing spending in huge (Labour voting) swathes of the country to Soviet levels or crushing incentives to create the wealth we need to both close the defecit and pay down the £1 in every £4 spent that we currently borrow, this deranged, abusive, out-of-control lunatic has his hands all over the crime scene. 

Having failed the first test of democracy he has faced outside of his constituency, one might expect Gordon Brown to have spent his time reflecting on his 'contribution' to the UK. Or perhaps make amends by devoting his time to serving his constituents. Not a bit of it. At the date of publication, the poor deluded folk of Kircaldy and Cowdenbeath have been represented in parliament for a mere handful of the 200 odd days for which their MP has been paid. Instead, Gordon Brown has devoted his time to knocking off this 300-page exercise in personal exculpation. 

As he notes in his introduction, Brown is neither a financial expert nor an economist. Which might explain, but does not excuse, his lamentable diagnosis of the causes of the financial meltdown he fomented. It was all bankers paying themselves too much apparently. If only they'd paid themselves 10% less, all would have been fine. What about if public sector payrises had been pegged to inflation or a certain Chancellor hadn't raided - and thus destroyed - private sector pensions or what if the banking regulation system that had worked for hundreds of years had been left in place or what if the asset bubble had received some attention by, say, increasing the banks' capital adequacy ratios? 

You can take your pick of brilliant hindsight-derived ideas, Gordon, but ultimately, you were in charge and your delusions about abolishing boom and bust meant you spent so much of our money, we now have to borrow just to pay off the interest. Your diagnosis is utter delusion from start to finish. 

Nurse, the screens please.

Flintshire Roads

If the agencies can't keep the A55 free of ice what chance have we got with other less important roads.

Link Daily Post

Woman killed in Pentrobin

In The Leader

Being a county councillor can be a risky business

Ask Patrick Heesom or Alison Halford. In my opinion the device used against these politicians is too easily used as a device which subverts local democracy. Question: Who pays the Welsh Ombudsman?

Cllr Heesom is looking at a legal bill of £18000 where the Welsh Ombudsman has relatively infinite resources.

Governments talk about expanding local democracy, its all bull really. Principles can get very expensive.
The underlying message reads don't step out of line or we will crush you.

Link The Daily Post

postscript: make PH's legal bill well in excess of £50000

The merging of Penyffordd district and Buckley draws closer

We too then can be like the sprawling urban mass which is Queensferry, Shotton and Connah's Quay. There is an article in The Leader (newspaper version) reporting the re emergence of plans that have been knocked back previously. The developers are going to seek out local leader feelings on the issue. The way its going there will be one band of development from Broughton to Mold taking in Penyffordd, Buckley and Mynydd Isa.

Link www.spongreen.co.uk

Keyword: Jimsul Construction

A Xmas present for those who are difficult to shop for

Not an airfix kit the real thing. Bidding starts here. May cost you over 5 million. Just the thing for a budding dictator. Miltary aircraft and crew do not come with the HMS Invincible as standard.

Link Mailonline

Land wanted in Penyffordd to grow vegetables on

Link http://www.landshare.net/map/growers/pc:CH7+4SJ/landoffer:1/growers:1/p:4

This is a good idea, linking those who want to grow vegtables who haven't the space with those who have space. Someone at the time of writing is looking for space in Penyffordd. Someone in Drury  has land available for gardening.

Gosafe

An organisation determined to traffic calm communities to make them safer or just an agency with soft jobs and nice pensions who refuse to have their performance or lack of performance measured.

They have measured traffic in Chester Rd again this last week or two. Who knows about the traffic measuring?  Not too many, most if not all cllrs didn't.

Gosafe has no information about Chester Rd on their website. There is however information on Penymynydd and Vounog.

Business as normal Penyffordd Community Council and Gosafe continuing to ignore Chester Rd residents.

Link Gosafe Flintshire

It's not just me

Chester Rd can get busy. You can get 40 cars a minute during the rat run. One supposes I should be thankful that its not all day long like the trunk roads around Penyffordd.

Link Mailonline - Traffic noise

Low Temperatures

minus 7 degrees C at 8.00 am in Penyffordd.

£122,000

to get our CBM Howie Williams to traffic police Chester Rd, Penyffordd ( to do the job for which he is paid) . There is talk of the risk of politicisation of the police. It's already here. There is this unspoken agreement that the police can do little or nothing if they so choose with full agreement of councillors.

Perhaps it would make a change if councillors complained to North Wales Police.

ie. speeding traffic Chester Rd (our morning rat run)

Links
Telegraph
Daily Post

The cost of Xmas

The cold continues and Xmas seems a long way off. In the local paper Christmas gifts have been stolen from a family, the cost of the gifts an estimated £2000. I seem to have left the world behind.