"Happy Christmas"

I would like to wish everyone that lives in Plas Madoc and others that read this blog a very merry christmas and a happy new new year.

If you live in Plas Madoc and wish to contact me during the festive period you can phone me on 07855 620891

Northern Rock Vs Fairpack

What is the difference between Northern Rock & Fairpack. Northern rock has thousands of middle class savers so must be saved fairpack had thousands of working class saver so must be allowed to fail.

Every taxpayer has put £900 of their money into failed bank Northern rock in order to make sure everyone who has savings with that institution is not at risk from loosing a penny. On the other hand Fairpack customers who are mainly poor working class people only get 5p of every £1 they saved with that company. I realise that the government must be seen to uphold the British banking system but giving just 5p in the pound to every saver of failed Fairpack is an insult to the poor of this country.

A Nightmare of a Ministry

Before Gordon Brown became Chancellor, the Treasury was a nightmare department with each Chancellor getting into trouble over something going wrong in the economy. But from 1997 to 2007 being Chancellor has been a fine job with virtually nothing going wrong, quite remarkable!

However since Gordon Brrown left in June and Mr Darling took over it has gone back to being the job it was prior to May 1997 - a Nightmare! First poor Alistair has had to put up with the Northern Rock crisis, a bank which should have been nationalised the minute it got into trouble and now H.M Revenue & Customs loosing records of up to 25 million people and all of the children in the U.K. And it will probably not stop their.

Whatever magic ingredient Gordon Brown had for managing this Department Alistair Darling needs in spades.

We will remember them

This morning we had the annual Remembrance day service at the Cenotaph, Cefn Mawr. As Chairman of the Community Council I laid the wreath on behalf of the whole community, an excellent service was conducted by the Rev Aiden Coleman. It was nice to see, despite having to stand in pouring rain so many people from across the community turning out, more people each year are turning out to pay there respects to those who have died in war.

Pay as you Throw

The government seem to have done a -u- turn on the idea of charging households for the rubish they throw away, by allowing councils to carry out this policy if they want. I think that "Pay as you throw" is a good idea as it would encourage people to recycle more, and cut down the amount of waste they produce.

However this policy must only be introduced if people get a reduction in there Council Tax bills, and measures are introduced to stop other households from dumping their rubbish into your bin. The government must also get to grips with producers of goods so that their packaging is reduced as domestic waste only amounts to some 9% of the total going to landfill.

Brunstrom is partly right

This week North Wales Chief Constable, Richard Brunstrom stated that all drugs should be legallised. I disagree that ALL drugs should be legallised, my view is that soft drugs should be made legal & hard drugs should stay illegal. Why?

All soft drug users have to buy their drugs from dealers that make their money from selling hard drugs, no matter how much the soft drug user tries to stay away from hard drugs, it is in the dealers best interest to sell the user hard drugs which eventually they do. By legallising soft drugs you break the link between the user and the dealer. and has been proven in Holland hard drug users become very few and far between. Their are also other advantages. The government can tax soft drugs, ringfence the money so that it is spent on a network of re-hab centres. And also you free up police time and money to concentrate on hard drug dealers & the criminal underworld.

Government should stop pandering to a failed drugs policy and make legal soft drugs, it should also wipe out the poppy fields in Afghanistan where the majority of Hard drugs on our streets comes from.

Gordon Got it Right !

Unlike the media and some tories i am very pleased Gordon Brown has called off an early general election. It is governments that are elected and not Prime Ministers, their is two much trivial personality based politics these days that make most people bored and cynical. No election was called when Macmillan took over from Churchill, or Callaghan from Wilson, Major from Thatcher.

Governments are elected for a minimum of four years & maximum five and this labour government should continue until at least the spring of 2009. After all, the people do not like to many elections only the media do.

Leisure Centre Saved !

Today I attended a meeting of the council`s Executive Board, where the leisure review was up for a decision. Before the meeting i had been assured that apart from the pool the rest of the centre would be re-designed & refurbished but that the pool was to be closed. I argued for the retention of a pool on the grounds it would be both costly & logisticly difficult for residents of Plas Madoc to swim elsewhere. Also their was no way the council was going to tackle the growing level of obesity by removing a pool from Plas Madoc. The executive Board in their wisdom decided to back my argument and a pool will now be kept at Plas Madoc.

I would like to thank residents of both Plas Madoc and the rest of wrexham county for responding to the leisure review, without you i would have been arguing on my own and it would not have been possible to win the argument.

An Abdication of Responsibility

Yet again another Chief Officer produces a report for Councillors requesting he has more powers under delegated powers. This time it is the Chief Planning Officer. In the past councillors have given more of their powers away each time a chief officer requests more powers for himself whilst at the same time taking more allowances every year, this has got to stop! I am sick of councillors moaning to me they have no power when they keep on giving power away. This time it is over planning applications. The chief officer wants to decide on all planning applications without them having to go to committee. Not only does this remove the last ounce of democracy from planning, but also opens the chief officer up to bribes and making decisions which the public will have to live with long after he is gone This is wrong!

I urge WrexhamCouncillors not to give up their powers each time an officer feels he wants more, we are elected to represent our constituents and make sure the council is run for them and not in the interests of un-elected Chief Officers.

Community In Bloom

Today i presented the annual Community In Bloom awards. Above is a picture of me Mrs J Westray of Whalleys Way, Plas Madoc & Mrs Thomas of Cefn Mawr who were joint winners of the best overall garden. They both recieved £25 gardening vouchers, Plant food & a certificate.
Other people got awards for the best container garden, best small garden & best large garden.

This year i went around with the judges, and despite the bad weather people have had to put up with, the gardens we saw were trully insperational!
I would like to thank the judges Tom & Jim, Sue Jones who helped organise the competition and Flexsys for their kind sponsorship.

Camerons Woes

Its funny to see the Tory leader David Cameron being criticised by his own party. Didnt they do that to the five prevous leaders of the party since 1989. Any downward trend in the polls and the donors come out threatening to withdraw their millions if the leader doesnt do what they want.

If the trade unions treated labour leaders like this the press would have a field day, claiming the unions were about to run the country and the labour leader should stamp on them. Well i say to Cameron, Stamp on these donors, stick to your guns, do what you have been doing. but with the great clunking fist in charge of the country you will have no hope of getting into downing St.

Leisure Review

Last Wednesday i attended the Council`s Envoronment & Regeneration Scrutiny Committee.
At this meeting the Chief Leisure officer introduced a report on the leisure review. The report states that the Plas Madoc Leisure Centre will be changed and refurbished to meet the needs of Plas Madoc residents & the rest of the Cefn Community. However it says nothing about keeping a pool.

The chief officer made it clear that the current leisure pool is to costly to run and if we wanted a pool at Plas Madoc the it would have to be a square tank pool. After much arguing on my part the committee is now recomending to the executive board that some kind of pool provision is kept at Plas Madoc. The fight goes on now to the exec board.

Making A Difference Day!

Today was the Annual Communities First "Making A Difference Day" Held this year at Ysgol Rhiwabon.
The day started with a speech by the co-ordinator Miriam Beard, A drama but on by some children from Plas Madoc. Then staff & volunteers of Communities First spoke about their work and the impact they were having on Plas Madoc. Following that came the awards ceremony I was privelaged to present an award to Alex & Alan the two council caretakers, who do a sterling job in Plas Madoc. I then went on to make a speech, where i spoke about the positive things Communities First is doing for Plas Madoc. Finally former International Welsh rugby star Jonathan Davies gave speech.

A New Dawn Has Broken !!

Today Gordon Brown becomes our new Prime Minister, and a new chapter in this progressive labour government starts. It was sad to see Tony Blair depart the stage, but like all long serving Prime ministers he made a big mistake. That mistake was following George Bush into Iraq, for that reason he had to go.

I hope Gordon Brown is as good at running the country as he was at running the economy and i wish him all the best!

Environmental Action Day

Today was the first Environmental action day we have had in Plas Madoc. Organised by Communities First The day centred around Glaslyn. The day involved officers from North Wales Police, North Wales Fire & Rescue Service, Victim Support and workers from the councils Housing & Environment Departments. Everyone split into teams of two groups one comprising housing officers, Police & Fire officers who knocked on residents doors and spoke to residents ,and the other clearing up rubbish from people houses.

The areas covered were Gwynant, Glaslyn, Alwen, Idwal & Ogwen. The day was a great success we managed to clear a few skip fulls of rubish from peoples houses. The hope now is that residents as well as council workers will keep on top of it so as to keep those areas clean. I would like to pay a special thankyou to Andrew Harradine from Communites First for organising the day, hopefully we can have another such day in another part of Plas Madoc in the near future!

The Ebenezer Centre

At Last the D.V.C.P have finally got possesion of the newly restored former Ebenezer Chapel. Shortly a new cafe bar will be open in the centre and we can enjoy a coffee on the square.

The new centre will be an asset for everyone that lives within the Cefn Community.

A sad end to Llys Madoc

The above picture shows a boarded up Llys Madoc Care Home. The result of putting your eggs in one basket. The Liberal led administration decided to close the home last year with the hope that it would be replace with an extra care facility. This facility would be paid for by a £5m extra care grant from the assembly. Unfortunatly the council were not succesfull in getting this money. And now the home has been closed before any alternative could be found. This is a situation i have argued against from the start and unfortunatly lost. Hopefully their will be light at the end of this dreadful tunnel? In the meantime i hope my worst fears are not realised, that the building becomes a haven for vandals and drugies.

Druid Flats

Anyone passing Druids Flats recently will notice work has begun on the roof. This is phase two of the modernisation of the building which when completed will have a new roof and wall cladding. The work has progressed thanks to local estate staff. When i was first elected Druids Flats had been a problem building for many years, and demoliton was on the cards. But i felt that their was a demand for low cost flats in the area. I invited the Chief housing officer, together with the landlord services manager, housing operations manager& estate manager to have a look at the building and pursaded them to invest in it. Today most of the flats are occupied and their are no anti-social behavour problems. A fine example of what happens when housing department shares the same vision as me and invest some money.

Council Tax

A meeting was held in the Guildhall last night (28th February) To decide on the Council budget for the year and set the council tax. The rulling lib-dem group recommended a 3.68% increase in the tax. The Labour group put forward an amendement to the budget.

That the following service pressures be supported

• £30.000 For addressing the educational attainment gap between Junior & Lower secondary pupils
• £50.000 to fund a pilot scheme for patient re-enablement( to reduce bed-blocking)
• £50.000 to support modern apprentice scheme
• £125.000 to fund preventative / inclusion measures for young people including safegaurding of youth facilites
• £150.000 to improve homecare

The above service pressure be funded by reducing the amount currently proposed to go to balances by £800.000

The Lib-Dem led administration voted against this amendment, and as a result Labour councillors felt they could not support the budget or the council tax increase. I along with my fellow labour councillors voted against the budget and the council tax increase of 3.68%

Lies & Innuendo

In Monday evenings, Evening leader Mr John Bell the Conservative candidate for the Welsh Assembly Accused me of "Double Standards" of opposing the closure of the leisure centre in public but backing its closure in a council meeting which took place on the 30th January.

Well for everyones information i was not in the guildhall on the 30th of January i was instead chairing a meeting of Cefn Community Council. Mr bells letter shows his complete ignorance regarding the way the county council is run. All decisions in Wrexham are taken by a ten member Executive board heavily dominated by a coalition of Liberals, Conservatives and independents. I suggest Mr Bell directs his comments at that group. I need to remind everyone including Mr Bell that it was a Labour council who supported the building of the Leisure centre and the wave machine in the pool as well as its continued use up to now. I am tottaly opposed the closure of the centre, and working with others will do everything possible to stop it. I have never voted in principle to close the centre "their has never been a vote on the matter"

The week ahead 26th - 28th Feb

Not a lot of meetings this week

Monday - a meeting of the community council

Tuesday - a meeting of the labour party exec committee

Wednesday - a meeting of the Environment & Regeneration Scrutiny committee, which will be discussing the provision of librarys, Plas Madoc does not have one and the report makes a mention of that.

A meeting of the full council takes place after to discuss the budget and to set the council tax for the comming year. I do not see why the people of plas madoc should have to pay their council tax this year due to the savage cuts imposed on the people by this lib-dem led administration.
It does not sound very responssible comming from a councillor, but i belive that the people are not getting the service they are paying for.

Is this a car park!

The above pictures show the state of dis-repair of the so called car park at the back of houses on hampden way. The estate office have told me time and again that the pot-holes would be fixed and time and again nothing happens! Its about time officers pulled their fingers out and did something about this blot on the landscape.

Surgery Time!

Its time for my once a month advice surgery.
This is held on Tuesday 21st February, at the opportunity centre ( old community centre ) Hampden Way. The advice surgery starts at 6.30pm. If you have any problem or want advice regarding any service provided by the Council then please turn up.

If you cannot be there, you can contact me during the day on 01490 430873 or evening and other times on 07855 620879 Or if you have a computer you can e-mail me at
paul.blackwell@wrexham.gov.uk Bu please make sure you do not e-mail me with a hot mail account.

Drugs

So David Cameron the Tory leader has at last admitted taking soft drugs when he was younger.
So What!!

I belive that soft drugs should be legalised. Why? Because by making them legal you break the link with the grug dealer. It known that a drug dealer will always try to sell you soft drugs at a low price and pursade you later to take hard drugs. In countries where soft drugs are legal, such as in Holland where you can buy them in licensed cafes, the use of hard drugs is neglegable.
By legalising soft drugs we can give the police real time to agressively pursue hard drug dealers. Also if soft drugs were legal the government could tax them and thus poor the revenue into the fight against hard drugs.

My views are controversal, but without radical action we will continue to loose the war on drugs.

Leisure Review

As has been reported in the press recently the rulling Lib-Dem Council has come up with proposals for leisure within wrexham. Contary to the press articles the leisure centre in Plas Madoc is not closing. What is under threat is the Leisure Pool. The reason this is under threat is because it is thirty years old, leaking and costs too much to run. Also the rest of the leisure centre building needs a new roof and boiler room. To pay for this the Lib-Dems are proposing to close the pool.
The sports council for wales produced a report which stated that if all improvements including those to the pool were not carried out within the next five years then the centre would have to close. So the option we have is either close the pool or the entire leisure centre.

This Lib-Dem council should honour its commitments to Plas Madoc as a Communities First area and spend some money it puts into balances every year to provide a leisure centre which the people of Plas Madoc and the Borough can be proud of.

The Week Ahead

This week is another busy week in the life of your Councillor, so i thought i would give you a glimpse into what i will be up to from Tue 30th Jan - Fri 3rd Feb

Tue 7pm The first meeting this year of Cefn Community Council. Tonight is the meeting where we decide on the budget for the year ahead and set the Council Tax

Wed 10am Site meeting with estate manager & assistant where we will be walking the streets of Plas Madoc
Wed 2PM Meeting of the Housing scrutiny Committee at the guildhall. This is to receive a report from consultants concerning the housing repairs section. From the phone calls i have had from tennants the repair section is in a terrible state.

Thur 7pm Meeting in Ruabon to discuss local development Plan. I would like to see a change in this plan that would allow housing developments to occur on Economic development land where it is proved that no industry will locate.

Fri 7pm A meeting of the Constituency labour party, where i will meet both the M.P & A.M

Happy New Year !

Hello everyone, and a happy 2007. Once again sorry for not putting any postings up but have yet again been having problems with my broadband system.

It was not a very good start to 2007 with the hanging of Saddam Hussein. I am appalled at the whole process of his trial and subsequent hannging. Saddam should of been tried by an independent U.N court in another country for All his crimes, and if the sentence was death then he should of been kept on death row for several years, so he could mount proper appeals. And if eventually he was to be killed then that again should be carried out by non-Iraqis. Instead we have Shite Iraqis putting him on trial and then killing him which goes against any idea of a united Iraq.