Plas Madoc Councillor - Paul Blackwell

Solar Panel Future

2011-11-17T11:11:00.000-08:00

Great news 39 properties in Plas Madoc will be having the new Solar Panels, which are being manufactured by Sharp in Llay.

This will not only mean cheaper electricity for those tenants but a lower carbon footprint for Plas Madoc.

Rights for Agency Workers

2008-02-24T05:38:00.000-08:00

What is the government up to? it wants to set up a commission to investigate what rights agency workers should have. That sounds like a delaying tactic to me and many others and a sop to big business. Agency workers should be given the same rights as proper full & part-time workers get. At the moment agency workers are the second class workers of the British economy. It cannot be right that agency workers do the same job as ordinary employees of a company but get less pay and less rights over overtime pay, holidays ect.

The labour party was invented to represent the interest of the workers in Parliament, i joined the party over its commitment for a minimum wage & pledge to sign the European Social chapter. Those were the workers issues of the 1990s giving agency workers the same rights as ordinary employees is the employment issue of this decade and the government should do what it is supposed to do, stand up for fairness in the workplace and leave exploitation up to the Tories.

Nationalisation at last!

2008-02-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

At last the government has done the right thing and nationalised Northern Rock. Why it has been so timmid when it comes to natinalisation i think is a throw back to the 1980s when privatisation was cool and nationalisation was out of date and old fashioned.

The government rather than being shy about nationalisation should be making a strong case for its return in certain situations. Take the Railways, ok Network Rail is state owned but why not bring back the whole railway under state ownership? The privatised system is costing the taxpayer twice as much as when it was state owned and the service is worse! Another case is for water to be nationalised. Fed up of expensive water bills? water companies are private monoplolies licensed to print money. Water is a national resource and as such should be owned by the people, not private proffiteers. So come on Gordon don`t be shy make the case for nationalisation.

I`m Back!!

2008-02-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

Hi folks, just to let you know i am back. I have not posted any blogs recently as my computer went into meltdown after christmas. Now i have a new computer so i am now able to let you know my views on whats going on in this world!

"Happy Christmas"

2007-12-19T08:55:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-21T03:29:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

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

2007-10-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-14T03:30:00.001-07:00

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 !

2007-10-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

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 !

2007-09-18T12:16:00.001-07:00

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

2007-09-02T03:28:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-31T12:34:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-06-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

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 !!

2007-06-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-01T05:29:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-04T05:19:00.001-08:00

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

2007-03-01T12:25:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-28T05:24:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-25T06:05:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-02-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-02-18T02:16:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-11T05:27:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-28T05:51:00.001-08:00

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 !

2007-01-07T06:10:00.002-08:00

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.

LLys Madoc to Close

2006-11-27T13:25:00.000-08:00

Tonight i attended an extraordinary meeting of the Council called for by the Labour Group in order to ask Members of the council whether they would vote to reconsider a decision made by the lib-dem / independant run Exec Board to close Llys Madoc home.
After much debate mainly from my fellow Labour councillors, all councillors were asked to vote. All labour members voted to reconsider the decisision and the rulling Lib-Dem Independant alliance group voted against. Thus Llys Madoc care home is to close in March 2007.

My views on this are straight, i do not belive in the privatization of our care homes , but in a mixed provision of both public and private care, thus giving people a real choice. The rulling Lib-Dem group say there is no money to run these homes but in their budget which was classed by the leader Aled Roberts as being both 'Wonderfull & Exciting' They put two million pounds of Council Tax money into council balances, as well as spending £25.000 on a minority welsh festival at a failing theatre called the Stiwt.

The Lib-Dems as ussual know the cost of everything and the value of nothing!!

We Shall Remember Them

2006-11-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

This morning I attended the Annual remembrance day service at the Cenotaph Cefn.
This year as Chairman of the Community Council i had the privilege of laying the reath on behalf of the Council. The service was conducted by Mr R Breeze (Lay reader) Mrs C E Edwards (Lay reader) & the Rev R.D Thomas.
The service was well attended by the whole community.

Liberal's Close Llys Madoc

2006-11-09T10:48:00.001-08:00

I went to a meeting with Cllr Nick Colbourn of Ruabon, to Llys Madoc care home.
Where in front of me and the staff Aled Roberts, Leader of the Council anounounced that Llys Madoc will be closing as of March 2007, with all its residents faceing eviction from a home they dearly love. This is a disgrace!! Especially when the Council will not know until January if its bid for an extra care housing facility will be successfull. The worst senario is that it wont and Plas Madoc will have an empty building which will be destroyed by vandals and druggies.

At the meeting i congratulated the staff for all the work they have put into the home and i would not like to be in their position - again for many staff when they have to move residents from the home they love.

The Lib-Dems are like darlecs off Doctor Who, they strutt around the county screaming "I Will Destroy - I Will Destroy"

Community Safety

2006-10-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Wednesday Oct 25th I attended the once a month Plas Madoc Community Safety meeting. The meeting is held on the last Wednesday every month, at the Opportunity Centre, Hampden Way at 2pm

The meeting involves residents, police, fire brigade, & council employees and discusses all things to do with community safety and the general environment of Plas Madoc. At wednesdays meeting we discussed aspects of the 'Safer Living Better Living' action plan. As well as drugs, Youth service, & the road system around Plas Madoc including drivers speeding, with a new initiative being launched soon which includes school children handeling a speed gun with the police and thus hoping to shame speeding drivers.

All residents are welcome to attend.

The week ahead !

2006-10-15T06:17:00.000-07:00

Below is what's in my diary for the week October 16th - 20th

Monday
Meeting at 6.30 at the Guildhall of Wrexham labour group, where we discuss what is going on behind the scenes on the Council, and our strategies for the week ahead.

Tuesday
My surgery at 6.30pm at the Opportunity Centre, hampden way. Any resident of Plas Madoc is welcome to come along for advice asisstance regarding the Council.

Wednesday
Children & Young People Scrutiny Committee 6.00pm at the Guildhall. This week the committee will be interviewing the headteacher of Ysgol Clwyedog, and discussing the folowing reports - Update on strategy to transform achievement in secondary schools, review of primary school provision, flying start initiative, and secondary schools reorganisation.

Thursday
An extrordinary meeting of the full council, in the council chamber, Guildhall 6.30pm to discuss the Neighbourhood warden scheme - this meeting has been called by the labour group.All members of the public are welcome to attend.

Friday
A meeting of the Fabian Society 7.30pm The fabian society is a political think-tank, our meetings consist of a nice meal followed by a guest speaker !

The General Is Right !

2006-10-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

Having listened to the head of the British army, General Sir Richard Donnatt i could not agree more with his comments. Sir Richard said 'We have got to get out of Iraq soon, because our presence exacerbates the security problems' I have been against this war in Iraq from the start, why? because anyone who has been taught foreign politics will understand that for various reasons some countries are run by dictators. and others by democracy. The reason Iraq was run by dictatorship was because it is a false country, invented by the British after the second world war. The country was originaly three seperate states, the only way to hold this religious divided country together was by force, now that force has gone we have chaos.

So what will happen when we pull out? There will no doubt be a civil war, and after that? the country will go back to three seperate states. The south will be run by a Shite religious government - modelled on Iran, the centre will be run by a sunni religious government - modelled on Saudi Arabia, and the North will be the only part where we have any hope of democracy, that as is now will be run by the Kurds.

Llys Madoc

2006-10-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

I Just want to state two things regarding Llys Madoc home. First i am completely opposed to any closure of this home, and what i see as the privatisation of residential care in Wrexham by this Lib-Dem run Council. I have been opposed to the closure of Llys Madoc sine the proposal first reared it ugly head two years ago on the principle that by evicting frail & elderly people from their home it will in some cases cause death, this has happened in other parts of the U.K where a home has closed. I think the staff have done an excellent job, especially recently and deserve our praise, not re-location or a potential redundancy notice.

Secondly,As far as the extra care home facility which may replace Llys Madoc if the home was to close, because i have a responsibility towards Plas Madoc and do not wish to see a derelict building which could be used by squatters & drug addicts, I reluctantly support the application for extra care housing and the facilities that would come with it.

All Talk & No Action !!

2006-10-08T05:27:00.000-07:00

The Liberal Democrats pride themselves on their Environmental Policies, Claiming to have the most environment freindly policies of any of the mainstream political parties.

The closest the Lib - Dems have had of gaining power since Lloyd George's time is the control of local councils, so it is there that they can put these Environment policies into action. The Lib-Dems control Liverpool City Council, so why is it they have one of the worst household recycling rates of any Council in England, a Woeful six percent! The minister of state for the Environment Ian Pearson M.P has agreed that Liverpool is massively underachieving on its recycling targets and has given them six million pounds to sort it out. So what do the Lib-Dems in liverpool do, they send their waste on large lorrys to Hafod, using thousands of litres of dirty diesel, hundreds of litres of engine oil, and loads of tyres.I wonder what they have done with that £6 million of tax payers money.

The same all talk no action on the environment happens here in Wrexham. The so called environment champions who control Wrexham Council - yes you have gussed it! the Lib -Dems have also the worst recycling rate of any Council in the whole of Wales.

As per ussual the Lib-Dems are all talk and no action!!

Neighbourhood Warden

2006-10-04T03:42:00.000-07:00

Whilst this post is a little late, with the decision to scrap the Neighbourhood Warden system being taken a few weeks ago by this Lib-Dem / Indi run council. I wish to pay tribute to our Warden Alan. Alan has been an asset to Plas Madoc. Anti-social behaviour is down, people are more confident in reporting anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping, abbandoned cars ect The appearance of the estate has also improved with the removal of graffiti from the electric sub-stations, and now the painting of the garages. Work which the council would not have done had the levels of anti-social behavour not de-creased. Alan will be a huge loss to the estate.

By putting all their faith in Police community support officers the rulling lib-dem group on the council is removing one of its key responsibilities,to make Wrexham a safer place to live & work,if it can fund £25.000 for a one day minority welsh festival in Rhos then it can afford a neighbourhood warden system, as i have said before 'the lib-dems know the cost of everything but the value of nothing'

Sorry !

2006-10-04T03:34:00.000-07:00

Hello All

I am very sorry for not posting blogs on this site for a long time. This was due to the council stopping me from using their broadband connection to post blogs. But now it seems i can, for how long i do not know ?

So hopefuly you will once again have an insight into what is happening in Plas Madoc, the council & the world in general !

LLys Madoc is worth fighting for!

2006-06-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday evening I attended a meeting at Llys Madoc care home with the local member for Ruabon Nick Colbourne & residents families. The staff were not happy as I did not attend their meeting earlier as I was told to attend the residents family meeting at 7.30pm. The libdem-independent alliance that now run the council are determined to close this nursing home which is an excellent home with great staff providing round the clock dedicated care. I am strongly opposed to the closure of this home. I attended the social affairs scrutiny meeting in June to urge members to accept option 2/1 which would have kept the home residential as well as providing day care services, the scrutiny committee accepted that option, but what I heard on Wednesday night means that llys madoc would not be a residential home under this proposal. I want to make it clear to all staff, residents & their families that I oppose any removal of Llys Madoc as a residential home and will attend the scrutiny meeting in September to fight for Llys Madoc.

Paul

Neighbourhood Warden

2006-05-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

Since my election as Councillor in 2004 Plas Madoc has had a Neighbourhood Warden in Place, called Alan. The reason for introducing Neighbourhhod wardens was to tackle anti-social behaviour and be the eyes and ears of the community. Unfortunatly the Liberal Democrats who now run Wrexham Council have been against the wardens, and on wednesday they decided to try and get rid of a succesfull Labour policy - the Neighbourhhod warden.
This is utterly disgraceful Alan is well known and liked by most residents in Plas Madoc The liberals say their is no need for a warden and his job can be carried ot by the current police support officer.

At committee on Wednesday i opposed these plans, with my fellow labour councillors, we have got the liberals plan delayed until June 22nd But be in no doubt the Liberals ambition is to do away with alan and all other wardens in the county, they say for cost reasons, i say the Liberals know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

If you are also against the liberal democrat plans then please write to the leader of the council, write to the newspapers, you can also contact me by e-mail paul.blackwell@wrexham.gov.uk or Tell 01490 430873 / 07855 620891 or place a comment below

Children & Young People Scrutiny Committee

2006-04-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended a meeting with other memebers of the committee to the Idwal Family centre. This is an excellent centre based in Plas Madoc which deals with families and various problems families experience, such as domestic abuse. The members of staff are very dedicated to improving the lives of families who live in Plas Madoc and other wards in the County Borough.

After the meeting at the centre we then went to Grango school where we had a meeting with the Headteacher who has been in post since Sept 2004. The work she is doing in the school to raise performance and aspiration is truly brilliant! Prior to her appointment the school was failing. The scrutiny committee was very impresed with the work she is doing at the school.

Communities First

2006-04-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday i attended the bi-monthly Communities First Board meeting. At the meeting we had a presentation Mindy the children &young people worker about play activities on Plas Madoc, we had a presentation from Sandra Ashfield who now deals with immigrant families and the Environment officer gave a presentation on the progress so far regarding the sensory Garden. Other issues regarding regeneration of Plas Madoc were also discussed.

Wwwkly Diary 27th March - 31st March

2006-04-02T05:18:00.000-07:00

On Monday i attended a meeting of Cefn Community Council, The police were present which gives an opportunity for councillors to discuss local policing matters.

On Tuesday i went to the venue Youth club and watched the girs dance group practice their moves ahead of the one year aniversary for the club which takes place on Wednesday.

On Wednesday i attended a meeting of the Plas Madoc Community Safety Group. this group consists of residents, police, warden & council officers. The group deals with all community safety matters in plas madoc and i would urge more resident to get more involved.
At 4pm i attended the one year aniversary party of the Venue Youth Club the Mayor Cllr Mike Edwards was present as well as many residents and of course the youth. A disco was held for the youth in the evening at the leisure centre.

For the rest of the week i have been dealing with residents concerns & other Council related matters.

Weekly Diary March 20th - 26th

2006-03-26T04:45:00.000-08:00

On Monday evening i attended a police meeting at the Stiwt, Rhos. This meeting was for people to hear a presentation on local police plans andto ask Inspector Paul Firth some questions on Police matters.

On Tuesday evening i did a surgery in the opportunity centre, Hampden Way. I do a surgery there on the third tuesday every month starting at 6.30pm

On Wednesday i had a meeting with the Dogs trust which is holding an event in Plas Madoc on monday 27th, I also attended a meeting of the Communities first board followed in the evening by a meeting of Acrefair School Governors, where saddly the headteacher anounced his retirement.

For the rest of the week i have been dealing with residents concerns.

Plas Y Wern Bail Hostel

2006-03-19T05:36:00.000-08:00

On Friday evening 17th March I attended a meeting at the Plas Y Wern bail hostel. Present at the meeting was Karen Sinclair AM and from the probation service was: Carol Moore Chief probation officer, Steve Ray , Chris Higgins from the hostel and others

At the meeting steve ray gave us a presentation of facts about the hostel they were:

30 out of the 35 residents are from North Wales
27 are in the hostel on licence from prison and 12 are on bail
No women are resident at the hostel
There have been seven breaches of bail conditions this year for, Drugs, alcohol & mental illness
4 residents have been recalled back to prison for crimminal damage to the hostel, motoring offences, shopliffting & mental health
The hostel management is looking into a derilict house close by to the hostel which is used by drug users with a view locating the owners and possibly demolishing the property.

At a previous meeting at the hostel members of the public present asked about sattelite tracking for offenders. Carol Moore reported back that she has loked at this the home office is currently undertaking pilots of this system in three areas of England and it was to early to say if this system was working properly, if it eventualy does then it could be rolled out accross the country. Carol Moore also talked about voice recognition technology as a way of tracking offenders.

Citizenship Ceremony

2006-03-19T03:33:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday March 15th I attended the Citizenship Ceremony of Plas Madoc resident
Mr Lyle Zeiler. Lyle is a South African, who has been living in the U.K for the past five years. He first applied for British Citizenship three years ago, and he kindly invited me to his ceremony which took place in Wrexham.

Pictured above from Left to Right is the Deputy Mayor George James, Myself, Mr Zeiler,
Mrs Zieler and their their three Daughters.

In Need Of Some Extra Money ?

2006-03-12T06:57:00.000-08:00

The Councillor for Ruabon Nick Colbourne is organising a :
Benefits Advice - Income Maximization Evening i the Pavillion, Next to Ruabon Village Hall on Tue 23rd March 6.30pm - 8.30pm

The event is being run by Jacki Cowee a legal advisor who specialises in all sorts of financial problems, and can advise you on the right benefits you can claim and how to claim them, plus all sorts of other kinds of financial help. The event is open to all residents of Plas Madoc.

You can also arrange for a private chat with Jacki on the night.

For more info : www.ruabonlabourcouncillor.blogspot.com

Cefn Commercial Regeneration

2006-03-10T13:02:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday evening i attended a meeting of the Cefn Commercial Area Regeneration Group.
This meeting is held about once evey six months and is concerned with the regeneration of the commerical centre of Cefn - Well St & Crane St.
During the meeting we discussed some of the empty shops on Crane St, it looks like these will be modernised shortly. We also discussed the work going on at Ebenezer Chapel and the closure of Crane St which has upset many people including the traders. The police stated the reason they had to close it was because, when it was a one way people were not sticking to the rules and this posed a risk to the contracters.
A solution to the problem is now being investigated and hopefuly the road will be open shortly to one way traffic only.

Budget Meeting

2006-03-02T12:21:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday Evening i attended a meeting of the Full Council, in the Council Chamber. The meeting was called to discuss this years budget and to set the level of the Council tax.

The ruling Liberal Democrat group wanted a 3% increase in the council tax as well as the ability to part privatise home help for the elderly, and introduce a number of damageing cuts to Council services, one of those long term cuts could be the closure of Llys Madoc nursing home.

The labour group opposed the budget,and highlighted a number of weaknesses as well as introducing our alternative spending plans which would protect services to the most vunerable in society. These alternative plans were vote down by the Lib -Dems.

As this budget sought to increase Your Council Tax by 3% and would hit the most vunerable in society i voted against.

Communities First

2006-02-22T12:40:00.001-08:00

Today I attended the once every two month directors meeting of Communities First.
At the meeting all staff give a verbal or written report. I also produce a report.
Today I reported on the Council Budget and the potential 3% rise in Council Tax which the Lib-Dem led council is proposing. I also reported on the 3.3% rise in rents, and gave the board an update on the redevelopment of Druid House and the new mini police station which is due to open in a fortnight.

In two weeks time Communities First new website should be up and running, you can access it by typing in
www.plasmadoc.org.uk

2006-02-22T11:19:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to my new blogpage. This site is for you the residents of Plas Madoc. You can find out what i am doing for you as your Councillor and what is happening on the council. You can also post me your views on Council Services, and what changes you would like to see in Plas Madoc.

Plas Madoc Councillor - Paul Blackwell

Solar Panel Future

Rights for Agency Workers

Nationalisation at last!

I`m Back!!

"Happy Christmas"

Northern Rock Vs Fairpack

A Nightmare of a Ministry

We will remember them

Pay as you Throw

Brunstrom is partly right

Gordon Got it Right !

Leisure Centre Saved !

An Abdication of Responsibility

Community In Bloom

Camerons Woes

Leisure Review

Making A Difference Day!

A New Dawn Has Broken !!

Environmental Action Day

The Ebenezer Centre

A sad end to Llys Madoc

Druid Flats

Council Tax

Lies & Innuendo

The week ahead 26th - 28th Feb

Is this a car park!

Surgery Time!

Drugs

Leisure Review

The Week Ahead

Happy New Year !

LLys Madoc to Close

We Shall Remember Them

Liberal's Close Llys Madoc

Community Safety

The week ahead !

The General Is Right !

Llys Madoc

All Talk & No Action !!

Neighbourhood Warden

Sorry !

LLys Madoc is worth fighting for!

Neighbourhood Warden

Children & Young People Scrutiny Committee

Communities First

Wwwkly Diary 27th March - 31st March

Weekly Diary March 20th - 26th

Plas Y Wern Bail Hostel

Citizenship Ceremony

In Need Of Some Extra Money ?

Cefn Commercial Regeneration

Budget Meeting

sponsored walk

Communities First