It was a pleasure to re-visit the major civil engineering project at Corwen Central Station to meet Llangollen Railway’s Chairman, Liz McGuiness, Project Leader, Richard Dixon-Gough, and active railway volunteers, and to see first-hand the tangible progress made since my last visit. Well done to all. There is still a lot of work to do, but it is hoped that the new station can be open for Easter 2019.
I also re-visited Connah’s Quay Health Centre for a meeting with St Mark’s Dee View Surgery and Wales Co-operative Centre to discuss progress with the ‘Quay to Well-being Co-operative’. This will help people with chronic pain by developing health, social and psychological support through co-production, enabling people and professionals to work in equal partnership, acknowledging that everyone is an expert in their own life.
I visited the impressive Aber Falls Distillery and Visitor Centre in Abergwyngregyn, the first Whisky Distillery in North Wales for over 100 years, for a meeting and tour with Managing Director James Wright. They offer a range of handcrafted gins and liqueurs, and hope to launch their whisky around 2021. Although only producing for 8 months, they are already international award winners.
It was good to visit excellent Eagle House Youth Development for a catch-up regarding their work with disadvantaged young people, supporting them to be the best they can be. Eagle House have been building a strong working relationship with Job Centres in North Wales. The Youth Justice System would also benefit from engaging with them.
I visited an upland National Trust farm in Ysbyty Ifan, Conwy, to meet one of the Welsh farmers in the Nature Friendly Farming Network and to discuss the peatland restoration work undertaken with the farmer, National Trust and RSPB. As Wales Species Champion for the Curlew, it was also good to learn that the farmer is grazing his upland fringe with cattle for the benefit of curlew. Wales needs a new Sustainable Land Management that’s fair to farmers, provides food and manages diversity.
Enjoyable visits to both Anglesey Show and Denbigh and Flint Show included working meetings with FUW (Farmers’ Union of Wales), National Farmers Union (NFU), and CLA (Country Land and Business Association) Cymru, to discuss current topics affecting Welsh rural communities. Discussions focused on agricultural industry priorities for Brexit negotiations, the nature of farm support, concerns about Welsh Government proposals detailed in its consultation on post-Brexit agriculture and land use policies, and rural business development.
If you need my help, please email mark.isherwood@assembly.wales or ring 0300 200 7217.
Last week:
I visited Deeside Leisure Centre to meet Mike Welch, Managing Director of Aura Leisure and Libraries, the charitable, not-for-profit, employee-owned organisation, which, from 1 September 2017, has been responsible for managing the majority of leisure centres and libraries previously operated directly by Flintshire County Council.
It was great to see so many activities, so many improvements and so many active people. Congratulations to the whole community of staff, volunteers and customers.
It was both interesting and informative to ‘Walk in your postie’s shoes’, when I joined a local postie at Mold Delivery Office for part of their delivery round. Thanks both to him and to Royal Mail for briefing me on how they are modernising to deliver the postbag in an increasingly competitive market.
Thanks to Welsh Water for their hospitality during my fact-finding visit to beautiful Llyn Brenig Reservoir and Visitor Activities Centre. Owned and managed by Welsh Water, Llyn Brenig is the 4th largest lake in Wales, regulating streams and rivers in the Dee Catchment. Well worth a visit!
I had a useful meeting with North Wales Tourism, the non-profit company which promotes North Wales as a tourism destination and which, with 1500 members and 2000 affiliates, provides the private sector voice for tourism in our region. They deserve congratulations after Lonely Planet placed North Wales 4th on the list of regions to visit in the World last year, the only UK destination in the rankings. North Wales Local Authorities need to work better with them to give a regional focus to tourism marketing.
It was a pleasure to visit Towyn for the official opening of Benjamin's Tea Rooms at the Creatasmile Centre. Creatasmile is a wonderful charity for children and young people with Autism, Aspergers, ADHD and additional needs, and their whole family.
I visited Cambrian Credit Union in Rhyl to discuss the role played by Credit Unions as financial mutuals, owned by their members, helping those who can’t get access to ordinary bank products and providing a welcome alternative to payday loans or doorstep lending. They deserve support.
It was good to meet staff, volunteers and service users during my visit to mental health charity Vale of Clwyd Mind at their new premises in Rhyl.
I had a useful meeting with North Wales representatives of the Wales for Africa Health Links Network. Thanks to volunteers, especially health professionals, giving their time for free, they deliver a big impact for a small financial input.