January 2012

Happy New Year

December was partly business, partly celebration and partly time with family and friends. Earlier in the month I met with senior police officers to be briefed about their priorities for Denbighshire and their plans for managing their properties. We discussed how we might share buildings and facilities to save on costs.

The Leader and I hosted meetings with businesses in Prestatyn and Rhyl to discuss how the council can help, particularly in the current difficult economic times. In Prestatyn, businesses are concerned to ensure that the town developments are managed as smoothly as possible. In Rhyl, businesses wanted to discuss the council’s strategy for regenerating the town and also the impact of the Rhyl market.

I attended the meeting of Llandyrnog Community Council to discuss a number of issues, ranging from road works and gritting to health and safety and the look and feel of the village.

We had the Denbighshire Carol Service at St Asaph Cathedral. The Cathedral was full and the children from our schools were the stars of the night with their brilliant singing and display of musical talents.

I had a week off and spent the time inLondon. We wanted a quiet Christmas and New Year and spent the time reading, eating and watching movies. I read and enjoyed ‘The Sisters Brothers’ and on New Year’s eve we went to the cinema and watched the new Mission Impossible film with Tom Cruise. I can’t tell you what it was about because it didn’t really have a plot, but it was good escapism!

December 2011

Every November the Council hosts ‘Excellence Denbighshire’. An event to celebrate staff who have achieved beyond what can reasonably be expected. These staff are nominated by their peers and their achievements are assessed by an independent panel. The event was held in the Scala in Prestatyn and it was brilliant. I was delighted to present the winners and runners up with their awards and certificates.

In November the Leader and I continued our programme of meetings with local businesses. We met with business owners in Denbigh and Corwen and agreed to take action, where possible, to help businesses in the run up to the Christmas period and beyond. The direct engagement with businesses is vitally important because we are able to receive their messages and concerns first hand and discuss what, if anything, we can do together in difficult economic times.

The planning for the council elections in May 2012 is progressing well and I have begun to turn my attention to the council’s priorities for the period 2012-2015. I have led consultation sessions with staff and we are about to do the same with the current councillors. We are also using information from the recent resident’s surveys and the meetings, such as the ones I’ve talked about above, to inform our thinking. My hope is to present the newly elected councillors with a reasonable draft of our top priorities soon after they are elected so that we can agree them quickly and proceed to implement them as soon as we can.

According to my Welsh tutor, the group I’m in is particularly strong (honest). We were expecting ESTYN inspectors to come in November so we prepared and rehearsed and even dressed more smartly than usual, all ready to show off our skills. They didn’t turn up. Our tutor was obviously disappointed and I couldn’t help feeling disappointed too, mainly because she was. I never thought I’d be sorry not to be inspected.