Hendy has an old Roman Road which crosses the River Gwili with a Ford

These days the Ford is only passible if you have a tractor and about two years ago there was an issue with this road because Sat Nav's were sending vehicles down the lane and several cars got stuck in the lane.

Eventually the county council put up no through signs at both entrances of the road and to my knowledge there's been no recent casualties of modern technology.

The road leaves Heol y Parc just below the old griffiths pallets site and ends up on Carmarthen Road just before the Bird in Hand

There's a map of the location below, the map was retrieved because I had a members enquiry about the foot bridge and offficers wanted to know where exactly the location was.

You will see the cross roads where you turn for Hen Gapel or down the old roman road, and then the road meets the river, and the foot bridge is also shown on the map.

Anyway the enquiry was that the bridge railings were dangerous and some of the safety bars had rotted away, following a request the county replaced and repaired the bridge railings making it safer to cross

here's some photos taken after the repairs this morning

As a member of the local Mid and West Wales Fire Authority, i've recieved an invite to a press presentation from the team of Seven Fire Men that volunteered to fly out to Hiati to help  rescue survivors out there, and i'm really looking forward to attending.

Press Conference Welcomes Home Firefighters from Haiti Earthquake Rescue Mission

Friday, 22 January 2010

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service will be holding a press conference on Wednesday 27th January 2010, at 10am, Carmarthen to welcome home the seven firefighters that volunteered to play their part in the UK International Search and Rescue (ISAR) effort in Haiti. The crew along with rescue teams from across the globe scoured debris for those trapped underneath, made safe damaged buildings and erected temporary structures to provide badly-needed shelter.

At the press conference members of the press and media will have the opportunity to put questions to the rescue team and senior Officers involved, hear a presentation and see unseen footage of the rescue efforts and interview those present by prior arrangement through our Press Office.

To register your interest in attending please telephone Elisabeth Evans on (01267) 226865 who will take your details, reserve you a seat and issue you with a press kit.

Anyone interested in recording a live interview with those present will need to arrange this through our Press Office so you can be added to the interview list and for a space to be reserved for you in one of our specially located interview rooms. We cannot guarantee interviews for those who do not book one in advance.

Note to Editor:

1. An earthquake measuring 7.2 struck the Caribbean island of Haiti at around 5pm local time (10pm GMT) on Tuesday, January 12th. A request for mobilisation of the UK team came from the Department for International Development (DFID) shortly afterwards. Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service deployed seven Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) personnel to assist in the rescue mission.

2. The UK team is made up personnel from Greater Manchester, West Sussex, Kent, West Midlands, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Hampshire as well as Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Services. Team members are specially trained volunteers with specialist rescue equipment who respond on behalf of Government to requests for assistance following oversea disasters.

3. DFID is the part of the UK government that manages Britain's aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty. We are led by a cabinet minister, one of the senior ministers in the government. This in itself is a sign of how determined is the UK government to tackle poverty around the world. www.dfid.gov.uk

http://www.mawwfire.gov.uk/press_media_eng/news_details.asp?id=695

Weather Update

With the extreme weather during the last few weeks, my email inbox and my answer phones have been red hot

I've also been busy with Tesco and the union Usdaw spending four days away in Bristol, but that didn't stop me from dealing with probably more enquiries than normal

All the grit bins were depleted of grit and empty, due to severe weather forcasts and problems with supplies the county could only concentrate on the main roads, although side streets and pavements were addressed with stone grit which did help.

The county had agreed prior to this patch of bad weather to place a new grit box at Clos Glyndwr on Heol y Parc, however they now have to supply yet another box, with the bins empty and light in weight at least one of the yellow bins already located has been stolen and the county have agreed to replace the one stolen.

Gritting issues have not been the only problems i've been asked to resolve and investigate, there was some storm damage from winds where wooden planks had blown off some scaffolding and damaged the neighbouring property,

i've also had several concerns about saftey along footpaths in the village and along the River Gwili, with flooding issues and river bank errosion, which officers are now investigating, this is not a new problem but its been raised again this week

I can also share there will be some press coverage on flooding issues and flood defences appearing soon as a reporter contacted me this week to ask for a comment on floods and flood defences, which i had written about in an earlier entry of this blog they were doing a story on flooding with floods expected as the snow thaws and adds more water which will bring a new problem in the form of flooding.

I've also had some email responses this week about the electric poles in the fforest and this issue will be reported to the community council, at our next meeting as the community council recently met officers in the fforest to discuss pavement blocking and some of the issues are caused by posts being in the middle of the pavement. this response is about the poles that have not been removed some already have been moved

In total i've probably done more enquiries than any other month and have had a very busy two weeks with all the problems this extreme weather has brought, and today alone I've spoken to six residents about some of the issues I touched upon in today's entry

The January meeting has been cancelled twice due to extreme weather conditions,

during the December meeting the following items were discussed and are just some of the items taken from the minutes,

in the absence of the chair Hendy councillor Gareth Thomas chaired the meeting.

Remberance Sunday £188.85 was collected on the day and a cheque was sent on behalf of the council to the British Legion Poppy Appeal,

The Christmas lights switch on at Hendy, Fforest, Llanedi and Tycroes was discussed and planned,

a letter from the carnival committee had been received acknowledging the donation from the community council towards the sweets for the children at the light parade and santas grotto,

the surveyor discussed the daffodil planting scheme for the year that had taken place, he also discussed proposals for summer planting of flowers,

Hendy Park it was reported that two grants totalling £35,000 had been recieved from Llanedi Community Council and the grant application was being considered in December.

Recently work had already been carried out by both the community council and the county council, there had been new gates erected at the park, also a football goal post had been erected in the park and wooden bollards to stop cars from parking in the park had been erected and the lighting along the footpath was discussed and work was in progress,

it was reported that the lighting situation at heol y felin had been resolved and further discussions would take place with the surveyor and the utility supplier and land owner about this issue to try and prevent a similar occurrence that had lead to the default,

electricity poles on fforest road cllr steve lloyd-janes reported BT had agreed to move some of posts that were blocking pavement access,

there was also discussions about a planned meeting with county council officers to have a site meeting to look at further ways of addressing pavement access and the blocking of pavements on fforest road,

the surveyor discussed public notice boards the cost of replacing and repairing, it was also agreed that Talyclun would be provided with a notice board and the fforest would be repaired and or replaced,

there was also a discussion about the proposed traffic calming along heol y park and the need to look at improving safety for pedestrians along this stretch especially around the gieben to the fforest as this route is well walked by pedestrians,

the surveyor also invited councillors to a meeting later in december to disc the proposed LDP plan that was at the public consultation stage

Pontarddulais and Hendy Carnival Committee

I spent two days last week in Bristol with the union and my employer Tesco, even though I was out of the village I had access to email and my phone was red hot from issues and concerns about the extreme weather.

Due to ther above I have been unable to update my blog and I had a message from a follower about the lack of entries.

Due to extreme weather conditions the complaints have been about snow and gritting issues and services supplied by the county

As a result the county council has been putting daily updates onto their corporate web site about road gritting, school closures, refuse collections and many other services effected by this record breaking winter

http://www.carmarthenshire.gov.uk/English/Pages/home.aspx

if you need further info about any of the above check the web site out many usefull telephone numbers are on there

if you still need advice email me or ring me and i will continue to do my best

last week I spoke and dealt with more than twenty enquiries and concerns about the weather and the effect it has been having on the county council services

all the best steve

With all the snow and hard frost over the xmas period i have had lots of contact with residents

three have approached me in work whilst they were shopping, one at 9pm in the evening and the other two at 7pm as I was shopping after work, all complaining about grit or i should say the lack of it in Hendy.

I've also had a couple of phones calls and a number of residents knock my door, plus I witnessed it myself at Arlan Gwili on Monday night I almost slipped on the icy path as i entered the building

As a result I emailed the requests to the county and I also went around the ward checking the grit bins in Hendy and speraking to more concerned residents.

I was promised a new bin by clos glyn dwr, see earlier blog entry, email confirming delivery of bin given to residents on this road, however it hasn't been delivered yet?

If you have seen any of the national news today, there's a grit shortage and many councils are still waiting for their December deliveries, Carmarthen is not alone and i've had a negative response to my recent requests, that they only have enough to keep main roads open with grit and until they recieve their order other side roads will have to be considered on emergency requests only

the email i recieved from the county in response to requests is pasted below

"

I thought it would be useful to send a note to All Members of Council setting out the priorities with regard to Winter Maintenance given the adverse weather over the last couple of weeks.

The whole of the County has been affected by persistent low temperatures and in many cases snow which has lead to difficult conditions on our highways.  Following our experiences last year, this year our salt holdings were increased to the maximum we could accommodate. Given the period of cold weather and heavy  snow for many parts of the UK that occurred before Christmas and in the period between Christmas and the New Year, demand on suppliers for re-stocking salt has been huge. Therefore consideration is now being given to resurrecting the Government lead "salt cell" arrangement whereby salt supplies are coordinated nationally with input provided by WAG, WLGA, LGA, DfT, Scottish Office and the Highways Agency. Our supplier Salt Union have already been forwarded an up to date stock holding schedule for all local authorities in Wales via WAG to help them prioritise deliveries. Access to further supplies is therefore solely on a prioritised needs basis to ensure they are directed where they are most needed.

We therefore need to ensure we maximise the effectiveness of the salt supplies we have in accordance with our published Winter Maintenance Plan for 2009/10 which prioritises how we deal with our network which exceeds 3500 kilometres.

The current position is that priority will continue to be given to our priority routes network which cover some 996 km of carriageway which is 30% of the County network. The forecast for the next ten days or so is of continued low temperatures with the possibility of further snow.

I appreciate that all of you will be receiving requests from constituents for local secondary routes, refilling of grit bins and particularly difficult locations to be addressed but as you will appreciate resources currently have to be focussed on our priority routes. Clearly we will deal with these issues as soon as resources and conditions permit, but we will attempt to deal with emergency situations when they arise. Similar arrangements will apply to all County Council establishments

"

However on walking around the ward today I did notice that one job requested during the xmas period has been made safe, they fixed the dangerous wire on one of the foot paths

This will probably be my last entry for 2009, because i've already finished work for a few days and I've got no council meetings until early 2010

I'm also off from council duties in the first week of January, so that i can attend a meeting in Bristol, which I understand 90 Tesco reps are attending, one from each store from across all the different formats, and I'm looking forward to an overnight stay in Bristol, to catch up with some old Tesco friends, so that I can share ideas and concerns with National officers of the union and Tesco.

With that in mind I'm going to enjoy my short break and the festive period and i will be back blogging early January 2010 Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd

Work has already started before this extra boost arrived with the improvement of the gates and after this early Christmas Present was announced County Councillor Kevin Madge the Deputy Leader for Carmarthen County Council came down to Hendy to view the former Hendy Pool site and the brand new gates already installed

Money found for park replacing Hendy outdoor lido

The pool at Hendy was built by volunteer miners in the early 1930s More than £35,000 is to be spent creating a park on the former site of a public outdoor swimming pool. When campaigners threw in the towel last year in their fight to save the lido at Hendy they were promised help to replace it with a park. It was estimated it would cost close to £500,000 to save the 75-year-old pool which shut in 2002 due to safety fears. Carmarthenshire council said work would start in the new year thanks to grants totalling £38,000. Executive board member for leisure Clive Scourfield said: "After the huge disappointment of the community in not being able to save their pool because of the massive costs involved, I promised that the county would source grants to create a recreation park in its place. "Total project costs of preparing groundwork, benches, tables, planting and walkways of £38, 461 is almost met by both grants." The lido was built by volunteer miners and opened in the early 1930s.

The Llanelli Star

The Star is doing an article this week on the budget crisis that will be effecting the councils across Wales this year because of the low settlement from the Assembly The reporter invited the three leaders of the Independent group the Labour Group and the Plaid Cymru groups to make a comment for the story

Sent: 16 December 2009 15:34 To: Cllr. Pamela A Palmer; Cllr. Kevin Madge; Cllr. Peter Hughes-Griffiths

Subject: Carmarthenshire budget crisis - address to readers of the Llanelli Star invite

Dear all,

We at the Llanelli Star are inviting you to submit 300 words on the budget crisis facing the council.

We would like you to explain your party’s position on the cuts that are proposed and what, if any, areas should be protected from cutbacks. Really, it is a request for you to explain your group’s priorities.

All articles submitted will be given equal prominence.

Please respond with your articles by 9am on Monday, December 21, for publication in the issue of Wednesday, December 23.

Thanking you in anticipation,

Shaun Greaney,

Senior Reporter,

Llanelli Star.

Having recieved this email Kevin Madge made the following comments for this weeks article

Quote

"As Labour Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council I am proud of the significant investment that the Labour/Independent administration since 2004 has achieved in our county.

In the last year despite the recession we saw the successful opening of Ffos Las racecourse which has been widely praised by racing fraternity across UK.

In addition the Council continued with its modernising education provision across the County with over 70 million pounds investment since 2004.

We will continue in this vain over the next year by investing in Brynsierfel, Felinfoel, Ysgol Y Derwen and Tycroes, Seaside (Copperworks & Lakefield) Primary Schools and other schools in Carmarthenshire from the Capital programme for 2010/11.

I am also proud that over the last year we have been spending millions pounds on the Carmarthenshire Home Standard plan which will bring our 9,244 Council homes up to the housing Quality standard by 2014-15.

With the settlement for 2010/11 from Labour/ Plaid Welsh Assembly Government is the worst since reorganisation in the mid 1990’s.

The next 3 years are going to be very difficult in all Wales 22 councils, Plaid controlled Gwyneth County Council are looking for 15 million pounds of savings over the next few years.

Therefore all councils in Wales including Carmarthenshire County Council will be affected.

The priority for the Labour Group over the next year will create new jobs for Carmarthenshire and in the coming year there will be jobs created with the opening of St Catherine’s walk shopping centre in addition to the leisure development in Carmarthen,

With additional plans to progress with the Eastern Gateway scheme in Llanelli and Ammanford town centres regeneration scheme.

The priority for 2010 is to ensure that Education, Housing and Social Services remain a strong priority for the Labour group.

The coming year it is going to be very difficult nevertheless the priority for the administration is to ensure quality jobs healthy communities for all and investment in our schools and housing within Carmarthenshire over the coming New Year.

May I take this opportunity to wish all your readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i chi gyd. "

As stated yesterday, i've now finished work until after xmas with the exception of one scrutiny this morning at 10am so I had better sign of and get ready to attend my last council meeting until 2010

This morning after I had finished work at 7am i did a bit of xmas shopping and i was adding up my spend in my trolley as i had a voucher of money off if I spent more than £50 confident i had done so i was putting my shopping on the belt and the cashier was packing most of shopping as i was unloading my trolly

When I eventually caught up to do my own packing the initial total bill looked a bit steep but I hadn't been watching any of the items being scanned through,

so i handed over my discount card and my vouchers and paid the bill, on thinking that was a little steep I scanned through the receipt as I walked towards the exit and noticed there was one item that I had been overcharged by £8, so i stopped at the kiosk only to be told the customer service desk staff don't start till 8am,  

So it was off over to Mc Donalds for a brekfast whilst I waited, on my return I had indeed been overcharged by £8 and was kindly rewarded double the difference, bargin at half the cost.

However this was the start of my troubles because i was now an hour later than normal and it had been snowing and freezing the roads were treacherous and it was bumper to bumper from the Dafen roundabout, twenty minutes later I arrived at the cremetorian roundabout and I thought I will pop up the lane to the Royal Oak on the bryn and then to go through Llangennech, this was a wise move five minutes later i was sitting at the Llangennech lights and I wasn't long before I was back on the main road to Hendy

Once I was through the Hendy lights the traffic was just as bad coming from the other side, there was a queue from the m4 junction all the way to the mini roundabout.

I eventually got home about 9am instead of my normal 7.15am, after putting the food away etc I was late going to bed, only to be woken up by phone ringing at about 11.30am,   

Now awake I decided to have a nose on the internet whilst I waited for the kettle to boil. The phone message was a happy resident who had asked me this weekend about gritting the roads by Clos Glyndwr, he thanked me for my prompt work the county council lorry had just left the street having gritted the road  I was also aware that the highways officers had been up to take some photos to look at the best position to put a grit box

 

I'm glad there was one happy person because I will be like a bear with a sore head tonight if i don't get back to sleep BUT I CAN'T Really complain its my last shift tonight till after Xmas and I was £16 better off after being overcharged 

UPDATE THURSDAY 23RD 2009

Since Monday i've spoken to officers and had several discussions with several residents and officers have agreed to place a new grit box at this location as thy have agreed Heol y Parc is high on the agenda to address traffic calming and safety measures, and with cars slidding out of Clos Glyndwr into Heol y Parc its an issue that needs addressing urgently.

Grit boxes

This morning there was snow on the road in Hendy, and as a result I had phone calls from concerned residents, one in particular from Clos Glyndwr

For those that don't know it it has a steep slope at the junction of Heol y Parc and residents in that culdesack were concerned the road is slippery and exiting vehicles could slide into on coming traffic travelling on Heol y Parc

Last winter i secured a new grit box for Heol Morlais so this week I will be asking for box for Clos Glyndwr

See the main picture at the top of this blog of myself and Nia Griffith days after the box was delivered to Hendy

Kevin Madge helps in Hendy

Councillor Kevin Madge came to Hendy and spent an hour walking around the ward talking to residents, we stopped at Hendy Park to investigate the new gates and the restoration of the memorial in the pillar, whilst there residents passing commented on the new gates

We also walked up the path opposite from heol y parc to maes y deri and he was shocked to see the dangerous wire stays sticking out at face height of a toddler

Kevin said "a mother and toddler walking their children to school could be at risk from injury this needs to be addressed immediately"

and a members enquiry to ask the utility supplier to make this save has been made

Kevin welcomed the news from the Assembly that the post office has received but said "if passing trade can't park outside it will have little effect to their business and he said when the county does it next round of traffic orders the post office needs to have a parking bay outside with a short stay, to allow the free flow of passing trade and customers".

we then went up to fforest road to look at the narrow pavements and the speed of traffic that was whizzing up and down this road,

Kevin said, "in January we will arrange to meet the officers to discuss their findings and suggestions on how to address this road"

Dangerous footpaths in Hendy Carmarthenshire

This issue has been ongoing for years, with Darren Hickery a former councillor living on the Fforest had been championing the issue when he use to live on fforest road Hendy

When i was first elected in May 2008 as the Hendy Councillor, this was one of my first members enquiries that i made, a copy of my email sent in June 2008 is below the photos in this article.

Anyway Joyce Watson came out to meet me to witness the unacceptable pavement along this road and said she would contact BT to see if they could share the electricity poles as there were several locations along the whole stretch of road where there were two poles side by side blocking the footpath.

Whilst this was a concern the main problem is, that cars get damaged because the actual road highway is quick narrow, so they park tight onto an already narrow pavement,

Earlier this year whilst leaflet dropping along this road for one of my regular news letters i noticed a car had been damaged that day, so i took a couple of photos to support our campaign to address the situation, in one of the photos you can see the two posts side by side behind the cars and further up the road,

As stated there were lamposts in the middle of the pavement, the photo below was taken by Joyce Watson in june 2008

And here's one taken this week from the same view the offending lampost has been removed

From: Democratic Services Unit
Sent: 09 June 2008 09:21
To: Melanie Thomas
Cc: 'Slloydjanes@aol.com'; Cllr. W Haydn Jones; CE Contact Centre
Subject: Cllr enq No.4696 - Telegraph pole on road
Importance: High

Diolch/Thanks

Shelley Wray
Gwasanaethau Democrataidd/Democratic Services
Est/Ext 4674
Llinell Uniongyrchol/Direct Line 01267 224674
E:Bost/E:Mail: SWray@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

Mae’r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw atodiadau yn gyfrinachol ac wedi’u bwriadu at ddefnydd yr unigolyn y’u cyfeiriwyd ato/ati yn unig. Os derbyniwch y neges hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i’r sawl a’i hanfonodd ar unwaith, dilëwch y neges o’ch cyfrifiadur a dinistriwch unrhyw gopïau papur ohoni. Ni ddylech ddangos yr e-bost i unrhyw un arall, na gweithredu ar sail y cynnwys. Eiddo’r awdur yw unrhyw farn neu safbwynt a fynegir, ac nid ydynt o reidrwydd yn cynrychioli safbwynt y Cyngor. Dylech wirio am firysau eich hunan cyn agor unrhyw atodiad. Nid ydym yn derbyn unrhyw atebolrwydd am golled neu niwed a all fod wedi’i achosi gan firysau meddalwedd neu trwy ryng-gipio’r neges hon neu ymyrryd â hi.

This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. If received in error please notify the sender immediately, delete the message from your computer and destroy any hard copies. The e-mail should not be disclosed to any other person, nor the contents acted upon. Any views or opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Council. You should carry out your own virus check before opening any attachment. We accept no liability for any loss or damage which may be caused by software viruses or interception/interruption of this mail.

All of the offending posts that i mentioned, which were side by side have since been moved, with BT now sharing a post with the power utility posts, but whilst this has helped the situation slightly, the problem has not gone away.

Which is why the community council members had a site meeting last night to discuss the road and pavements along the fforest to the black horse, especially because with Pontarddulais expanding traffic volumes are likely to increase.

Whilst we will all be eager to hear his report and recomendations to improve the Fforest road situation.

These are not the only signs and posts that I have had to get moved or altered, when the put the new roundabout in on Iscoed Road they errrected the warning sign behind a lamp post so on coming traffic never saw the sign,

What they did in this case when I raised an enquiry, they altered the warning sign added a 10degree extension so the top of the sign stuck out around the post and became more visible.

Further to the previous entry's to this blog, it was good to see the Llanelli Star covered an article about the grant applications for the regeneration of the park

Last week i had an enquiry from a local resident stating that signs were being pulled and ripped off posts near the former griffiths pallet site

So i sent a members enquiry, the enquiry is logged with a unique number and there's a set deadline for the officer recieving to respond, my enquiry was given a deadline of december 22nd, the officers done exceptionally well on this occassion, i went for a walk up there on monday and found the sign about 40 yards up the road in the verge, i took the sign back to the post and today the sign was refixed to the post

Following a comment made by a resident living on Clayton road at the end of our surgery on Friday, i thought i would remind locals about recycling.

The resident was delighted when i told him the locations as one is on his door step.

Carmarthenshire county council has been busy rolling out recycling across the county, when they first started they trailed a number of pilot schemes, which included blue boxes,

The blue box scheme was ok, but after trails it was clear it had its draw backs.

The sorting was made by men on the back of a lorry which ment the loading point was on the side of the vehicle

This was dangerous, on a number of accounts, ie moving vehicles with men standing on the vehicle working as it moved, meant risk of men falling off 

To reduce this risk the lorries had side entrance vehicles, but this also carried a risk moving down the street loading blue boxes on the side of the vehicle increased the risk of the pedestrian workers from being knock over.

As the county progressed and decided to roll out the general  scheme of kerb side recycling, they introduced new buildings which enabled sorting to be made in a safer enviroment, which would also removed the men from the back of a lorry.

It also meant that the bag system would have to come into operation which was safer on the streets, with rear end entry of the waste to the vehicles, it reduces the risk of men being knocked down, which has a higher risk from side entry vehicles.

However there are still some health and safety risks, one being glass, broken glass in bags can be dangerous so the county banned glass from the bag scheme, many of the trail areas that were on the blue box scheme were upset that glass was being stopped from kerb side collection, however the county has not stopped glass collection altogether.

 

 

Having worked for Tescos for more than twenty years, I was keen to meet our store management with Nia Griffith MP and Tesco Llanelli was keen to do their bit for recycling, now when shoppers go there to do their weekly shopping they can also take their glass recycling the same time.

 

However I was aware that not everybody shops in Tescos or own a car to carry their glass, so I was keen to identify with officers similar sites with bins like this in my ward which covers Llanedi, Fforest, Hendy and Talclun.

As a result there are three locations in my ward where locals can take their glass.

There's one in the car park of Tafan y deri in Llanedi

There's three in the car park of the Red Lion, which pleased the resident on Clayton road

and there's one behind the bust stop by Talyclun for those that don't know where Talyclun its near the speed camera as you approach the Llangennech traffic lights.

I have asked officers to approach the Bird in Hand in the Fforest and I understand that some of the Fforest local community councillors living in that area have said that they would also approached the pub, but I understand discussions have been unsucessful to date.

Below is a photo taken at Tesco's Llanelli showing the new glass recycling bins and similar bins are at the locations I mentioned above

 

 

I'm told by the management on days at Tesco, that the recycling of glass by customers in their car park has proved very popular.

Anyway I've got to sign off, i've got to attend a Fire Authority meeting at 10am and in the afternoon, i'm off to have a tour of the 999 call centre in the Police Head Quarters, to have a demonstration of the new digital state of the art Fire Authority 999 call system which is now situated in a joint building.

Last Year residents from Talyclun collected a petitin and presented it to myself and West Wales Assembly Member Joyce Watson as a result of this several county council officrs have been out to the site to discuss residents concerns.

As a result of the site meetings recently Talyclun has had brand new pedestrian safety rails added.

So I can't see how the resident can justify their statement that Hendy is a forgotten village.

Well I was very pleased in work last night and several of the staff in work were shocked making comments about my award as many didn't know what it was for.

Because I recieved my first official "values award", from Tesco's 

I say first official award as i've actually recieved the certificate this time,

The first time was about nine or ten years ago.

The news paper returns that we put out for the paper deliver van was set on fire by vandals,

They pushed the shopping trolley of papers up against the fire door and set light to the trolley, i pushed the fire door open and put the flames out with the fire extingisher,

The duty manager at the time told me i would have a values award, my name went up on the values award board in the corridor, for my act of bravery, but i never actually recieved the certificate,

So i was well chuffed on Friday night when my first official certificate was presented to me.

But if I was honest I had given up the ghost and forgotten about this award. i think the pigeon that was delivering it must have walked from Merthyr and not flown, as the Award was given to me by the night manager of Merthyr Tesco's 

I make the comment about the pigeon walking because this incident had taken place back in October.

On the day in Question I had a phone call from Tesco's about 4pm, i was due to start at 10pm as i was scheduled to attend a meeting at 6.30pm.

The phone call i had was asking could i come in by 8.45pm and would i take another member of staff with me to Merthyr Tesco's to work there that night.

I therefore I cancelled my meeting sending my appologies, to be honest i can't remember what the meeting was for now, because I've slept since then, but if my memory serves me rightly, it was the Labour Hustings night for the three potential leaders of the Welsh Assembly

Huw Lewis one of the candidates comes from Merthyr and whilst he was trvelling from Merthyr to Llanelli i was going in the opposite direction to do some work in his patch and I went into work by 8.45pm and took John to Merythr Tescos.  Come to think about it this has just reminded me I never did have my hour back, I had planned on starting later because Tesco owed me time .

Anyway back to the story of the unplanned change in circumstances that day, there had been a fire in the Merthyr store and the store was closed and had been closed since about 3.30pm.

Apparently from what the locals told me when i arrived there, there was a known shop lifter who had gone into the clothing department which is on the second floor and had used a cigarette lighter to try and burn the security tag off some clothing, but managed to set fire to the whole clothing rack, setting off the automatic sprinkler system.

Two members of staff from every store from around the south wales area went in support to help clean up the mess and get the shop reopened and there were several staff at Merthyr on the night that I met and worked with previously over my twenty years service with Tesco.

We managed to get the shop open for business as usual in under 13 hours from the incident.

And the Values Award states for support in getting the Store re-opened in under 13 hours signed by the the night manager of Merthyr