Splashing time at SC2

SC2, North Wales’ most exciting attraction, has opened its doors to the public.

In the 3 weeks leading to the opening, SC2 welcomed over 5,000 local people to try the adventure centre for free ahead of the opening.

Thousands of local people have experienced the thrilling slides of the waterpark and challenged themselves in the TAGactive arenas within SC2.

The £15 million waterpark includes Wales’ first TAGactive play arena, indoor and outdoor water play for all ages and abilities, flume rides, beach style paddling, feature slides and themed food outlets. There is also a bar and terrace open seasonally.

We have received some great feedback and we’ll listen to any suggestions made for how we can make a people’s experience of SC2 even better. It will be a draw to residents and tourists alike for the whole of the North Wales coast and we are extremely proud of this exciting visitor attraction and new addition to the Denbighshire Leisure portfolio of first class facilities.

Whether people have been clambering around TAGactive or taking to the boomerang slide with gusto, and the outdoor splash pads will prove to be a real sunny Rhyl treat. This is something new and exciting not just for the town but for the North Wales coast. There is nothing quite like it for miles around.

As the centrepiece of Rhyl’s waterfront development programme, SC2 is expected to attract an extra 350,000 visitors per year to the town.

SC2 has been funded by Denbighshire County Council with contributions from Rhyl Town Council and Welsh Government.

Visitors can get all the latest information on the SC2 website and their social media pages.

Plans for retail, food and market space for Rhyl’s Queen’s Buildings

Rhyl’s Queen’s Buildings are set to become a pivotal piece in the ongoing regeneration of the town.

The Council is working with private sector development partners to consider how to transform the site into a vibrant mix of retail, food and beverage, contemporary market, office and residential space while improving accessibility from the waterfront and promenade into the town centre.

Plans could also include an open courtyard and public space in the £30million plus development, which includes the former Savoy Hotel and Queen’s Market buildings. 

Work is now progressing on the initial designs, costings and viability of the project, which forms part of the long term Vision for Rhyl Town Centre exhibited in the former Granite Outdoors Shop at the beginning of April, before a planning application is submitted later this year.

Graham Boase, the Council’s Corporate Director for the Economy and Public Realm, said: “We see the Queen’s Buildings as key in the regeneration of Rhyl. This site will be pivotal in linking the regeneration on the waterfront to the town centre and providing a fantastic offer in its own right.  This project can transform the town centre.

“After 12 months of working with businesses, residents and visitors to Rhyl the feedback was that the town centre needed a vibrant market space to draw people into the town centre and increase footfall. This will help support and grow businesses and our vision sees local, independent traders as central to this, creating jobs and opportunities locally.

“Parts of the buildings are in very poor condition and whilst we will try and retain as much of the original architecture as possible, there will inevitably be areas that will need to be demolished.”

The project is being funded by the Council, the Welsh Government and the European Regional Development Fund.

Ion Developments is the Council’s development partner for the 97,000 sq ft site.

The site will remain open in the coming months with current occupiers continuing to trade.

The Council recently opened the £15million SC2 attraction and other investment includes the 1891 restaurant and remodelling of the Pavilion Theatre, while private sector investment encouraged by the Council has seen the opening of two new hotels.

The Council and the previous owners have found no remaining sections of the former Little Venice attraction despite extensive work being carried out on the building over a number of years. As the project develops there will be further excavation work taking place on the site.

A pre-planning consultation will be launched later this summer offering residents and businesses the chance to have their say on the more detailed plans as part of the ongoing project consultation.

Sites are now open! Ruthin Gaol and Nantclwyd Y Dre

Ruthin Gaol and Nantclwyd Y Dre are now open for general visits until the end of September! Both sites are still open for pre-booked group tours, all year round (see ‘Plan Your Visit’ below for more details).

What’s new for 2019?

Our brand new state of the art Audio Guide system is now fully in place at both Plas Newydd and Ruthin Gaol.

With amazing voiceover work provided entirely by local people, these new tours will add a brand new layer of interactivity to the sites. The new system is easy to use, lightweight, and has been updated with brand new information about the history of these amazing places. There is also an all new interactive digital Children’s Tour to encourage younger audiences to explore and learn whilst having fun.

Both the regular and children’s tour are available in English and Welsh and there are also tours available in German and French, with more languages coming in the future.

Don’t fancy an audio guide? We also offer a free guide book in with the admission price or you can book ahead for a private tour with one of our excellent bi-lingual guides (fees apply) – great for a group of friends or a special occasion.

Upcoming Events

What’s on soon at Nantclwyd Y Dre and Ruthin Gaol:

Saturday, 25th May & Saturday 17th Aug 2019 at Nantclwyd Y Dre – Beastly bug hunt!

Come on a guided nature hunt around the historic Lord’s Garden to identify and learn about the fascinating bugs that live here. Suitable for all ages, children must be accompanied by an adult.

11am to 12pm.

Included in admission price

Thurs 30th May 2019 at Ruthin Gaol – Transported

Travel back to Victorian times and find out what it was like to be ‘transported’ to Australia as a criminal! Hear about the stories of the convicts sent from Ruthin Gaol and how they made their life in the new world.

10.30am to 12.30pm and 1pm to 3.30pm

Included in admission cost

Sat 8th June 2019 - Nature Day at Nantclwyd Y Dre

Looking for a great day out? From birds to bugs and bats, woodland and wildflower meadow - meet the people and organisations who care for our local wildlife and enjoy come a day packed full of activities and fun for all the family!

10am to 5pm

There are more events later this year so keep an eye on our websites and social media pages!

Plan Your Visit

Heritage site opening times/days vary so please visit www.denbighshire.gov.uk/heritage for individual details. Ruthin Gaol is fully accessible with lifts for wheelchairs, mobility scooters, and prams/pushchairs. Nantclwyd Y Dre is accessible to the ground floor, with interactive visual displays of upper floors. You can visit on any of the advertised opening days without booking, or book in advance for a private group tour, in English or Welsh, led by one of our fantastic guides. Please call 01824 706868 for more details.

Council tax guide goes live

‘Your Money’, our definitive guide to all things relating to council tax has now gone live online.

The Council recently set its budget for the 2019/120 financial year. In terms of council tax, this means an increase of 6.35% for Denbighshire residents (this takes into account the increase in the county council element, as well as the town/city/community council and the Police and Crime Commissioner’s precepts).

Every year, the Council produces a booklet that explains all the facts and figures behind the council tax settlement, how that money is spent and details on how to pay your council tax bills.

It gives information on business rates, small business relief discounts and what kind of support is available if residents struggle to pay their council tax.

The booklet can be found on our website.

 

Survey launched for adult carers in Denbighshire

A survey has been launched to help improve support for unpaid adult carers in Denbighshire.

One of the Council's priorities is to work with people and communities to build independence and resilience and part of this is help supporting carers.

We want to be able to improve the support we offer to carers in Denbighshire and we need your help to do that.

People who take on a caring role for their family and friends play a very important part in helping individuals to remain in their own homes for longer. We want to ensure everyone who carry out caring roles have access to high quality information, advice and assistance to promote their own personal wellbeing outcomes as well as ensuring we have clear processes and clear pathways to identify carers in need of support.

We also want to support all carers to reach their educational goals, and to continue their educational development if they wish, as well as providing access to suitable and inclusive leisure opportunities.

Across Wales 370,000 people are carers, supporting a loved one who is older, disabled or seriously ill with 11,600 of those in Denbighshire.

You can take part in the survey if you are an adult who provides regular unpaid help and support for a relative, partner or friend who is frail, or disabled, has physical or mental health issues, or substance misuse problems.

A previous survey for carers under the age of 18 has already been conducted.

The survey is available on our website.

Cleaning up the streets of Rhyl

A number of organisations teamed up in Rhyl recently as part of efforts to clean up the town’s streets.

An initiative, led by ClwydAlyn Housing and supported by the Council, Keep Wales Tidy and the local community targeted the Edward Henry Street area of Rhyl. The aim was to tackle problems with litter, environmental crime, fly-tipping and to educate the public about the need to dispose of their rubbish in the proper way.

A number of skips were filled during the event.

Laura Collins, Housing Officer with ClwydAlyn, who co-ordinated the initiative, said: “We have been doing a litter pick in the area, speaking with tenants and providing information on issues such as recycling.  We have also cleared some rubbish from their homes and cleared their yards.  It has been a case of knocking on doors and informing people what’s going on. We had a positive response with a number of residents getting involved in the actual clear up.

“It’s brilliant to see the residents taking a pride in their local area and supporting this initiative to make Rhyl a great place to live.”

Emlyn Jones, Denbighshire’s Head of Planning and Public Protection, said: “Extensive work has already gone on in West Rhyl to clean up the streets and those efforts are paying dividends.  Streets are cleaner than ever before and we are seeing a reduction in the amount of fly-tipping an rubbish being dumped on the street, and in particular in alleyways.

“There’s a lot less litter on the streets, people have been recycling more and they have been putting out waste on appropriate days.  The next stage is to try and engage with residents – we need their help to improve the streets further and to try and prevent fly-tipping from occurring.

“We also want residents to inform the Council if they know who is responsible for dumping rubbish and fly-tipping when it happens”.

Shane Hughes, a Project Officer with Keep Wales Tidy was involved in the clear-up.  He said: “We like to work in partnership with other organisations. It’s a good thing to do, working with the community, ClwydAlyn and the Council in a multi-partner approach to littering and it’s one of the best ways of approaching a problem like this when you get a number of agencies involved”.

Urdd: Preparing to welcome Wales to Denbighshire

The buzz and excitement around the Urdd National Eisteddfod’s return to the county in 2020 continues and at the Council we are getting ourselves ready to welcome the rest of Wales to our beautiful county.

The Council will have a stand at the Urdd Eisteddfod taking place in Cardiff Bay this Whitsun holiday. We will promoting places in the county to stay, as well as places to visit and things to do. We hope that people visiting the eisteddfod in the capital will think about returning to Denbighshire next year and getting their accommodation sorted as quickly as possible.

In May 2020, over 120,000 people are expected to visit the Eisteddfod for competitions and days out and we are preparing to provide a great welcome. Commmunities across Denbighshire have already collected thousands of pounds towards the cost of running the event, with hundreds of fund-raising events of all sorts being held across the county.

After the Cardiff Bay Eisteddfod, our focus will be on the proclamation ceremony which will take place in Prestatyn in October.

For further information about the Urdd, please visit their website.   

DEWIS

Dewis Cymru is the place to go if you want information or advice about your well-being – or want to know how you can help somebody else.

When we talk about your well-being, we don’t just mean your health. We mean things like where you live, how safe and secure you feel, getting out and about, and keeping in touch with family and friends.

No two people are the same and well-being means different things to different people.

We’ve got information that can help you think about what matters to you, and we’ve also got information about people and services in your area that can help you with the things that matter to you.

If you want to know more about how to use Dewis Cymru to help you work out what matters to you, click here.

How to use DEWIS Cymru

If you’ve got a service that helps people with their well-being, you can add your details to  Dewis Cymru, so that the people who you want to help and support can find you more easily. It doesn’t matter how big or small you are, or whether you’re volunteers - if you help people with their well-being, Dewis Cymru wants to know about you and about what you do, so that we can put people in touch with you!

If you want to add details of your service to Dewis Cymru, click here.

Have you considered e-billing?

Did you know that you can arrange to receive your bills through e-mail instead of having a paper version posted out. This is an effective and efficient way of issuing bills and also helps us to reduce spending on postage and packing. Once registered, you will then receive any annual, closing and adjustment council tax bills to your email address.

You'll need to log in or register your account to receive bills and notifications through your email.

Here's Rhian Hughes to tell you a bit more about it:

For more information, please visit our website.

Council to hold events for Carers Week 2019

Carers Week will be taking place between 10-16 June with a number of events being held.

Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK and this year’s theme is Getting Carers Connected in their Communities.

The Council has been working in partnership with NEWCIS and local carers to develop a new information product for carers on sources of support and local services.

A launch event is being planned to coincide with Carers Week, with more details to be announced, while third sector organisations will also be holding events across the county.

As part of its Corporate Plan, the Council has committed to support carers by improving the services that exist and ensuring young, parent and adult carers are aware of the services and support available to them.

Details of the Council’s events will be announced soon and more information on Carers Week can be found at www.carersweek.org/about-us/getting-carers-connected

Have your say!

The European Parliament Election Day is Thursday, 23 May.

Residents have until Tuesday, 7 May to register to vote if they are not already on the Electoral Register. The closing date to apply for a postal vote is Wednesday, 8 May (5.00 p.m.) and for proxy votes Wednesday, 15 May (5.00 p.m.)

Judith Greenhalgh, Chief Executive of Denbighshire County Council, said: “It is important that people have the opportunity to take part in this election and do not miss out because they are un-registered. Our experienced Electoral Services Team is available to provide advice and information to voters.

“People should not assume that they are able to vote just because just because they are registered for other things such as Council Tax. If in doubt, residents should contact the Electoral Services Team to check whether they are registered to vote.”

Registering to vote only takes a few minutes: register online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote  or telephone 01824 706000.

A full list of candidates is available on the Wales Regional Returning Officer’s website