Message from the Leader and Chief Executive
As the season of goodwill is upon us, and as we prepare to celebrate this special time of year with our friends and family, we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
Our budgets remain very challenging for the Council, as it does for all Councils. To respond to those budget pressures, we have had to find savings in some services which we realise hasn’t been easy for anyone. We are working really hard to reduce the impact of those savings on our residents and communities. On the positive side, we have great communities throughout Denbighshire and we would like to thank you for the support you provide to our vulnerable residents and for making our special communities what they are.
We would also like to acknowledge that the new waste/recycling service roll-out this year didn’t go according to plan which caused some distress for a number of our residents. We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this has caused. We have made the necessary improvements and the service is now predominantly working as we want it. We remain committed to the new system as it improves our recycling rates and the quality of the recycling materials and we would like to thank our residents for working with us to improve the way we deal with the significant volumes of waste we all generate.
We hope that over the festive period you will be able to find time to relax, and enjoy all that our County offers. With everything going on in the world we know how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful, peaceful part of it.
We look forward to continuing to work with our communities in the new year and on behalf of all our Councillors and staff at the Council, we hope you have a prosperous, peaceful and happy new year.
Christmas and New Year information
There is information about our services over the Christmas and New Year period on our website:
- Bins and recycling to include collection dates
- Find out information about disposing or recycling Christmas trees
- Free parking after 3pm
- Library opening hours and how you can join the online library
- Find our when schools break up for Christmas and when they will be back in the New Year
- Opening and closing time information for our services and buildings over the Christmas and New Year period, to include:
- Adult Social Care and Homelessness Support Services
- Archives
- Business Rates
- Community Resilience
- Contact Centre and Out of Hours Emergency Service
- Council Tax
- Denbighshire Housing
- Education Support
- Housing Benefits
- Libraries and One Stop Shops
- Nantclwyd y Dre
- Passenger Transport
- Plas Newydd, Llangollen
- Public Relations
- Recycling and Waste Parks
- Rhyl Register Office
- Rhyl Harbour
- Ruthin Registration Office
- Tourism
- Working Denbighshire
- Youth Services
Council Leader pays tribute to community spirit during Storm Darragh
Denbighshire County Council’s Leader, Councillor Jason McLellan, has thanked and praised residents, staff, contractors and volunteers following the extreme weather which hit the County over the weekend.
Councillor Jason McLellan said:
“Many Denbighshire residents faced a very difficult time over this weekend, with Storm Darragh bringing strong winds and heavy rain throughout the county.
As a result of this weather, some people witnessed power cuts and structural damage to their property.
Despite the impact of this latest storm, once again, Denbighshire residents’ community spirit has shone through the inclement weather, with many residents going the extra mile to help each other.
I’d like to thank them for their co-operation this weekend, as well as all of the volunteers, staff and contractors who worked hard to assist during the extreme weather.”
The Council experienced a surge in demand during Storm Darragh, and between 10:30pm on Friday 6th and 8am on Sunday 8th, over 150 reports were logged. Some of these reports covered a wide range of issues, including, 59 reports of fallen trees and 30 reports of flooding. A further 23 reports included damage to buildings and utility connections.
Additional out of hours teams were deployed over the weekend in anticipation of the storm, and were supported by external contractors for specialist works such as tree clearance, traffic management and road closures, where this was deemed necessary.
The out of hours teams were also supported by support service colleagues, who provided assistance with the co-ordination and planning of resources, along with issue of regular updates.
Councillor Julie Matthews, Deputy Leader of the Council, and Lead Member for Corporate Strategy, Policy and Equalities said:
“I would like to thank the tireless work of Council Officers over this past weekend, some of whom have worked very long hours, helping residents during some of the worst parts of Storm Darragh.
Now that this storm has passed, we are now in the recovery phase, and Officers will continue to work hard to help those residents who have been impacted the most.”
Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead member for Environment and Transport said:
“Many of our roads along our network were impacted during Storm Darragh over this past weekend. We saw issues with fallen trees, debris and power cables.
Thanks to the swift action of our out of hours teams, along with a multi-agency approach, many of these issues were quickly dealt with, and we saw a number of our roads reopened and cleared.”
It's time to have your say!
The council’s Stakeholder Survey for 2024 to 2025 is up and running.
We want to know what Denbighshire residents, businesses, staff, elected members and partners think of the work we are doing here at the council. We would be grateful if you gave a little of your time to complete the survey The survey is a great opportunity for the council to understand and learn from what people think so we hope you’ll help us by answering a few questions. It’s also a great way for you to find out more about the themes that make up the council’s current Corporate Plan.
For more information and for sharing, please visit our website.
Celebrating 10 years of community support and homelessness prevention in Denbighshire
A vibrant centre providing important services and preventing homelessness in Denbighshire, is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
HWB Dinbych is a community hub in Denbigh which includes Yr Hafod supported housing. They are both run by Grŵp Cynefin and launched when the housing association was founded, 10 years ago.
To mark the milestone, Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant, visited the facility on Thursday 28 November. She met Grŵp Cynefin staff, and heard all about the range of vital services provided and meet those who have benefitted from the services available.
They include some former residents of Yr Hafod homelessness facility whose lives were transformed by the support available.
Yr Hafod is a supported housing project for young people, located within the HWB Dinbych building. The homelessness prevention services come under Gorwel, a unit within Grŵp Cynefin dedicated to supporting those facing homelessness in north Wales.
Yr Hafod has been offering support to young people aged 16-25 facing homelessness in Denbighshire for the past decade. It offers six high-quality self-contained apartments and 24-hour support, helping residents develop tenancy management skills and access employment opportunities.
HWB Dinbych is a partnership between Grŵp Cynefin, Denbigh Youth Project, Coleg Llandrillo and Denbighshire Youth Services. It provides educational, employment, and well-being opportunities, including training courses, workshops, and support for self-employment initiatives. It also hosts various community activities, such as fitness classes, youth clubs, and arts and crafts sessions.
Mel Evans, Chief Executive of Grŵp Cynefin, says:
“HWB Dinbych and Yr Hafod have both made a real impact in the local community. HWB Dinbych is a dynamic, vibrant centre that provides support, resources, and education to people of all ages and backgrounds. It offers a welcome, hope, and positive action in a meaningful, long-term way.
“The dedicated and hard-working teams at Yr Hafod and HWB Dinbych are a testament to Grŵp Cynefin’s commitment to creating safe and supportive environments for our tenants and customers. Their success over the past decade highlights the significant positive impact we can achieve in our communities.”
Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant said:
“I’m looking forward to marking the hard work and dedication of everyone involved with these two important services and seeing how Welsh Government funding to end youth homelessness supports young people in Denbighshire to live independently.”