A CENTRE for blind veterans in Llandudno has helped to deliver food to residents. Blind Veterans UK’s training and rehabilitation centre has been supporting the Llanfairfechan Foodbank since December on a weekly basis. The food bank is a community led organisation which helps many families and individuals in the local area and, as for many organisations, the Covid-19 pandemic has put a strain on resources. Mike Priestley, Marl ward county councillor and volunteer transport driver for Blind Veterans UK, has been delivering food out to the local community as part of the partnership. “I would like to thank everyone at Blind Veterans for their support and giving me the opportunity to help some of our residents during these very difficult times, he said.
Building work is set to begin next week on a multi-million pound Civil Engineering Training Centre at Lakes College. In a major boost for the scheme, the Department for Education awarded £1.4million for the project. This will be added to £900,000 from Cumbria LEP’s Growth Deal fund, and £550,000 of college funds. The centre, earmarked for land opposite the college’s main entrance at Lillyhall, Workington, is due to open its doors to the first students next September – the same time the college launches its new T Level courses, which are the equivalent to three A Levels. College principal Chris Nattress said: “I’m thrilled that we are commencing the construction of our Civil Engineering Training Centre, and have appointed a local contractor in Story Contracting to work with us.
DEGANWY residents have won a “David v Goliath” battle to reopen a railway crossing that was shut for 10 years. The 20-foot crossing at the bottom of Ty Mawr Road leads to the Coastal Path towards Conwy and prevents residents having to walk an extra half-an-hour over a busy flyover. It was closed without notice by Network Rail in 2011 when officers removed signage and locked the entrance gate. The path is understood to have been a right of way for centuries, used by fisherman and to transport grain before the railway line was built. A campaign was launched by residents with Marl ward county councillor Mike Priestley and then-MP for Aberconwy, Guto Bebb.
BBC News
Published
image captionThe stretch of footpath over the railway line was closed in 2011
Residents have won a 10-year battle to reopen a section of coastal footpath crossing a rail line in a north Wales town.
The path at Deganwy, near Conwy, cut across the section of track linking the line to Llandudno.
It was closed by Network Rail in 2011, but local campaigners and politicians launched a campaign to reopen it, which went to the High Court.
Network Rail said it is considering its next steps.
The case went to the High Court after an initial public inquiry ruled in the residents favour.
Mike Priestley, Independent Conwy county councillor
Picture: CCBC - clear for use by all partners A councillor who stuck up for a colleague found out he was losing his Labour membership via an email bearing the wrong name – then had party subs taken from his bank the day after. Long-standing councillor Mike Priestley received an email saying he couldn’t stay in the Labour party if he didn’t rejoin Conwy county council’s Labour group. Both he and Cllr Ronnie Hughes quit the group after party colleague Cllr Penny Andow was ousted from a prestigious committee using a “bingo machine”.