Your Town, Your Site

Memories wanted as Rhyl fair set to close

Posted by Dan Owen on August 20, 2007 11:38 AM

ONE of North Wales’ most-visited landmarks will close for good in two weeks to make way for an £85m shopping and housing development.
Rhyl funfair closes after 53 years on September 2, in what is a sad milestone for the resort.
The Daily Post will mark the occasion with a special commemorative section in the days before its closure.
We will also be offering a special deal to allow people to make the most of the fair’s final day.
Thousands of people across North Wales – and beyond – still hold dear memories of days out to the fair in Rhyl.
So we want to hear your stories, and to know why a visit to the fair in Rhyl was important to you, your friends and your family.
What were your particular memories, which characters do you recall from your visits, and why was Rhyl different from any other visit to the seaside?
We are asking for any old photos you may have from your days out to Rhyl, so they can be included in a nostalgic feature.
And we are also asking for you to send in a description of around 200 words about what the fair meant to you.
Plans for the redevelopment, the biggest single building project Rhyl has seen in decades, were approved in May.
The Ocean Plaza scheme will see a hotel, restaurants, flats and shops built on the current Ocean Beach site.
Ocean Beach funfair, previously made up of travelling rides, was made a permanent fixture in 1954.
Its very first rides included the gallopers, speedway cars, rocket planes and dodgems.
Joe Trigg, marketing manager with owners Rhyl Amusements, said: “We know there is not another amusement park like this.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people who have a link to this fair, and there are a lot of memories connected to this place.
“But, sadly, times change. And Rhyl has changed too.”
SEND your photos and stories of Rhyl fair – up to around 200 words – to Roland Hughes, Daily Post, PO Box 202, Vale Rd, Llandudno Junction or to rolandhughes@dailypost.co.uk before Monday, August 27.
Please include a return address on any print photographs submitted to we can return them by post and a full name and telephone number should we need to contact you.
Video clips can also be submitted, but only in digital format.

Cabbie slashed in Rhyl attack

Posted by Dan Owen on August 8, 2007 3:37 PM

A TAXI driver needed stitches after being slashed across the face in a late-night attack.
The taxi driver was in the Ffordd Las area of Rhyl on Friday night. He was slashed across the face and taken to hospital with serious facial injuries after the 11.30pm assault.
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of wounding and released on police bail.
Anyone with information is asked to contact North Wales Police on 0845 607 1001 (Welsh language) 0845 607 1002 (English) or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Survey shows Rhyl is improving

Posted by Dan Owen on August 8, 2007 3:35 PM

QUALITY of life for residents and businesses in Rhyl has increased substantially, according to a new survey.
Research on people’s opinions of the town was carried out in 2005 as part of the Rhyl Going Forward project.
Now new research two years on has found a marked change in people’s attitudes.
On-street interviews were conducted with 395 residents, and 250 businesses or community groups were interviewed by phone.
The survey found a 34% increase in people feeling safe in Rhyl, 45% more people thought Rhyl looked cleaner and 22% more people felt housing stock had improved. Similarly, there was a 9% increase in long-established businesses, and 10% fewer businesses felt they could not recruit the kind of staff they wanted.
Denbighshire County Council leader Rhiannon Hughes said: “These results reflect the tremendous amount of work that has gone on in Rhyl to improve the quality of life for local residents.
“Generally, there is a better perception of the town compared with the figures of two years ago and this is very encouraging.
“This is a very exciting time for the people of Rhyl and we are delighted to be working with our partners to improve facilities and the general environment in the town.”
Ieuan Wyn Jones, Deputy First Minister and the Minister for the Economy and Transport, said: “I’m delighted that all the hard work which the Assembly Government and its partners in the Rhyl Pact have put into the regeneration of Rhyl is beginning to bear fruit.
“Rhyl is improving and that confidence is beginning to grow in the town’s future.
“It’s important that we now continue working through the pact to tackle the key issues of poor housing and the higher than average economic inactivity rates.
“The key to this will be attracting further private sector investment to complement and add value to the significant public investment already being made in Rhyl.”

Rhyl town centre faces huge redevelopment

Posted by Dan Owen on August 8, 2007 3:32 PM

LARGE sections of Rhyl have been secretly snapped up by the Assembly to help force through a major redevelopment.
A large part of central Rhyl could be demolished and rebuilt as part of the town’s biggest-ever revamp.
The Daily Post can reveal that seven shops or houses have been purchased by the Welsh Assembly Government along two streets.
Another nine buildings have been snapped up by Compulsory Purchase Orders – with part of 12 other properties also taken through CPO.
Campaigners against the redevelopment say the moves highlight the speed at which the WAG is determined to proceed with the plan.
A report by the WAG, and backed by Denbighshire in June, recommended a large area of central Rhyl be developed en masse.
Four blocks of properties have been earmarked for redevelopment. One of them – the West Parade, High Street, Queen Street and Sussex Street block – makes up a massive part of the upper town centre.
Two other blocks take in 50 to 57 West Parade and 85 to 90 West Parade, with the West Parade block from Sydenham Avenue to Sandringham Avenue also highlighted for rebuilding.
The Daily Post can now reveal that the WAG has already snapped up numbers 49, 51, 55, 57, 59 and 61 Queen Street, as well as 87 West Parade.
Assembly chiefs have also used Compulsory Purchase Orders to buy numbers 50 to 53, 55 and 56, and 57, West Parade, as well as six other small properties or parts of properties.
A WAG spokesman also confirmed they are in negotiating to buy, through CPO, 54 West Parade and parts of Aquarium Street.
The news came as a shock to those campaigning to stop the development, with many in Rhyl believing the plan was still some way off.
Steve Francis and wife Jo have started a petition to get the Queen’s Arcade building listed, claiming it is of historical importance.
Mr Francis said: “We knew they had gone for some properties already, but didn’t know it was so many.
“They are absolutely determined to get this through quickly. We believe they are not going to listen to any objections – I don’t think they care what the Average Joe thinks.
“We had some idea they were pressing ahead and that this was going on, but we had no proof they were pushing for it so hard.
“I think it will reach a point where we end up chaining ourselves to the building to physically stop this going ahead.”

Five rescued off Rhyl beach

Posted by Dan Owen on July 31, 2007 11:47 AM

A GROUP of five - including children - have been saved from drowning after going for a walk off the beach at Rhyl.

The group were spotted by crew at Rhyl lifeboat station.

A coastguard spokesman said: "They were holidaymakers. They were cut off by the tide. Obviously it is a very hazardous place."

An inshore lifeboat crew was immediately sent out to rescue the five and two dogs and brought them back safely to the shore at about 9.45am.

Free gym day pass

Posted by Dan Owen on July 24, 2007 4:32 PM

Check out the Daily Post tomorrow and get your free day pass to the Bodyz and Everybodyz gym and fitness suites in Prestatyn and Rhyl

Dad faces jail after hitting baby with remote

Posted by Dan Owen on July 13, 2007 1:49 PM

A MAN who struck a two-month-old baby on the head with a remote control was warned he could be jailed yesterday.
Jayson Vann threw the remote control in a temper while calling at his ex-partner’s home in Rhyl, where there were two women visitors.
The remote control struck the infant on the head.
Vann then attacked Kirsty Wild, the woman cradling the baby, because she was having a relationship with his sister.
Vann was found guilty at Prestatyn Magistrates’ Court of common assault on the baby and Ms Wild.
He will be sentenced on August 13, the day after he is due to join the Army.
The court heard that a row broke out when Vann, 27, visited his ex-partner’s house on Rhyl’s Coast Road on January 14.
Vann went to collect his two children and was unhappy to find Rebecca Greener there with her two-month-old son called Oliver.
Oliver was being cradled by Ms Wild, who was having a relationship with Vann’s sister.
Ms Greener said Vann shouted at Ms Wild to leave but he punched her and then threw the remote control at her, hitting Oliver on the head.
Ms Greener said after she had taken Oliver away, Vann held down Ms Wild by her hair and punched her three times in the stomach, then once in the face, splitting her lip.
“It was like a horrible film, watching somebody being beaten up,” said Ms Greener.
The police and paramedics were called, and Oliver was taken to hospital with a lump on his head. He was not kept in and received no treatment.
Vann, who denied assaulting Oliver and Ms Wild, said he had never got on well with Ms Greener as he blamed her for encouraging his ex-partner to go clubbing when he wanted more of a family life.
He also said he felt his sister’s character had changed for the worse since becoming friendly with Ms Wild, causing anguish to their mother.
For that reason, he said, he was concerned about those two women being in the house with his children.
“I was looking after the welfare of my children and feared for their safety,” he said.
Vann, of Greenfield Street, Rhyl, denied throwing the remote control or punching Ms Wild, claiming that she had scratched him across the chest after refusing several times to leave the house.
Alex Fitzgerald, defending, said it was inconceivable that a baby hit by a remote control thrown from close range should have no sign of injury and that when paramedics arrived Ms Greener let them concentrate on Ms Wild’s injuries.
Chairman David Harrison, finding Vann guilty on both charges, said that although there were discrepancies in Ms Greener’s evidence they were only minor, and the magistrates accepted it in its entirety.
Adjourning the case until August 13 for a pre-sentence report, he warned: “Custody is not being ruled out.”

Work on offshore wind farm to begin within weeks

Posted by Dan Owen on July 13, 2007 1:47 PM

WORK on building a major new wind farm with 25 turbines off the North Wales coast is to start in a matter of weeks.
Construction on the Rhyl Flats site is to begin before the end of the month.
The work of erecting the turbines themselves is not expected to begin until next spring, with the project completed by July 2009.
More than 150 jobs will be created in the construction phase with another 12 staff employed to run the wind farm once it is complete.
Planning permission for the development off the coast of Abergele was granted four years ago. Plans for the turbines on Rhyl Flats were announced in March 2002, at the same time permission for the North Hoyle wind farm off Prestatyn was granted.
The wind farm will produce enough electricity to supply around 61,000 homes
And although it will have five fewer turbines than nearby North Hoyle, Rhyl Flats will still produce 50% more electricity per year than its neighbour.
Kevin McCullough, managing director of developer npower renewables, said: “We recognise that some people may have concerns and that others are simply interested in what is happening at various stages of the works.
“As such, we are keen to ensure that the relevant information is made available at the appropriate times and that people have the opportunity to contact us should they wish to do so.”
Rocks from Penrhyn Slate Quarry near Bethesda will be laid on the sea bed at the turbines site this month, a project which will take up to two months to complete. The first turbines will be complted by April 2008.
Anyone with comments or queries about the Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm project can e-mail rhylflats@npower- renewables. com or telephone Judith Roberts on 0151 648 0896.
A decision on whether to build a further 250 wind turbines off Llandudno is due later this year.

Hulse is not afraid to disappoint

Posted by Dan Owen on July 13, 2007 1:44 PM

RHYL manager John Hulse has warned that there will be a lot of disappointed players when he names his side to face nine-times Finnish champions FC Haka in the first qualifying round of the Uefa Cup at Belle Vue next Thursday.
“We have built up two quality sides here with players who are stronger and fitter than any I have ever known before,” said the Rhyl manager.
“They train hard, prepare hard and are really keen to make their mark but there isn’t room for them all which is why I know there’ll be some very disappointed faces.”
Hulse gives his contenders a final run-out in tomorrow’s pre-season friendly against West Kirby at Marine Park having already won their two other warm-up matches against Surrey side Sutton Common 7-1 and Mynydd Isa away 2-1.
“We are grateful to Mynydd Isa for fitting us in at short notice and really I could have done with a few more games ahead of next Thursday,” he said.
“We have this problem every year and it’s the price we have to pay for being in Europe and having our season starting that much earlier than all the others. Let’s hope it’s a problem we have again next year.”

Uefa Cup tickets

Posted by Rhyl FC on July 5, 2007 11:52 AM

Uefa Cup tickets will be on sale at The Pavilion Theatre or Rhyl FC club shop w/c 9th July.
Prices :-
Adult - £10
Senior Citizen - £6
Child U14 - £3

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