24 June 2008

Locals hit back at two Peblig Town Councillors

We have received numerous complaints about two Peblig Councillors who have spoken out about the Caernarfon Park. Residents on the Peblig ward told us that it was a shame that it seems that some of the problems on their own ward were overlooked by these councillors in preference to problems elsewhere.

Sharon Parry of Caernarfon told us "To be honest, I am not interested in the park, I never use it as it is so far to walk, but I am concerned about the drug abuse and binge drinking on this ward. Why do these councillors stray from their obligations and not work for the people who voted them in?" John Williams added, "All we see is councillors complaining about this that and the other, but we never see anything done. Llanbeblig is a mess and the Town Council should do more to make it a pleasant place to visit."

The Park

A few years ago it was explained by a Bangor University environment expert that the algae build up on the lake was a natural occurrence (which wasn't at all harmful to pond life). A sample was taken for analysis and proved that the water was safe.

Algae build up occurs in similar ponds all over the UK, some Royal abodes are affected by the same problem. Algae build up occurs during the summer months and is more common when the water is stagnant. The problem with the pond at the park is that there is not enough running water moving into the pond to shift it. This will again clear once the warm weather ends.

As you can see the rest of the park is quite decent. We do agree however, that money needs to be spent on up-keep and a sloution should be found to try to get the pond water moving a bit more.

Building work will soon begin on the old park house and as you can see Gwynedd Council does maintain the park to some extent by regular grass cutting and hedge trimming.

We visited the park to see if there were any other problems and this is what we found.

1. There was a heavy build-up of Algae on the surface of the water, which is the same every year.
2. Pond life was present with ducks and other birds happily swimming on the surface.
3. The grounds were very clean and grass had recently been cut.
4. There was no evidence of binge drinkers or drug taking , however there were about twelve bottles thrown in the pond at the entrance, which was unsightly and needs to be cleared.
5. There was very little evidence of vandalism.
6. The park house is in a poor state but we are informed that it has been earmarked for a full rebuild by the council.

Complaints came from residents on the Peblig ward, they stated that the two outspoken councillors should sort problems on their own patch before "interfering" on other wards. When pressed about where they meant, two areas were mentioned so we decided to investigate.

We visited both Llanbeblig Cemetery and the Segontium Rman Fort and this is what we found.

Llanbeblig Cemetery

  
Graves were even damaged close to the church itself

 
Boulders, stones, drugs and alcohol left near the entrance

 
Graffiti at the entrance to Llanbeblig Church

Following an extensive campaign by Caernarfon Online a few years ago, Llanbeblig Cemetery was cleared by Captain Harman and his soldiers. Gwynedd Councillor Tudor Owen was very involved with the project and joined in to help the soldiers clear the graves. Gwynedd Councillor Roy Owen used specialised equipment to clear the grounds of needles prior to the soldiers arrival.

We would like to point out that Roy and Tudor were not the two town councillors involved in this dispute.

What we found:

1. Needles and drug canisters were found all over the cemetery

2. "Drug dens" were found with strong evidence of hard drug use.

3. All the work that the soldiers had carried out was in vain as the overgrowth was now back to its former state.

4. Vandalism was rife and many of the graves were damaged or completely destroyed.

5. Pathways were un-passable in places and horrendous death traps were found all around.

Alcohol and needles close to a grave with evidence of a fire

Segontium Roman Fort

1. The grounds of the Roman Fort were neatly cut and access was easy.

2. Empty alcohol cans and bottles were scatted all over the site even on the walls of the fort.

3. Broken glass and evidence of drug taking were seen all over the fort walls.

4. Needles and drug canisters were found at different locations around the fort.

5. Rubbish tipping and even a sanitary towel was found on the grounds.

6. The Museum had been sprayed with Graffiti.

 
These photos show discarded bottles and cans as well as an used sanitary towel!

Cans and needle containers left on the historic walls.

The moral here? Town Councillors who live in glass houses, should not throw stones.......

We will shortly be contacting Gwynedd Councillor Tudor Owen (who wasn't one of the town councilolors in the dispute) to see what can be done about the problems highlighted. Tudor is a man of action not words.

In the meantime here is a suggestion.....

In future, instead of Town councillors going to the press for cheap publicity. How about the Town Council doing something positive?  

Why can't the Town Council pay for the work to be carried out instead of squandering money on controversial leaflets which are supposed to show what Caernarfon has to offer and then entirely leaves out Doc Fictoria???

Why can't the council throw out ridiculous requests for funding (some asking for thousands!!!) and use that money to clean up the Fort, Llanbeblig or the pond at the park?

Why can't the Town Council employ someone on a casual basis to clean up the mess shown above?

Why?

Because all that some of these councillors want to do is moan!

Time for action guys!