Beryl Blackmore Councillor for Marford & Hoseley

It's been a busy month for meetings. I am a member of Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Committee and Safeguarding Communities and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee/Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee.

It will be 12 months in May since I stood as a Welsh Liberal Democrat and gained the seat for Marford and Hoseley Ward. I hope you will agree that I am doing my best to respond to your emails and phone calls, and jobs are being sorted.

As I am the only Liberal Democrat I was noted as being non-aligned along with two other Councillors. By Christmas, I felt I needed to be more involved in meetings and gain more knowledge, generally, of the Council, so I asked to join The Independent Group which I am pleased to say I did. Since then, I feel much more involved and valued for my opinions, but I still wish to be known as a Welsh Liberal Democrat.

Work in the Marford and Hoseley Ward is still very much about getting trees and bushes cut, forgotten bins emptied, footpaths of many years being shut off and cold callers.

I am on task with all these problems, but you do need to let me know if something hasn't been done.

At the time of writing, I am visiting Llay Police station this week, The Cunliffe Centre and Erlas Gardens to see the work being done.

Erlas Gardens is a lovely place to visit, it's just past Wrexham Rugby Club. Lovely gardens to walk round, produce for sale, and a coffee shop - a great place that supports Mental Health and Wellbeing, please try and fit in a visit.

It was lovely to visit All Saints School and The Rofft School to judge their Eisteddfod school craft and art - this was something Gresford Community Council were involved in.

The Caffi/Exercise/Theatre and Visits club continues to thrive at Gresford Methodist Church Hall every Tuesday from 10:20am and Whist Club at 1pm - 3:30pm, with table games such as Dominoes from 2pm for an hour. This is on a Monday at the hall.

We are a very busy community covering Gresford and Marford with an excellent Community Agent, Ruth, who I work closely with. Everyone is welcome, so as said before, please get in touch if I can help and support you, and direct you to the right signpost.

Happy Easter to everyone in Gresford East and West.

As the evenings get longer it is great to be heading out of winter into spring, seeing the daffodils pop up, including those that I planted with children from All Saints School last year.

As always, if there are any issues that I can assist with, please do get in touch on the contact details below.

Street lighting, potholes and more

I have been busy reporting some issues with streetlights that are not currently operational. If you know of a street light that needs attention, pothole that needs filling or any other issue with pavements and roads etc, please do get in touch so that I can get them sorted.

Cold weather

The recent cold weather spell, whilst causing some disruption, was quickly dealt with by council officers and roads kept as clear as possible, with minimal impact on the recycling and refuse collections. Thank you to those residents that did raise some concerns with me and I’m glad that we could get them dealt with swiftly.

Local Development Plan

Councillors will soon be asked to vote to accept the Local Development Plan which has now been approved by Welsh Government Inspectors. This plan outlines the areas for residential, retail and industrial development. I have mixed views on many aspects of the plan and I have been clear that, whilst I understand the need for new homes in Wrexham, they need to be sustainable and meet the needs of the area.

With the cancellation of major road improvements into Wrexham by the Welsh Government, much of the plan brings additional pressures to the local area that are not currently addressed. Alongside the planned building on areas known for flooding in Rossett, there is still much for me to consider. I would appreciate if you have any comments on the Local Development Plan, please do email me on jeremy.kent@wrexham.gov.uk

A483 resurfacing

At the time of writing, I have just received the notification that the works are on track and that they will be completed early April, in fact as this gets delivered it could already have been finished. I appreciate that the works by the Welsh Trunk Road Agency have been disruptive, but hopefully there should be no need for such large scale works for some time. As long as of course, the road isn’t bumpy.

As always, if you have anything you wish to raise with me, then please do not hesitate to contact me.