Befriending group needs new base for its food operation Animal rights groups call for grouse moor regulation
A BEFRIENDING support group in Carmarthen is looking for a new base for its food distribution service.
Awaydays, which has run in the town for 17 years and helps people get together regularly and offers emotional and mental well-being support, has made an appeal for help in continuing to feed people weekly.
Currently it has a room at the Quay Centre every Saturday thanks to the building’s owners Carmarthenshire Water Safety Partnership (CWSP).
However, CWSP has said it needs to use the space for its work from
April. Executive chairman of Awaydays Alan Bowen said he understands the needs of CWSP and is urging anyone to come forward and help find a new home for the food service to relocate to.
“It’s not a food parcel service as such, we have a range of food laid out which we collect throughout the week and people can take what they want,” Mr Bowen said.
Anyone who can help Awaydays with a new home for its food distribution service can contact Alan Bowen on 07507 257692 or email awaydays@ mail.com
GROUSE shooting moors in Wales are being abused by “wildlife criminals” and should be subject to proper regulation, according to a group of animal protection organisations.
The group – comprising Animal Aid, the League Against
Cruel Sports, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Ban Bloodsports on Yorkshire’s Moors – has written to Environment Minister Lesley Griffiths, asking her to include a commitment to introduce licensing for grouse shooting moors in Wales in Welsh Labour’s manifesto for May’s Senedd election.
A Welsh Labour spokesman responded: “The Welsh Labour Government continues to take action on animal welfare.”
Rachel Evans, director for Wales of the Countryside Alliance, said:
“Given the almost total absence of any driven grouse shooting in Wales, it is nonsense for the authors of this letter to claim that the illegal persecution of birds of prey on grouse moors in Wales is a stain on the country’s proud reputation.”
HERITAGE buffs have been left deflated by plans to sell off an historic corn mill that forms the gateway to the “cradle of the Industrial Revolution”.
Kingsmill, a three-storey sandstone building on the outskirts of Wrexham, has been put up for auction with a minimum guide price of £165,000.
For the past thee years local campaigners have been trying to lease, then buy, the former mill to create a “hub of culture, heritage and wellbeing”.
They say the empty building, which dates back to the 18th Century, is a priceless historical asset that has significant tourism potential, standing as it does at the foot of the Clywedog Valley Trail.
The Kingsmill Development Group (KDG) said the decision by Wrexham council, which owns the mill, to sideline its proposal was a “slap in the face”.
The group also questioned the sale in view of a covenant that is attached to the building.
This was installed by Philip Yorke, former owner of Wrexham’s Erddig estate, when he donated the mill to the council.
The covenant requires the site to be kept for public amenity, specifically for cultural and heritage activities.
“It’s horrendous,” said group chairman Phil Phillips, a veteran Wrexham tour guide.
“A lot of people have worked very hard for three years to draw up a business plan, raise funding and find sponsors for our project, only to have the rug pulled from under our feet.
“We believe Wrexham council has a moral obligation to fulfil the covenant, which it has failed to do for decades.”
Under the group’s plans, the former mill was to have been revitalised as a community hub and cafe for residents from the Caia Park, Kingsmill and Hightown areas.
But Councillor Graham Rogers, who represents the Hermitage ward, in which the mill sits, said the property was costing the council money it couldn’t afford to lose.
“The building has lain idle for a long time,” he said. “It’s boarded up and it attracts undesirable activities such as vandalism and drugs.
“The council was left with little option but to offload the mill and plough the proceeds back into local services at a time when budgets are severely stretched.”
The auction will take place on March 24 with a minimum opening bid of £155,000.
KDG said it will now lobby Wrexham council to delay or stop the auction. It claimed the mill’s sale could compromise the area’s tourism offer along with millions of pounds of grant funding.
Mr Phillips said: “For many people in Caia Park the Kingsmill has been the only gateway to open countryside during the coronavirus crisis.”
Wrexham council was approached for a comment.