Chirk North Election Candidates Question and Answer

The letters we sent! Wrexham.com was the only media involved in the town to go to this effort.

We here at Wrexham.com sent written letters to all 130 odd candidates in the local Wrexham Council elections this year, and here are the replies! Where there is no reply below from a candidate, we did not receive one before the week of the 23rd April. If you are a candidate or voter reading this join in the debate or let us know what you think in our Wrexham Forums!

Chirk North (1 seat)
Hemmings – Welsh Labour (answered below)
Roberts – Independent

Frank Hemmings

1 – Which party do you align yourself with, and why? (Or if non aligned, why not?)

Labour / Llafur

2 – What will be your first personal priority or aim if you were elected?

My priority would be to ensure that Chirk gets the best education outcomes in Wrexham. Firstly the restoration of the free transport to Dinas Bran for Chirk students and secondly, that the merger of the Infants and Junior schools, if given the go ahead, goes as smoothly as possible with no adverse effect on the children.

3 – Why do you personally want to be a councillor when so often you just get blamed for problems beyond your control?

Working to help others has its own rewards;  yes you get criticised but that is just part of the job.

4 – Many politicians and local councillors are accused of bring out of touch with voters. What will you do to ensure you stay ‘in touch’?

We’ve already started regular newsletters and the feedback people are giving us is keeping us in touch with those on the ground. It will be my intention to hold surgeries on a regular basis to enable residents to come and talk to me as well as being on the end of a telephone.

5 – How do you plan to tackle or prevent anti-social behaviour in your local area?

So often we here that young people are just hanging around on street corners with little or nothing todo. We need to provide better play facilities and more effective youth services so that we engage with the the disaffected groups. Policing is not enough on its own.

6 – Do you think any local authority has the means to improve economic and job opportunities? And if you do, what do you think the priority actions should be?

I do believe the Local Authority can improve the local economy. Our local Labour manifesto says, “we will encourage local firms to apply for local contracts to create more local jobs.” We will also work with local business to create more apprentices to ensure that we have a skilled workforce to offer to incoming businesses.

7 – What do you think has been the best decision taken by the council in the last four years?

One of the best council decisions was to introduce its recycling policy. Living next to a landfill site makes you realise the impact rubbish has on the environment.

8 – What do you think has been the worst decision taken by the council in the last four years?

The removal of free school transport to a parents school of choice has to be one of the mistakes of the current Liberal Independent coalition.

9 – What is your favourite place to visit or favourite thing to do in the local area?

From my home I can see the castle in Chirk and the aqueduct at Trevor, I can walk along the canal with my wife and our dog to Fron and over the Dee, or jump in the car for a wander around the castle. What more could you ask for.

10 – If you had to pick your best memory connected to Wrexham, what would it be?

When I first came to Chirk looking for a home we looked at various houses, but when we came to my village we stopped for a while and just soaked in the quiet and peacefulness of the area, we just had to make this home.