Torfaen news review of 2004 (From Free Press Series)

Torfaen news review of 2004

Torfaen news review of 2004

JANUARY

PUT AWAY those Christmas pies. A new study showed Torfaen to be one of the least healthy places in Britain. The Free Press launched the Get Torfaen Fit campaign as an antidote.

EDUCATION chiefs voted to look again at sites for the £21 million superschool after they admitted support for the Riverside site was not strong as they'd expected.

VANDALS in Trevethin started the year the way they meant to go on when they drove a stolen car around greens at Pontypool Golf Club and then burnt it out.

FEBRUARY

GALES caused the high-tech tennis dome at Cwmbran Tennis Club to collapse, causing an estimated £150,000 of damage. The wet weather and winds caused a run on wellies at local shoe shops, causing them to sell out.

EXTRA police officers were promised for Torfaen. In a move to address public concerns about local policing, 11 new ward officers were to be taken on.

MARCH

£68 per council taxpayer. That was the increase facing residents as the council met to set its new rate, voting for an 8.3 per cent increase.

A TRADING Standards investigation discovered almost a third of shopkeepers in Torfaen were willing to sell alcohol to obviously underage customers. Several shopkeepers were taken to court for the offences.

FOLLY - a two-and-a-half-feet tall Eagle Owl - was found sitting on a fence near the Folly Tower in Pontypool Park. A call for her owner to come forward resulted in Folly being reunited with him.

IT WAS the end of an era when the old Panteg Steelworks, now AvestaPolarit, shut down for good. The closure marked the end of 130 years of steelmaking on the site.

APRIL

THE VALLEY was sent into shock by the death of teenager Hayley Williams who died after falling from a ride at Oakwood Park, Pembrokeshire.

WE asked you to send get-well cards to Emma George, the Garndiffaith nine-year-old who was recovering from a cancer op. You responded in great style, sending in whole armfuls of colourful cards which we delivered to Emma.

TREVETHIN councillors declared war on their own cabinet because they believed cabinet members planned to close Trevethin school. Cllrs John Marshall and Lewis Jones pledged to fight to keep it open.

A SCHEME to give free condoms to children as young as 13 came in for criticism. Torfaen's C-Card scheme was criticised for encouraging promiscuity.

MAY

ALCOHOL abuse in Torfaen had reached 'epidemic levels'. Dave Jeremiah, community safety manager for Torfaen, was introducing new powers for police to confiscate alcohol from youngsters in a bid to stop underage alcohol abuse.

WHAM! Radio was the talk of Blaenavon. The town's very own community radio station went live for what turned out to be a successful 28-day test.

A PONTYPOOL former church lay reader Darren Jenkins admitted sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy. Jenkins, aged 27, of Hanbury Road, Pontnew-ynydd, was sentenced to three years in jail, although he would only have to be in prison for nine months.

PLANS for a new 1,200-home village at Mamhilad were unveiled. The plan, from Newport-based Johnsey Estates, was drawn up in conjunction with environmental groups and was seen as a rival to the controversial South Sebastopol plan.

JUNE

87-YEAR-OLD golfer Lilian Paterson scored a hole-in-one at Pontypool Golf Club. The Pontypool pensioner had been playing for 32 years - but that was her first hole-in-one.

THE LABOUR party majority on Torfaen council was cut by the rise of the independents at the council elections. Labour lost five seats but still maintained an unassailable majority, holding on to 34 out of the 44 seats.

CROESYCEILIOG councillor Sarah Richards, known to her constituents as 'Mrs Labour Party', was given an MBE.

IT WAS second time unlucky for promoter Denno Nash. His One Big Day rock festival in Talywain had to be called off because of torrential rain. The previous year a similar festival he planned had to be called off because of security issues.

BLAENAVON had its first mayor for 50 years. Town councillor Mark Goodwin donned the chains of office in a move designed to boost the town's tourist profile.

JULY

JULY saw the battle to save Trevethin school step up a gear and the campaign began in earnest as supporters drew up their battle plans. The newly formed CAT group were preparing to lobby the National Assembly.

PLANNERS gave the go-ahead to a controversial development at South Sebastopol for the construction of 1,200 new homes. Planners voted by 23 votes to 17 in favour of the development - an unpopular decision which provoked demonstrations.

TREVETHIN carnival produced a party atmosphere and initial downpours gave way to sunshine to the delight of the organisers.

YOUNG heroes saved 11-year-old Emma Williams, from Pontnewynydd after she fell into a river. Friends Scott Crowley and Daniel Clutterbuck courageously helped her out. Later in the year they were commended for their bravery by the mayor of Torfaen.

AUGUST

COUNCILLORS and residents of Torfaen paid their final farewells to former Council leader Councillor Brian Smith, who died after a long battle against cancer. He led Torfaen council for over 20 years and was a well known man in the community, well loved and still truly missed.

A DRINKING BAN came into force in Cwmbran town centre on August 24. Police gained powers to confiscate alcohol from anyone drinking in specific areas. It was part of a move to curb anti-social behaviour.

BLAENAVON was given a bite of the Big Apple, when it was put on the map in an American travel magazine. American author Val Waterhouse pulls no punches and sells the town as "the place to go for adventurous travellers."

TORFAEN sixth formers smashed all previous records in achieving the highest ever A-Level pass rates. The number of students passing their exams reached an astronomical 98 percent.

SEPTEMBER

LIKE their older peers, Torfaen's GCSE students basked in glory as their results reached an all-time high, with many schools in the area outperforming their previous years' results.

THE JAZZ festival drew crowds from miles around for the fifth annual event, which proved to be the most successful to date. From the moment the irresistible Jive Aces took the stage everyone knew it was going to be great. Congratulations to Torfaen Jazz Society and Torfaen council who made it happen.

PONTYPOOL saw the biggest protest march since the miners' strike when hundreds of people turned out in support of Trevethin Community School on September 13.

A NEW Tesco store opened and the first customers in were given free champagne to welcome them. The store opened after many years of planning and councillors were optimistic that the store would encourage more people to visit the town centre.

CHILDCARE in Torfaen got a £1million boost to build an Integrated Children's centre. Work was due to start at the end of this year and be completed by mid-2005.

OCTOBER

CWMBRAN swimming hero Gareth Duke returned from the Paralympics with a Gold medal and a bronze medal. He said: "It was the proudest moment of my life."

TORFAEN teenagers put on a show against the perils of drug and alcohol abuse. Members of Musical Youth staged an evening of dance and song to illustrate the dangers of addiction.

A SECOND windfarm was proposed for the mountains of north Torfaen. Another proposed scheme for Blaenavon is due to be determined by Blaenau Gwent council in the new year. The new proposal will depend on those results.

TREVETHIN community was shocked by the tragic death of father Shane Powell, whose girlfriend Kerry was expecting their first child together. He was killed as the car he was travelling in plunged into a quarry. An investigation into his death and the deaths of the three other people in the car is on-going.

NOVEMBER

YOUNGSTERS were asked for their views of the future of Torfaen as part of a plan to deliver effective health, police and civic services over the next 20 years. The Big Vision culminated in a high-tech and high-stress image of the future.

THE REGENERATION of Pontypool town centre was beginning to take shape with the opening of Crane Street and the New Tesco Store meaning more choice and fewer empty shops for consumers.

PONTYPOOL hit a spate of attacks from vandals and yobs in the latter part of November. Trevethin councillors called for help after burnt out cars and intimidating behaviour from youngsters caused havoc. The following week the Free Press reported that arson was suspected at the fire which gutted an empty shop on Osborne Road.

CROWfm was launched and followed the previous success of WHAM radio to become Cwmbran's own station. The live shows went through the whole gamut of music, chat, news and discussion for a 28-day trial period which ended on Christmas Eve.

DECEMBER

HEARTS went out to young Emma George, who suffered another setback in her bid to beat long-term sickness. Earlier in the year hundreds of Free Press readers sent cards to Emma as a show of moral support. We would like to wish her well for the coming year.

NINE new police officers began pounding the streets of Torfaen in December. Each officer has a dedicated area to patrol and are committed to the area for three years.

RESIDENTS were warned that a 9.9 percent council tax rise and cuts in services could be introduced to balance the council's budget for 2005/06.

TORFAEN Council welcomed a new boss as Alison Ward became the new Chief Executive. She came with an aim to bring the council closer to its people and to give them value for their taxes. She said: "It's all about bringing the council closer to its communities and customers."

TORFAEN council decided to proceed with consultation meetings that could lead to the closure of three schools in the borough. The meetings, due to start next Spring, could see the closure of Brookfield school in Cwmbran, Pentwyn and Ponthir by July 2006. The shake-up comes as part of the re-organisation of Primary education.