"There's nothing wrong with Rhyl, it's the people who live in it!" This is an opinion that I hear regularly.
Governments come and go, councils come and go, and yet difficulties in Rhyl West continue. The ward is still being targeted by resettlement agencies as a destination for addicts, offenders, misfits and problem families from other places – mainly (but by no means entirely) from the English cities.
Advantages of new green space in Aquarium Street area have been offset by the cramming in of new flats around it – guaranteeing that the density of population remains uncomfortably high. The photo above was taken a few days ago from my kitchen window showing a scene at the back of Pennaf/Clwyd Alyn flats in Wellington Road.
Pennaf/Clwyd Alyn has a big hand in the new flats, and owns the flats for the elderly where I live and masses of other properties in Rhyl and across North Wales, and is classified by Welsh Government as a ‘social landlord’.
Recently the company borrowed £250 million from the private sector. £160 million is to be used for repaying bank loans and other existing commitments. The remainder is for future developments.
See story in Daily Post:
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/business/business-news/housing-group-gets-250m-investment-13152882?
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THU 13th JUL 2017 UPDATE: When the photo above was posted, the yard was already scheduled for clearance. A day or two later it was indeed cleared but by yesterday looked like this:
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WED 3rd JAN 2018 UPDATE: Despite occasional clearances the yard is still an eyesore and a potential health hazard.
Towards the end of 2017, Pennaf/Clwyd Alyn announced that it had sacked its caretakers. This seemed an odd decision by a company that was letting upstairs flats to elderly people who might well need a hand with something or other from time to time.
A money-saving measure no doubt.
Meanwhile came news that Graham Worthington, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pennaf Housing Group was retiring. The job vacancy was advertised at a basic salary of £100,000 a year.
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| Graham Worthington, retiring CEO Pennaf Housing Group |
FRI 12th OCT 2018 UPDATE: The new CEO is Clare Budden (pictured below in the latest Clwyd Alyn newsletter to residents).
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| Clare Budden, new CEO Pennaf Housing Group |
Clare Budden was previously one of the chief officers at
Flintshire County Council. She is local to this northeast corner of Wales and –
surprisingly – is Welsh.
In the same newsletter are mugshots of Clwyd Alyn’s housing
officers and their team leaders; some of these been in place for many years. Out of the 11 people pictured only one is
male. I wonder why the imbalance.
Well, the new CEO is said to be passionate about inequality so perhaps she will look into the matter.
Well, the new CEO is said to be passionate about inequality so perhaps she will look into the matter.
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