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DECEMBER 2004
Oakdale gets Crispier
More good news for the village comes with the announcement from
Sirhowy Valley Foods that it is to move its production of Real Crisps
from its present location in Newport to a new factory in Oakdale.
The factory is more than six times the size of its present facility.
The new 65,000 sq ft factory, which will open in March 2005, will help the company
meet an anticipated 50% rise in turnover in the current year.
In addition to accommodating business growth, the new site will provide space for its
management, administration and logistics operations.
As a result of the move, the company will consolidate its existing workforce,
but will also be looking to recruit, particularly within research and development and
other food sciences.
Real Crisps are available at all Starbucks outlets, Moto service stations and
are distributed nationwide by Brakes wholesalers.
Founder John Mudd said, "My aim is to make Real Crisps the number one brand in the
hand-cooked crisps market in five years, and our success to date is proof that we
have the product and capabilities to deliver on this."
NOVEMBER 2004
SIRHOWY ENTERPRISE WAY - Statement by COSTAIN
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT UPDATE 17/11/2004
**** STOP PRESS ****
PENMAEN ROAD
=========================
Works are currently taking place on Penmaen Road to divert BT cables in
preparation for the new Woodfieldside Roundabout.
The works require automatic traffic signals (ATS), both two and three way
sequence to enable traffic to safely negotiate Penmaen Road and Park Terrace.
The above works are likely to continue until early in the New Year when the
second phase (Roundabout Construction) will commence.
THE RHIW
=========================
The Rhiw is currently closed to allow our works to continue on the Sirhowy
Enterprise Way.
Since closure of the Rhiw we have found that some drains in the area have
collapsed which means that we will have to undertake further drainage works.
It is therefore necessary to keep the Rhiw closed so that further
examination/works can be undertaken.
OTHER WORKS
=========================
We would like to point out that there are a number of other companies not
connected with the Sirhowy Enterprise Way, working on the roads in this area
i.e. Newbridge Road, Penmaen Road and Blackwood High Street, which together
have caused the additional problems to pedestrians and motorists.
We are aware that the lane through Argoed which gives access between Tredegar
Road and Penmaen Road across the Sirhowy Valley is being used as a
‘rat run’ whilst the above works are taking place.
We would ask that in the interests of local residents that motorists remain
on the major routes. From timings taken we are sure that the delay experienced
in negotiating work areas through our traffic management is less than the
time sitting in congestion in this lane.
PLEASE TAKE CARE WHEN NEGOTIATING THESE CHANGES TO THE ROAD SYSTEM
-------------------------
We apologise for any inconvenience these works may cause you.
Every effort will be made to keep disruption to a minimum.
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MUGA GETS GO AHEAD
In a message to this site's Forum County Borough Councillors Allan Pritchard
and John Evans have confirmed that the long awaited Multi Use Games Area is to go
ahead with Council funding.
The message reads:
"On Tuesday of this week Caerphilly County Borough Council confirmed that £80,000
would be committed to the installation of an outdoor Multi Use Games Area at
Oakdale Comprehensive School. This project has been in the pipeline for the past
two years and we are delighted that it has now received the financial backing from
the Council and the New Opportunities Fund to go ahead. Although the final details
have not been agreed, it is intended that the project will include a total resurfacing
of the two netball courts, 3 mt high fencing around the MUGA and the installation of
floodlighting to maximise its use throughout the year.
The purpose of the project is to encourage a healthier life style for our community,
especially the young people, who have rightly said that they have few places to go to
enjoy themselves without causing a nuisance. The facility is proposed to cater for young
people on an informal recreational basis and also to cater for the needs of organised
sports clubs such as the junior soccer teams, netball, rugby, etc.
The facility will also be a boost to PE Department at Oakdale Comprehensive School
and the Community College"
OCTOBER 2004
General Dyamics in £4bn contract bid.
Oakdale-based General Dynamics has joined two other companies with head offices in Wales
to form part of a team bidding for a lucrative £4bn contract to outsource the MoD's IT
requirements.
The MoD currently uses more than 500 different IT systems and 200 applications.
The aim of the contract is to replace them with a single, more efficient information
infrastructure.
General Dynamics, Cogent Defence and Security Networks - whose Headquarters are in Newport
- and LogicaCMG (Cardiff and Prestatyn) are part of the Atlas consortium along with EDS,
Fujitsu, IBM and Hewlett Packard.
The Ministry of Defence has now whittled down a list of over 100 to two rival consortia
- Atlas and Radii.
Atlas' rival Radii is made up of CSC, BT (which has a secure data centre in Cardiff Bay),
CGEY and Thales eSecurity.
The two consortia will next month submit final offers to the MoD, with a decision on the
winning bid expected early in the new year.
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BRACE'S win award
BRACE'S bakery has taken first prize in a marketing competition.
The award was one of twelve presented by TV newsreader Fiona Bruce at the British
Baker Baking Industry awards at the Grosvenor House hotel, London.
SEPTEMBER 2004
Rhodri - Oakdale like the Rockies
Wales Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan has pointed to the investment in
Oakdale as a prime example of overseas' companies backing Wales.
"English companies need to follow the more imaginative approach of
North America military technology venture General Dynamics on the former pit site"
he said in an interview with the influential Management Today publication.
Mr Morgan went on to say that many UK companies, particularly in the South East of England,
don't invest in Wales because they have been swayed by outdated and negative stereotypes.
"I don't think any English-based company specialising
in electronics or software would ever make the commitment that General Dynamics made
on the site of a former coalfield.
"You have to have someone with a Canadian or American perspective, who looks at the
nearby countryside and says: My god, it looks like the Rocky Mountains. People from
the M25 belt would say: 'Oh, it's an old coalmine, you'd never get the people'.
If they can't do it in Chelmsford, then they are just not interested."
"What's needed is a leap of the imagination and fewer stereotypes," he added.
"You can afford the houses here, you're close to the hills, Cardiff University
is a great science centre."
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AUGUST 2004
LOGO COMPETITION WINNERS
The winners of the competition to design a logo
for the Oakdale and Penmaen Partnership have been announced.
They are:
Overall winner : SARA MORGAN
Highly Commended : Paige Jones
School winners :
Infants school Junior School Comprehensive School
1. Paige Jones 1. Sara Morgan 1. Daniel Jones
2. Alistair Davies 2. Kaylie Millington 2. Danielle Self
3. Chloe Phillips 3. Tammy Powell 3. Aimee Haynes
The competition was judged by Michel Organ, a retired art teacher and
former resident of the village.
You can see the winning entry on the Partnership pages of this site.
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10,000 UP!
This site has just received its 10,000th visitor.
We only record visits to our opening page, so the true number of visitors
is probably much higher - some people go straight to the page of their
choice (e.g this news page or the Forum) or are directed to other pages by
search engines. These would not be included in the overall figure.
The ten thousandth visitor came from General Dynamics in the USA.
In the past few months we have welcomed people from five different continents.
JULY 2004
YES, IT'S A BAT CROSSING!
Cll. Allan Pritchard has confirmed that the strange green canopy over the road at
Woodfieldside is in fact a bat crossing.
It's purpose is to allow bats to travel to and from the woods to the east and the
west of the Sirhowy Enterprise Way.
The normal route that the bats would take (to avoid crossing near bright lights) is
under the old railway bridge at Woodfieldside, which is being demolished to make
way for the new road.
You can read the full text of his message on The FORUM
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MAIL VAN DEMOLISHES PLAY AREA
A mother of two has told how her children escaped death after their play area in
Woodfieldside was crushed when a Royal Mail van rolled 30ft down an embankment into
her garden.
An on-duty Royal Mail van left the lane, known locally as `The Wilderness', crashed
through a 4ft fence, and crushed swings that her children would have been playing on
had they not been in school.
Maria Cadwallader, of Riverside Court, Woodfieldside is in no doubt that 'it will
happen again' and is calling on the council to install safety barriers.
Caerphilly County Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Highways, Cllr Keith Griffiths
said: "I've listened to the lady's concerns and will be discussing with our highways
department the possibility of placing some sort of barrier at the site in the future."
Gwent Police were called to the scene but say they are not investigating the incident.
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OAKDALE BID FOR DEFENCE CONTRACT
US company Northrop Grumman is leading one of two consortia competing for an £800m
contract to supply the UK's next generation of radio communication and unmanned
reconnaissance systems.
If successful it will locate its Watchkeeper project headquarters in Oakdale.
Northrop Grumman said its Oakdale operation would initially create 250 mostly
highly-skilled jobs.
"More than 90% of the staff at our headquarters systems centre will be recruited
locally from Wales and the UK.
"These will be highly- skilled engineering, systems integration and software
development posts.
"We would also anticipate that the project could generate up to an additional 2,000
jobs as we develop local supply chains."
The new Watchkeeper system will dramatically improve the intelligence, surveillance,
target acquisition and reconnaissance gathering of the UK military.
In November 2002 General Dynamics UK opened its Bowman military communications
programme at Oakdale Business Park.
Tom Vice, senior vice president of Northrop Grumman, said, "We want to build on the
success of the Bowman project and help create a cluster of integrated systems
technology in the area.
"Bringing together Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics will see Oakdale become the
UK and European Centre of Excellence for integrated systems technology.
"General Dynamics will be a key member of our Watchkeeper team.
A rival French/Israeli consortium is also in the running, with plans to create an
operation for the contract, which goes live next January, in Leicester.
A decision from the MoD is expected to be made shortly.
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NEW LOOK FOR RUGBY
IT'S another new look for Welsh rugby, with the disbanding of the Celtic Warriors.
The area covered by the Warriors is now being split between the Blues and the Ospreys.
That rejig has seen the number of regional sides formally reduced from five to four
with the Gwent Dragons remaining untouched.
Oakdale come under the umbrella of the Dragons in Division Four East alongside Chepstow,
Monmouth, Newport HSOB, Llanhilleth, Tredegar Ironsides, Crumlin, Pontllanfraith,
Ynysddu and Trinant.
JUNE 2004
BRIGHT FUTURE FOR OAKDALE FIRM
Oakdale based blank DVD manufacturer MultiMedia Wales is looking to become a global
player with an eventual production capacity of 15 million recordable DVDs (DVD-Rs)
per annum. The company's first target is to produce 440,000 blank discs a month and
they intend to have around 30 workers when up to full production in the autumn.
The company was founded 18 months ago by directors Glenn Powell and Brian Thornhill.
Mr Powell is best known for producing the Manic Street Preachers' first single,
Suicide Alley, released on his record label SBS. Major industry players are showing a
keen interest in the firm's products, and Mr Powell is said to have been encouraged by
business inquiries resulting from the company's recent participation at the industry
Media-Tec event in Germany.
Mr Thornhill said, "We have been given a strong indication by a leading brand name
in this field that they want an exclusive deal for three million discs.
"We will have three lines of machinery producing DVDs. Our target from the first of
these is an output of 5.7 million DVD discs.
"This deal will represent half the turnover of discs needed from this line in year one."
MultiMedia Wales is one of the first companies to move onto the Oakdale business park,
with the help of European funding from Objective One, and is the UK's only DVD-R blank
media disc manufacturer.
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NO CHANGE IN PENMAEN
There is no change in the political representation in Penmaen ward as a result
of the 2004 council elections.
Councillors Alan Pritchard (PC) and John Evans (PC) were both re-elected
in a hard fought contest between nine candidates.
The election of two Plaid Cymru candidates in the ward was in contrast to other
other parts of the County Borough which saw 12 losses for the party, resulting in
Labour regaining control of Caerphilly County Borough Council.
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ANOTHER TRAGEDY AT PEN-Y-FAN
Pen-y-fan pond has claimed its second victim in under a year.
Police were called to the pond at 11am on Wednesday (2nd Jun) when
a body was spotted floating in the water.
76-year-old pensioner RONALD MEREDITH from Newbridge was rushed to the Royal
Gwent Hospital in Newport where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Reports say that he had been attempting to rescue a dog when the accident
occurred.
Police are not treating the incident as suspicious.
In August last year the body of 32-year-old Jason Massey, from Markham, was
retrieved from the pond by the South Wales Fire Service brigade boat.
MAY 2004
OAKDALE UNDER 13s TRIUMPH
Oakdale under thirteens boys have won the football league with style.
The team only lost one game against llan, the score being 4-3. Today (16 May) was the
six a side tournament in which they came runners up to Risca and Gelli Utd, who are twice
their height. Oakdale would like to congratulate Nicky Williams and Leon Corker
who have scored more than thirty five goals between them.
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IN MEMORIAM
Esther Temperance HALE
April 22 1914 - May 13 2004
A resident of the village for over fifty years.
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OAKDALE WINE CIRCLE WIN
Elaine Roberts won first prize for her Elderflower dry wine in the country wine
section at the 'Wales and West' Wine Federation.
This event was held on the May Day weekend at Seaton, South Coast.
Congratulations to Elaine from the village!
April 2004
ROLL IN - ROLL OUT
The Roll In - Roll Out event held at the Community Centre on Saturday 17th
was attended by a large crowd and was judged to be a spectacular success.
There were many exhibits from village organisations with demonstrations
by St John Ambulance, wine tasting, web site projection, and book signing
by Ralph Thomas, whose book on Oakdale appeared to be selling like hot cakes.
You can see pictures of the event HERE
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GARDEN STATUE THEFT
Between the hours of 8pm on Saturday the 3rd April and 07.00 Sunday the 4th April
a large garden statue was stolen from a garden in Beech Grove.
The value in cash terms was minimal.
The sentimental value was worth far more, as it was a gift to the home
owner from her late departed mother.
It's safe return would make some-one very happy.
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VANDALS ATTACK AGAIN
Oakdale has suffered its second attack by vandals in less than a week,
when several cars parked in various streets around the village were
damaged in the early hours of Wednesday morning (April 7th).
A Vauxhall Astra and a van in Penrhiw Avenue had their doors damaged in
attempted break-ins, and another Astra in Llwynon Road and a Renault 21
in Waungoch Road were also subject to the attentions of car criminals.
A car was stolen from The Elms and driven a short way down the road before
being abandoned.
Local police are investigating.
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VANDALS ATTACK SPEED CAMERA
The speed camera in Brynhoward has been attacked by a vandal who broke its lenses
before setting it on fire. Police are looking for the person who carried out the
attack and safety chiefs in the county are said to be appalled.
"Camera vandalism is not only a serious crime but an irresponsible act.
"Since safety cameras have been introduced in Gwent, no person has been
killed or seriously injured at any static - camera site," said John Rowling
from the Safety Camera Partnership.
"The temporary incapacity of this site, therefore, could result in a
person being seriously injured and, as a consequence, I would urge any
person with any information to come forward."
He promised that the camera would be back in action within days.
Oakdale councillor John Evans concurs,
"There seems to be an element who don't like the speed camera being there,
but without it there would be anarchy."
"We definitely need a camera there to curtail the speed of cars - Oakdale
would be like the Wacky Races without it.
March 2004
ANGRY PARENTS IN SCHOOL PROTEST
Two Pontllanfraith mothers have chained themselves to the railings of Oakdale
Comprehensive School in protest against its special needs policy. They said the school
had failed to adapt the curriculum to suit their children's special educational needs.
Uneta Morrissey,45, chained herself to Oakdale Comprehensive on March 3.
She said her 15-year-old daughter Laura was one of almost 100 pupils who had not
been given special education plans by the school.
A second parent, Jayne Howard,45, said the school did not inform her that her son
had been identified with SEN.
Pupils with SEN must have their needs identified in a plan for teachers. This individual
education plan (IEP) lets teachers know what the pupil's needs are.The parents say that
they have not been informed, which under a Welsh Assembly code of practice the school
are obliged to do.
The policy of when and where to provide special needs support is set by the local authority.
But experts in special education needs say that local education authorities often disagreed
with schools on when to provide extra help to children with SEN.
Specialist lawyers say that arguments between parents, LEAs and schools on the needs of
children in Wales were very common. "All areas have budgetary pressures and the trouble is
something like SEN is always something that is part of the budget that is easy and tempting
to shave off," said one.
The new headteacher Ian Kilcoyne said Mrs Morrissey had met the LEA's director of education.
He said, "The school cannot discuss these issues regarding pupils with special education
needs in public."
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DATE SET FOR LIBRARY OPENING
The new library is now set to open on April 2nd at a private ceremony.
Contrary to our earlier report we will not be there to record the event.
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OAKDALE GOES INTERNATIONAL
The name of Oakdale is being spread around the world - thanks to this web site.
In the past week alone we have received visitors from :
USA (Florida, New York, California, Ohio.)
CANADA (Montreal, Saskatchewan.)
CZECH REPUBLIC
HOLLAND
GERMANY
AUSTRALIA and
HONG KONG
Recent visitors have come from :
FRANCE
BAGHDAD
NEW ZEALAND
See how different the news is in California :
Oakdale News and
Oakdale Leader
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February 2004
NEW TV SHOW FOR OAKDALE SINGER
Singer Steve Strange, member of influential 1980s band Visage - who was expelled from
Oakdale Comprehensive for dying his hair orange - will be one of the stars taking part
in a celebrity version of hit Welsh-language show cariad@iaith to be broadcast
next month on S4C.
Steve will study Welsh for a week under the supervision of presenter/tutor
Nia Parryot, along with Janet Street-Porter, Ruth Madoc, former One True Voice singer
Jamie Shaw, athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson, singer-songwriter Amy Wadge and Hollyoaks
actor Bernie Latham.
Steve said his one regret was not learning a language.
"I wasn't allowed to go into Welsh lessons because I used to laugh and act like a
spoilt brat," he admitted.
cariad@iaith will not be Steve's first experience of reality TV.
The 43-year-old has already appeared on The Salon and is due to return
to the show later this year.
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BYPASS - tree felling begins
Five acres of ancient semi-natural woodland are about to be trashed by Caerphilly council
to make way for the 2 mile long bypass which will provide a new access road to Oakdale
Businesss park.
A decade-long protest came to a head recently when Caerphilly County Borough Council signed a
contract with Sirhowy Enterprise Way to begin work on the £54m bypass despite receiving some
4500 written objections from locals.
Compulsory Purchase Orders to acquire the land have now been served and the contractors
Costain & Tarmac have begun felling.
The principal tenant at the business park is General Dynamics, the American arms
manufacturer whose major products include the Virginia-class nuclear-powered
submarine, Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer, Abrams M1A2 digitized main battle
tank, the Stryker wheeled assault vehicle, medium-calibre munitions and gun
systems, tactical battlefield communications systems, and the Gulfstream® family
of business jets
The road has been opposed throughout by local people including Irene Jones, mother of former
Oakdale school pupil Nicky Wire of the Manic Street Preachers and acclaimed poet
Patrick Jones.
Local land owner Hal Moggridge is also a supporter of the protest.
Messages from tree protestors appealing for action have appeared on at least a dozen sites
on the internet, and campaigners say they have been contacted by activists who threaten
to confront road workers at St David's Wood
On January 29th 100 trees were chopped down but the work was halted by two lone
protestors locking on to the bulldozers.
A base camp for protesters has now been set up amongst the trees, with about 15 people and
Section 6 squatting notices in place.
It is now thought that over 1,000 trees will be axed instead of the original figure of 250.
Read the developers views HERE
See a plan of the route HERE
Read the protesters viewpoint
HERE
Tell us what you think about this controversy on the
FORUM
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INQUEST VERDICT - death by natural causes
An inquest on retired Oakdale builder Graham Davies, 77, has heard how he died after being
given the wrong blood during emergency surgery - because another patient had the same name.
Staff at the Royal Gwent Hospital gave three units of incorrect A negative blood to
Mr Davies because there was another patient called Graham Davies.
But the inquest heard that Mr Davies had type O positive blood.
The error was only spotted halfway through emergency surgery - and Mr Davies died on the
operating table.
The hospital's consultant haematologist Dr Helen Thomas said,
"An order for 10 units of blood for Mr Davies was phoned to the laboratory.
"One of the two scientists in the lab made a note of the patient's name and hospital number.
"But there was a different patient also called Graham Davies who had a different middle name.
"The second scientist checked for the blood in the lab and found the sample for the other
Mr Davies.
"As a result the blood was prepared for the other patient. There was a human error made."
Mr Davies was then transferred with the wrong blood to Cardiff's University Hospital
of Wales for a specialist to operate on his ruptured aneurysm - a bursting of the heart's
main blood vessel.
Consultant Dr Ian Apperdurai told the inquest that they had a phone call mid-operation
from the Royal Gwent after lab technicians realised the error during checks.
He said, "The first I knew of it was when we had a phone call to say it was the incorrect
blood. "I stopped the blood transfusion immediately and sent to the lab for some
O negative blood which is the safest to give.
"But Mr Davies died during the procedure."
Cardiff Coroner Dr Lawrence Addicott said it could not be proved that the incorrect
blood transfusion directly led to Mr Davies's death last April.
"It has not been established that the transfusion played a part of any significance",
he said. He recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.
January 2004
LIBRARY - Nearly ready
Latest news to reach us is the the new library on the square will now
open at the end of March.
We'll be there to record the opening.
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