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Become a member today Abercarn Primary School’s upgraded 3G pitch and floodlight system has been completed with the council now taking bookings from the community Funded by the Welsh Government’s Community Focused Schools Grant the pitch will be available for both school and community use Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet member for leisure said: “This upgrade will provide a fantastic resource for both the school and the local community supporting healthier and more active lifestyles.” cabinet member for education and communities saying: “Upgrading to a 3G facility at Abercarn Primary School will significantly enhance opportunities for pupils to engage in high-quality physical education “This modern surface will support their physical development encourage teamwork and provide a space where they can thrive both during lessons and extracurricular activities It’s a wonderful addition that also benefits the wider community.” Clubs interested in booking the facility are asked to submit their interest directly to the school by Thursday January 23 Clubs that have already contacted the school do not need to reapply contact Abercarn Primary School on abercarnprimary@sch.caerphilly.gov.uk or 01495 244566 Support quality, independent, local journalism…that mattersFrom just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts.Become a member today Waste firm Veolia has been given planning permission to slightly alter plans for the redevelopment of a site in Abercarn Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee agreed, in February 2024, to back the firm’s plans for the former Robinsons Manufacturing Ltd warehouse on Cemetery Road after Veolia asked for an amendment to the previously-agreed proposals Council planning officer Anthony Pyne said the matter involved “somewhat subtle changes to the layout” of the site A mezzanine area in the original plans would now be removed and replaced with a “short” cabin-style structure the firm had also requested an alteration to the size of an extension approved by the committee in February Mr Pyne said no objections had been lodged to the amended plans which he said would pose “no unacceptable impacts on the visual characteristics of the area” The planning committee voted unanimously to approve the changes Treowen Stars are set to join the Cymru South after a 2-0 win over local rivals Abercarn United. Stars manager Ben Murphy credited his players, who've shown the "characteristics of champions" in an interview with Caerphilly Observer after the game Become a member to unlock this exclusive article and more Our journalism needs the support of our readers to survive - just £1 month makes a huge difference Use the arrows next to the amount to select your contribution Caerphilly County Borough Council is hoping to ‘maximise resources’ by centralising libraries and closing those in smaller towns and villages The council is set to open a public consultation on the future of 12 libraries across the borough, as it looks to make £45 million in savings over the next two years one of the highest numbers of any area in Wales It says by closing those smaller libraries down and “improve financial sustainability for the council and library service” it would make a saving of around £600,000 Other benefits listed by the council as part of the ‘strategic vision’ include an end to lunchtime closing The places in which libraries are under review are: The council says closing these would allow it to increase its focus on the six remaining libraries claims this strategy would build on the success of the ‘hub model’ at Rhymney Library which has already seen an “exponential increase in footfall” He went on to say how the motivation for potentially moving to a ‘hub’ model isn’t solely financial insisting the transition has already provided “real benefits” to residents in other areas The cabinet member with responsibility for library services said: “When exploring the future vision for the library service it was clear that they have already become so much more than a place to borrow and read books “We have seen how the evolution of digital services has enhanced the offer to become far more inclusive We want to take that one step further and create a hub environment that acts as a one-stop-shop for residents A warm and welcoming space that provides ready access to services in a town centre location with easy access to local transport links “It is clear that the financial pressures have led us to consider the options to future-proof the service and that includes the potential rationalisation of the amount of sites that we have That is why it is really important for us to seek a broad range of views on the proposal so we are able to gain a greater understanding of the needs of our residents.” The cabinet will meet to consider agreeing to the consultation on Wednesday October 16 it will be open to the public from Tuesday October 22 Cross Keys claimed victory at Bargoed Park in the WRU Premiership on Saturday November 16 – narrowly beating Bargoed 22-21 to inflict a second consecutive defeat on the Bulls One team who did climb the Premiership table over the weekend was Newbridge who move up to fifth after a 22-22 draw at home to Ystrad Rhondda Moving down to the National Championship East Bedwas cruised to a 47-17 win over Rumney at the Bridgefield with a 37-32 win at home to St Peters moving them up to eighth who move down to fourth after losing 32-25 on the road to The Wanderers Nelson secured their fifth win in seven games after beating Bedlinog 28-8 at home Blackwood‘s winning streak continues in Division 2 East A 29-7 win at Pill Harriers keeps them top with eight wins from eight Abercarn are up to eighth after edging Croesyceiliog 23-21 at home while Risca put an end to a seven-game losing run with a high-scoring 36-36 draw at home to midtable Usk unbeaten Caerphilly continue to lead the way after a 47-40 victory away to Ynysybwl – extending their 100% winning record in the league this season There was an all-Caerphilly County Borough clash in Division 3 East with Machen defeating Fleur de Lys 40-32 on the road one place behind Fleur de Lys who drop to third But there were losses for the other two borough sides in the division Abertysswg Falcons suffered their sixth defeat in seven when they lost 31-10 at home to Chepstow while Oakdale remain winless after a 20-12 loss at New Panteg bottom-placed Pontllanfraith‘s struggles continue following a 33-10 loss at Llanhilleth Deri fell to their first loss of the season losing 19-7 at unbeaten table-toppers Tredegar Ironsides But there was a big win for third-place Hafodyrynys who beat Abersychan Alexanders 42-22 away from home One place below them remain Blackwood Stars who were also celebrating victory on the weekend Hollybush were not in action and stay fifth in the table Elsewhere, New Tredegar bounced back from last week’s defeat to Trinant by thumping Girling 62-0 away to maintain top spot in Division 6 East A who move up to third after beating Old Tylerian 17-15 Bargoed Athletic made it six wins from eight in Division 6 East Central after securing a 31-26 win at Rumney Athletic Penallta Athletic earned a 28-15 win away to Bridgend Athletic 2nd XV Here’s a list of every polling station in the Newport West and Islwyn constituency of which there are 75,781 of in Newport West and Islwyn will have been told where their polling station is via their poll card You can only vote at the polling station on your poll card Waste specialists Veolia plan to redevelop an industrial site in Abercarn for a metalworking operation The company has applied for planning permission to “rearrange” the former Robinsons Manufacturing Ltd warehouse in Cemetery Road Veolia hopes to extend the main building and build a separate storage unit Caerphilly Council officers have recommended the application for approval despite the concerns of the local Senedd Member and of people living nearby A design statement shows Veolia is proposing to use the vacant Robinsons site for the “welding and fabrication of steel components” such as “industrial boilers tanks and vessels for the wastewater industry” There is “full policy support and compliance within the development plan for the proposed development” But a report by council planners shows the local authority was sent 30 objections from residents as well as possible pollution and traffic concerns also wrote to the council to say she had “received representations from residents living near the site who are extremely concerned about the impact that this application will have on their lives” Ms Passmore added: “I would be grateful if serious consideration is given to the impact that this application will have on residents and that the noise element of their objections is given full weight when making your determination.” The planners note the site “has been in industrial use for a significant number of years” and any noise impact resulting from the new use “would be low at surrounding noise sensitive properties” The planning department has recommended the application be granted subject to a number of conditions Caerphilly Council’s planning committee is expected to approve the application at a meeting on Wednesday February 7 Waste company Veolia has been granted planning permission to redevelop its site in Abercarn The company applied for planning permission to “rearrange” the former Robinsons Manufacturing Ltd warehouse off Cemetery Road It now also has permission to extend the main building and build a separate storage unit after it was agreed unanimously by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee on Wednesday February 7 council officer Anthony Pyne outlined the application and noted 30 resident objections due to concerns over “noise He said compromises had been made by the applicant which initially wanted to extend working hours through the night Resident Mark Hillier attended the meeting and shared his experience living next to the site He said: “My partner who works in the emergency services has found herself sleeping on the kitchen floor because of the noise “We were told by the site manager that trees would be placed to cancel some of the noise and neither has the noise reduction cladding been installed If there was no noise we haven’t got a problem.” expressed her concerns for the extension in a letter to the council that said she’d “received representations from residents living near the site who are extremely concerned about the impact that this application will have on their lives” also objected to the plans and said: “This feels like a retrospective planning application “The site is already operational and how do we know that conditions placed now will be listened to by the business it was said that the company would work with the doors closed I drive past the site every day and the doors are always open.” A representative from Veolia said: “This isn’t a decision on the operations of the site “We take our responsibilities in the community very seriously and it isn’t in our interests to do something detrimental to the area or the environment but we’ve had noise assessments carried out and the noise is acceptable.” This was also confirmed by a council offer who said silencers have been installed to pieces of equipment as a “belt and braces” approach to noise concerns The application was passed unanimously by the planning committee This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Abercarn Scouts celebrated their first face-to-face annual awards ceremony since Covid To earn the prestigious Chief Scout Gold Award a person has to complete nine challenge awards The award was given to Scout Leader Alan Britt Assistant Scout Leader Craig Hale and Patrol Leaders Amelia Harwood Senior Patrol Leader Finley Walther-Wright District Commissioner Symon Dunstan and Assistant Scout Leader Lewis Griffiths also picked up the award.  In May 2021, a similar ceremony was held over zoom and saw Abercarn Scouts win five Chief Scout Gold Awards.  Seven Scouts were also presented with the Expedition Challenge Badge this year, which requires a two-day activity in the form of a lightweight hiking and camping expedition – similar to a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.  Four Silver Acorns – the second highest award of the Scout Association – were presented to three individuals for outstanding loyalty and dedication Chair Sylvia Dowden celebrated 50 years service Meanwhile Scout Secretary Susan Hayward and Treasurer Yvonne Hurd were both rewarded for their 30 years of service The UK’s Chief Commissioner for Scouts said: “What a fantastic achievement for the scouts “The commitment shown by the group and young people and then of course the wider community will have made such an impact on hundreds of young people.” During the pandemic, Abercarn reached out to scouts around the world Some of these got back in touch to congratulate Abercarn Scouts this year with a representative saying: “A special congratulations to the nine highest achievers “The most exciting part is for the un-uniformed members They must have served with a lot of passion for many years.” Abercarn Scouts has said it will will remain committed to doing its bit for the community Smurfit Kappa has installed a Kongsberg cutting table at its Abercarn factory as the centrepiece of its new ‘Big Box’ design suite which offers a next day XXL packaging prototyping service “This is an exciting development for SK Abercarn and has made a huge difference to the way we operate Our speed of response has improved dramatically,” said Richard Fishwick “The table makes innovation and product development much easier now that we can produce and assess our own samples we can develop our designs and prove that they work in minutes not days.” The Abercarn factory runs an inhouse corrugator and specialises in large-format bulk box manufacturing for sectors including logistics The site's Kongsberg X46 was installed earlier this year and was complemented by the creation of a new design suite and office at the 65-staff Abercarn factory in Newport Wales Supplied direct by Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems the new table is capable of handling substrates up to 2.3x5.2m and has a cutting speed of up to 50m/min and four vacuum sections which can analyse how much weight a package can withstand “Previously we had our samples made at a sister plant (SK Peterborough) which due to the size of their cutting table had to be made in two pieces whereas we can now make them in one to reflect what we manufacture,” said Fishwick The unit can produce single piece box blanks up to 10sqm and two-piece up to 22sqm using a wide range of materials from lightweight single wall corrugated grades to CB ‘Supaflute’ grades and the heavy-duty ‘Rokboard’ “It has the ability to convert samples from our lightweight eco-friendly doublewall board grades right through to our specialist Heavy Duty materials that we use as a successful alternative/replacement to Correx as well as plywood and timber crates,” added Fishwick Smurfit Kappa employs 46,000 staff and operates more than 350 production sites in 36 countries The FTSE 100 company specialises in paper-based packaging solutions and in 2020 it generated sales of €8.5bn (£7.2bn) Printweek welcomes informed debate, but please read our House Rules before posting Printweek is the premier website for the print industry A man has been found dead in a house in Abercarn Emergency services were called to the Hill Street area at around 11.10pm on Thursday The cause of death is yet to be established and is being treated by police as unexplained A cordon is in place around the house while the police investigate the circumstances around the man’s death Police say the man’s family has been informed Anyone with information can contact Gwent Police on 101 Ysgol Gymraeg Cwm Gwyddon has moved into its brand new building on the site of the former Cwmcarn Comprehensive School The new “state-of-the-art” building has the capacity for 420 pupils and 94 nursery infants which replaces the current Ysgol Gymraeg Cwm Gwyddon in Abercarn Planning permission for the new school was approved back in January 2022. In June 2022, Port Talbot-based contractor Andrew Scott Ltd was chosen by Caerphilly County Borough Council to build it. The development was jointly funded by the council and the Welsh Government as part of the Sustainable Communities for Learning scheme which was previously known as the 21st Century Schools programme The Welsh-medium school’s headteacher said: “I can’t quite believe this day has come It is very emotional for the staff as we have shared so many special memories at the old site and it was where ‘Teulu Cwm Gwyddon’ – the Cwm Gwyddon family ethos – was born “We are so lucky to be taking that with us to this amazing site it is truly what the staff and pupils deserve and I have no doubt that we will continue to thrive in our new home.” said: “Cwm Gwyddon has been commended as an excellent school many times and given the constraints of the old site they were operating within “The whole school community work hard to ensure that pupil wellbeing is at the heart of all that they do and I have no doubt that on this new site they will continue to go from strength to strength.” Cllr Andrews said there will be an official opening of the school in January Abercarn United have appointed Dean Kendall as their new first team manager He succeeds Andrew Morgan who returned in September 2019 after taking charge from Rhys Carpenter Danny Thomas and Jason Howells at the Caerphilly based side The Wales Veterans international has a strong affiliation to Abercarn Abercarn United finished outside of the relegation zone and now Kendall’s job will be to take the club further Rob Stapleton and Sean Bateman will continue in their roles with the clubs reserve side Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. A teenage girl from Abercarn who was reported missing has been found safely had last been seen at around 8pm on Tuesday Gwent Police launched an appeal to find her and issued a statement on Saturday (March 20) to confirm she had been found promotion hopefuls Trethomas Bluebirds travel to an Abercarn United side who are in a relegation scrap at the other end of the table It will be a huge game for both when they meet at Abercarn Welfare Ground on Saturday April 13 with the pair facing completely different challenges but equally desperate for all three points Mark Dunford’s Bluebirds side are just a couple wins away from clinching the Ardal South East title having gone all season undefeated in the league A win will put them one step closer to promotion into the second tier of Welsh football a dream they fell just short of last season Abercarn face a very different challenge at the other end of the table however and will prove a tough test at home for the high-flying Bluebirds The hosts currently sit 13th in the league Three points behind them sit a Treowen Stars side however who have three games in hand over their local rivals Abercarn do still have eight games left in the season but they’ll need to start picking-up points soon if they’re to remain in the league The game is due to kick-off at 2.30pm on Saturday April 13 A former community chapel which has stood for more than 100 years is set to be converted into a home Chapel of Ease in Abercarn was built in 1876 and rebuilt in 1895 but hasn’t operated as a chapel for a number of years which include an open plan living area  and mezzanine floor were approved by planning officers at Caerphilly County Borough Council Eight garages on Oak Street are to be demolished as part of the development and will be replaced with two new garages and a garden office an outdoor kitchen is included in the plans The plans state that the demolition or construction work will not effect the surrounding woodland The decision report states that the change would not have an overbearing impact on neighbouring properties because the building is positioned lower than the houses opposite A passenger bus was destroyed when it burst into flames on a residential street in Abercarn yesterday (Tuesday Eyewitnesses said the Harris Coaches bus was coming up the hill towards Penrhiw Terrace when smoke started coming out of the back of it A spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said the emergency call was received at 11.35am and that a crew arrived at 11.50am She said: “Crews from Risca and Aberbargoed station attended the scene and extinguished the fire “The incident concluded at approximately 12.26pm.” A spokeswoman for Harris Coaches told Caerphilly Observer an investigation was underway to find the cause of the fire and that the bus driver escaped uninjured has landed an engineering job with GE Aviation after graduating from the University of South Wales (USW) found himself living on the streets in London when he arrived in Britain but graduated with a first-class honours degree in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering in July said: “I came to the UK as a minor and was placed in care “I was placed in supported semi-independent living where I shared the house with another young person being looked after by Lewisham Council.” Mr Kwenda enrolled at a London college studying aerospace engineering then aircraft maintenance engineering at a London university After working as a support worker he reapplied to USW and never looked back Their engagement was very good and they had good links with industry leaders such as British Airways and GE Aviation “Two of my former lecturers worked as aircraft engineers at GE Aviation One of whom helped me to get a work experience placement which eventually led to me getting a job there.” For Mr Kwenda the move to GE Aviation means he’s landed his dream job having wanted to be an engineer since the age of five He said: “My dad was an engineer and I always wanted to be like him but I also wanted to go above and beyond his achievements “He is a skilled electrical engineer and always let me play with his tools through university to employment has happened by Mr Kwenda doing “one small simple thing towards achieving your goal every day” he said: “You’ve got to surround yourself with the right people You’ve got to surround yourself with the right inspiration “But it won’t fall into your lap “It’s not always the simplest of things and the younger me didn’t always make the same choices I have made since “If you are passionate about something devote yourself to achieving and realising your passion believe in yourself and use every obstacle as an opportunity to learn and develop.” Hopefully he gets a high enough paying job to pay back the costs encountered by the British tax payers through his arrival and raising You must be logged in to post a comment Scouts in Abercarn have been awarded their Chief Scout Gold Awards at a virtual online ceremony Awards were given to patrol leader Isaac Furmage senior patrol leaders Caitlin Parsons and Dylan Harwood who has been involved with Abercarn Scouts since 2013 He was given the prestigious award at the group’s virtual Annual General Meeting on May 10 Following in the footsteps of his father and grandmother has had to overcome obstacles on his way to achieving the award Owain has spina bifida – a condition where the spine and spinal cords didn’t develope properly before birth, as well as hydrocephalus – which causes fluids to build up in the brain Owain has risen through the scouting ranks and gained the role of Assistant Patrol leader 1st Abercarn scout leader Alan Britt heaped praise on Owain and said: “He has shown his ability to pass on his knowledge and skills to the younger scouts scouting friends and leaders and has taken part in a vast array of activities over the years including our traditional activities of abseiling camping ,overseas scout communications and late night hikes with barbecues on the Pant Moors “How did he participate in these late night hikes and barbecues over the potentially treacherous Pant Moorlands Answer – the words “can’t do” don’t exist in his vocabulary they ensured he didn’t miss out on this opportunity.” Mr Britt also spoke about some of the activities Owain has taken part in to obtain his award such as giving a presentation on endangered species and volunteering over a three-day period to pick up litter along the Pontywaun canal path built and painted a bench to be used at the scout hut’s disabled toilets the scouts worked with Keep Wales Tidy to cleare logs and litter from the Abercarn distillery – clearing away more than 30 car tyres as they work towards achieving their Environmental Conservation badges But now Chris Buck’s name is set to become rather bigger on the music scene after he was named the best new guitarist in the world received the accolade after an online poll conducted by Total Guitar magazine I had absolutely no idea I had been nominated until an old friend of mine got in touch and told me Chris saw off competition from 13 other rising stars to come out top in the online vote Total Guitar drew up a shortlist of players that they had either written about or spotted throughout the year The guitarist is no stranger to hitting the headlines Last year he became something of a viral hit when he recorded a cover of the Tom Petty classic I Won’t Back Down for Classic Rock magazine following the US musician’s death making his debut live appearance a year later with his school band His first love was Guns N’ Roses – and incredibly in 2012 he appeared on stage at the NIA in Birmingham in front of thousands with his idol A professional arm wrestler from Abercarn has won a bronze medal at the International Federation of Armwrestling (IFA) World Championships in Rumia finished third in the super heavyweight masters category at the tournament which took place between December 2 and December 6 Known as “The Welsh Wolverine” “No one from Wales has ever won a medal at this competition – I’m the first person from Wales to be at the world championships.” The 43-year-old qualified for the tournament by winning a British Professional Armwrestling title in August 2018 But Bolt admitted that taking up the sport was something he never saw himself doing Bolt did a lot of athletics before moving onto powerlifting He said he sees it as a “natural progression” was one of five members of the UK team at the competition Bolt was able to fund the trip to Poland with sponsorship from Direct Healthcare Group which is based in Western Industrial Estate You must be logged in to post a comment A paedophile has been jailed for six years after he admitted grooming teenage girls for sex had sex with two underage girls and abused two others after befriending them Morgan had originally denied all but one of the charges but changed his plea once the case went to court welcomed Newport Crown Court’s sentencing of Morgan She said: “We are pleased to see Duncan Morgan sentenced for the crimes he committed today He consistently and deliberately befriended children as young as 13 and then went on to sexually assault them The impact of his crimes will undoubtedly have a long lasting effect on the victims in this case but it was their bravery in having the courage to come forward and give evidence that saw him brought to justice today “The local community have also supported this investigation throughout and we know they will be relieved to see today’s result – knowing that he is no longer in a position to harm anyone else.” in excess of 20 children were spoken to by officers from Gwent Police’s Onyx Department which deals specifically with serious sexual offences This specialist department works diligently to investigate sexual offences and bring offenders who commit such crimes to justice.” You must be logged in to post a comment